For now, though, enjoy the aforementioned eye-candy from the Water shows.
Where you can find fiber arts eye-candy till June 3. Go now!“The Gorge/Water Cycle” by Judith Roderick. Hand-painted silk art quilt. The picture can never do this justice, but note how the bird is also part of the gorge.Close up of “Blue Water of the North/Feng Shui Series” by Donna Loraine Contractor. Wool on cotton tapestry.Oops! How did my own piece slip in there? 🙂 “Memory of Water” is hooked with plastic bags on monks’ cloth.
“Leaves and X’s in the Ice” by Nancy Wohlenberg was made using a discontinuous tapestry technique; four selvedge technique. Love this!Heidi Anderson felted alpaca and merino wool to create: “”Water is Life Seed Pot” on the right and “Olla” on the left. so cute!Part of “Germinating” by Linda Rael. Dyed fabric, stitching.
A close-up of Linda Rael’s “Water is Life.” Dyed, painted, stitched, and found objects.
“The Day Begins” by Linda Rael. Hand-dyed and recycled fabrics, found objects. This crane really “stood out.”
“Mayordomo” by Linda Rael. Mixed media. “Mayordomo” is the guardian of the acequias or the water ditch master.
A close-up of “Rain Dance” by Linda Rael. Stitched, beaded doll.“Mountain Snow,” a handmade felted coat created by Vicki Anne Evans. Lovely, but I put that on, ketchup will drop from the sky right onto my boob.
“Novena for Rain” by Catherine Kelly (and my friend and Adobe Wool Arts guild mate. Multi/fractured piece of traditional rug hooking, felted wool, yarn, and beads.
And lastly, though not the best shot, Cathy and myself in front of her piece. Perhaps we’re really the fiber arts eye-candy… Regardless, I still think that they should’ve had wine at the opening reception. Your thoughts concerning beverages at art receptions: wine versus ice water with stupid lemon slices. Let me know in the comments.
I try not to do NEWS-based posts too often, you know, catching up with what’s been happening here at High on Hooking, but sometimes you just have to. Not only is the selling season coming on quickly, but there are a couple of shows right around the corner.
First up is the Spring Show put on every other year (even) by Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Council. Many of you watched as I hooked and hooked my little fingers to the bone to have “Memory of Water” ready for the April 7 and 8 (Saturday and Sunday) exhibition. As I’m on one of the committees, I’ll be busy from Friday through the weekend. If you’re a local, please try to make it down and support the fiber artists of the greater Albuquerque area. It’s free; hours are 9-5 both days with an artists’ reception Saturday evening, 5-7.
And let the selling begin! A couple of weeks ago I received official word that I’d again been juried into Albuquerque’s Recycled Art Fair. This year it’s a little earlier: the weekend of April 14 and 15, 10-4, and it’s at the Open Space Visitors’ Center on Coors. If you remember my experience last year at the end of April, you might also recall the snow, rain, wind, and all-round cold temperatures we had. Not the usual weather here in Albuquerque at that time of year (except for the wind, of course), but not completely out of the ballpark. So, PLEASE PRAY that this year we get the nice weather I moved out here for, that we’ve enjoyed all winter! This is a fun festival: food, music, family activities, and good art – treasures that came from other folks’ trash. Hope we see you there too.
Just this weekend I received notice that “Memory of Water” had been accepted into
“Memory of Water.” Framed, she’s about 22.5″x18.5″ and plastic bag on monks’ cloth.
another show. Woohoo! This one’s also being held at the Open Space Visitors’ Center on Coors here in town, and it’s a fiber arts exhibit with the theme of WATER. It opens April 28 and runs through May 27. For New Mexican fiber buffs, it’s being put on in conjunction with the New Mexico Fiber Crawl happening May 18-20. Call me if you’re interested in this one. By chance it’s right down the street from my house; we can go together.
As many of you know, for the past two years, I’ve vended at the Albuquerque Rail Yards Market that takes place May – October, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. I love it there; it’s a people-watchers delight plus you can pick up good food, produce, and well-priced art and listen to different music each weekend. It’s just an all-round fun place to spend a few hours, and booths are more than reasonable at $20/any given Sunday. Unfortunately, last year I didn’t do as well as I had the previous year. Other artists said the same thing. So, this year, I’ve decided to cut my days at the market to once per month. I’ll still get the exposure and have a chance to sell, but I won’t worry that I could’ve been somewhere else.Or force Tom to help me set up and break down for nothing. Dates I’ll be at the Rail Yards are: May 27; June 10; July 8; August 12; September 9; and October 14. Maybe we’ll see you there…
I think that’s it for all the big, official news. Keep checking back to our home page; we add events as they come up. Now for the weekly “What’s on the frame” segment. Actually, this week we’ve got two frames and two rugs! Check out the pics for the scoop.
The “BIG Boucherouite” begins! It’ll be slow progress, something I can work on between projects and to breakup any hooking monotony. I’ve been cutting strips like crazy and still have more to go. A lot of the color-planning will be made up as I go. (Upcycled bedsheet strips on monks’ cloth, Anderson frame.)As usual Tynan brings you “What’s on the Puritan frame” news. The sunflower table runner (or wall-hanging) continues. Should be done this week sometime. (Up-cycled t-shirt strips on monks’ cloth.)
For your sake, I hope that’s spring’s either arrived in your neck of the woods or is right around the corner. My sympathies yet again for New England and the fourth nor’easter in as many weeks or less. But spring will come; it always does.
What’s the news where you hail from? Plans for when it finally warms up?
A close-up of the first rug that I ever hooked. Note that those are wool strips. Thank you, Franklin, Massachusetts, Adult Education program.
One day you take a community adult education class; rug hooking it’s called. For the life of you, you can’t remember why the hell you did that. In fact, your ex-husband’s mom was a hooker, and you paid absolutely no attention to that. Really. None! All you can remember is that she used a lot of black backgrounds. (Something you despise because all-black is such a pain to work with. 🙂 )
Now and again, maybe fifteen years later, you think about where this rug hooking thing’s taken you, what it’s given you. And it makes you shake your head in wonder.
It’s given me a good bit of self-confidence
As an artist. Especially one who doesn’t really fall into the category of a traditional rug hooker but only because of my use of alternative fibers and other materials. Originally, because I hooked with t-shirts and such, I was afraid to hang with other hookers, join a guild. I got over it. Thanks, Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG) for such a great welcome to Albuquerque’s fiber arts scene two-and-a-half years ago. And especially for your encouragement. It helped when I went out to sell at art and other shows. And it appears that I’ve made a little name for myself. Just yesterday, as I was wandering through Kohl’s, I got a call from some woman up in Santa Fe who found me online and asked if I could repair her punched rugs. Apparently, her dogs regularly do a number on them. Of course, I can!
AWAG members Mary Schnitzler and Kathy Kelly relax after a day’s hooking at the hook-in hosted by the Old Pueblo Rug Hookers in Tucson. We’ll be there again at the end of January!
Oh, the friendships!
Never mind that most of my friends here in my adopted city of Albuquerque are hookers. Hooking’s introduced me to folks all over the world – thanks, Facebookand now Instagram! Make no mistake, these are friends with benefits. Just take a gander at yesterday’s Loop by Karen Larsen. She’s working on a commission, a rug featuring two dogs and mentions how we learn from one another.
It has taken me years to realize and accept that I hook the way I hook. Although I have learned and incorporated many helpful hooking tips through the years, I must have confidence in my own abilities. I plan to look to my friend, Nancy Parcels, for inspiration as I do the background.
It does indeed take a village!
I’m doing a little teaching
Because of the feedback I’ve received when I sell my less-than-traditional rugs, I’ve been asked to teach people how to do it themselves. I was even invited to teach a rug hooking class up at New Mexico’s famed Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center. Woohoo!
A view of AWAG’s Fiber Fiesta rug hooking booth this last May.
To be a part of Albuqueque’s larger fiber arts scene
There’s no better way to get to know your new town than to volunteer and join things. And the guild knew a sucker when they saw one. They made me AWAG’s representative to Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Council. That meant meeting all kinds of fiber artists and working with them to make Fiber Arts Fiesta 2017 happen. I must’ve done a great job, because somehow I also became our rep to the Education Committee which is currently planning our biennial spring show “Earth, Wind, and Fiber”. (Entries are due February 25!)
Susan’s Legacy helps women with co-occurring disorders regain their lives and their families.
Susan’s Legacy Last week I asked you if you have any purses languishing in your closet, that I need them bad. Clarification: I need brand name-type purses. Frankly, the kind they DON’T sell at Kohl’s. I also mentioned that I’d explain whythis week. Turns out that as a guild rep to the Fiber Arts Council, I had to vote on a charity to be promoted at the Fiber Arts Fiesta last May. We chose Susan’s Legacy, a non-profit that serves the needs of women with co-occurring addiction and mental health disorders. Having some family experience with such things, somehow, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, I clicked my heels, and was suddenly on the Board of Directors. Long story short, we need money to make our programs go. One thing that’s worked in the past has been a silent auction at a women’s networking luncheon. Albuquerque’s Women Make a Difference puts that on – a big WOOHOO for them! We at Susan’s Legacy find the purses, clean them up, and run the auction at the luncheon this Friday, March 9. Registration starts February 19, on Women Make a Difference’s website. If you’re local, maybe we’ll see you??? (Or at least your purse. )
Where is rug hooking taking you?
Tynan”s back! He brings you this week’s “What’s on the frame.” Yes, it’s the mystery rug. And I am hooking it with an alternative “fiber.” Must get a move on; it’s due February 25 as an entry for the Fiber Art Council’s Spring Show.
It’s December, Christmas-time here at my house, and the waiting’s begun…
— For Christmas, but that’s a given.It is Advent. In the meantime, I’m trying to get decorations up and cards written. Then there are the cookies to bake and a party to prepare for. But again, this is usual stuff at this time of year. And I’m behind just as I am most years…
— A phone call to go through. I just got back from Albuquerque’s Biopark where I was doing rug hooking demos with the guild and walked into the husband and the kid both manning phones that were on hold. If I have to listen to the disembodied voice repeating “all our agents are busy” for much longer… The kid needs new healthcare, and it’s not been an easy process. How many of you can relate?
No waiting in traffic during the day! Bossy is one of the new exhibits at the BioPark’s River of Lights. See it through the New Year. Sure, it’ll look better at night, but you get the general drift. It’s a beautiful show and a great fundraiser for the park.
— A brandy, new rheumatoid arthritis med to work. I started it about a month ago. I hear I’ll know within six to eight weeks if this one will do the trick. At least my own insurance finally agreed to cover it. 🙂
— A rug design idea. The Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council is sponsoring a show in April. The theme is “Earth, Wind, and Fiber.” The call for entries opens January 1 and closes February 25. Despite mulling on it for longer than I’d like after I get into bed, I’ve not yet come up with a design idea for a rug to enter. Think, think, think…
The lovely lady behind those Foster Grants purchased “The First Boucherouite” last month at the Santa Fe Fall Fiber Fiesta. It’s still one of my favorite rugs, and I called it the “First” for a reason. Hm, do I really need a brand new idea this week to start working on a rug?
— A secondary rug design idea so I have a rug to work on while I wait for the above idea to come through.
— High on Hooking’s Christmas party. Okay, that’s just what Tom and I call it, but every year we plan an evening nice out at a good restaurant. No ordering at a counter!
— What Tom and I will do for our 25th anniversary next month. We’re thinking a BIG trip, but not in January. We haven’t decided where or when yet, but more on that to come…
— The Old Pueblo Rug Hookers Hook-In on January 27. I’m even more excited for the trip this year because last January I won a great door prize: free admission in 2018! Woohoo! And it’s always warmer in Tucson than it is here in ABQ.
We’re just waiting for the Patriots to continue their magic.
— Tynan to finally get a little brother! It probably won’t happen till the spring or so, but Tom finally agreed that we’ll get a puppy this coming year. Woohoo! I love having two dogs, and Tynan benefitted from the “wisdom” of his predecessor Murphy. Albuquerque is a great city for rescues, so we’ll probably go that way. There’s gonna be a baby in the house again! (Beth Miller of Parris Hill Wool Works knows just what I’m talking about. Check out Wyeththese days!)
What are you waiting for this holiday season? Whatever it is, remember these wise words from Grumpy Cat:
Patience:
What you have when there are
too many witnesses.
Tynan’s back with “What’s on the frame this week.” He’s not showing you a lot of the rug as it’s one of nine “friendship rugs” that some of us in the guild are working on. More about them on 2018. And, yes, that is my completely undecorated Christmas tree in the background.
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