Category: observations

April 5, 2023

Yearlong Environmental Stitching Project

Celebrating Earth Month with the Yearlong Environmental Stitching Project!

As many know, a main focus in my artwork, particularly hooking, is to bring attention to the state of our shared environment. Globally, locally too, it’s not in great shape. Between crazy-ass storms, drought, rising temperatures, air and water pollution, too much trash and waste, etc., etc., we’re suffocating ourselves and other forms of life here on earth. (Though I understand that cockroaches and kudzu are still doing quite well.)

If you’re reading this, I won’t bother preaching to the choir. You’re already aware of the problems. And you’ve probably heard me pontificate or at least share various posts on my social media. A note, my initial career was in environmental regulatory management for industry. I’ve had plenty of time to think about what we put in and on this planet of ours.

Honey bee - Yearlong Environmental Stitching Project — On January 14 I stitched about how the US Department of Agriculture approved the first ever vaccine to prevent the bacterial disease that destroys honey bee colonies. This is GOOD NEWS!

More than wool, I create hooked art using different types of old textiles that I find in Savers (my local thrift store) and am gifted. They can include old t-shirts and other clothing, curtains and bedsheets, and so on. It makes me feel good to tell people what the art they’re fondling is made of. Kids especially love to see and touch recycled t-shirt rugs.

In 2020, I spent the WHOLE YEAR hooking and stitching the Ribbon Rug Journal (RRJ). Not familiar with it? You can read about it HERE. Given the nature of 2020, I had plenty of time to sit down every single night to log in that day’s entry. Still I was psyched that I made it to December 31. And really ready to move on from the project given the time and energy it took. It’s since been the subject of an article I wrote for Rug Hooking Magazine and hung in two exhibits.

Fast forward to late 2022. Surprisingly, I was itching for another yearlong endeavor, preferably something with meaning from the get-go. (When I started the RRJ, I had no idea that 2020 would be the “special” year that it became.) I wasn’t looking to hook something every day; that’s what my regular projects are for. Besides, Tom begged me not to have to work on something every night. So, I pondered…

Brown widow spider - Yearlong Environmental Stitching Project — On March 13, I started the Brown Widow Spider after reading about how the aggressive Browns are “slaughtering” the more docile Blacks (spiders!) in the US Southwest and South. Then they eat them! Meanwhile the Black Widows are expanding their range northward, even into Ontario and Quebec.

Meanwhile, like most everyone else, during 2020 and 2021, I took online classes and became more interested specifically in hand-stitching. In fact, I incorporated stitching into the RRJ because some things, like letters, were easier to do on the burlap ribbon than hooking. I made a Kawandi quilt and was pretty proud of myself. I also did more sketching with the likes of Sketchbook Revival.

I’m not interested in fine drawing or fussy embroidery, but something more basic. To share a thought, make a memory, the stuff of journaling.

Last year too, while on a hunting trip to Savers, I came across a large, linen curtain panel from Ikea. It’s a beautiful, pale green. Come the end of the year, it was just sitting there, waiting for me to formulate an idea. Which I finally did. The color is a great earth color. And I kept seeing and reading more and more environmental stories. Ah ha! I decided on the Yearlong Environmental Stitching Project (YESP): I’d stitch using an environmental theme throughout 2023.

Safety was derailed along with the train in Palestine, Ohio, in February. — After the Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio in February, we learned more about how the last administration dismantled railroad safety rules. as the railroads requested. This accident and subsequent environmental and health disaster didn’t have to happen.

I’m still not enthused by the title so that might change. And to avoid burnout – my own and the husband’s – I don’t work on it every day. In fact, throughout Sketchbook Revival 2023, the whole thing has sat on the dining room table. Really, it could also be a tablecloth; it’s big enough! As I scan the newspaper and news online each day, I collect stories. Some are pretty horrific, I’m not going to lie. Like the recent report from the UN about humanity’s closing window of opportunity to affect climate change, that our current investment and funding for adaptation to that change are completely insufficient, especially in and for developing countries. Never mind that the US electrical grid is heading for a total meltdown. But there’s good news too. Biden created two new national monuments here in the Southwest. Then there’s the woman in Britain who got so fed up with her town’s lack of recycling that she decoded to take care of it herself. And all kinds of folks joined her. I need those kinds of stories; otherwise the whole project would depress the crap out of me.

I keep all the stories in a file folder and pull one out when I’m ready for a new entry. Having learned from the RRJ, once I finish a stitching, I record it and pertinent info in a written journal. I photograph it too. That way, in January, I won’t wonder what the hell I stitched. Also, the only thing I can purchase for this project is embroidery floss. Everything else has to come from what I already have or am given.

While this won’t be quite as entertaining as the nightly RRJ postings were, I hope that you join me on this yearlong journey. Hey, it’s less than nine months now. Somehow busy-ness and my own winter inertia kept me from getting this all written up, though I have been posting on my Instagram and Facebook accounts all along. Sadly, it’s a constant fight against the cult of busy-ness in this culture. Even when your kids have left home and you don’t have a regular paying job. Also my ability to multitask isn’t as honed as it used to be. (Thank goodness!)

Toadzilla - Yearlong Environmental Stitching Project — Toadzilla, the fierce, burly Cane toad from Australia. He was 6 pounds, the biggest Cane toad ever found! I’ll let you Google him to see why he was in the news in mid-February. This is his outline. I still haven’t finished filling him in. It’s a good lesson to me to sketch more, color and detail less.

How do you cope with climate change and all that the environment’s throwing at us these days? Any good plans for Earth Day?

June 27, 2019

Finding textures in all kinds of new places!

Texture of an old rooftop in Germany — Texture of a tile roof top in **Breisach**, Germany. Breisach is a fairy-talish town sitting in the middle Rhine River Valley just west of the **Black Forest** and east of France’s **Vosges Mountains**. It’s so beautiful and “old” looking that one can scarcely believe 85% of the town was destroyed in WWII.

TEXTURE: the visual or tactile surface characteristics and appearance of something. (Merriam-Webster)

Fiesta has come and gone and so has my vacation. Sigh… Both were enjoyable – though, to be honest, Fiesta was a boatload of work. Vacation was just…a boatload. Tom and I enjoyed last years river cruise so much, that we decided to do another one. This time we headed off to the Rhine River, starting in Basel, Switzerland.

Interesting fact: The Basel Airport is almost all in France. It has an exits/entrances in both France and Switzerland. It pays to know which country you’re headed to.

Tom in Breisach on the cobble stone streets — Tom standing on Breisach’s cobblestones. Note the pretty rebuilt homes. Beautiful.

Metal cast of the city of Strasbourg, France. — A metal cast of the city of Strasbourg, France. (Sort of Germany; read about the sometimes German/sometimes French **history of the Alsace region of France**.) **Notre Dame Cathedral** is the centerpiece of the city.

Texture of statuary on Strasbourg Cathedral — Such delicate stonework is all over Strasbourg’s Gothic cathedral which also had to be majorly restored after WWII. In fact, the stained glass windows disappeared; Americans found them in 1945 in a German salt mine.

Texture of decorative stonework found in the partly ruined fairy-tale **Heidelberg Castle** in Heidelberg, Germany.

The tenor of this trip was much different than last year’s wine cruise in Bordeaux. That one was a very local vacation covering a lot less distance. It was more laid back and concentrated on the really, really excellent wines that come out of that region of France. It also gave us more time for leisure, leisure which I define at least partly as sketching and journaling. Not so much this trip. Although I managed to finish a crocheted shawl and get some reading done, we were moving too much this year. Some days there were two excursions on shore! They were interesting, but I think Tom and I are into a little more free time on vacation. Not to mention good wine.

Castle stonework and plant texture — This one’s a two-fer. Note the stonework of the castle’s facade as well as the pompom texture of the tree below. Does anyone know what kind of tree that is? It was spectacular. BTW, note that you see through those upper story windows to the sky. Yes, Heidelberg Castle has a lot of ruins about it.

Pompom texture of tree — Couldn’t help it. Isn’t is wicked cool???

The Rhine River cruise – also by Viking – as I said, started in Basel and quickly moved into Germany. Actually, the Rhine runs right between Germany and France’s Alsace region (which is sort of German; read the history as mentioned above) for awhile, and we explored both sides. As the week progressed, we moved fully into Germany and finally into the Netherlands. We docked in Amsterdam where Tom and I spent a couple of extra nights. (After flying back to the U.S., we spent a couple of unplanned nights in San Francisco, but that’s a story for another post. As are my luggage woes.)

Rows and rows of wine vineyards hang on the hills — Okay, this is detail from afar. Look at the rows and rows of vines hanging on the hills along the Rhine. They can be so steep that vineyard workers have to tie up and kind of rappel down to work on the vines.

Succulents at Marksburg Castle — **Marksburg Castle** was a treasure trove of textures, especially as we were seeing it close-up. These succulents are part of the castle’s gardens.

Of course, I have pics to share. You’re seeing them now. Unfortunately, the camera on my phone started to crap out on this trip. I might add that this is the same phone that had over-heating issues last vacation. The difference here is that I didn’t realize how fatal the problem was till the last day – in San Francisco – when the thing shit the bed entirely. I lost some photos. 🙁 Now, I have to purchase a new phone. Did I mention that on top of a European vacation, we just paid for the hardwood floors we’re putting in? Yeah, bad timing. A phone isn’t in the budget for a bit. Luckily, Tom’s old one – the one with a malfunctioning keyboard – was still up for the photography challenge, so I’m carrying it around as an ancillary to my ~~now unloved~~ phone.

Stone texture at Marksburg Castle — Even the walls were texturized!

Texture of wall woodwork — Nice woodwork in the castle’s main bedroom!

Cologne Cathedral seen through a rainy window — **Cologne’s cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site**, seen through the rained-on window of our ship. Notice how the clouds parted over the church. The heavens opened up when Tom and I were walking around Cologne earlier. Late in the afternoon, the sky cleared producing a beautiful evening.

Mosaic floor in Cologne Cathedral — I actually walked on this floor in the **Cathedral in Cologne**. Incredible mosaic.

Brick texture of windmill — This is the exterior wall of a windmill in Kinderdijk, the Netherlands. Bricks were, maybe 4 inches long at most, the better to be able to make the rounded base of the building.

Bullet strike - wall of Cologne Cathedral. — Although the sandstone exterior walls of the Cologne Cathedral are black and pitted – acid rain requires that there’s constant maintenance and replacement of stone – this “texture” is actually the result of a WWII bullet.

Grasses in the Netherlands at Kinderdijk. — Rain, like wind, is plentiful in the Netherlands. These are grasses that grow in the wetlands surrounding the windmills. Nineteen working windmills are in **Kinderdijk, also a UNESCO World Heritage site**. We were lucky enough to be able to go into one.

Colorful textures of tulips in Amsterdam — In **Amsterdam’s Flower Market** there were, of course, bundles and bundles of tulips. Note the cool black ones in the back

Piles of sea lions on rafts in San Francisco. — My last photo – before the camera really, truly died – is, incongruously, of sea lions dotting rafts while they snooze. I needed to do the same after an 11-hour flight and then two extra nights in California!

So, we’ve muddled through my pics regardless. This first bunch had to do with the different textures I observed on our travels. I hope you enjoy. Give a yell if you have any questions or insights to the photos. And please share your vacations stories here too!

Laura

April 18, 2017

Silver City, New Mexico: inspiration, perspiration, and some needed respiration

Hiking in Silver City, NM — Welcome to Silver City, New Mexico!

We finally did it! After like eight hundred LONG years (okay, really it was only eight years, still really LONG), Tom and I were finally able to get away for a few nights of adventure. Our empty-nestedness still holding, last Monday we loaded up the car with bags, snacks, hiking boots, and, of course, Tynan and headed south towards Silver City.

On the way to Silver City, NM. — Looking back to the east on our way to Silver City. Just outside of Hillsboro, NM. Make sure to pray for no car trouble because your cell phone is worthless here.

Anyone else see a rug hooking possibility in this photo?

Chino Mine near Silver City, NM. — Mixed feelings alert! This pic was taking at the Chino Mine Vista Point. It’s the best place to attempt to take in the immensity of what we read is the third largest open pit mine in the world (!!!). The Chino Mine facilities clearly make a HUGE mess of the natural surroundings. On a scale that boggles the mind. That being said, they’ve been here since the 1800s. More importantly, I surmise that the employment they provide to locals is pretty important. I wish I had an answer…

Driving to Silver City is almost a “you can’t get there form here” experience. It certainly reminds us that we aren’t in New England any more. First you head down Interstate 25 for a few hours. After Truth or Consequences, you bang a right off an exit that puts the Rio Grande River to your backside, and you head east/southeast eventually into the far reaches of the Gila National Forest. You’re on a narrow road with lots of ups and downs and twisty-turnies. And fabulous views. More hours than you think later, you level out, the road straightens, and Silver City is almost within sight. If it weren’t for more mountains, mines, big sky, cows, and sweeping vistas. But you will make it; I promise.

Tree damaged in fire. — Blistering on tree bark caused by a forest fire slooks like dragon scales. (Karen Miller of Karen D. Miller Studio, I was thinking of you!)

Despite being known as a tourist destination, Silver City is mostly a town filled with friendly working folks, artists, college students, and retirees going about their daily lives. It’s colorful, lots of art – galleries, shops, studios. Very shabby chic and a little on the edge what with a number of empty storefronts along the main drag. One hopes that summer’s activities and tourists

can change that, fill the place up a little more, provide some employment for the locals. There are plenty of restaurants, but be advised that a number are closed on Mondays – at least during shoulder season.

Silver City is the gateway to the Gila National Forest. From town you can access the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, various state parks, LOTS of trails, the Catwalk Recreation Area, and so on. Being there only two days, we didn’t do many of those things. But we could have….

Deer in Silver City, NM — The supercilious attitude of these deer was palpable when I took the shot. “F-ing tourists…”

Mr. (or Mrs.?) Quail didn’t give a crap about me either.

Nope, our trip was about getting away, relaxing – when we weren’t driving, that is. The one full day we stayed in town was spent on a fairly leisurely hike, finding a great lunch, and poking in and out of little shops. I swam in the hotel pool and read my book. Later we headed into the tiny community of Piños Altos for dinner at the Buckhorn Saloon and Opera House. The historic bar was authentic though I doubt that back in the 1860s they were serving goat cheese and aioli with their burgers. Still, very yummy. Excellent fries and a good beverage list.

Somewhere north of Silver City in Big Sky Country. (I think you could fit Rhode Island in just this picture!)

Dog at Catwalks Recreational Area.. — Tynan contemplating the beginning of the Catwalk.

Wednesday we climbed back into the car and headed up north along the Arizona border. It’s a desolate and supremely beautiful ride. Lots of ranch land, not a lot of people or infrastructure. Gas up in Silver City, people! This is Big Valley for real! And big mountains too. We detoured to the Catwalk Recreation Area because I’d seen pictures that looked quite intriguing. (New Englanders, this is the Flume on steroids. With a lot less trees and humidity.) We even got to ford a river. Twice. In a Honda Accord, that can be rather…exciting. We made it, so it was okay. Just like I told Tom it would be. Even though I wasn’t driving…

The Catwalk trail built into the sides of the slot canyon and hanging over the river. Tynan really didn’t like walking on the catwalk. We tried to tell him it was just a name, that they could have just as easily named it the dogwalk.

Now that Tom and I remember how to do the get-away thing, we plan on making it the habit it was a couple of decades ago. And since the snow’s on its way out up north, it’s almost time to go that way. And west; there’s still plenty of west between us and the Pacific. We didn’t move all the way cross country to sit on our butts.

Mosaic in Silver City, NM. — Someone installed this mosaic into the side of a Silver City building. To me it screams this is the southwest, a little rough, but filled with unexpected beauty.

Have any travel ideas for High on Hooking? List’em here in the comments ’cause we’re raring to roam everywhere now!

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January 17, 2017

Seize the day!

“Seize the day.” I decided that would be my rallying cry today after I listened to Ellis Paul’s song.

She comes to my bed like a whisper
Slips in the sheet like a ghost
Says in my ear “Hey mister,
You need to take this girl to the coast.

I need to kick my feet up in the ocean
Feel the taste of the salt sea spray
Baby let’s live in the moment
For it feels like life is taking the moment away”

Seize the day, Seize the day, Seize the day…

–Ellis Paul

The song goes on from there. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a video of him singing it. Sorry.

Frankly, it’s not been a great month. That it’s only January makes it all worse! My grandmother died early this morning. She was 95-ish, and it was expected. Hell, I’m 52; how great is it that I even had a grandparent still alive? One that would swim in Long Island Sound all the way through November into her 70s? Bike and drive into her 80s? Loved her husband to pieces and her cats and dogs as well? I need to be like that.

There are other family issues, other losses. Someone’s lost a job. Two friends have recently lost their dogs. Tynan had a dental emergency last week; suddenly nine (yes, nine!) teeth

Tynan the dog in bed. He cannot seize the day. — Someone was under the weather the morning after his extractions.

had to go. Not sure why as he’d had a cleaning less than two years back. But at least he’s still among us, back to his old self, albeit without so much chewing.

Then there’s just the general tenor of the whole country lately, and this week specifically. We’re so divided in our…dissatisfaction. What about a collective attitude adjustment where we focus on the positive for a change? Maybe do something with it.

So, I’m seizing the day, my day. It’ll be a quiet one, and that’s okay. There’s writing this blog post, applying to this years Railyards Market, cleaning out some clutter and getting some laundry done. And I’ll continue hooking my rug, one of two that needs to be pretty much done come March 1. (That’s the cut-off date for entries in this year’s ALBUQUERQUE FIBER FIESTA if you’re interested in sharing some of your work.)

Seizing the day for me doesn’t have to be a big, bombastic event. All it means is that I’ll do what I set out to do, that I won’t bitch about other “stuff,” you know that crap you pretty much can’t do anything about anyway. It means that Tom and I will take Tynan for a little walk later during which we’ll notice the blue sky (oddly enough, it’s been raining the past few days here) and the birds overhead. We’ll revel in the 50-degree temperature, look at the snow on the nearby Sandia Mountains, and remind ourselves of how smart we were to move to New Mexico.

Are you seizing the day

or will you let all the negativity get you down?

Handmade dolls at Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center. — If you can’t lighten up when you see these little dolls, you’re never going to! (Artist unknown; pic taken at Española Valley Fiber Arts Center.)

September 15, 2015

Sighted in Albuquerque

One of the ubiquitous grasshoppers in the area.

Unfortunately, the arthritis is kicking my butt this week. Never even made it onto my computer yesterday. Hoping to be up and around more tomorrow. I better be! It’s my first day visiting with what should be my new ATHA guild here in Region 12, the Adobe Wool Arts Guild which meets here in Albuquerque. I’ll let you know it goes.

In the meantime, these are a few of the things we sighted in our travels this past week here in town. Enjoy the pics!

A very long horn steer relaxing at the New Mexico State Fair. — A very Long Horn steer relaxing at the New Mexico State Fair.

Soon-to-be Long Horn steer getting his baby-sleep.

The puppet parade at the 2015 Offcenter Folk Art Festival. — The puppet parade at the 2015 OFFcenter Folk Art Festival.

Vendor Ryan's (steelgardenart.com) "hardy" flower patch at the OFFcenter Folk Art Festival. — Vendor Ryan’s (steelgardenart.com) “hardy” flower patch at the OFFcenter Folk Art Festival.

We parked by this fabulous mural. No problem finding the car later.

PS – If anyone would like to tell me how to put two photos next to one another, I’d surely appreciate that. I had to do some wonky stuff just to do this. WordPress used to make it easier.