Geometrics

Geometric patterns of checkerboards, squares and diamonds have adorned floors in this country from as far back as the late 1600s. Early settlers raked checkerboards into their dirt floors; today tiles are laid in strong black and white patterns. Geometric designs are pleasing to the eye and create a rhythm within a space. Under a table or in an entryway, these floorcloths work so well they are Canvasworks’ most requested designs. Have one made in colors to match your décor and you’ll see why they’re so popular.

Click on a picture to see all the designs in the category.

Mariner's Compasses	Checks	Other Geometric Designs

Stamped and Stencilled
Stamps and stencils give an ornate quality to any design. Repetitve motifs, using multiple colors and details, make these floorcloths spring to life. Canvasworks cuts each stencil individually (stamps are created for each project as well) so that any scale and layout can be accommodated.

Click on a picture to see all the designs in the category.

Stamped Patterns

Stenciled Designs

Historical Reproductions

Floorcloths have been used in homes for hundreds of years. Georege Washington had a floorcloth at Mount Vernon, and an 1809 inventory of the White House includes "a canvas floorcloth, painted green."

From marbled geometrics, to graceful stenciled flower motifs, to intricate faux Brussels carpets, these designs complement a room full of antiques or can look great with contemporary furnishings.

Go to Historical Reproductions

Custom Designs
No two Canvasworks floorcloths are alike. Customizing is our specialty. (Go to The Design Process to see how Lisa can make a design for you.)
From your favorite flower, to your grandmothers china pattern, to Arts & Crafts tile motifs, the design possibilites are endless. Artist Lisa Curry Mair specializes in color arrangement and pattern development for each customized floorcloth. Here are a few examples of "extreme customizing".

Click on a picture to see more designs in the category.

Floral	Custom Geometrics	Other Designs

About Canvasworks

Since 1992 Lisa Cury Mair has created floorcloths, fireboards, table runners and other painted canvas items for homes throughout the United States and Canada. 

From a degree in Mathematics, to children's book illustration, to research in historical aspects of early American life, all paths have lead to a career in designing, crafting and painting functional canvas surfaces with a strong geometric element reminiscent of a bygone era.

All work is executed in the carriage-house wing of an 18th century farmhouse at the base of Ascutney Mountain in the Connecticut River Valley town of Weathersfield, Vermont. The studio, shop and showrooms are open by chance or appointment.

Chosen by Early American Homes Magazine for its Directory of Traditional Crafts.

Granted tenure for the Weston Craft Show, a premiere, strictly-juried showcase of Vermont crafts.

Featured in The Boston Globe Magazine's Hot Line's section, July 1995.

Founding member and participant of By Farm & By Hand, a tour of Historic Weathersfield, Vermont since 1996.

Frequently Asked Questions about Lisa Curry Mair

When and where did you see your first floorcloth?

I saw my first floorcloth at a craft show while on a weekend trip to Vermont 12 years ago. Wonderful, whimsical designs adorned small area rugs. I loved the idea of functional, fun art underfoot. As coincidence would have it, when I got home to Groton, Mass. I noticed a large floorcloth in an upstairs room of the Groton Center for the Arts building where I was selling my illustrations. That one was old; probably from the early 1900s. A trip to the library gave me some history of the craft and enough information to get me started on my own floorcloths.

When and why did you make your first floorcloth?

We had renovated the kitchen in our 1930s house, where exposing the hardwood floor beneath the linoleum also exposed a stain right in front of the dishwasher. The perfect place for a floorcloth! We had a grapes, eggplant and artichoke theme going on in the new kitchen, so I painted a design of those fruits and vegetables on a teal background. I put that floorcloth down on the floor and when my friends saw it I had my first orders for more floorcloths. That Grapes, Eggplant and Artichokes floorcloth is now in front of our soapstone sink here in Vermont. It’s now 11 years old and still going strong.

Did you teach yourself how to paint floorcloths?

I had been painting in watercolors and playing with acrylics for years, so the painting part came pretty easy. I have sewn clothes since my Home Economics teacher taught me how to make a skirt in 7th grade, so my sewing machine was all set up and ready to do the hems. The hardest thing to figure out was how to keep the canvas from warping and how to finish them so they’d be tough and durable, yet flexible to resist cracking.

When did you decide to paint floorcloths professionally?

When my friends asked me to make floorcloths for their kitchens, I decided it would be worth trying to sell them at a local craft show. That first year I displayed 6 floorcloths at the Dunstable Artisans Show and sold all of them. At that point I realized that people liked the idea of a new way to decorate the floor and the craft seemed to suit me to a Tee.

Are you a trained artist?

By definition, a "folk artist" is one who is primarily self-taught. While majoring in mathematics at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, I took a few studio art classes and learned a few painting basics. I have picked up techniques here and there, attending workshops and continuing education classes. Most of all, I keep my eyes wide open and look at paintings whenever I get a chance. I love trying to figure out how an artist shows light, or renders a horse’s ear. It’s all in the details.

Do you go out and sketch?

Living in Vermont gives me the wonderful opportunity to study nature at each glance out the window. I am outside as much as I’m in, working with my horses or staring at Mt. Ascutney while I wait for my daughter at the bus stop. I rarely consciously go out and "sketch from nature" (although I try to work it into my schedule from time to time)but nature is all around me and influences me all the time.

Tell us about your family.

My husband, Bart, is a social worker. He finds homes for people with high needs and spend his days travelling back country roads, meeting and talking with potential home providers. My daughter is a high honor student in the 5th grade and loves horses, drawing and basketball.

How do they help you?

They help me by cheering me on. They rarely complain as I throw a frozen pizza into the oven and run out to the studio to apply another coat of paint before the oven timer goes off! Bart has a great eye for design. When I feel like there’s just something not quite right about a painting, I go to him and he is really good at figuring out where things are going wrong. He is also my sounding board for business decisions, helps me deliver finished works, and does some carpentry to keep my studio in working order. My daughter keeps me sane by insisting that I get out of the studio once in a while and we go work in the barn and ride the horses. We spend most of the summer together caring for our 4 horses, riding, and competing at horse shows.

Do you decorate your own home with floorcloths?

Not counting the studio and gallery, we currently have 5 floorcloths in use in our house. The walls are decorated with various paintings I’ve done and things like the kitchen doors are painted with tree scenes, stenciling wraps around the living room walls and my daughter ’s bedroom is painted to look like the walls melt away into sky. Basically, no unpainted surfaces is safe when I’m wielding a paintbrush!

Where do you work?

My studio is attached to the house in what was originally a carriage house addition. I have two large work spaces and a gallery (or showroom). For extra-large pieces I can also work in the hay loft of our barn.

Studio Workspace	Upstairs Work Table	Barn Space
Showroom	Showroom	Showroom

Why do you find your artistic work satisfying and rewarding?

I love my job. I love the whole process of taking a spark of an idea and playing with it until it appears, first on paper, and ultimately, on a canvas to be used in someone’s home. I have been doing this long enough to know how to make a design work, and to know that some accidents make for exciting new creations. Painting relaxes me and restores my soul. Business and competition invigorate me. Keeping a little bit of history alive as an art form makes me proud. My rewards are in my everyday life: living in a wonderful, old farmhouse and town; being here when my daughter gets home from school; being able to stroll over to the barn and ride at my leisure; sharing evenings with my husband while we sit by the woodstove and figure out what fix-up project will be next.

Tell us about Perkinsville.

Perkinsville is actually a tiny little division of a beautiful Vermont town called Weathersfield. My home is situated at the base of Mt. Ascutney, in a 200 year old farmhouse. Most of the roads in Weathersfield are not paved; most houses are surrounded by open fields or woods, and there is no commercial center. The nearest town for shopping is Springfield, about 10 miles away.