Category: experimentation

March 20, 2023

First day of spring and the rest of 2023!

Welcome to the first day of spring! Not that it’s felt that way here in Albuquerque. It’s been in the 40s and raw the past few days. Very unusual, though we have had some warmer, blustery days for sure this month. And the rain (and snow last week) is always welcome given our drought situation.

You might’ve seen on the WELCOME page of my website, I’ve had a crazy, busy winter. My plan in January had been to extract myself from some of my “busy-ness” so that I could spend more time on my own art and explore the various ideas rolling around my head. I come up with so many plans in the shower (where I think best); then my day starts and the plans are lost. Now winter has come and gone. I refuse to lose the spring too.

Fortunately for me on this first day of spring, of renewal, I get a helping hand. Sketchbook Revival starts today. It’s a FREE, almost two-week long, online program of workshops designed to “help you feel inspired, energized, and revived.” Founder Karen Abend invites artists from all over the world to teach each workshop. Two are offered each day. You can do all of them or skip one here and there as you choose. If like me, you find life interrupts and you miss a class, you can access everything for a couple of weeks after the last workshops are published. That also means that you can join the program after it begins. And if you don’t have all the recommended supplies, no worries. You can wait a day or just use whatever you have on hand. If you’re interested, find info HERE.

By the way, I’ve written about Sketchbook Revival before. Find that post HERE. And it goes without saying, the more I play in my sketchbooks, the more likely I am to come up with interesting hooked art.

Two dogs with hooked art wish you happy spring — Tynan and Bowyn present WHAT’S ON THE FRAME this week. And they wish you HAPPY SPRING!

In that vein, I started a new piece the other day. It’s small, as I’m not sure how well it’ll look on the monk’s cloth. Hell, I don’t even have a good picture of it in my head! But it’s all about experimenting and process for me. Well, mostly. Like everyone, I like to like what I create. LOL. Tynan and Bowyn present it in the photo.

A word about Tynan. He’s really slowed down this past fall and winter. His deafness is profound, and he’s rather wobbly, but he’s still enthusiastic about his food, any food really. Thank goodness for doggie diapers, though in his presence they are “man wraps.” The good thing is that next week he celebrates his 15th birthday. Watch for him and his celebration on our social media.

How are you celebrating spring?

January 4, 2023

The Angel of 2023

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.

Fiber art, ANGEL OF 2023, SHE PRAYS FOR RAIN — THE ANGEL OF 2023, SHE PRAYS FOR RAIN
Hooked (various fibers) and embroidered (bamboo yarn and cotton embroidery floss) on 4×4 monk’s cloth; mounted on a black canvas.

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.

December 30, 2022

Here’s to a maker’s 2023!

2023 is right around the corner!

Hooked art: FIRE WORKS — Happy 2023! FIREWORKS (repurposed t-shirts and sparkly ribbon on monk’s cloth)

My plan for this week between Christmas and the New Year has been to do the things I WANT to do rather than HAVE to do. (The last couple of months planning Workshop Week 6 and handling some other things – like LIFE – were exhausting.) Things I wanted to do include the usual end of the year review and, more importantly, making plans for the coming 2023.

Gotta say I’ve been a little lazy on all accounts. Also, the final holiday rush took its toll physically. I’ve been mostly lying low the past few days: started a novel, doing Sudokus, and working on a new hooking project. Going through my piles and drawers and closets to organize and dispossess hasn’t happened. Yet. I still have a couple of days, especially given that it’s a long weekend. Watch for that ANGEL OF 2023! She’s a little late this year, but she’ll make an appearance by January 1.

I didn’t feel up to a detailed post mortem on 2022. Sadly, the end of the year brought with it a flurry of deaths in my little part of the universe. Nonetheless, like everyone, my 2022 brought some downers and some nice pluses. Teaching in Tennessee at the Shakerag Workshops was right up there. If you have a chance to participate – as a teacher or a student – I highly recommend the experience. A couple of articles I wrote were published in Rug Hooking Magazine. There were art shows and festivals here in Albuquerque and in Other Places, New Mexico. In the fall I made it out to Seattle to visit the kid. With a little luck, Tom and Bowyn, and I will make a road trip there in 2023.

What about the coming year? In 2023, I’d really like more time to myself, time to explore my making. Certainly, I look forward to teaching and sharing how others can get in on this calling of rug hooking and other fiber arts, but I need to carve out time for myself to sit in one place and ponder and experiment without distraction. I find it really easy to administer, to volunteer, to vacuum (ew!), to do anything but make the things I’ve seen in my imagination. Busy-ness, a need to feel needed, and the concomitant exhaustion – they can kill an art practice. I see it in others, and all it leads to is regret.

Hooked art/rug — What I’m losing myself in tonight. NO NAME as of yet (repurposed t-shirts on monk’s cloth)

So, my big goal in 2023 is: SOLITUDE. Not that I plan on blowing anyone off. I’m a très social being who has a hard time saying NO. But it’s time for a little me-time. (Being Catholic and Irish, I know I’ll apologize for that all year.)

My New Year’s wish is that you too carve out some solitude for yourself and your art, your gaming, your reading, whatever it is that you can lose yourself in. Happy 2023!

November 23, 2022

The Art of Motherhood

We’re all affected in some way by motherhood…

Book cover: The Art of Motherhood: Our Lives in Colour and Shadow

I know I’m late to the party congratulating Karen Miller of Ontario on the release of her new book The Art of Mothering: Our Lives in Colour and Shadow, but I will NOT be the last, I guarantee you.

Karen’s book, published by Rug Hooking Magazine, came out in October. I think I received my copy in early November. Unfortunately, I’ve been très busy the past month, so I’ve only been able to scan through it thus far, but with the holidays almost here, I’m hoping to sit down soon and pore over it – no interruptions!

It’s a beautiful book, certainly, filled with all kinds of art. It’s vivid and colorful as it shines a light on how female artists have dealt with not just the topic of motherhood, but its actuality.

From the back cover:

Motherhood has been the richest experience of Karen Miller’s life. It has also inescapably changed her life trajectory: her career path, her energy levels, her commitments, her time, her marriage. It has affected everything. Join Karen as she and 21 contributing artists lift the lid on motherhood and peer inside to examine the reality of their lives through textile arts.

The Art of Motherhood: Our Lives in Colour and Shadow illuminates the feelings that so few of us talk about – but so many of us feel – as we navigate the journey that is motherhood.

Hooked art — “Rejection,” 14′ x 17.5″, hooked on monk’s cloth with wool strips and yarn, is one of my pieces in Karen’s book.

Karen’s known for a long time that being a mother hasn’t always been the best of experiences for me, so when she asked me to contribute to the book, I jumped at the chance. It’s always stuck up my craw sideways that women rarely feel comfortable being honest about motherhood and what it does to us. Even in a group of just women! How dare we speak up about not feeling quite like the Madonna and her perfect Child. News flash: I’m no Madonna and it took a lot of alcohol to get through my only kid’s high school years. (Those years made the previous 14 look like an f-ing picnic.) But after fertility problems and two miscarriages over two years, no one wanted a kid as much as I did. And I have no regrets. (Most of the time.)

That’s the kind of candid crap you’ll find in this book though in a much more eloquent form, LOL. And LOTS OF FIBER ART, hooked and otherwise. If you’re a mom or know a mom or ever had a mom, get thee online to order this book. It’d make a kick-ass and thoughtful Christmas or other type of gift. I promise. You can order from RHM HERE. If you’re in Canada, contact Karen through her website.

PS- Not all moms are biologic. And mother figures count as moms.

FYI-
Below is a list of the Instagram handles of all the artists who, in some way affected by motherhood, contributed work to Karen’s truly excellent book. Check out their work.

Karen Miller: @karendmillerstudio
Nadine Flagel: @pretextstudio
Meryl Cook: @merylcook
Laura Salamy: @highonhooking
Emily van Lidth de Jeude: @emilyvanartist
Jane Smith: @blogginthebay
April Deconick: @aprildeconickart
Linda Friedman Schmidt: @lindafriedmanschmidt
Rachelle Leblanc: @rachelle_leblanc_art
Trish Johnson: @trshjhnsn
Patti Colen: @woollycronedesigns
Alexandrya Eaton: @alexandryaeaton
Michelle Kingdom: @michelle.kingdom
Carmen Bohn: @carmenbohn_art
Elizabeth Miller: @northatlanticfiberarts
Ellen Skea Marshall: @twocatsanddoghooking
Amy Meissner: @amymeissnerartist
Michele Micarelli: @michelepmicarelli
Linda Rae Coughlin: @lindarae_coughlin
Sayward Johnson: @saywardjohnson
Lori Laberge: @lorilabergeart
Karen Larsen: I don’t believe Karen is on Ig but she is on fb

And to everyone in the US, mother or not,

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

October 13, 2022

The artists are angry; they’re PROTESTING!

Of course, they’re angry; they’re protesting!

That’s what I told a friend last Friday night at the opening reception for PROTEST: SEE Something, Say Something at Fusion in downtown Albuquerque. (More info HER E.) It’s a good, meaningful show, filled with all kinds of media and messages. Rightly so, with protesting as a theme, they aren’t always pretty.

Sheela Na Gig, hooked art piece — Sheela Na Gig is a Celtic symbol. I’ll let you read about her and how she was and now is used for protests **HERE**. (Hooked on cotton monk’s cloth with mostly old t-shirts and a bit of silk sari ribbon; embellished with glass beads.)

As I mentioned on social media after posting pics of my two pieces, I was sorry not to get more and better photographs, but I had to leave early. All Friday I’d battled a migraine; finally, the nausea and fatigue got the best of me. I didn’t feel better till Monday/Tuesday. Nonetheless, I encourage all the local readers to make their way to Fusion one afternoon or evening to see what the (protesting) artwork really looks like and to see it all.

Hooked art, THE MIGHTY ONE, THE ANGEL OF @)@@ — Later every year, I create an angel for the following year. This was THE MIGHTY ONE, THE ANGEL OF 2022. (Hooked with old t-shirts, repurposed gold lamé, and plastic bags.)

Felted artwork for PROTEST show — TURTLE ISLAND SIEGE by Patricia Halloran (Patricia had some cool things in the **FABRIC OF NEW MEXICO SHOW**.)

TORN BUT STILL WAVING by **Elizabeth Potter** (paper art)

WHOSE BODY IS THIS? artwork for Protest show — WHOSE BODY IS THIS? by **Maria Jonsson** (vintage dress form and acrylic paint)

BIG PHARMA SERIES #4, 5, 6 — BIG PHARMA SERIES #4,5,6 by **Martin Terry**. Martin is also the curator of this show.

From BIG PHARM SERIES #1, 2, 3 # — Close-up of part of BIG PHARMA SERIES #1, 2, 3 by Martin Terry

GET WOKE artwork in PROTEST show — GET WOKE by Paula Steinberg (upcycled chair, acrylic/oil on wood and vinyl)

SHE PERSISTED by **Betty Busby** (Dunicel, felt)

THE HISTORY OF BEARING CHILDREN, text by **Jacqueline Murray Long**, visual art by Martin Terry

Poem in PROTEST show — This is a more easily read photo of the text by Jacqueline Murray Loring. Another piece by a different artist accompanied this artwork. Visit the show to see it. (My photo didn’t come out.)

If you’re looking for a thought-provoking show, one that will let you see the outrage, the anger about so many things going on in our world today, come see the work by artists who are protesting at Fusion in Albuquerque. Maybe we all need to start protesting.

Protest Art show poster