In-Person Workshop May 20, at EVFAC/NMFAC!
If you live in central or northern New Mexico or will be visiting later in May, and you’ve wanted to learn to rug hooking, now is your chance! I’ll be running a class up in Española at the Fiber Arts Center on May 20, 1:00-5:00 PM. Registration info can be found HERE. Any questions, please give me a yell at Laura@highonhooking.com.
Hope to see you there. I promise that we’ll have a truly excellent time hooking rugs and saving the environment!
Sadly, the day after Easter, Covid darkened the Salamy home. Unfortunately, that also meant that three of our holiday dinner guests received a “souvenir,” and I’m not talking leftovers. Thankfully, they’ve all tested negative again this week. Tom and I, however, are still stuck at home with a case of rebound Covid. Seems like double jeopardy to me. At least, this week’s been more like a bad cold with congestion and runny noses rather than the sore throat, chills, and terrible fatigue of earlier in the duration.
The worst thing was that first week when I couldn’t really concentrate on anything. Forget hooking and the Yearlong Environmental Stitching project (YESP). Because I thought I had plenty of time till Sketchbook Revival 2023 closed on April 20, I’d held off doing all the sessions, planning on a leisurely pace. Yeah, that didn’t happen either. The sweater I’ve been crocheting. Nope. No books started or finished either.
But this week’s been different. I’ve actually gotten some things done and even attended a meeting on Zoom. I started a new novel and am almost halfway through it. I’ll finish the second sleeve on the sweater tonight. The Sketchbook Revival workshop I was most looking forward to didn’t involve a sketchbook at all but was about stitching! Emma Freeman presented MAKE SLOW STITCHED WABI SABI FABRIC SCROLLS. Most happily, mark-making comes in many forms as does experimentation.
No hooking’s happened in two weeks, but not just because of Covid. The reality is that I was bogged down on a project that wasn’t working the way I anticipated, so it’s back to the drawing board to rethink it or another design.
Meanwhile tomorrow is Earth Day, something I always try to celebrate in some fashion or another. Taking environmental care is one of the main bases of my artwork be it upcycling all kinds of textiles for hooking or scavenging the news for stories to represent in the YESP. What I find saddest about our troubled natural environment is that we have the technology to do something about it; we just lack the communal and political will. And for that coming generations will suffer. USA Today had a article about what 2050 could be like. Sadly, I fear it’s more of a pipedream than anything else.
Nonetheless, a girl can hope even if she lives in the desert during a prolonged, 30-year drought. In the meantime, I’ll try to take shorter showers and use less paper towels. Some habits are difficult to break, I know. But till this Covid thing exits my house, I guarantee that the tissues will keep piling up .
Keep yourself and our shared environment healthy!
Celebrating Earth Month with the Yearlong Environmental Stitching Project!
As many know, a main focus in my artwork, particularly hooking, is to bring attention to the state of our shared environment. Globally, locally too, it’s not in great shape. Between crazy-ass storms, drought, rising temperatures, air and water pollution, too much trash and waste, etc., etc., we’re suffocating ourselves and other forms of life here on earth. (Though I understand that cockroaches and kudzu are still doing quite well.)
If you’re reading this, I won’t bother preaching to the choir. You’re already aware of the problems. And you’ve probably heard me pontificate or at least share various posts on my social media. A note, my initial career was in environmental regulatory management for industry. I’ve had plenty of time to think about what we put in and on this planet of ours.
More than wool, I create hooked art using different types of old textiles that I find in Savers (my local thrift store) and am gifted. They can include old t-shirts and other clothing, curtains and bedsheets, and so on. It makes me feel good to tell people what the art they’re fondling is made of. Kids especially love to see and touch recycled t-shirt rugs.
In 2020, I spent the WHOLE YEAR hooking and stitching the Ribbon Rug Journal (RRJ). Not familiar with it? You can read about it HERE. Given the nature of 2020, I had plenty of time to sit down every single night to log in that day’s entry. Still I was psyched that I made it to December 31. And really ready to move on from the project given the time and energy it took. It’s since been the subject of an article I wrote for Rug Hooking Magazine and hung in two exhibits.
Fast forward to late 2022. Surprisingly, I was itching for another yearlong endeavor, preferably something with meaning from the get-go. (When I started the RRJ, I had no idea that 2020 would be the “special” year that it became.) I wasn’t looking to hook something every day; that’s what my regular projects are for. Besides, Tom begged me not to have to work on something every night. So, I pondered…
Meanwhile, like most everyone else, during 2020 and 2021, I took online classes and became more interested specifically in hand-stitching. In fact, I incorporated stitching into the RRJ because some things, like letters, were easier to do on the burlap ribbon than hooking. I made a Kawandi quilt and was pretty proud of myself. I also did more sketching with the likes of Sketchbook Revival.
I’m not interested in fine drawing or fussy embroidery, but something more basic. To share a thought, make a memory, the stuff of journaling.
Last year too, while on a hunting trip to Savers, I came across a large, linen curtain panel from Ikea. It’s a beautiful, pale green. Come the end of the year, it was just sitting there, waiting for me to formulate an idea. Which I finally did. The color is a great earth color. And I kept seeing and reading more and more environmental stories. Ah ha! I decided on the Yearlong Environmental Stitching Project (YESP): I’d stitch using an environmental theme throughout 2023.
I’m still not enthused by the title so that might change. And to avoid burnout – my own and the husband’s – I don’t work on it every day. In fact, throughout Sketchbook Revival 2023, the whole thing has sat on the dining room table. Really, it could also be a tablecloth; it’s big enough! As I scan the newspaper and news online each day, I collect stories. Some are pretty horrific, I’m not going to lie. Like the recent report from the UN about humanity’s closing window of opportunity to affect climate change, that our current investment and funding for adaptation to that change are completely insufficient, especially in and for developing countries. Never mind that the US electrical grid is heading for a total meltdown. But there’s good news too. Biden created two new national monuments here in the Southwest. Then there’s the woman in Britain who got so fed up with her town’s lack of recycling that she decoded to take care of it herself. And all kinds of folks joined her. I need those kinds of stories; otherwise the whole project would depress the crap out of me.
I keep all the stories in a file folder and pull one out when I’m ready for a new entry. Having learned from the RRJ, once I finish a stitching, I record it and pertinent info in a written journal. I photograph it too. That way, in January, I won’t wonder what the hell I stitched. Also, the only thing I can purchase for this project is embroidery floss. Everything else has to come from what I already have or am given.
While this won’t be quite as entertaining as the nightly RRJ postings were, I hope that you join me on this yearlong journey. Hey, it’s less than nine months now. Somehow busy-ness and my own winter inertia kept me from getting this all written up, though I have been posting on my Instagram and Facebook accounts all along. Sadly, it’s a constant fight against the cult of busy-ness in this culture. Even when your kids have left home and you don’t have a regular paying job. Also my ability to multitask isn’t as honed as it used to be. (Thank goodness!)
How do you cope with climate change and all that the environment’s throwing at us these days? Any good plans for Earth Day?
The ANGEL OF 2023: SHE PRAYS FOR RAIN
Every year – usually in the late fall – I create an angel for the coming year. See 2022, 2021, but not 2020; not sure where she went.) This year I was a little tardy and finished her up on January 1. Given everything HOLIDAY going on and the passing of another year, I’m thinking that I’ll keep this schedule from now on. It gives me a break after festivals, sales, and late fall teaching.
In my fiber art practice, I focus on reuse and repurposing, especially of textiles of all kinds. Better to use something than let it fall into landfills. Sadly, this is particularly the case in this time of fast fashion and its concomitant waste. I will never run out of raw materials for my work.
At the same time, I live in the American Southwest, a land still wildly beautiful but suffering from a megadrought. You’ve all seen the pics of Lakes Mead and Powell. No need to repeat it here. Our uncompromising thirst for water and other resources has brought us here. Truthfully, I don’t think that much will change, but if it’s going to, WE better get to it right quickly to help with water and all of our other environmental crises.
In the meantime…SHE PRAYS FOR RAIN.
IN THE STUDIO TALKS ON HIATUS AFTER THIS EVENT! DON’T MISS VALERIE CAREW AND KAREN MILLER CHATTING!
Join Toronto artist Valerie Carew as she discusses how she animates household objects such as rugs using photography and performance and how she uses the craft of hand-hooking to express relationships with the natural world.
Engagement with land is a big motivation in Valerie’s artwork. She makes textile wearables and engages with natural environments using immersive role-play. Valerie is interested in exploring the “what ifs” in art making; she tries to use the language of rug fabrication and textile craft to communicate memories and human experience. Her family history and relationships with land are rooted in the settler cultures of Newfoundland and New Brunswick, Canada. Hand hooking rugs is part of the fabric of these cultures. Traditional aspects of rug making, such as material reuse, storytelling, and folklore are referenced and re-configured in her contemporary practice.
You can find tickets for this talk HERE.
About Valerie Carew:
Valerie Carew, she/her (Toronto, Ontario) is an interdisciplinary artist who explores human/land relationships through performance, body based sculpture, installation, painting, and fibre craft practice. Immersive role-play and biomimicry are combined with sculptural rug making to express experiences with land and identity. Valerie’s sculptural works are designed for interplay and physical contact with the human body. She incorporates nostalgia, myth-making, and material transformation to imagine new futures defined by a greater connection to the wild.
You can learn more about Valerie and see her work at www.valeriecarew.com or on Instagram @valerie_carew.
IMPORTANT PLEASE READ:
The Zoom link for this presentation will be emailed to you the day before the talk (or after you purchase your ticket, if you purchase on the day of the event). If you don’t receive it, you can contact the organizer at info@karendmillerstudio.com.
Tickets will be on sale until 10 am the day of the event. After that time you will no longer be able to purchase tickets.
Please note that the time of the talk is 1:00 pm EASTERN.
FAQ’s
* Will this talk be recorded for viewing later?
Unfortunately, no. Due to the logistics involved, we decided some time ago to keep these events live. Hopefully if you can’t make it to this talk, you’ll be able to make it to a future talk.
* It’s the day of the talk and I’m having trouble finding or using the link for the talk. How can I find help?
It is very advisable to LOG INTO THE EVENT A FEW MINUTES EARLY to be sure that you have no trouble with the link, and if you are having trouble the organizer can help you out. You can email or message the event organizer up until one hour before the talk on the day of the talk for help. ONCE THE EVENT STARTS, however, messages and emails are not able to be monitored.
* I’m finding it distracting during the talk seeing all of the other participants on my screen. What can I do?
During the event the organizer will put the screen setting on “spotlight view” so that the presenter is the focus on your screen. Depending on your device, you may still see audience members on your screen and changing your setting from “gallery view” to “speaker view” should help with that.
* What Time Zone is the time of the talk in?
The time indicated on all ‘In the Studio’ talks is the EASTERN (EST) time zone. If you live in a different time zone, be sure to check what time you should tune in to ensure you don’t miss the talk.
*I can no longer make it to the talk. Or, I missed the talk. Can I get a refund?
Unfortunately no- the price of the ticket is so low that it is not cost-effective to refund those amounts. If you are unable to make it to the talk and you already have a ticket, or you forget to attend, please do contact me at info@karendmillerstudio.com. I always offer a ticket to the next talk to make up for it. All of the artist speakers receive a portion of the ticket proceeds so we very much appreciate your contribution to supporting artists!