If you’re into any sort of creative endeavor, I suspect, like mine, you’re eyes are always open trying to find new sources of inspiration. In my case, I find the muse in all sorts of places including:
nature, especially here on New Mexico’s high desert;
On the road to Taos there’s all kinds of inspiration to see.
poetry and other literature;
music;
Pinterest (also a handy place to park stuff I find online);
trade and other art-type books;
the works and designs of others (seen in person at museums and markets as well as online); and
magazines (I have a serious, serious addiction much to Tom’s chagrin).
So, I get all jazzed when I find something new, especially something interactive. Because, of course, I have all sorts of time for new things to do – NOT! Nonetheless, my new inspiration habit-in-the-making is completely worthwhile for a couple of reasons.
First – what am i talking about?
If you’ve liked my Facebook page, you’ve probably noticed that I try to share daily blog posts that I receive from, amongst others, rug hookers and other fiber artists. One of those is written by Kate Gillery of Briar Cottage Studio in Pittsburgh. No, I’ve never met or even corresponded with her, but she creates some nifty punch needle projects, and I know that many of you are into punch needle. Don’t know why, but one day I delved more into her website, noticing a page entitled SKETCHBOOK. Turns out it’s a blog of sorts itself!
In Sketchbook, Kate provides a one-word prompt each day. Here’s today’s:
Daily Challenge
Quick sketch no more than 15 minutes.
First thought that comes to mind from a random word chosen from the internet.
The word today is: TEDDY BEAR
***
Kate also provides a sketch that she herself did; today’s includes a cute, little bear who looks like he belongs in a baby’s nursery.
Second – what am I getting out of this prompt?
Here’s the thing: While I dutifully grab my journal and pen each morning, I don’t necessarily draw anything. Rather, these prompts are pretty much like many I’ve done as writing exercises, take the prompt (be it a word, phrase, photo, whatever) and free-write for fifteen minutes. Or more, if the going is good. Sometimes you might extract a decent story from it all.
Here’s a mug rug set I finished up just yesterday. The mugs are the inspiration. Hm, can I find a mug that inspires a teddy bear rug?
Many of you know that until hooking started filling up so many of my hours, I wrote some fiction, was published in a couple of anthologies, even placed in some contests. I’m also an assistant editor for Fifth Wednesday diligently working (okay, it’s a labor of love, no pay) to find tomorrow’s great new authors. The last year I’ve been trying to make time to write, but failing miserably. Since I found Kate’s prompts, I’ve managed to do some creative writing most days. Woohoo for me! Sometimes I actually do a sketch to go with what I write, but that’s not the point. What’s important is that I’m stretching my mind in a new way – well, really an old way for me – and I’m really enjoying it.
***
That’s it. Simply that I’m enjoying something creative that’s also inspiring me. Take a look at Kate’s page and maybe you’ll find a muse in it too.
If you’re in the mood for hooking, try the Biopark’s Botanic Garden tomorrow between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. As I’ve mentioned before, the Adobe Wool Arts Guild demonstrates our craft/art (that distinction is a discussion for another day) on the first Tuesday of every month. As of last month, we’ve been doing it on the fourth Tuesday as well, same time. Why? you ask. Because WE LOVE HOOKING! And sharing it, of course. Stop by if you’re in the area tomorrow or even next week.
The ladies are ready to answer all your rug hooking and fiber questions when you visit Heritage Farm at the Biopark.
Maybe you’re already really into rug hooking and you’d like to try your hand at another fiber art. Knitting? Machine knitting? Spinning and dying your own yarn for your knitting project? Doll-making? Weaving? Quilting? No matter, we have pretty much all fiber activities covered come Saturday. The Yarn Store at Nob Hill in conjunction with Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Council is holding an all-guild demo day (scroll down the page some) from 10:00 – 4:00 at Immanuel Presbyterian Church (114 Carlisle NE). All ages are invited attend and encouraged to try something new. See the poster below for more info.
Will we see at one of these fabulous fiber events?
The rug that generates the most talk when folks come into my booth at the Rail Yards Market is the one I call “Welcome to New Mexico.” Many of you already know its story; that I started it right before I left Massachusetts late last July to move to Albuquerque. In my mind I’d work on it while the child and I crossed the country on our new adventure. I pictured myself contentedly hooking in motels each night as I decompressed after a day of driving. That didn’t happen once, not even when the kid spontaneously combusted in Scranton, Pennsylvania, when she thought her cell phone died. (I swear that I left at least a year of my life on the side of the highway there…)
No, I didn’t hook at all on the road. First of all, it was difficult just getting our things in and out of my Honda Fit each day. If you haven’t seen one, it’s a tiny car, and I’d packed it to the gills. Truthfully, it was enough every evening to find some dinner, catch up with important emails, call Tom (who was still back in Mass waiting for the movers), and brush my teeth before I fell asleep over my magazines.
The sanity-saving, hit-or-miss rug.
Hence, I started the rug in earnest when the kid and I arrived at the house we were renting till we found our New Mexican castle. (Therapy!) It was designed to be a rug of convenience in that I was using t-shirts in the colors of the high desert and no set design. Old t-shirts in reds, browns, greens, and such are pretty ubiquitous; better, I’d found that Albuquerque had Savers stores. Savers has for years been my thrift shop of choice for used clothing to deconstruct and then hook with.
The hooking was done right quick – by the beginning of September. The finishing would have to wait until we moved (again) and I had more table room. To me it was an alright rug; it served its purpose, certainly, but I didn’t love it. Imagine my surprise when I put it up for sale at the Rail Yards this June. It was the mat that everyone pointed to when they perused my stuff. “Love that!” “Look, it’s got a Zia!” Even, “Hey, Sue, you should buy this one for your office.”
An aside: For those who don’t know about the Zia sun symbol, here is a description from Pueblo of Zia:
The Zia logo is used by the state of New Mexico on both the flag and license plates.
The symbol originated with the Indians of Zia Pueblo in ancient times. It’s design reflects their tribal philosophy, with its wealth of pantheistic spiritualism teaching the basic harmony of all things in the universe. (http://zia.com/home/zia_info.html)
Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised by its popularity. Zia suns are all over the place here: on our license plates, on t-shirts, worked into company logos, and so on. Silly me for thinking it would be seen as touristy or, at best, kind of kitschy. I mean, I’m from New England, but I didn’t have photos of sailboats or lobster statues throughout my colonial home.
A few weeks back a woman came through my booth; she had a marketing background and did a lot of work with arts and/or craft shows. The first thing she told me (after saying that she loved my work, that is) was that I needed to have more Zias. that people would eat them up. And that my mug rug concept should be “expanded,” that I should hook a larger rug, big enough to hold four mugs. That “if I hook it, they will come.” (And, concomitantly, they will pay more.)
What the hell, I thought, Let’s try it. Tom and I ran to Savers a couple of days later (if I go on Tuesdays, he gets me a senior discount of 30%!). There weren’t four matching mugs that would fit the New Mexican bill, but I did find two colored turquoise. Fine, we’d start small-ish. Below is what I came up with (minus one mug for the pic).
“Coffee for Two, NM Style” really came with two mugs. Sold!
Fast-forward to this past Sunday. Everyone loves the “Welcome to New Mexico” rug, but, of course, no one wants to pay for it. (I know the owner-to-be is out there…) Lady comes in, is looking for a gift for her mother. Takes her a while to decide on one with the “perfect” colors that will match her mom’s home. I realize suddenly that I don’t have my Square, that I left it in the car. Tom makes a run for it. Lady walks around the market with her husband while we wait. Tom and she arrive back at the same time. I start to input the info into Square. “Wait!” she says excitedly. “Can I have this one instead? I think she’ll really love this one.” The Zia rug with its matching mugs is $10 more. Of course, you can!
So, I’m about to start making a lot more New Mexican-themed rugs and mats. That’s okay. I find it an interesting challenge to come up with different designs that don’t bore me, that have some panache beyond the typical tourist crap you find in Old Town Albuquerque. But I’m not one to design according to others’ preferences – unless they’re paying for a custom rug, of course. Fortunately, these will tend to be smaller rugs. For myself and my own “artistic sense,” I usually have another rug running, something that’s less work and more…therapy. Right now that’s a bedsheet rug. Pictures will soon be available.
“Desert Gone Wild” is a rug that sold two weeks ago. Color, for me it’s all about the colors.
What about you? What do you like to hook? Landscapes? Geometrics? Portraits? Florals? Realistic versus stylized renderings? I know many love to do seasonal pieces. Me, I love pumpkins and other things fall, but I’m not a lover of Christmas rugs. It takes so long to make one, how can I put it out for six weeks at the most? Weigh in below!
Lucky me – not only did I meet one of the Guatemalan rug hookers, but I got to see the fabulous work that she and her co-op sisters do. Feast your eyes:
Rugs, rugs, and more Guatemalan hooked rugs. All are made of recycled clothing, primarily t-shirts.
This past weekend, Tom and I headed up to Santa Fe’s Folk Art Market. I’d hoped to get there last year specifically to see the Guatemalan rugs, but our house in Massachusetts sold just a few weeks too late, so I had to wait. It was definitely worth it.
It’s all about the colors and those birds, and flowers. What a native sense of design.
For those who don’t know the story, back in 2009, after visiting Guatemala and seeing the rampant poverty and environmental and other challenges women and their families faced, Mary Wise and Jody Slocum decided they had to help. By teaching Guatemalan women the art of rug hooking, they would provide them a means of self-support.
Look at these rugs! While hooking’s not native to this part of the world, the ladies clearly took to it. Some became teachers so as to better spread the “Gospel of Rug Hooking.” Currently, there are 63 women in seven communities taking part. With the money they make selling their mats, they can buy and/or improve their housing, send kids to school, get medical care…
I didn’t get to take one home, but there’s always next year!
I was excited to see the rugs in part because of how they’re made. These ladies can’t just pick up some wool at a local shop. Nope, they up-cycle old t-shirts just like me. Though they do cut their strips wider than I do which creates an even meatier rug than my own. But it’s the colors and the motifs they use in their designs that most impress.
Labels indicating authenticity: Made by the Cooperative of Maya Women Rug Hookers.
Our rugs are unique pieces of art reflective of Maya culture. They are made of 100% recycled clothing sourced directly in our communities. We take our design inspirations from the huipils (traditional blouses) worn by Maya women and Semana Santa alfombras. These [alfombras] are rugs created in the streets of Guatemala during Easter using colored sawdust, flowers, fruit and vegetables.
— taken from literature from Multicolores, the organization formed to support Mary’s rug-hooking initiative and the Cooperative of Maya Women Rug Hookers.
One of the Guatemalan rug hookers: Yessika Calgua Morales..
Artist Yessika Calgua Morales, 22, was manning her booth when I arrived there. It was her first trip to the Santa Fe Market. She did beautifully. Briefly, we talked t-shirts and color. She’s been hooking about 7 years now, and the money she’s made has gone towards her mom’s medical expense, saving for school, and some dentures. And let’s not forget confidence. Learning something new, something alien to your own culture, a culture that’s not always hospitable towards independent women, that’s the BIG pay-off. Go, Yessika!
Tune in next week: Pics and such on the other 159 booths Tom and I saw at Santa Fe’s International Folk Art Market.
Southern Route 4, the Jemez Mountain Trail, somewhere around Jemez Pueblo.
Escaping the city heat was only one of the things on our minds yesterday when Tom and I headed off for a day out. The kid’s been driving us crazy, my RA won’t stabilize, and once in a while I need back-to-nature.
Much as I like Albuquerque, I come from a succession of small towns in Connecticut then Kansas then Connecticut again and then Massachusetts. Albuquerque’s got a population of just over a half million. Sure, it’s spread out – much as most western cities – but that can make for a butt-load of cranky-pants people driving in 104 degree weather.
Soda Dam is a 300-foot long natural dam created by mineral deposits from a hot spring. Very cool.
We’d promised the dog that he could get out too, so northward ho the three of us went. Mountains sounding coolish (compared to here), we headed up the Jemez Mountain Trail, a national scenic by-way, towards Los Alamos. Enjoy some pics!
Welcome to Battleship Rock; it marks the confluence of the Jemez River and San Antonio Creek. Yesterday it also marked the location of a nascent forest fire. Maybe you can see it to the right of the rock. Fortunately, the fire was contained by last night. Especially fortunate as I took the photo standing in the driveway of a YMCA camp, and I could actually hear the kids celebrating someone’s birthday in the mess hall.Vibrantly green conifers all over the mountains.
New Mexico – it’s not all dry desert. We hiked about a third of a mile down to the stream, but my knees opted not to continue on to the hot springs.Really, the only clouds we saw all day.
To come around a curve and find…this amazed Tom and me. It’s the Valles Caldera National Preserve. It’s one of the largest volcanic calderas in the world, about 17 miles in diameter. You might have seen it on the news this week. A woman running a marathon stumbled upon a mama bear and her three cubs. Thank goodness she lived to tell the tale.I loved it up there so much that the next plan is to spend a couple of nights in Jemez Springs when we get a chance. Tynan’s happy; there are a couple of little motels that welcome polite dogs. He can be very polite. As long as we give him lots of snacks.
Will you be escaping the city this summer? Where will you go? What will you do?
