Category: passion

August 16, 2021

IN THE STUDIO – Sept. 22 with Deirdre Pinnock

Textile work by Deirdre Pinnock intersects with her advocacy for mental health and diversity.

Picture of Deirdre Pinnock yarn-bombing. Also one of her hooked rugs.

Deirdre Pinnock is a talented rug hooker, ardent mental health advocate, aspiring entrepreneur, and self-identified “woman of colour” based in Vancouver, BC. She is passionate about fusing different materials, vivid colors, and therapeutic qualities into her work along with a dash of playfulness.

She is best known for yarn-bombing positive and uplifting messages such as “be kind” and “you are enough” into public fences around the city. You can also find her performing stand-up comedy about being Black in Vancouver. Her work expands to hosting workshops, guest speaking on the issue of diversity through art, and creating memorial pieces known as Hearts of Honour, which act as living memories to allow families to grieve their loss. Courtesy of CTV, she is publicly known as the Vancouver Yarnbomber.

The purpose behind Deirdre’s art revolves around self-healing and empowering one to battle through grief, anxiety, and pain. She also weaves the current political climate into her fiber art, confronting issues in a whimsical and humorous way.

To learn more about Deirdre and her work you can find her on Facebook at Deirdre Pinnock Designs and on Instagram @deirdrepinnockdesigns. See her website HERE.

MPORTANT PLEASE READ:

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 10:00 am Eastern 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.

Find tickets for this event at Ticketscene.

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!

July 12, 2019

Tynan’s got a new little brother! Grrrr…

A little brother my ass… Tynan here. She was going to show you more photos from her trip up the Rhine, but I had to step in and tell you what the idiots have done now.

Tynan's little brother, Welsh Springer spaniel puppy. — This is…my new “little brother.” His name is Bowyn. He is NOT replacing me as the **High on Hooking dog**. Do not make me repeat that.

Yes, it’s a puppy. Sure, they tried to tell me that it’s “all for you, Tynan. He’ll rejuvenate you.” What the hell does that mean? I won’t be 11 anymore? Right.

I suppose I should’ve been suspicious when the baby gates and the food bowl and, okay, the itty-bitty crate showed up. But she’s always buying crap for this or that cause. My antennae should’ve twitched when he didn’t complain.

So, they’re all excited. “Wanna go for a ride, Tynan? To see your sister up in Durango?” I like Durango, and the kid is there. We can hike. They get me all riled up. We do the three and a half hour drive. Another clue I missed. We stop at McDonalds, even have a picnic on the grass. They actually feed me french fries and chicken from her salad. Not a tiny bite, but lots of fries. Ketchup and everything. Half the freakin’ chicken! How could I miss that they were playing me?

Me pretending to sleep on the way up to Durango. If only I’d known…

We pick the kid up from her apartment; check in at a hotel right downtown. I try out the bed. Nice. Next thing I know there’s a phone call and the mistress is rushing us off the bed and out the door. We’re in front of the hotel and I see…me! Or a dog that looks like me, another Welsh Springer spaniel. Oh! And in the rush and confusion, the mistress, she’s reaching down and picking up another tiny dog, a puppy that I realize also looks very similar to me. Oh!!

Long story short, we head for some very green grass – normally one of my most favorite things now that we live in the desert and have fake grass – and sit down. And I learn that the puppy is…ours. I mean…theirs. They can’t stop playing with it. I notice that it can’t stop trying to bite things – fingers, ankles, shoes, tails. What the hell? No one talked to me about this acquisition. Seems to me they should’ve, right?

Laura with Tynan's little brother, a Welsh Springer spaniel puppy. — Look at him! No manners. He’s trying to maul her. And she likes it. (Shaking my head here.)

Now we’re back home, and he’s upset the previously happy sang-froid of our comfy home. Baby gates keep me out of the master bedroom where I like to lie on the bathroom tiles.(And don’t even think of telling me to lie on all the other tiles in the house.) He gets on my bed. Toys are everywhere. Worst thing ever: He doesn’t know that we go outside to do our business! Ew!

Tynan and his little brother, a Welsh Springer spaniel puppy — What he does to me. This. It’s all I can say.

I had NOTHING to do with this mess. Nothing. Talk to the “little brother.”

The only good thing about his lack of civility and toilet training is that I still get to go visit my hooking ladies whenever the idiotress goes. He does not. They were here yesterday ostensibly to help me buck up, but really to visit…my “little brother.” At least they brought me treats. I love my ladies.

Now that I’ve gotten this off my chest, I’m going to take advantage of that fact that he’s napping (and not snapping or yowling) and get some sleep myself. He woke us up twice last night to pee and then again this morning at the ungodly hour of 5:45. I’m tired.

Please send biscuits. For big dogs.

–Tynan

March 2, 2016

Working a little beyond my comfort level

Finished project: "Ribbons Over Albuquerque." — Finished project: “Ribbons Over Albuquerque.”

Between my arthritis and my newest rug, I’ve been spending some time hooking beyond my comfort level. The project for the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council’s Colors of the Southwest exhibit – you know, the one I’ve been going on and on about – was due early this week, and late last week I hadn’t even finished the hooking! That meant that Thursday and Friday I hooked during the day, an unusual event for me. I generally work in the evening for two to three hours while I watch television. So far that’s not taxed my RA too much.

Friday I was able to start finishing the main body of “Ribbons Over Albuquerque” (more on that in another post) and preparing its little “outrigger” piece. This is precisely where we approached and then zoomed by the comfort level. First and foremost was the physical. The main part of the rug is approximately 13″x39″.

Time to sew on the binding! — Time to sew on the binding. Ouch!

Now I really don’t mind the hand-stitching involved: tacking down the monks’ cloth backing and then sewing up the twill tape nice and pretty like. It’s easy when I use wool strips and/or yarn. Needles flow into those fibers like a knife into butter. Not so t-shirts. It’s tough getting even an itty bitty needle to pierce tightly packed t-shirt loops. But I did it, finished it late Saturday afternoon. My knuckles are still recovering.

The little outrigger part of the rug constituted the weekend’s other challenge. When I initially designed the project, I intended for the bows, i.e., the “ribbons over Albuquerque,” to all be hooked into the one piece. Preparing the pattern, though, I realized that one of the bows, the very top one, needed to “sail off” into the air, as it were. How to do that?

Luckily for me, Lucy Richard of the Wooly Mason Jar sparked some conversation on Facebook by posting something about finishing rugs. This led to talk about the Doris Eaton Edge – her method of sewing binding tape to the rug before she hooks it (as I do) and reverse hooking the row immediately next to the tape which I have never done. Until now. Because the bow was to be hooked from a white, “crepey,” diaphonous fabric, I needed to beef it up, you know, make it bulky enough so that it would stand “up” and be visible next to the much bigger and much more colorful part of the project.

Various thoughts came to mind. I needed something with more body than twill tape to edge the little bow. And it couldn’t be black like the twill tape on the big piece because it would be visible. What to use??? I’d edged the other bows in the piece with a lightweight silver ribbon, but was afraid to use that as binding tape; figured stitches would rip right out of that sucker.

Sudden lightbulb moment!

Stitching the binding - wired ribbon - to the design. — Stitching the binding – wired ribbon – to the design.

I had a roll of wired silver ribbon in-house. I could easily stitch backing to a wire edge. It worked like a charm. I was able to boost the ribbon’s inherent bulk by using Doris’s reverse-hooked first row. Sure, it was a little wonky pulling those loops. In the end, I decided not to attach the two pieces, to hang them separately, but the exaggerated, almost 3-D effect of the white bow allows it to hold its own next to the big piece.

Binding all stitched on and first row of loops hoooked a la Doris Eaton. — “Binding” all stitched on and first row of loops hooked a la Doris Eaton. (I.e., you’re seeing the back of those loops.)

All hooked and trimmed. Ready to sew down "binding." — All hooked and trimmed. Ready to sew down “binding.”

Thank you to my Adobe Wool Arts Guild members, Mary Ramsey and Melinda Lamott, for their support Saturday while I was working on the little white bow. We participated in the Albuquerque Biopark‘s Winter Wool Festival giving demos and helping little kids pull loops. I love doing that stuff. sharing our passion. So what if I wasn’t using wool?

Is rug hooking easy for you, your safe, happy place? Or do you spice it up trying new techniques or use fibers other than wool? How’s it feel going beyond your comfort level? Share your experiences.

For those interested, here is the YouTube link for the Doris Eaton Edge:
The Doris Eaton Edge

Melinda Lamott and a young rug hooking disciple. "Drink the Cool Aid, Padawan." — Melinda Lamott and a young rug hooking disciple. “Drink the Cool Aid, Padawan.”

February 24, 2016

Hooking feverishly, but what to do about those achy muscles and joints?

Tentative working title: "Ribbons Over Albuquerque." Has to be done and submitted by Monday! — Tentative working title of hooking project: “Ribbons Over Albuquerque.” Has to be done and submitted by Monday!

Not much time to post this week. The “Colors of the Southwest” project I’ve been telling you about is due Monday for jurying. The hooking’s not done yet alone the finishing! This means working during the day, something I tend not to do unless it’s the NFL playoff season.(If you don’t know it already, I’m a BIG New England Patriots fan. As you can imagine, this is not a popular thing in Albuquerque’s Denver Broncos’ territory.)

The pic to the left shows that much of the hooking is actually done. Only the “bows” remain. Unlike the rest of the piece which is comprised of t-shirt strips, I’m creating them out of ribbon and/or cut up poly blouses so that they have a little of the shiny “bling” of a real bow.

Stay tuned; I promise to give more details about this rug and what it means to me when it’s finished. Meanwhile, working with the ribbons is shredding the crap out of my left thumb top, but there’s no time to spare. For now I’m rubbing Vaseline into it. Next week, I’ll give it a day or two off. The things we do for our art…

Lest you think my life’s all about suffering these days, I share our latest new home enhancement.

The kid enjoying our new hot tub. See those cup holders to the right? They hold a glass of chardonnay just perfectly.

Instead of a pool, we decided to go with a smaller investment: the hot tub. It was installed last week, and we christened it Sunday. Thus far it’s excellent for muscles and joints achy from the trails, the treadmill, and rheumatoid arthritis. Though it’s not done anything for my thumb but dry it out more. I can live with that.

Remember, our door is always open to hookers and other friends visiting Albuquerque. Come rest your achy fingers and hands.

Do you suffer from osteo- or rheumatoid arthritis, carpal tunnel, something else? How does it affect your hooking? I’ve been fortunate in that my RA hasn’t targeted my hands as much as it has other joints. Please share here (or privately) what having a disease or other physical challenge means to your hooking and other pursuits. Are you like me, fearing that you might have to one day give up doing something you love? If there’s enough interest, maybe there’s an article to be written…