Category: mats

February 17, 2020

Hemming, Hooking, and Punching, oh my!

Here in Albuquerque, we’re hemming, hooking, and punching, oh my!

The hemming part of hemming, and hooking, and sewing, oh my!

HEMMING
The secret project is almost done. The hooking’s complete, but there’s a LOT of hemming to be done, rug binding to be sewn down. It’s been taking a LOT of my time. But if I can finish that and figure how to hang it, I think that I’ll enter it into a fiber show up in Santa Fe to run during the New Mexico Fiber Arts Center (formerly Española Valley Fiber Arts Center) Fiber Crawl in May. Check out the info whether you’d like to be a participant or would prefer to check out the festivities this year.

HOOKING
Cathy and I have one more evening in Santa Fe as artists in residence at the Inn on the Alameda. There’s not been all that much action, but we usually get in a few good chats with a guest or two. Two weeks ago we met a group of ladies who came from all over the US to take a workshop that would teach them how to make clothes from the cloth that they’d woven back at home. They were really into the tactile nature of our hooked rugs. One woman had inherited hooking paraphernalia from a relative and got all hyped visiting us. Another loved the idea of using used clothing, especially t-shirts, and wants to give hooking a try. Alas, she isn’t from here, so she’ll have to find a teacher on her own.

Meanwhile, Friday, a friend of a LeeAnne, an AWAG guild mate of mine, came here for an intro lesson Friday. (Bowyn was a BEAR, wanting desperately to become her new best friend. Ideas of what to do with a dog when you teach in your home? Till he’s trained, that is.) Barbara came last week so that she could attend AWAG’s first hooking retreat of the new year. If you’re in the area of Hope Church on Juan Tabo in Albuquerque Wednesday or Friday, 10-3, we cordially invite you to stop by. If hooking’s your thing, bring that. Knitting, embroidery, whatever, we’re happy to have you. (FYI, Thursday, we’ll be holding an in-guild miniature punch needle class, so our hospitality will be “compromised.”)

Dog on hooked rug — Tynan brings you this post’s “what’s on the frame”!

Lastly, as you can see in the photo, Tynan brings you this week’s “what’s on the frame.” It’s a cheery and color-full rug that I’m hooking with old woven bed sheets. Unlike other on-going projects, it’s highly portable. Each evening, too, I hook my daily entry on the ribbon rug journal. More on that next time.

Punch needle rug hooking example — Come punch with me in Santa Fe on February 29.

PUNCHING
And lest anyone forget, Saturday, February 29, I host my first Intro to Punch Needle Rug Hooking class up in Santa Fe, in the New Mexico Fiber Center’s new shop. It opened back in November. Most exciting, doing a class in Santa Fe instead of Española cuts my commute by a full 30 minutes! If you haven’t been there, make sure you make a trip. It’s cute and carries more finished goods than the Española headquarters. And if you’d like to try punching à la Amy Oxford, sign up ASAP. If you can’t make that class, contact me about a class in my home or even yours.

Toma nd Bowyn, man and dog — My other two boys, Tom and Bowyn. Like most days in New Mexico, Saturday was sunny, so the four of us piled in the car went off on a jaunt. Have you done any good walks and hikes lately?

Okay, things could be a lot worse. Hemming, hooking, and punching are all better than working in an office or shoveling snow or even having a mammogram or dental work. Frankly, they’re better than teaching Bowyn over and over how to be a good canine citizen. He’s stubborn and more than a little crazy, that one. But you have to love him. Or at least Tom and I have to. WHAT ARE YOU UP TO THIS WINTER DAY?

December 17, 2019

Starting our artist in residence in Santa Fe this week!

Inn on the Alameda, Santa Fe, NM — Inn on the Alameda: “The best of Santa Fe is just a short stroll from the Inn on the Alameda. We are in the heart of the city, just steps from the city’s best restaurants, galleries, and attractions.”

Amidst all the art fairs and general holiday prep, High on Hooking begins as an artist in residence at Santa Fe‘s Inn on the Alameda this Friday. Woohoo! We’ve never done this before, and happily, we’ll be joined by Cathy Kelly. If you’ve read here before, you know that Cathy and I regularly team up under a tent to sell our hooked wares. This winter, though, we won’t be needing no stinkin’ tent. Twice a month through February, we’ll set up shop and workshop next to the Inn’s big, ole fireplace so that we can chat up guests and share the gospel of rug hooking. This is a big thing; Santa Fe, like most of the American Southwest, is all about the weaving. The history and value of our originally northeastern art is less known.

The Inn on the Alameda is one of Santa Fe’s smaller luxury hotels. Unfortunately, I haven’t stayed there, but after visiting last month, I’d certainly like to. (Pray for a snowstorm to suddenly come up one Friday I’m there?) Cathy and I will be “in residence” from from 4:00-7:00 p.m. on the following Fridays: December 20; January 10 and 24; and February 7 and 21. The address is: 303 East Alameda Street, Santa Fe. In addition to a primo location next to the fireplace in the gathering space, they’re providing dinner for us! How swell is that?

I had applied to Santa Fe’s winter artist in residence program sometime last year and then promptly forgot about it. When the Inn contacted me last month, I loved that they were looking for someone other than the usual painter or sculptor. Not that those things are bad, but you know how fiber arts and textiles so often get shoved to the back of the fine art line. Not this time, baby! Okay, a caveat: the Inn will also be hosting other more “regular” artists throughout the winter. And that’s great; it’ll be a fine mix-up for them.

If you’re in the area Friday and need a break from the usual holiday gift buying, etc., come by the Inn on the Alameda in Santa Fe for a visit. There’s even a bar! We’d love to converse and maybe even sell you something better than you’ll get in a tourist trap. As usual, mention this blog post and get 10% off any rug by High on Hooking. If you can’t make it to Santa Fe, be sure to check out our Etsy shop or, even easier, just give me a yell.

Tynan on hooked rug in front of Christmas tree — Tynan not only offers to you one of this week’s “what’s on the frame,” but he offers you a hearty HO,HO, HO and Merry Christmas! Happy New Year too! See you in 2020!

And if I don’t get a chance to tell you before next week: Have a wonderful holiday whether it be Christmas or Hanukkah! Here’s to a happy and healthy 2020 for all!

November 21, 2019

“What is holiness” opens tomorrow; so does Fall Fiber Fiesta!

High on Hooking’s got a little problem. We’re supposed to be in two places at once tomorrow night. We’ll actually be at the Fall Fiber Fiesta in Santa Fe. In fact, we’ll be there till Sunday evening. Fortunately, this show, “What is holiness?” at the Santa Maria de la Vida Abbey in Albuquerque WHICH OPENS TOMORROW runs till December 13. My piece “Sacred Life” was juried in. Maybe we can go together?

Much excitement going on in our little fiber art world here these days. How about yours?

What is holiness? art show poster

August 12, 2019

New items in our Etsy shop

Tynan (dog) with hooked rugs. — Tynan brings you our newest items. All will be loaded into our **Etsy shop** starting today. Address of the shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HighonHooking.

July 23, 2019

“Memory of Water” is going to a show!

Fiber arts eye-candy. — **“Memory of Water” is hooked with plastic bags.**

Woohoo! “Memory of Water” is off to another show. Not a fiber arts show, but an exhibit of all kinds of media. Last month I saw that the Fuller Lodge Art Center (FLAC) up in Los Alamos (New Mexico) had a call for artists for “Making Waves,” their August exhibit.

A single stone thrown into the water can create a ripple that will affect the entire pond. Water is a sacred and often misused blessing, especially in the desert landscape of New Mexico. Take on water and all that it means to us personally. Don’t shy away from the controversy water issues can create! We want to see artwork that makes the biggest splash!

–from FLAC’s website

It appears that after spending a year on my hallway wall, “Memory of Water” made another splash with FLAC’s jurists. (You might remember that it was in Albuquerque’s Open Space Visitor Center’s “WATER” exhibit last year.) The show runs August 2-31, so we’re off to Los Alamos this week to deliver the piece. Tynan and new puppy Bowyn will get to take a ride!

Welsh Springer spaniel Tynan on hooked rug. — Tynan presents “What’s on the frame” this week. He wants everyone to remember that he, not Junior (i.e., Bowyn, his new little brother) is the High on Hooking dog. Bowyn would not respect the rug; he’d just eat it. Those are his toys in the background, however. He’s a slob.

Truthfully, we’ll be making three trips up north to Los Alamos this coming month. We’ll have to retrieve the piece after the show. And mid month…we’re back up there for FLAC’s Summer Arts and Crafts Fair! First time High on Hooking’s vended this show. Here’s hoping for a beautifully sunny mountain day. No monsoon rains.

Maybe you’ll show at one of these events, particularly if you’re in the greater northern New Mexican area. If you’re at the Arts and Crafts Fair, mention the blog and get 10% off a rug!