Category: desert

March 14, 2018

Mystery rug unveiled

So, the framer called that the mystery rug was ready to be picked up. Woohoo! And just in time, I might add, to get a couple of photographs of it to submit to Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center. They’re co-sponsoring “Recall-Recapture-Remember,” a fiber show on memory with Tansey Contemporary in Santa Fe. The show will open at Tansey’s gallery May 18th in conjunction with the New Mexico Fiber Crawl weekend. It’ll run four weeks then move to their Denver gallery for a July opening. Here’s hoping I get in.

I’m happy with the framing. It seems that I go in there with something simple (you know, and elegant AND NOT EXPENSIVE) in mind, but the lady with the German accent, she has great ideas. She gets me to trying new things I never would’ve thought on my own. This time we finally narrowed it down to a black frame with blue running through it. Perfect! I also have to hand it to another customer, an older woman, a painter there that same morning as me; her input was very good too. I especially like that she told me the boldly colored frame was best even though she prefers pastels. To “prove” that bit of info, she swore to me that she wore “fairy wings” for three years. Real freaking wings. Like some kind of New Mexican retiree angel. You can’t make that shit up, but, man, she was a hoot.

A close-up of the mystery rug “Memory of Water.”

The piece is called “Memory of Water.” The initial idea for it came to me one morning when I was walking in the Bosque with Tynan. The ground was parched and cracked as we hadn’t had any precipitation since the last of September’s monsoon rains. I knew I needed to hook something that fell under the theme of “Earth, Wind, and Fiber” for the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council Garden Show April 7 and 8. Hey, rain, water – or the lack thereof – fit the bill. I decided to kick the environmental thing up a notch and use plastic bags. It’s horrible how our oceans and sea-life are being so messed up given the vast amounts of pollution caused by our prodigious use of plastics. So, I tried to make something beautiful – or at least interesting – out of plastic bags.

If you’ve been following the mystery rug’s hooking, you’ll know that it was easy enough to pull the loops, but not as satisfying as hooking with fibers like wool or t-shirt or bedsheet. Plus, there was the pain-in-the-assedness of the static electricity that reaches a zenith in the winter in an already humidity-free desert. I’m not sure what would’ve happened if I hadn’t had that can of Static Guard. And I’m still finding strips of plastic bags in my living room, never mind the clippings.Not sure I’ll run out and do another plastic rug, but it was a good experiment. And since I finished the rug I’ve purchased not just stainless steel straws and their very important straw cleaners. (I could never really clean my re-usable plastic straws; they were contributing to my recurring sinus infections, I realized.) I’ve also ordered washable produce bags that I can use at Sprouts and other grocery stores. It was really starting to go up my craw sideways that we were using a good 20 bags each week when we shopped. I kept thinking that I’d have to find hooking projects for all those bags. No!!!

Any-so-who, I’m back to working with my usual fibers, specifically t-shirt this week. Feeling a need to do something a little larger than the double mug rugs I recently finished (hooking only), I decided to make a table runner. The sunflowers are a trademark, if you will. I’ve made several similar rugs from them, but smaller. I’m really loving the bigger sunflowers. Hmmm, like the “Big Boucherouite,” I may have to go really BIG with the sunflowers on another rug. We’ll see…

Sunflower hooked rug and dog. — Not to be forgotten, Tynan brings you this week’s “what’s on the frame.” Aren’t those cheery yellows? I’m having such fun with this one. I may even use it to make a new business card.

In the meantime, you peeps back east have my sincerest sympathy. All those nor’easters in a row. I’m having flashbacks to 2015 when the snow in New England just wouldn’t stop, and we were trying to get our house ready for sale so we could move out here to New Mexico. Ice dams like we’d never seen. Snow piles alongside the driveway wayyyyy over our heads. The poor crocuses that never really saw light. Yeah, winter in Albuquerque is NOTHING like that. And we like it that way.

How’s your winter been? What’s it done for your rug hooking or any other art you might practice? Let’s all hold our glasses high to toast spring when it (officially) arrives next week.

Special thanks to all those who saved their plastic bags for me, especially you, Mary Ramsey. Without your pinks and turquoises and oranges and purples, the drought would’ve been far worse. 🙂

January 10, 2018

When you fall, you better get back up

After the fall, a cast for Christmas. — Santa, you really shouldn’t have…

When you fall, you just have to get back up no matter how much your wrist and your ass hurt.

Okay, if you follow on Facebook and/or Instagram – and I strongly encourage that you do – you probably know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, let me clue you in.

After my last blog post w-a-y back on December 12 (where I shared how one of my rugs, barring director cuts, will be performing in the TV show Better Call Saul), I took a few weeks off to enjoy the holidays. Having a little time, I figured that I’d get my ice skates sharpened and perhaps, finally, after about four years off the ice (because the blades were much too dull and, frankly, dangerous to skate on), take a turn around the rink. Being from New England, I’ve done most of my skating on ponds, but out here in the desert, you find a rink. There are only two in the ABQ area.

Maybe I should’ve trusted that they were sharp enough. Tom was waiting for me, albeit in a comfy patch of sunlight on a couch in the entrance area. He can nap anywhere. All it would’ve taken was a couple of laps around the rink to know they were sharpened just fine. But, as in many things, I’m enthusiastic. So there were some back cross-overs and a few little hops. It had been four years, but I was doing pretty well. Till I wasn’t.

Ice skater takes a fall — So, in this photo you can see how I fell on both my ass and my right wrist. I admit that I was probably showboating a bit wearing a dress on a weekday morning. (It’s amazing how much Sasha Cohen looks like me in this pic.)

My sister-in-law texted me afterwards: Old people don’t skate. Oh, but 53-year olds do! And I got back up and skated some more. I was not going to let those other younger and less proficient skaters think that I’d hurt myself skating…more enthusiastically than they had. Besides falling is part of the game! Did you not observe all those “professional” folks eating ice during the National Figure Skating Championships last week? Then I fell again. On the same wrist. A couple more limpy turns around the rink, and I headed out to Tom and my shoes.

No, I did NOT tell him how much my wrist hurt. Truly, I figured that, given my arthritis, I could probably shake it off (like I do every morning). Besides, we had a party to go to that evening. Where much merriment was had; I headed to the urgent care and then the orthopedist early the next morning. Where they they gave me an early Christmas present, a nice, baby-blue cast.

Wrist brace after the fall — And how it looks today. Kind of steampunk or Borg, don’t you think? It’s better than a cast, though in the house I prefer a smaller, more flexible brace. Much better for hooking and such.

Actually, they couldn’t tell if the wrist was broken but, because of the bone involved, for two weeks had to treat it as if it was. Lucky me. Here’s a short list of the things I do with my right hand/wrist/arm combo: write; shift my car; type; hook; crochet; brush my teeth, shave my legs; cut and chop my food… While I did find a way to hook, shift, and shave some, Tom valiantly took up my slack. What a great husband I have! He didn’t even complain about the crankiness, though he did snark a fair bit about my skating prowess and age. 😉

Friday, we found out that my scaphoid bone is NOT broken. Woohoo! It just hurts like hell with certain movements. But I’m being good as I settle back into writing a legible grocery list, crocheting a shawl, and hooking (!!!) a new project – more on that later, but I’ve included a pic. I’ll hold off on the ice skating till the wrist and my tailbone have fully healed. Tom threatens to bubble-wrap me.

Now that I’ve disclosed my own tale of stupidity and triumph – I did get up and skate on not once but twice – feel free to share yours here. But before you do that, head to your closet. Do you have any quality purses in there that you don’t use anymore? You know, the kind with brand names. I need them. Bad, but for a really good cause. I’ll tell you more about that next week. Now run to your closet and check…

Hooked rug. — “What’s on the frame” this week will be clarified in the coming weeks. And Tynan will be back too. Stay tuned!

PS: A BIG shout-out and thank you to Mary Jane Peabody of Mary Jane’s Rugs for including not just my rug and thoughts in her New Year’s post, but those of a few other hookers as well. If you haven’t seen the post yet and are in the mood for a little rug porn, head over to Mary Jane’s website. (But NOT Cathy Kelly; you aren’t allowed to see the page for a few weeks. Trust me. 🙂 )

September 27, 2017

Summer colors’ last gasp = Inspiration

INSPIRATION

Being the fourth Tuesday of the month, yesterday was one of the Adobe Wool Arts Guild’s demo days (we’re there the 1st and 4th Tuesdays) at Albuquerque’s Biopark, specifically the Botanic Garden. And although it clouded up and eventually rained, the morning was gorgeous: blue sky, cool, crisp. The colors in the gardens sparkled. I felt a need to pull out my phone and grab a few shots before the flowers all disappear into the chill of fall and winter.

When I got home, I headed into my own yard to record the colors of late September. Like the hummingbirds, most will be gone within a few weeks.

pumpkin colors — It may be the last gasp for summers’ colors, but it’s just beginning for pumpkins’ oranges, greens, and even blues!

Regardless of color, life goes on. Here at High on Hooking, we’re readying for a third show in less than two weeks. Sunday is the OffCenter Folk Art Festival at Robinson Park in downtown Albuquerque. Lots to do before that! I’ve sold out of all double mug rug sets and most of the singles. I’ll finish up another three singles in the next couple of days. Meanwhile I’m starting a double. Or maybe it’ll be a quadruple…

Anyone showing up to the OffCenter Folk Art Festival to buy a rug will get 10% off if they mention this blog post! Hope to see you.

dog and rug — Tynan took a couple of weeks off, but he’s back with “What’s on the Frame?” That would be the double (or perhaps quadruple) mug rug that won’t be ready for sale this weekend. But there’s always November’s events (more on them later!) or even the Internet. Careful of those pins, dude!

September 20, 2017

Picking grapes and making friends

Sunday Tom and I tried something new: picking grapes destined to be bottled up as wine by Casa Rodeña right here in Albuquerque. The winery offers an interesting list of “extra curriculars” to members and the public, things like yoga and Pilates in the barrel house, french lessons, even networking for professionals (folks with jobs, not wine-drinking pros).

Earlier in the month, I’d received an email inviting us (and anyone else on the mailing list) to pick grapes on the property and then enjoy a meal and wine. Sounded good to both of us. Apparently to plenty of others as well; there was a l-o-n-g waiting list.

Bring a hat and sunscreen! Wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.

They weren’t kidding. Hey, it is New Mexico, the high desert. Plus we’re at an altitude of about 5000 feet. The sun’s muy fuerte. While Tom – being Lebanese – is swarthy and tans at the drop of a hat, I am not. In fact, I’m the perfect melanoma storm: pale skin, red hair, lots of freckles. Hence, I do NOT leave the house without plenty of SPF 50 or higher sunscreen on this body.

Not so promptly at 9:10 or so (New Mexican time is often like Caribbean time), they gather us together to give the pep talk. Casa Rodeña was once again, seventh time in a row, voted best winery in the Albuquerque area. Not surprising; it’s the best we’ve found here. Could easily hold its own in Napa or Sonoma. Don’t worry about the bees. They’re just interested in the juice. And we’re screwed without them! Amen, but a lot of those “bees” looked suspiciously like yellow jackets. Amazingly, none of us we’re stung (or bitten). There’s a romance in grape-picking. And it’s good that we’re doing something slow, even old-fashioned in this digital, always go-go-going age. (I’m paraphrasing.) I couldn’t disagree with that assessment. Besides, the whole thing ends in wine. That’s romantic enough for me. It’ll take us a good three to four hours. By 10:30, you’ll be wondering when it will end. Picking grapes is WORK. Yes, yes, it was. With all those capital letters, it most definitely was WORK.

For some reason grapes prefer to grow low on the vine, like way down towards the ground. Okay, it didn’t help that I’d blown my lower back out earlier in the week. Saw the chiropractor who told me to keep moving. That worked fine till I stretched after being on the recumbent bike Friday. Tom: You think it might be too much for you? We were to pick grapes at a winery. Then have free food and wine. My thought: If you’re gonna drown, go for the deepest water you can find.

So, we picked. And we ripped the leaves off the vines to expose the grapes. They couldn’t hide! And we picked some more. Get hungry? Eat some grapes, but keep picking. (Okay, they had water bottles and some snacks.) For a long time, Tom and I worked the same row of vines. Me, being the more anal one (for this activity), I worked long and hard on my vines. No grape was going un-picked. There was a lot of crouching. Eventually, though, it was easier to just sit on the ground. We were all getting dirty.

And then…there were no more grapes to pick! Lunch time! Hot and sweaty, I just wanted some water, which was readily available. I downed that puppy in no time, and we made our way over to where parties and weddings and such are held. A band played jazz. We found the food and wine lines and collected our reward.

Where to sit? Seats and tables were at a bit of a premium, but, you know, at events

Making friends and stomping grapes…with Susan on the right.

like this one, fellow workers become friends. We sat down with another couple. He was mellow, and she was a little bit rowdy…much as myself. Sure, it was a little difficult to talk over the music, but we managed. Turned out Susan’s a technical writer, and Jerry’s an artist. We hope to dee them again sometime soon.

There was wine, talk, music, more wine, and much fun. Susan even managed to get me into the tank to crush grapes à la Lucy (enjoy below). Despite my sore back – I went back to the chiropractor Monday – Tom and I will definitely be back at work picking grapes next year.

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September 13, 2017

Why do we sell?

Why sell the mug and rug? — The hot, hot, hot of summer’s giving way to the heat of roasted chiles and sunflowers. Fall’s coming. Are you ready?

It’s September, the time that many of us consider the real New Year. You know, when you get back on a more regular schedule, stop drinking (as many) margaritas, and think more serious thoughts, like am I freaking crazy trying to sell hooked rugs in this day and age? I mean, most people that show up at my booth don’t even know what the hell they’re looking at. Is that weaving? (We are in New Mexico.) Hey, I did that in the 70s… And rugs aren’t usually the cheapest item up for sale at the fair or market or wherever they’re being sold.

My summer sale season started out very well. Sold a big rug right out of the gate. First weekend at the Rail Yards was good too. Then there were a few weeks of…nothing. Didn’t happen that way last year. Fortunately, it’s picked up lately, and finally going the Instagram way has helped too. One of my rugs will soon be winging its way north to Washington all because someone saw a pic and looked up my website. Woohoo! Actually, I like Instagram. Lots of pretty pictures and little typing.

Sold rug! — “New Mexican Sun” (8″x8″; wool, alpaca, recycled clothing, ribbon, sari) will soon be on its way to Washington state.

So, why do we do it? Why do some of us try to sell our hooked rugs? In my case, the rugs were building up. They cost money to make, so I thought why not try to recoup some costs. To actually make money would be gravy. Of course, if one takes into account the TIME it takes to make a rug, I’m actually paying to make the damn things. But that’s okay. That’s the point, in fact. Whether I sell them or not, I’ll make them because hooking is a passion. And I really like making all kinds of rugs – even mug rugs – especially when I can switch it up all the time. One week it’ll be mug rugs, the next some larger, arsty-fartsy thing. It’s about the creativity.

Okay, and rug hooking lets me watch my television shows without falling asleep in my chair.

The reality is that I like hanging at art shows and markets. If I wasn’t a vendor, I’d be there buying things. At least manning the booth keeps my Visa bill down. Even better, I get to chat up all kinds of folks and spread the gospel of fiber arts. Sure, if I’m having a tough day and folks just aren’t stopping by, there’s a snarky inner monologue that starts going through my brain, but at least I have a purpose. And, hey, I feel just like all the other artists there.

And to that effect, for anyone who’s going to be in the Albuquerque general area (you know, within a couple hundred miles), besides my final two Sundays at the Rail Yards (September 24 and October 15), I’ve been accepted into three other fall shows.

Saturday, September 23 – Mama’s Minerals 12th Annual Arts and Crafts Show
Did this one last year with friend and guildmate Cathy Kelly. Glad they moved it to the fall (from August). Lots of vendors and a big crowd are guaranteed. Albuquerque.
Sunday, October 1 – OffCenter Folk Art Festival
Have shopped this one and really enjoyed it. Especially the giant puppet parade! (You’ll have to come see it yourself.) Robinson Park in Albuquerque.
Friday, November 16 – Sunday, November 18 – Fall Fiber Fiesta, 2017
This is the one that I’m really quite proud to have been juried into. Sure, I’ve taught a class at EVFAC, which organizes the show, but you never know what with all the fab fiber artists who live in the area. It’s a big show, and it takes place in Santa Fe at the Scottish Rite Temple. Friday evening is a meet and greet with the artists; the show-proper runs Saturday and Sunday. Not sure how I’ll handle the commute yet, but that’s a question for another day.

Tynan presents “What’s on the frame” today. I can’t help but feel the season – even when it’s 90+ degrees in the desert. The leaves are already turning in the Bosque! Anyway, this is a double mug rug. The mugs have tree forms on them. That’s all. Why not a landscape rug hooked with all kinds of fibers? The trees are Ultrasuede!

Tell us, if you’re a hooked rug vendor (the rugs, not the raw materials), why do you pop a tent and try to sell your wares?

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