One of Catherine’s kick-ass “Everywoman Tote Bags.” And what do I use this one for? To carry all my meeting paperwork, of course. Come see all the colors she makes them in at the High Desert Studio Tour Saturday!
Like I mentioned last week, I’m kind of slammed for the next couple of weeks in my own personal Fall fiber frenzy. This Saturday is the High Desert Studio Tour on the east side of Albuquerque. I’ll be at Stop #3 on the map below (if you click, you’ll get a better one) where Dagmar Beinenz-Byrd runs her ZiaWoolz business. Each year she generously offers me space for the event. This year Catherine Wies, another multi-talented Adobe Wool Arts Guild member, will have her wares there too: all kinds of versions of her “Everywoman Tote Bag.” I may have to buy another one to put Dag’s hand-dyed yarn and project bags in. Yeah, I’ll spend more than I’ll ever make. But the goods are all worth it. Plus we have a lot of fun. Stop by!
Meanwhile, I’m busy hooking away for Saturday and next weekend too up in Santa Fe at the Fall Fiber Fiesta. Then there are the meetings: guild (I told you I’m president now, right?); next year’s Fiber Fiesta here in ABQ; the Fiber Arts Council’s Education Committee; the food pantry I deliver to, and Susan’s Legacy. All this with a cold that won’t quit. I swear that between us, Tom and I can incubate it till next spring…
I hate meetings, but they’re a necessary evil for worthy organizations and causes. And if you have any interest in Fiesta or the Fiber Arts Council, click on those links above. Regarding Susan’s Legacy, if you’d like to help women trying to help themselves out of mental health and addiction disorders, see our website. Disclaimer: I’m a Board member, and such troubles have run in my family.
Info on the annual High Desert Studio Tour this Saturday in Albuquerque. More info on the website, www.highdesertliving.net. Remember, three of us will be at Stop #3. Follow the purple balloons!Tynan whores for a treat brings you this week’s “What’s on the frame?” As you can see, there are actually four little rugs on there right now. I’m low on mug rugs which make excellent and unique gifts for the holidays. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Check out our Etsy shop. There may be one or two there right this minute. If not, give a yell and tell me what you need.
Hope to see you this weekend in Albuquerque or next in Santa Fe. Remember: Mention the blog post and get 10% off any rug. It’s part of spreading the gospel of rug hooking and buying handmade this holiday season!
Wayne in front of the Old Town Hat Shop & Accessory Boutique. Nice hat!
This is the time every year that New Mexico is rocking. The Balloon Fiesta is happening, and the state is filled with folks laying eyes on it for the first time. Last week those folks included my college friend Wayne. He arrived late Tuesday, took some down time Wednesday, but was up and at’em come Thursday. Time for me to slip into my tour guide hat.
Thursday we met another New Mexican friend of his in Old Town. We chatted, shopped a little, toured the Rattlesnake Museum, and had lunch of yummy posole. Afterwards we headed over to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center on the other side of Interstate 40.
Meet George. He was running away from the Rattlesnake Museum manager when we got there. You know, he could be an excellent model. I sold my last turtle rug. Maybe it’s time for a “George” rug.
You know, guests give you a chance to look at “your place” with fresh eyes. And that’s a very good thing. I hadn’t been to Old Town in a while, had never eaten in the Hacienda del Rio Cantina. Things do change. Wayne purchased a hat at the same shop, the Old Town Hat Shop & Accessory Boutique, that I bought my own – and my father before that! (Being of Celtic heritage, I am skin cancer just waiting to happen. And yet, I did choose to live in the desert at high altitude, yes.) They agreed to visit the Rattlesnake Museum! I love that place, and Tom still refuses to go back with me. After five years I found myself some willing compadres!
Have absolutely NO idea what this guy’s name is. But he also gives me an idea. I sold my “Bohemian Rattlesnake” rug. Perhaps it’s time for another. Or not.
Like I said, after lunch we decided on the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center for our next venue. Should you make your way to ABQ, this is an excellent place to learn all about the 19 Native
Poem by Simon J. Ortiz in the Indian Pueblo Culture Center. Tell me that doesn’t affect you.
American pueblos here in New Mexico, something I never learned growing up back in Connecticut:
The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center’s museum is the preeminent place to discover the history, culture, and art of the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico. Our permanent collection houses thousands of rare artifacts and works of art, including a world-renowned collection of historic and contemporary Pueblo pottery, as well as baskets, weaving, painting, murals, jewelry, and photographs.
-Indian Pueblo Cultural Center website
Artwork by Ricardo Caté. And, yes, you’re supposed to be laughing your ass off. And maybe crying. You should’ve seen the others! See more info on Ricardo Caté of the Santo Domingo Pueblo.
Famous Loretto Chapel staircase without nails.
Friday was Santa Fe day. Wayne and I had a big breakfast and said “see ya later” to Tom and Tynan who would meet up with us later for a late lunch in Madrid on the Turquoise Trail. Again, I experienced something new. I hadn’t managed to visit the Loretto Chapel with its mysteriously constructed spiral staircase. The story is that when the church was built, they neglected to include a way to get up into the choir loft. The nuns pray and this mysterious stranger comes in and builds the staircase for the nuns then…disappears. Oh, and there are no nails in the thing. You can read more about it here.
A Georgia O’Keeffee painting unlike any others we saw. It’s an untitled (Horse) oil on cardboard (1914).
After that, we made our way to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum which I visited right after moving to New Mexico. It’s always a joy to go there, and this time it was filled with pretty much only the lady’s work. When we went back in 2015, there was a American modernists exhibit. The museum did not disappoint. Afterwards we puttered some, in and out of shops, ending our Santa Fe visit at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi which is just a beautiful and very accessible church. By that, I mean it’s understated, not at all stuffy.
“Paul’s Kachina” (1931) is an oil on canvas.
My absolute favorite O’Keeffe piece that I saw Friday. “Tan, Orange, Yellow, Lavender” oil on canvas. (1959/60) Guess what it is – or at least what it’s based on – and tell me in the comment section below.
And then we were on our way to Madrid to meet Tom for lunch at our favorite place. (That’s Madrid, New Mexico, pronounced mad – like when you’re angry – rid.) I almost always get the same thing, the seared ahi tuna steak sandwich. Who knew you could get seafood like that in the middle of nowhere (read no cell phone coverage). Best tuna I’ve had in the Southwest, bar none. Plus there’s rustic ambiance, good wine, and even a menu for the doggies! The place is Tynan-approved. I highly recommend the Hollar if you get a hankering for eats in Madrid. And even if you don’t. It’s that good. See the menu!
And lastly but not leastly…
Next week we’re off on some travel, our first time back to New England since we moved here. You might remember that we were supposed to do this last year, but there were some, er, technical difficulties. No worries this year. I won’t always have access to my laptop, and I doubt I’ll have time to blog. I will, however, be able to post on Instagram and Facebook, so subscribe to my feeds and keep an eye out for the lovely and leafy (it is fall!) and the weird and wacky. I’ll try to make it entertaining. Happy fall, all! No more AC needed in ABQ! Woohoo!
Instead of my “rug on the frame” this week, we have a finished rug by Adobe Wool Arts Guild member Catherine Kelly. She was the featured artist this weekend at Hip Stitch here in Albuquerque. Cathy hooked this Multicolores(Guatemalan rug hookers cooperative) design in old t-shirts. Nice, hm…
Back to Bordeaux for another week and talking cool statues and sculpture.
Whether you hook rugs or draw or paint or in any way create “stuff,” you’re always on the lookout for other art that just might provide you with some inspiration. At least you should be. In theory. And given that we’re all carrying automatic copying machines around with us (in the form of our phones), there’s really no excuse for not making “graven images” of the things that call to us.
Okay, I admit that I often forget to jot down the artist info or even the name of some of the artworks I see when I’m out and about, but not in a museum or gallery with an identification sign conveniently placed near the object. I had to Google “large head sculpture in Bordeaux” to find out the info above. Enjoy!
That first night walking about the city, we came across the “Monument aux Girondins,” a monument/fountain created to memorialize the local heroes of the French Revolution. The various scenes portrayed seemed almost real in the dark and jet lag after traveling so many hours to get there.
Look at me pondering on how we shall take down that aristocracy and eat their cake.Why, yes, I do see you pondering what this will mean for our future. Do you think that their wardrobes will contain something we can wear? I mean, better than these bedsheets.
I am a mighty steed and have no need for stupid clothing. I am afraid, however, that I have caught a serious head cold.
Forget the Revolution! I fear that we’ve stumbled onto the set of “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Save us, Johnny Depp!
Sorry, sorry! It was the jet lag like I said.
Meanwhile back to real life. These guys were in l’Eglise Collegiale de Saint-Emilion. It’s still a working church though not a monastery any more. Interesting fact we learned: Sincethe Revolution, the Catholic Church no longer owns any of the churches and other buildings in France. It only uses and administers them. Because of such dwindling attendance at Masses in the last decades, the churches do not receive much in the way of collections and support for these marvelous buildings. It’s up to the cities and government to take care of them. It also explains why you can roam at will through them; they are truly tourist sites.
These guys were in the Eglise Collegiale de Saint-Emilion. Never saw anything like them in any of the Catholic churches that I’ve belonged to.
And then there were the carvings in the wall of a wine cellar beneath the medieval village of Saint-Emilion. Who knows when they happened or who made them?
Mon faux-pas! My bad! I neglected to write down the name of the winery who owns this most excellent cellar.
Oops! Sorry about that, Tom. You’re definitely NOT one of the statues, especially carrying those two bottles of wine we purchased.
Okay, this is my most favorite image of the whole trip. I’m assuming it’s Dionysus. I will hook this rug! And I promise that purple will fit in with him somehow.It is all about the grapes in Bordeaux. This is a BIG flower pot.I shall peel these grapes for you, mon cher. Mais bien sûr, we must have another glass of wine.
Okay, okay, I’ll stop now. Instead we’ll leave the statues and the trip behind for this week and head back into reality…
Tynan brings you this week’s “what’s on the frame.” Hm, looks very primitive doesn’t it? Not like what I usually hook. And yet, and yet… More next week!
This is a bridge in Bordeaux, clearly an OLD bridge. I include it under the NATURE category, because the Garonne River is a tidal river. For our boat to go under that bridge, the captain had to have exquisite timing. At low tide.
If you’re a regular reader, then you know that Tom and I took our first really GOOD vacation in ten years in early August. No kid, not even the dog. (Don’t feel bad for Tynan; he had himself a fine time at a guild mate’s “doggie spa.”) Amazingly, neither of us had even been on a plane in five years – when we were scouting out Albuquerque before our move here in 2015. If you consider that this year we celebrated 25 years of marriage, you can see why it was time. So, we headed to Bordeaux, yes, the one in France, and boarded a Viking long boat for a wine cruise. And, yes, it met every expectation that we had.
This is the clearance the boat had emerging from under the bridge in Bordeaux on our way to Cadillac. Thank goodness for a LOW tide.
We saw all kinds of things: vineyards, a big city (Bordeaux), tiny villages, 18th century forts,sculptures, chateaux, and so on. Got lots of pics to share. So many that I blew out my new Dropbox. Guess I have to pare down some. I don’t want to bore anyone, so I’ll post them according to themes. This week we’ll try NATURE.
Ultimately, we cruised along three different rivers near Bordeaux that week. Two met up at at the Gironde estuary not far from the Atlantic coast. Sadly, there were some, but not many, sea and river birds. I never got a good answer as to why that was given the estuary, but it might have something to do with the region’s agricultural practices.
Being in a world-famous wine region, of course, we toured several wineries. There was one which specialized in Sauternes wines – unfortunately, not my favorite, too sweet – but it was beautiful.
Madame La Dinde, a resident of the Sauternes region.
Mind you, chateaux in the Bordeaux area are not at all like those in the Loire valley. While those are about opulence and architecture, the ones in Bordeaux are more about commerce and the making and selling of wine. Often, there’s not a lot going on inside other than rooms for weddings,banquets, and wine tastings. These are real working farms and wineries. To that affect, see who we found at the one in Sauternes.
Colorful pots line the narrow streets of the little port town of Cadillac.More gardens in the medieval town of Saint-Emilion. (My favorite place of the whole trip!)
Those are some very old vines.
Espalier-trained pear trees. Yum!Les raisins étaient partout! Just everywhere as grapes should be in wine country world.
But we didn’t have to be on land to enjoy nature’s bounty.
There was the captain of the Forseti. That was the name of our river boat.
Don’t ask me his name. He was Greek. He had an accent. Isn’t that enough?
Is that not a picture-perfect sunset over the estuary off the Médoc wine region?
Damn, I can get a bunch of posts out of this trip. Next time we’ll talk old buildings or something. I mean, we saw the ruins of a castle from the Middle Ages. You don’t see that every day in New Mexico. Till then, Tynan brings you this week’s rug on the frame.
Tynan presents to you my new “thistle” rug. I started it last week during the workshop that Sharon Smith presented to the Adobe Wool Arts Guild here in Albuquerque. What’s on your frame???
