Claire Murray Idea House Waterfront Home Tour- to benefit the Red Cross of Delmarva Peninsula - June 11, 12, 13
		St. Michael's, Maryland Renowned artist and home furnishings entrepreneur Claire Murray will host an “Idea House” home tour at three beautiful waterfront homes in St. Michael's. The focus of each house will be Claire Murray’s hand-hooked rugs and accessories as well as the inspirations of other local vendors and artists showcasing coastal living and decorating ideas. All the proceeds from ticket sales will go directly to the Red Cross of Delmarva, an organization that provides disaster relief and emergency preparedness for many counties on the Delmarva Peninsula. The events will take place – June 11, 12, and 13, 2010. Kick-off Cocktail Reception Friday, June 11th at sunset on the waterfront. 6-8pm Tickets $50pp Home Tours Saturday & Sunday 11am - 4 pm Tickets $25pp
On Friday, June 11 from 6 – 8- pm, A kick-off sunset gala will be held at the waterfront. Ticket holders will meet Claire Murray as she signs her latest book, Women of the Sea and discusses the inspiration for her designs. $25 from the sale of each book will be donated to the Red Cross. Tickets for this event are $50 per person. Cocktails and Hors d' oeuvres will be served. On Saturday and Sunday, June 12 and 13, guests can tour three waterfront homes, all with a different theme and flavor. Other vendors participating are Hollyhocks of St. Michael's, The Scented Garden, Salisbury Gift and Garden, and Jayne Bourke Landscaping. In addition, experts will be on hand to discuss decorating and home style. A representative from Chem-Dry on the Shore will demonstrate cleaning fine fabrics, and a realtor from Benson and Mangold will help visitors with tips for staging a home for sale. Tickets for Saturday or Sunday are $25.00 per person. Items will also be for sale or order, with a portion of these sales also going to the Red Cross. A drawing will be held for a special raffle including a brand new 5x7 hand hooked rug donated from Claire Murray’s new spring collection. Tickets are available through the Claire Murray retail showroom in St. Michael's, or by visiting the Red Cross’s web site at www.redcrossdelmarva.org. Space will be limited and advance ticket purchase is suggested. For more information, contact Julie Imirie at 410-745-0070 at the Claire Murray store, or Betsy Tuttle of the Red Cross at 302-472-6262.
For Immediate Release
Claire Murray Destination Shopping comes to Naples
		December 8, 2009, Naples, Florida:  Naples’ newest upscale boutique celebrates the colors of the seaside. Claire Murray hand hooked rugs and home accessories are inspired by a lifelong love affair with the sea.   Unique colors and whimsical images paint a tranquil place where time seems to stand still. Overlooking posh Third Avenue, the store is an experience - a destination in its own right. Claire Murray fans are known to travel from all corners of the globe to her flagship Nantucket store.   Shown at left: Claire Murray Original Coral Reef Runner Long
Claire Murray’s Naples store is the 15th named after this prolific artist, known internationally as the woman who revived the art of rug hooking in America. In addition to her stores, 22 licensed boutique partners represent her work in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. The Naples store showcases hundreds of hand hooked rugs that vary in size from 2x3 up to 9x12. Larger custom sizes have been hooked as large as 18 x 24 ft. Coastal themes dominate the Naples shop yet dozens of floral and wildlife motifs are represented too. Whether your first or second home is on the coast or in the mountains, Claire Murray rugs are right at home. Tableware, cashmere throws, note cards and apparel are woven throughout the magical landscape of the Claire Murray store. The latest addition to Claire’s line is Nantucket Needleworks, a collection of needlepoint kits, counted cross-stitch and rug hooking kits too.  Yarns are the finest 100% wool and craft classes are expected to begin shortly. Visit the newest Claire Murray store in historic Old Naples at 1389 Third Street South www.clairemurray.com For more information, or interviews with Claire Murray: Please contact Adele Lally, Executive Assistant to Claire Murray at 508-385-8800
Hampton Roads Magazine - August 2009
Take two nationally known, talented artists - one a painter, the other a designer/creator of hand hooked rugs and needlepoint- and have them meet in their Yorktown studio/stores. The result: first a mutual admiration society and then striking rugs by Claire Murray that accurately depict the artwork of Yorktown artist Nancy Thomas. Here's how it happened. Murray came to Yorktown last spring for a meet and greet at her shop. Thomas, a longtime fan, went to meet her. "I was so honored," Thomas recalls. "I invited her to my gallery. She loved my artwork and immediately wanted to work together with me on some rugs. She wanted to call the company Kindred Spirits."	Murray picked the artwork she wanted to hook into rugs and began working. The Fat Rabbit was the first rug. It shows a young girl in a garden holding...(you guessed it) a fat rabbit. The first samples were ready last fall and the first rugs of the Kindred Sprits collection were available at the end of 2008. The collection includes 16 rugs depicting Thomas' art. Other top sellers include Bon Appetit, showing a chef with fresh produce; Men of Vision, showing the founding fathers; and Angel on Lamb - self-explanatory. The collection also includes two Santa’s, two with cat themes and one dog. You can also get matching ceramic figures to go with your prints and rugs.	-Karen Haywood Queen Thomas has been impressed with how precisely Murray translates paint colors onto thread. "I mix colors, I blend them,” Thomas says. “Sometimes I go from a dark blue or dark green and grade it to a gray blue or gray green. Claire is very meticulous. She picks her own thread. If she can't find the right color, she'll have it dyed to that color. She captured everything. It was amazing. It shocked me because it was so well done- every little nuance, every little shadow. It's fascinating to me to see my artwork that's flat transformed into all these other mediums such as hooked rugs and ceramics."
Interested? Nancy Thomas Gallery, 145 Ballard St., Yorktown, 757-898-0738, and 407 Duke of Gloucester St., Williamsburg, 757-259-1938. Claire Murray Store, 328 Water St., Yorktown, 757-877-3353 www.clairemurray.com 1-866-868-7001