18th Annual Santa Fe Spring Festival: Featuring Lavender and Fiber Art!
Celebrate Spring with our Spring Festival: Featuring Herb & Lavender, and the opening of our 2023 season! Learn about New Mexico’s rich cultural heritage through an array of fun activities and demonstrations. Experience traditional New Mexican ranch activities like sheep shearing, spinning and weaving, plus a fiber arts marketplace featuring local artisans and craftsmen, horno bread baking, crafts for children, and more!
-https://golondrinas.org/
We here at High on Hooking hope that you can make it up to El Rancho de las Golondrinas (just sounth of Santa Fe) to celebrate the start of summer here on New Mexico’s high desert. I’ll be sharing a booth with Barbara Knupper, weaver and jewelry maker extraordinaire. You can find her art at the Artful Artisan.
We invite you to peruse our wares and enjoy the atmosphere of the Spring Festival on the ranch! Bring the whole family!
PS – To those, like me, who might be from New England, Las Golondrinas is kind of like a more primitive Sturbridge Village, southwest style:
El Rancho de las Golondrinas is a living history museum located on 200 acres in a rural farming valley just south of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Museum, dedicated to the history, heritage and culture of 18th and 19th century New Mexico, opened in 1972. Original colonial buildings on the site date from the early 1700s. In addition, historic buildings from other parts of northern New Mexico have been reconstructed at Las Golondrinas. Villagers clothed in the styles of the times show how life was lived on the frontier in early New Mexico. Special festivals and weekend events offer visitors an in-depth look into the celebrations, music, dance and many other aspects of life in the Spanish, Mexican and Territorial periods of the Southwest.
-https://golondrinas.org/
Bowyn’s been cooped up during these Covid weeks, scoring only a few short walks around the neighborhood. Still, he wanted in on the sweater photo. And a treat. This dog is a whore!
Sadly, the day after Easter, Covid darkened the Salamy home. Unfortunately, that also meant that three of our holiday dinner guests received a “souvenir,” and I’m not talking leftovers. Thankfully, they’ve all tested negative again this week. Tom and I, however, are still stuck at home with a case of rebound Covid. Seems like double jeopardy to me. At least, this week’s been more like a bad cold with congestion and runny noses rather than the sore throat, chills, and terrible fatigue of earlier in the duration.
The worst thing was that first week when I couldn’t really concentrate on anything. Forget hooking and the Yearlong Environmental Stitching project (YESP). Because I thought I had plenty of time till Sketchbook Revival 2023 closed on April 20, I’d held off doing all the sessions, planning on a leisurely pace. Yeah, that didn’t happen either. The sweater I’ve been crocheting. Nope. No books started or finished either.
But this week’s been different. I’ve actually gotten some things done and even attended a meeting on Zoom. I started a new novel and am almost halfway through it. I’ll finish the second sleeve on the sweater tonight. The Sketchbook Revival workshop I was most looking forward to didn’t involve a sketchbook at all but was about stitching! Emma Freeman presented MAKE SLOW STITCHED WABI SABI FABRIC SCROLLS. Most happily, mark-making comes in many forms as does experimentation.
No hooking’s happened in two weeks, but not just because of Covid. The reality is that I was bogged down on a project that wasn’t working the way I anticipated, so it’s back to the drawing board to rethink it or another design.
Although I’m still finishing up with some beads and maybe more stitching, here’s the wabi sabi scroll I started in Sketchbook Revival 2023.
Meanwhile tomorrow is Earth Day, something I always try to celebrate in some fashion or another. Taking environmental care is one of the main bases of my artwork be it upcycling all kinds of textiles for hooking or scavenging the news for stories to represent in the YESP. What I find saddest about our troubled natural environment is that we have the technology to do something about it; we just lack the communal and political will. And for that coming generations will suffer. USA Today had a article about what 2050 could be like. Sadly, I fear it’s more of a pipedream than anything else.
Nonetheless, a girl can hope even if she lives in the desert during a prolonged, 30-year drought. In the meantime, I’ll try to take shorter showers and use less paper towels. Some habits are difficult to break, I know. But till this Covid thing exits my house, I guarantee that the tissues will keep piling up .
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.
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.
What a great experience it was teaching at the Shakerag Workshops this month! For those of you not familiar with them or my class there, please find info HERE.
Because anyone who might test positive with Covid during the week and even before we got on the shuttle at the airport would earn a number or nights in a hotel till they could be put on a return flight, I was pretty stressed out before I left and even after I got there. Too many mask-less folks in airports and on planes. And too many friends have come down with the Coronacootie during air travel in the last month or two. Fortunately, I never tested positive – deep relief. Though I wasn’t able to extend my trip to stay, as planned, with a nearby friend after her son came down with it. We’ll try to rectify that next year when she and her husband make a first trip to New Mexico. Fingers crossed!
The Res at Shakerag, inviting even in the early morning light.
Coming from the drought-full New Mexican high desert, Tennessee was a “wetter” place to visit, especially if you count humidity. But I really enjoyed my morning walks even if Bowyn couldn’t be with me. I saw the “Res” where swimming happens most every afternoon. And I loved the bike path. History was present all over too.
History – a sign marking the Trail of Tears.
But the best thing – other than ALL THE FOOD which was just as delicious as promised – was my class. Titled HOOK A RUG, SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT, it was one of the younger classes I’ve held; mostly because several staff members opted to learn hooking and punching. Spreading the gospel of a traditional art to new folks excites me, but I do fret about our ever aging population of devotées (and a few devotés too). We just can’t lose this 160-year old or so practice.
The ladies are working, working, working.
I needn’t have worried. While some folks were concerned about breaking rules, others plowed on doing exactly what they wanted with hooking and punching. Fabulous. I also love to share with any students of mine the Adobe Wool Arts Guild creed: I AM THE BOSS OF MY RUG. After I repeated it a number of times and wrote it out on the white board (to remain for the week), they all took it to heart.
Like anyone learning a new skill, several folks wanted to run away after the first few introductory hours, but all were busily hooking away by Monday afternoon. Tuesday was devoted to punching, and one or two folks managed to get a piece done later that day. Woohoo! By clean-up on Friday afternoon, several had two or three pieces fully done, including hemming. It doesn’t get better than that.
The week’s first success story was Tori’s!
Joyce and Stacey were my first mother and daughter team.
As a teacher I knew I was successful when I came into the studio Wednesday and found Holly on the floor already planning a BIG rugAre these not the best punched figs? Kate is a potter who has a fun food specialty.
Interestingly and relatedly, back home this week, I attended an online meeting with other fiber folks as well as a lesson featuring quilter Heidi Parkes – not at all a quilter in the fussy, traditional way. Which is exactly why I like her work. During both events there was talk about difficulties that the traditional populations of our various arts present when one wants to cross boundaries and try new things. Unfortunately, that kind of work is often disparaged by the textile “establishment.” And yet, isn’t that exactly how all art evolves? Early on in my own hooking career, I had faced challenges; my work with so called “alternative materials” wasn’t at all appreciated by most. Could pieces hooked with old t-shirts really be considered on par with those hooked using beautiful, hand-dyed wool? Fortunately, times have changed and more and more of us are jumping on that bandwagon which is 1) often more sustainable and 2) to the liking of younger people who don’t want to be told how to do their own art. Hurray!
Susan and her fabulous book on stitching.
My week at Shakerag was memorable for other reasons. Teaching STITCHING AS DRAWING across the hall from me was none other than Susan Brandeis, author of The Intentional Thread: A Guide to Drawing, Gesture, and Color in Stitch. The past year or two, I’ve been looking at the book, wanting to purchase it, but being distracted by my own workshop and how I might make it a success for all involved, even when I met her – Susan and her husband stayed in the same house that I did – I didn’t put two and two together. Not until I saw the book in the Shakerag store. AH! Needless to say, I quickly bought it, and Susan graciously autographed it for me book is beautiful, but you should see her work in person. Mamma mia!
Isn’t this a fine looking class of new hookers and punchers? BTW – all that humidity! My hair hasn’t been that wavy since I moved to the Southwest.
So, my week in Sewanee at Shakerag was a most definite success. Essentially, it’s an adult summer camp devoted to art – learning and making it. I really hope they invite me back again one year. If you’re interested in perhaps attending next year, Liz Alpert Fay will be teaching next year, specifically how nature can inform and influence hooking. I believe that registration opens up in August of this year.
Claire Nolan, studio assistant extraordinaire.
Special thanks to Claire Nolan who acted as my studio assistant and helped facilitate the class. Also, to Christi Teasley, a Shakerag founder and the textile/painting/drawing coordinator and computer specialist. Christi generously put my name forth as a possible teacher. Yeah, she’s a remarkable hooker as well. In fact, she was able to work with local hookers in the area like Cass Gannaway, enabling us to borrow enough frames and hooks for the workshop. It takes a village, and you all made it happen.
IF CLASS TOOK AWAY ONE THING, I HOPE THAT IT’S: THE ARTS ARE EVER EVOLVING, NEVER DYING!
IN THE STUDIO TALKS ON HIATUS AFTER THIS EVENT! DON’T MISS VALERIE CAREW AND KAREN MILLER CHATTING!
Join Toronto artist Valerie Carew as she discusses how she animates household objects such as rugs using photography and performance and how she uses the craft of hand-hooking to express relationships with the natural world.
Engagement with land is a big motivation in Valerie’s artwork. She makes textile wearables and engages with natural environments using immersive role-play. Valerie is interested in exploring the “what ifs” in art making; she tries to use the language of rug fabrication and textile craft to communicate memories and human experience. Her family history and relationships with land are rooted in the settler cultures of Newfoundland and New Brunswick, Canada. Hand hooking rugs is part of the fabric of these cultures. Traditional aspects of rug making, such as material reuse, storytelling, and folklore are referenced and re-configured in her contemporary practice.
About Valerie Carew: Valerie Carew, she/her (Toronto, Ontario) is an interdisciplinary artist who explores human/land relationships through performance, body based sculpture, installation, painting, and fibre craft practice. Immersive role-play and biomimicry are combined with sculptural rug making to express experiences with land and identity. Valerie’s sculptural works are designed for interplay and physical contact with the human body. She incorporates nostalgia, myth-making, and material transformation to imagine new futures defined by a greater connection to the wild.
The Zoom link for this presentation will be emailed to you the day before the talk (or after you purchase your ticket, if you purchase on the day of the event). If you don’t receive it, you can contact the organizer at info@karendmillerstudio.com.
Tickets will be on sale until 10 am the day of the event. After that time you will no longer be able to purchase tickets.
Please note that the time of the talk is 1:00 pm EASTERN.
FAQ’s
* Will this talk be recorded for viewing later?
Unfortunately, no. Due to the logistics involved, we decided some time ago to keep these events live. Hopefully if you can’t make it to this talk, you’ll be able to make it to a future talk.
* It’s the day of the talk and I’m having trouble finding or using the link for the talk. How can I find help?
It is very advisable to LOG INTO THE EVENT A FEW MINUTES EARLY to be sure that you have no trouble with the link, and if you are having trouble the organizer can help you out. You can email or message the event organizer up until one hour before the talk on the day of the talk for help. ONCE THE EVENT STARTS, however, messages and emails are not able to be monitored.
* I’m finding it distracting during the talk seeing all of the other participants on my screen. What can I do?
During the event the organizer will put the screen setting on “spotlight view” so that the presenter is the focus on your screen. Depending on your device, you may still see audience members on your screen and changing your setting from “gallery view” to “speaker view” should help with that.
* What Time Zone is the time of the talk in?
The time indicated on all ‘In the Studio’ talks is the EASTERN (EST) time zone. If you live in a different time zone, be sure to check what time you should tune in to ensure you don’t miss the talk.
*I can no longer make it to the talk. Or, I missed the talk. Can I get a refund?
Unfortunately no- the price of the ticket is so low that it is not cost-effective to refund those amounts. If you are unable to make it to the talk and you already have a ticket, or you forget to attend, please do contact me at info@karendmillerstudio.com. I always offer a ticket to the next talk to make up for it. All of the artist speakers receive a portion of the ticket proceeds so we very much appreciate your contribution to supporting artists!
Celebrate Spring with our Spring Festival: Featuring Herb & Lavender, and the opening of our 2023 season! Learn about New Mexico’s rich cultural heritage through an array of fun activities and demonstrations. Experience traditional New Mexican ranch activities like sheep shearing, spinning and weaving, plus a fiber arts marketplace featuring local artisans and craftsmen, horno bread baking, crafts for children, and more!
