Category: fiber arts

September 6, 2017

When someone buys and then alters your art…

…not only alters your art, but improves it! What to think? Me, I decided that it was great.

WHen someone alters your art and makes it a pillow. — Before: A close-up of the “altered art.”

I sold a small wall-hanging at the Sunflower Festival just over a week ago. Technically, it was of a poinsettia, though it didn’t scream Christmas. (I tend not to hook overtly holiday-ish items; they take so long to hook, I wouldn’t want to put them away after a month.) Indeed, the customer didn’t even recognize it as a poinsettia at first; to her it was an attractive, artsy rug that went well with the colors in her living room. Then she told me what she was going to do with it.

“It’ll make a great pillow to set on my fireplace.”

Very cool, I thought. “Would you send me a photo when you finish it?”

“Of course!”

Nonetheless, I was concerned that when she finally made the pillow, she’d either forget or have lost my card with the email address.

I needn’t have worried. That was Saturday. I think it was Tuesday afternoon when I saw an email with an unfamiliar address pop into my box. The message:

Hi Laura,

I bought your poinsettia at the sunflower festival on Saturday. I turned it into a pillow, stitching a backing from a green fabric remnant I had and stuffing it with poly filling. Here it is in front of our kiva. You can see it has a good home. It is nestled on an afghan my grandmother crocheted about 50 years ago. Thanks for your artistry.

Ada

Someone alters your art and makes it a pillow. — After: The Poinsettia’s become a Poinsettia pillow. Looks nice on the kiva, doesn’t it. Ada told me, too, that the afghan on the right was made by her grandmother 50 years ago. My rug’s in fine company.

Leonard Cohen once stated that “Artists’ intentions mean nothing.” And I agree. Especially if you’re selling your art. Sure, the poinsettia made a nifty wall-hanging or table-topper, but Ada saw it as a colorful pillow perfect for her living room. I’m happy that she was able to take a piece of my art and make it her own as well. And I’m grateful to her for sharing it with me.

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August 16, 2017

Studio construction!

Studio construction ahead!

It looks like it’s finally going to happen. I’m getting a studio. Woohoo! It’s been five months since the child moved out, leaving an empty bedroom. Tom repainted the room last week while I was at my guild’s retreat (what a great husband I have!). So, we should be a go.

The two pics below show what we’re starting with:

Studio construction zone. (That's part of my mobile shop on the right.) — Studio construction zone. That mess on the right is part of my mobile shop.

Studio construction zone. — The soon-to-be studio, otherwise known as a bedroom. Yes, those are t-shirts that were donated to my cause sitting in that laundry basket.

Okay, it’s not a completely empty bedroom. Some of the child’s clothing and her dresser remain here, as her apartment situation is not good for storage. Not a problem. I still have my kick-ass closet.

For those not familiar with my kick-ass closet and laundry room, they’re where I currently store all my fibers (t-shirts, wool, bed sheets, ribbons, etc.) and other rug hooking paraphernalia. I wrote about it here not long after we moved into this house almost two years ago. If you look at those pics, I can tell you that the real estate, while still fabulous, does NOT look like that these days. Between all the hooking I’ve been doing for various sales opportunities and the fact that my RA has been kicking my ass all summer long (thank goodness that my hands don’t take the brunt of it), continued organization has not been taking place. And, frankly, I’ve just got too much stuff. When people hear that you can make art with their old t-shirts, their kids’ and husbands’ old t-shirts, you get gifted a lot. Not that I’m complaining. At all.

Fortunately, we’ve got a room I can use. The closet can take back any overflow. And I can move linens I regularly use to a spot not requiring a stepstool. In the meantime, I need to do some second-hand shopping for furniture and storage units of some kind. A daybed (or a single bed overflowing with comfy pillows) will give me guest room if I need it. I’m really missing the big Ikea shelving units we had in our house in Massachusetts. Of course, Ikea has no presence anywhere in New Mexico. Boo! Now if I can only muster up the energy to head to the many thrift stores here in Albuquerque.

Still working on plenty of hooking, though. Below is the friendship rug I drew up Saturday. Ostensibly, tomorrow I will turn it over to a member of my guild and not see it till sometime next year. Nine of us are participating in the project. We’ll all hook about 64 square inches (8″x8″ or some similar permutation…) of each other’s rugs. The plan is to have a rug for one month and then switch. We’ll see how that goes.

hooked rug pattern — “Wild flowers…for wild women,” reads my friendship rug. (Because we all know how wild hookers can be. Drinking all that tea, listening to all that folk music.) Can’t wait to fill in all that background. Oh, and the letters too, of course.

Last, but not least, I did not forget Tynan or the Boucherouite-esque rug that’s still on the frame. (The friendship rug’s gotten in the way of my hooking.) I’m hoping to finish it by next week.

Dog on hooked rug — I’m loving this “bedsheet Boucherouite” rug. Check out how the orange goes with the other colors. Very fun this one is.

How do you deal with or without a studio? Work strewn all about the house? A hooker’s hide-away (you know, like a man-cave). Share your pics here or on the High on Hooking facebook page.

August 8, 2017

Tynan the High on Hooking dog writes again

Dudes and dudettes, it’s me again, Tynan! This is my family room bed and pillow. I have another set in the bedroom. I do, however, prefer the humans’ beds.

Hey, guys, I’m back… It’s me Tynan the Welsh Springer spaniel who happens to live here in Albuquerque with the High on Hooking chick. She let me have another go at the blog while she’s out playing with her little guild friends for three days. They call it a “retreat.” I knew the whole rug hooking thing was a cult! They use it to get out of the house. Sure, she sleeps here, but she’s gone all day! That means no walkies for me in the Bosque. Instead she goes on the treadmill or does stupid aerobics or something in the house before she leaves. Don’t think I don’t get my revenge. After she leaves, I jump up on the bed. And NOT on the protective blankie on my side. No way, Jose! I sleep on her side and even use her pillow. Ha!

So, I thought I’d tell you a little about myself. As you know, I am a very handsome boy, a Welshie, though I was born in Connecticut, not Wales. I’ve lived with the idiots for nine years now, and I am actually fond of them. If nothing else, they’re a habit. And they do give me treats and take me places like Colorado. I am an only child now that the actual child’s moved out. Oh, the mistress is always threatening to get me a furry little brother, but so far no worries. The master sees to that. (Truthfully, though, I’m not sure he can hold out much longer.)

I thought that perhaps you’d like to see my toy basket. Could be a few more in there, right? You’ll see, however, how much they respect my ability to chew. I’m only allowed to have toys that won’t yield to my bite. Though check out those Nylabones. They aren’t my first. I’ll take these down too. Eventually.

This is my toy box. The tightwads could get me a few more, don’t you think?

Okay, I’m not giving up all my secrets today. It’s always preferable to leave a little mystery, keep’em begging for more. And since she relented and let me write the blog today, I can afford to be magnanimous. You’ll see her current rug, the Boucherouite is what I think she’s calling it, in the photograph below. You’d think she’d be farther along after two whole “retreat” days.

Until I write again, your friend and informer,

Tynan

August 2, 2017

The Stolen pattern

Close-up of “Stolen,” hooked by Catherine Kelly. Beautiful, isn’t it? Love the colors, all the tones.

“Wait till you see my new rug, “Stolen,” guild-mate Cathy Kelly e-mailed me. She also said that I had to wait till it was finished before that happened. Okay. Really, I didn’t think too much about it other than I like to see what Cathy comes up with. She’s very creative, that one. In fact, since I’ve moved to New Mexico and joined the Adobe Wool Arts guild, she’s one of the folks who’s really pushed me to go beyond my own comfort level. And she’s done that just by modeling good, artistic experimentation and enthusiasm and encouraging us all to look beyond rug hooking to: 1) influence our rug hooking and 2) try new things.

Cathy also somehow convinced me to act as the guild rep to Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Council. Sure, sometimes meetings can be a little tedious, but it’s let me meet a whole bunch of people I never would’ve otherwise come to know. Which further led to my joining the board of Susan’s Legacy, a non-profit helping women who suffer co-occurring mental illness and addiction.

So, you see, Cathy’s not just a great artist, but a class-A person and friend. But did that change yesterday when she shared “Stolen” with us at the guild’s usual demo gig at the BioPark? You be the judge. See the pic above of “Stolen.” Definitely an appealing rug.

You might be interested in one of my rugs, hooked years ago (despite the 2014 date); it happens to be hanging in the East Mountain Library in Tijeras, NM. It’s in an exhibit that was offered to Cathy for her work. She generously proposed to hang a couple of my rugs too. Here’s the rug I mentioned:

Stolen patttern — Here’s a close-up of my rug. I designed it as a table runner, and if I gave it a name, for the life of me, I can’t remember it. Guess I’ll call it “Stolen.”

Oh, and did I mention this one that I hooked in 2015, after I arrived in Albuquerque. I think that I was sewing rug binding on it at my very first guild meeting.

Stolen pattern — “Paging Party of Gray” is another table runner, just a little smaller, and it’s definitely not hooked in wool. But perhaps you’re noticing a pattern here? Like it should be called “Stolen”?

Okay, maybe I should mention that several months ago Cathy asked about purchasing the original rug – I use it to cover a small bench in my house. I had to tell her that it’s one of maybe three rugs that I won’t sell, that I actually use in my own house. Then she asked me if I’d draw out the pattern; she’d even try to sell it for me through her own hooking business. I said, “Sure, great idea!” And then I did absolutely NOTHING about it. Even when she reminded me. MY BIG BAD! So, I was thrilled when she hauled out “Stolen” yesterday morning. Laughed my ass off, in fact. Then we fantasized about how rich we could become if we started selling the “Stolen” pattern. Because you all know what a lucrative business rug hooking is. NOT!

That was yesterday’s fun. Regarding the RUG ON THE FRAME this week. I learned a little more about Boucherouite rugs after reading Liz Alpert Fay’s current Textile Art News. In the newsletter she had a story about Kea Carpet and Kilims (New York). The gallery’s Hudson location recently held an exhibit of rugs hooked/tufted by members of the Creative Growth Art Center (Oakland, California). Curious, I clicked on the gallery’s homepage and found…Berber rugs! Including Boucherouites! I learned that these rag rugs only started being made in the mid-20th century, so they’re a new thing. Check them out.

Dog on rug — Tynan presents this week’s **RUG ON THE FRAME**. I’m enjoying the wanna-be Boucherouite. There is **no way** I am capable of being blind to colors and throwing anything in, but it is, after all, a Boucherouite- *influenced* rug, not an actual Boucherouite. ***WHAT’S ON YOUR FRAME TODAY? STOLEN ANY PATTERNS LATELY? 🙂***

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July 26, 2017

Hooking an almost Boucherouite rag rug

Boucherouite rugs are my new passion! Sort of. See, I was going through my Pinterest pins – I put tons of things up on Pinterest for for later use (far more than I’ll ever be able to use) –

looking for inspiration for my next hooked rug and somehow I came across Boucherouite rugs. I must have been in my Indigenous Art folder or something and one thing led to another. Anyway, these rugs are colorful geometrics, very rustic-looking. Right up my alley!

Doing a little research, I found out that the Boucherouite rugs, also called carpets, are woven by Berber women in North Africa (often Morocco). They recycle old textiles and clothing to create one-of-a-kind rugs. Ah…sound familiar? Apparently, they became quite the home decor rage a few years ago. This blog post by Decor8 gave a nice overview back in 2013. (I am sooo behind the times…)

Looking at them, the rugs reminded me of how woven bedsheets hook up, so it seemed a natural extension to draw out something on the monks’ cloth that approximated a Boucherouite. Tynan’s showing you below what I came up with. It’s not a floor rug this time, but a table runner. I’ve got basic colors in mind, and I will use primarily bedsheets, but I plan on making a lot of it up as I go along. Please join Tynan and me on the journey. More next week…

In the meantime, where do you look for artistic inspiration? Favorite sources? Please share them with us in the comment section below.

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