Equestrian Style

SCOUTED: Hand-painted Hunt Scene Floorcloth

Scouting the best of equestrian life is always fun, but even more so when we discover a talented artisan breathing new life into a centuries old craft!

The canvas floorcloth originated in France in the 1400s and was introduced to the American colonies in the early 1700s. Originally made from recycled ships’ sails, they were used to cover dirt or wooden floors in early American homes. 

Artist Lisa Curry Mair, working out of her Canvasworks Designs studio on the historic Henry Gould Farm in rural New England, has a passion for traditional folk art and painstakingly creates hand-painted floorcloths and murals for homes, museums, and even the stable. 

Visit This Old House to see the episode visiting Lisa Curry Mair’s Canvasworks Design studio. Select scene 4 to watch the clip.

The piece we “scouted” is a hunt scene canvas floorcloth (above) that combines a traditional checkerboard pattern with a hunt scene border and is used as a beautiful focal point in a wood-paneled tack room. A competitive amateur dressage rider herself, Lisa gave us four reasons why a floorcloth makes the perfect floor covering for a busy tack room:  

+ Durability - Beautiful and utilitarian, floorcloths will hold up to riding boots, tack trunks, dogs, and more.

+ Protection - Floorcloths add a layer of protection to wood, tile, and other easily scratched flooring surfaces.

+ Easy maintenance - Broom and mop-friendly, floorcloths are as easy to clean as vinyl.

+ Aesthetics - A beautiful floorcloth, hand-painted in a traditional or unique, custom design adds a warm and inviting heirloom-quality artistic element to the barn’s most used room.

The floorcloth would be equally at home in any high traffic area of the barn - office, viewing room, or as part of a barn’s traveling tack room display at shows. Or, of course, a hallway, dining room, kitchen, or entryway in the home.

To learn more about Lisa’s artistic process and extensive porfolio - she has created over 1500 floorcloths and murals for private homes, museums, and interior designers! - visit Canvasworks Designs. 

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