Given Covid, I’m amazed at how busy my world’s been these past months – some days are spinning out of control! Besides hosting events, I’ve been attending plenty of others. And then there’s the literal spinning, as in vertigo. For over a month, I’ve had days feeling as if I’m walking on the deck of a boat. Sometimes the waves are just little ripples, like in a pond. Other times, there’s a big, old storm coming! While I suffer a completely unmerited hangover! The ENT says it’s not an ear or sinus infection, and the chiropractor says I’m well aligned. That leaves those pesky calcium crystals that reside in our inner ears sensing gravity. They need to be re-positioned which is why I’m off for a physical therapy evaluation tomorrow. Here’s hoping they can find a way to end the spinning.

Meanwhile, poor, little Bowyn is ailing with a wicked double ear infection and mouth sores that make eating difficult. Dude’s really looking hangdog. Yesterday we saw Dr. Forsyth (of the Taylor Ranch Veterinary Clinic here in ABQ). Now we have new meds and more ear-washing; I am not Bowyn’s favorite person at the moment. Praying he feels better in a few days.

“PLACES” WE’VE BEEN

Okay, less actual places, more Zoom gatherings. Since we last checked in I’ve been to:

• The Alt Fiber Hook-In with some lovely ladies from Canda and the US. Perhaps we should plan another for one evening or Saturday? Thoughts?
• The Adobe Wool Arts Guild‘s first actual meeting, albeit it virtual, since March. If you’re located in New Mexico and interested in joining, email me. We’re looking to set up a class or two for next year. (Still virtual, I’m afraid.) Maybe you’d like to join us.
• In the Studio’s inaugural Workshop Week. This was fun – Karen Miller, Susan Feller, Beth Miller, Meryl Cook, and I each held a workshop; included with “tuition” was a ticket to an evening hook-in and a closing panel discussion. Such was our success, that we’re planning another week this winter. Keep watch for that. There will be all new classes!
• In the Studio with Nadine Falgel. Nadine spoke about how she she makes “slow art” to combat “fast fashion.” This being one of my own pet issues, I was really interested. But while I like to recycle old or would-be scrapped textiles into my own pieces, thus keeping them out of landfills, Nadine actually uses these “rags” as her subject matter. See more about her work on her Instagram page. And, BTW, she’s got a solo show coming up in the new year.
• A Vision of Hope & Healing art show at the Santa María de la Vid Abbey in ABQ. My piece “Holes”

  

  hung in the show. It ran until just last Friday. Unfortunately, with the Coronacootie spiking, we couldn’t have the usual opening and closing soirées, but you can see the show HERE, just scroll your way down the page when you get there.

• Guatemala! It’s the farthest I’ve gone courtesy of the Stitching Stories Embroidery Workshop from Multicolores last week. I took that class because 1) I’ve become more interested in embroidery over the last year or so and 2) I’ve been thinking about doing a story rug. The class was kind of a 2-fer for me. I’ve been holding onto some poems that I think will work well. We didn’t start any projects in the three hours, but we practiced some of the stitches the ladies use and spoke about what we might want to do. Consider, taking one of the online Multicolores classes when they offer them again. (It’s easier than going all the way to Central America!) Micaela and Sara were excellent at demonstrating their work and answering questions on their processes. The fact that everything had to be translated both ways didn’t hurt the continuity of the workshop at all. I passed on the hooking class as I already work plenty with t-shirts, but I hear from friends that it was a good experience as well. And the tuition monies go to a great cause!

WHERE ARE WE OFF TO NEXT?

• Tomorrow evening at 8:30 I’m heading to the Anchorage Museum in Alaska, for Amy Meissner‘s Intersectional Selves Mending Workshop. More info HERE. Like Nadine and myself, Amy’s also interested in how we can counteror at least mitigate the actions of our throw-away culture. And I’ve got some knit items that I’ve not yet tried to mend.
• On Tuesday the 24th, the calendar on the wall (sue me; I’m a troglodyte) shows an entry for Abstract Art in America from the Whitney Museum.
• I’m behind in the Textile Talks that happen every Wednesday. They’re mostly presentations and panel discussions about quilts, but you never know what you might pick up. They’re sponsored by the International Quilt Museum, the Modern Quilt Guild, Quilt Alliance, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, Studio Art Quilt Associates and Surface Design Association. More info HERE. They are recorded, so, if you’re like me, you can catch up on them at a later date.
• In the Studio with Larry Weyand airs Wednesday, December 2, at 1:00 Eastern. More info on that HERE. A teaser: Through the process of autoethnography, I explore how my work lies in the space where narrative, psychological resilience, mat making and food intersect. Food and rugs! I’ll have more info later.
• On December 8, I’ll be joining the “CSU Libraries and the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising for expert advice on how to preserve your family archives, photos, and textile heirlooms.” It seemed like a good idea. More info HERE. It’s called Caring for Your Family Treasures.

Who knows what else I’ll find to occupy myself in December? As if I wasn’t busy enough hooking and hemming my last rugs of 2020. And don’t even mention the Ribbon Rug Journal! Only a month and a half to go on that…

Plans for early 2021 include the second In the Studio Workshop Week as I mentioned. I’ll also be running Building a Baby Boucherouite on my own for those who missed it in October. Keep an eye out for scheduling if you’re interested.

And although this class is scheduled and up online, I don’t believe that our proliferating Covid problem will allow it to run. Or that I’ll be comfortable leaving home for it so soon after the holidays when it’s clear that so many germs will be shared. (In which case, I can cancel…if there are even any students!) It is, however, just an honor being able to offer a class with Ghost Ranch here in New Mexico.

For those not familiar with it, artist Georgia O’Keeffe‘s home in Abiquiú, New Mexico, sits at the edge of the 21,000-Ghost Ranch property, named as such because cattle rustlers trying to keep their stolen cows a secret said the ranch was haunted by evil spirits. Hopefully, the vaccines we keep talking about will work, and we’ll be able to get to this or a similar class sometime sooner than later.

Dizzy? Head spinning? Have I given you vertigo to go with mine? I hope not, especially with Thanksgiving right around the corner. We’ll have a quiet one here, much like the first holidays when we moved to Albuquerque in 2015, before we knew anyone well enough to share our bad habits and proclivities. (We had to go all Siren-like and lure people in before that could happen.) The kid is scheduled to come down for the first time since this whole mess began in March. We can’t put her off any more. Unfortunately, masks, social distancing, and a 2-week quarantine after she leaves are all on the docket. Thank goodness I have so many things to do!

If I don’t make it back here next week, I wish you all a wonderful and TINY Thanksgiving. Remember, you can stay small yet still have all the trimmings. And there will be less dishes to wash!