We observed very cool rocks and their lichens. (This is for you Karen Miller of Karen D. Miller Studio.)
The national monument – which stretches about 17 miles along Albuquerque’s west side, right near our house! – also includes several volcanic cinder cones. We hiked up one of them and were treated to fabulous views of the Rio Grande river valley.
As I mentioned last week, I was juried into a big farmers’ market here, the Rail Yards Market, which starts in early June. I’ll be vending about every other Sunday morning through September. That means I need to get on the stick and make several small mats. They tend to sell better. While there are a fair number of hookers in these parts, the general population is far more used weaving as the prominent fiber art. Here’s hoping they embrace my slightly less than traditional offerings. All I can do is try.
A new 8″x8″ mat almost completed. Just needs to be pressed and finished off. Woo hoo!
And lest we forget, it’s Easter week! When I joined a church out here, I volunteered to be on the Art and Environment committee. Turns out not to be as sexy as it sounds. It means that I help to take down various decorations during holidays and put up liturgically appropriate ones. At Christmas time, I did a lot of ironing for them too. We’ll see what’s in store for me Friday and Saturday. I’m hoping not to break any glass candle holders this time.
Some kind of tiny, yellow flowers on top of the cinder cone at Petroglyph. They were well protected from the crazy winds we’ve been having.
To those who celebrate, I wish a Joyous Easter. Enjoy your own preparations. To everyone in the northern hemisphere, I bid you a happy spring. Albuquerque is full of flowering trees and shrubs. And pollen. Don’t forget the antihistamines!
Lilacs before Mothers’ Day. Who knew that was possible?
Many of us attending Artful Threads powerfully desired this silk scarf hand painted by Cheri Reckers.
Speaking about creativity – we were, yes? – lately I’ve been noticing a LOT of synchronicity going on. Two weeks ago, three AWAG (guild) members and I headed off to Tucson for the hook-in down that way. Last weekend, I participated in a hooking demo at Artful Threads with creative women in Belen, New Mexico. Various fiber arts were demonstrated in one of the cooler sites I’ve visited since moving here.
A Grenfell-style mat by Vi Darcy offered at Artful Threads as a raffle gift.
There was a ginormous rail yard next to the Harvey House Museum where we were. This week there’s a fiber sale happening as part of Artful Threads; I’m taking Tom with me if only so that he can see more of the state we now call home . He’ll love all the trains coming and going.
Meanwhile, I’m seeing all kinds of creativity memes and such on Facebook. Just today I saw this from writer Julia Cameron:
As artists, the creative dream we move toward is often visible to us– but invisible to those around us.
Go on, create, bring forth what’s in you no matter what the naysayers or your spouse or parents say. They’re too myopic or maybe just too busy doing their own thing to see the highway you’re traveling on.
And don’t be afraid you won’t be good at your art, whatever it might be. Jon Marro‘s I’MPERFECT reminds us not to get caught up in a quest for perfection. Salvador Dali does likewise.
Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.
So keep working, reaching for your own particular star in your own particular medium be it hooking or painting or writing or dancing or bowling or… Forget the fear of not being as good as someone else, even if that person appears perfect. I mean, should we all stop hooking just because our mats and rugs don’t look like Deanne Fitzpatrick‘s or Susan Feller‘s or Lynn Stein‘s or any other artist’s work we see in Rug Hooking Magazine? Of course not! Use them as inspiration for your own pieces.
The New York Times even has a terrific article about raising creative children. Read it here.
But what’s really brought all this creativity talk home to me is Elizabeth Gilbert‘s book,
Much of what Gilbert says in the book is the butt-in-the-chair, labor of love shit that I would call preaching to the choir of creative folks who would typically buy this book. BUT, I’m in a place in my life where I’m actually able to appreciate what she has to say. The bit about combinatory play especially resounded. Combinatory play, Gilbert writes, is “the act of opening up one mental channel by dabbling in another.”
I used to write fiction a lot more than I hooked. Then life became vastly more complicated, particularly with a child having anxiety, emotional, behavioral, and academic issues. Preparing for a move across country didn’t make it any less so. Our emotions in the house were up and down, fighting and flighting. During those years, I moved more into hooking. Even though I design my own rugs, it was a hell of a lot easier in the evening (because that is when I would have time for such personal endeavors) to hook than to contemplate plots and character to write an actual story. I have continued as an assistant editor at Fifth Wednesday, a kick-ass lit journal out of Chicago – I read the slush pile – but it’s always more stress-free to read someone else’s work than to write my own stuff. Plus, I consider it my way of giving back to literature, another labor of love.
Since we’ve moved, though, I’ve been feeling the tug of writing again. I’ve even had some fits of starting and stopping. But I hear the call, and it’s only getting stronger. Maybe it’s because the kid’s graduated from high school (thank you, God!) and has started working (bless you, Target!), and we’ve mostly settled into the new house. Meanwhile, there’s a small but active hooking community out here in in Albuquerque that’s been incredibly welcoming. They’re very open to my less-than-traditional way of hooking. Between them, the scenery, and all the art out here, my own creativity idea well is starting to really fill up again. Or maybe that well is just more accessible now. I’m 51 and I get to re-invent myself to some degree, dump some of my own insecurities, and just explore what I am at this moment: a writer and a hooker.
A friend recently looked at some of my hooking on Facebook and asked a question that gave the writer in me goose bumps.
“Do you hide secrets in your hooking?”
How would you respond?
The rug currently on my frame. What’s hiding in it?
Sadly, the Tuscon hook-in, 2016, has now come and gone. But what a great event the Old Pueblo Rug Hookers (OPRH) put on! The location, their hospitality, the silent auction… All guaranteed a fun time to be had by all.
Tucson. It’s a damned good thing that when we were scoping out southwest cities to move to, we visited during the worst weather time of year possible – July. We spent a week there way back in, maybe, 2000. The kid was pretty young. After spending most mornings doing some geographical and touristy investigations, we’d hang around the pool drinking Tom’s homemade margaritas (if you come visit us
Tucson sunset, Santa Catalina Mountains.
here in NM, he’ll make you one or five), the temperature climbing to at least 115. Occasionally, monsoon storms rained down just to inject a little humidity into the mix. Winter in Tucson is a different animal. We ate lunch outside at the hook-in. I got a sunburn and my freckles came out! It wasn’t quite like Jamaica in January; days started in the 40s. But they warmed up right quick.
The view from where we ate lunch at La Paloma Country Club. It was 80 degrees!
Location. La Paloma Country Club was a lovely venue for the event. Round tables for six to eight ensured conversation between all of us ladies and our gentleman, Russ. Vendor tables were centrally located for maximum exposure to wool, yarn, hooks, and other paraphernalia. As usual, coffee, tea, and pastries were provided during the morning. For lunch, we made our way down a sumptuous salad buffet that more than satisfied even those of us who were gluten free and/or vegan. A+ for the food.
Cathy Kelly selling her wares. (She’s one of my guild members!)
Fabulous portrait by Russ Nichols.
Show-and-tell. Tables lining one wall provided a perfect place to set out our mats for ogling. I’ve included some here for your pleasure. Later in the afternoon, our OPRH hosts had some of us stand up and talk about what we were working on. Yours truly, being the only one working, not with wool, but with old t-shirts, was one of the presenters. Folks were fascinated by the colors I can use and how heavy the cotton rugs tend to be. (I tend to pack them pretty tightly.)
Hooking straight onto a wool backing. By guild-mate Nancy Hart.Close-up and personal to penguins in a rug by Julie Gibson.Bag and pattern by Judith Maiewski.Grenfell-style mat by Marja Walker
Silent auction goodies.
Silent auction. Little did I know this would be my favorite part of the whole day. The guild had put out a nice spread of items. Bids started at a dollar. I identified a number of things I wouldn’t have minded taking home. Then I saw them: not one, but two Anderson “Puncher” frames! Since trying one out at a punching workshop with Amy Oxford years ago, I’d had it on my mind. In fact, I was supposed to get one for my 50th birthday a year and a half ago; but by the time I finally got around to ordering one, I found that Mr. Anderson was no longer taking orders. That’s made me very sad. Not anymore! After an intense bidding war with “Claudia,” I scored the larger one. We packed that puppy into the car, and it’s now happily ensconced next to my fireplace.
My prize! An Anderson frame at last.
Friends. Four of us from the Adobe Wool Arts guild attended the hook-in. Three of us road-tripped and stayed together. Of course, we all sat together Saturday. Nonetheless, I met
My truly excellent, fellow road-trippers Mary Schnitzler (l) and Cathy Kelly (r). They indulged me on the way home, letting me commandeer the radio to listen to the Patriots-Denver game. (Not such a good outcome for us Pats’ fans.)
and chatted with plenty of new friends. And plenty of northeastern transplants. It was fun talking Connecticut (where I’m originally from), Massachusetts (where I lived the last 23 years), Rhode Island (where I went to school and then worked for many of those 23 years), and Maine, well, just because there are so many hookers there.
Tucson hookers Barb and Lynn sat at our table. Sorry; didn’t get their last names.
If you’re out this way next year at this time, I urge you to visit Tucson and the Old Pueblo Rug Hookers. They’re a class act and they host a great hook-in.
Share your hook-in news. I know Eliot, Maine, is coming up. I was supposed to attend last year, but illness and snow thwarted me. There are events in Milford and North Attleboro, MA, coming up too. If only I was still living in Franklin…
(But then there’d be snow…)
Sunday morning. So long, Tucson. See you next January!
One Christmas mat all hooked up and ready to be steamed and finished. Time to design and start another!
Christmas is on its way, gathering speed whether we’re ready or not. I am not ready, but then I’m never ready for this big holiday. Like I’ve mentioned before, this year is tough. Call us crazy, but we left Massachusetts in July and moved to Albuquerque not knowing a soul. I knew this time of year would be difficult, but knowing and living that are two completely different animals.
All is NOT lost, however. I’m rushing to get this post out because tomorrow is my guild’s regular monthly meeting. With a twist; it’s our Christmas party! Instead of meeting at the library, we’re off to a generous member’s home for a potluck luncheon. So, it’ll be a day of good food, adult beverages, and hooking. Can you tell I’m looking forward to it? First, however, I must design and put together a little mat to work on while I’m there. Oh, and the chick pea salad (gluten free and delicious, if I do say) won’t make itself.
The giant dragonfly welcomed us to River of Lights. Its wings moved!Pretty flowers!
While I’m off with my preparations, enjoy a bit of the light show Tom and I attended last week at the same Albuquerque Botanic Gardens where the guild does our monthly demos. River of Lights is what it’s called, and it was absolutely incredible with hundreds of huge light sculptures.
You’ll have to take my word on that as the battery died on the phone soon after we arrived. Won’t make that mistake next year.
How are your holiday preparations going? Are you ready? And please tell me that you’re making time for at least a little hooking.
A ship of lights ready to carry my cold self away…But as a butterfly, I can sail off on my own. With my hot cup of Starbucks tea, that is.
There was a myriad, a cornucopia even, of Navajo rugs to be auctioned off that day.
As promised, this week I’ve got pics and comments on the Navajo rug auction Tom and I attended a couple of weeks ago.
The University of New Mexico’s Maxwell Museum of Anthropology sponsored the seventh annual auction on Saturday, November 21, in Bernalillo. Being on Santa Ana tribal land, that meant that anyone purchasing a rug got it tax-free. Always a bonus and an incentive when you’re talking expensive items, handmade or not. Proceeds from sales benefited the museum and the Navajo weavers.
Without doubt, the most spectacular rug we saw (by artist RG Sherman). It would’ve looked perfect under my dining room table. Unfortunately for us, the starting bid was $7500. No one bid on it, but all rugs not auctioned off were available for purchase after the auction at the starting bid prices. Maybe someone picked it up then.
Tom and I got there at 11:00 on the dot that morning, just as the restaurant hosting the event opened to the public. There were two hours for browsing and inspection of rugs before the auction was to start. Museum volunteers were busy hanging rugs on primitive ladders. Seeing that and the piles still on the floor, we were amazed at the sheer volume of rugs offered – approximately 250!
Initially, our plan was to just hang a bit, take photos (to make you drool), and then head home. After about 15 minutes we knew that wasn’t happening. Too many rugs, too much curiosity about how the auction itself was going to work. The people-watching was good too, and there was free food! Despite Tom’s misgivings, I got myself a paddle and registered for the auction. If attendance was low, I figured I might actually manage to pick up a rug to join the one we bought in Arizona years ago. (When we both had good jobs; when Tom wasn’t retired; before I started working for cash-starved non-profits…)
A two-faced weave with surprisingly soft colors.
The folks running the auction graciously provided a program that listed all the rugs to be bid on, including the artists. Even better, it was a great primer on Navajo rugs in general: how to buy one; how they’re made; descriptions of the various weave patterns; how to care for the rugs; and auction tips. The auctioneers provided even more information during the auction itself, so Tom and I were able to chalk the whole thing up as an educational experience too.
There were plenty of bright colors too.
Interesting factoids:
Just like rug hooking, weaving takes a LOT of time and work. “It can take up to 140 hours to complete a 30×60 inch saddle blanket, and a 3×5 foot rug can take 238 hours to complete. However, if the weaver had shorn the sheep, washed, carded, spun, and dyed the wool on their own, it is estimated to take an additional 200 hours to complete one rug.” (From Navajo Rug Auction Program.)
There are nine different weave patterns: plain; diagonal twill; five types of diamond twill; two-faced (a pattern with vertical ribs similar to plain weave, but including stitches of irregular width so that the two sides have different patterns); and double cloth (another type of reversible weave).
Even bright, unexpected colors.
If you don’t flip your rug regularly, the exposed side will fade. An evenly faded rug can be worth more than one with one “bright” side.
Unlike a hooked rug, you’re encouraged to vacuum a Navajo rug. If only to reduce the chances of insect infestation. More than moths. Ew.
One should never drink wine or any other aqueous liquid when you’re anywhere near the rug (as far as I’m concerned). Any rugs woven after 1875, use aniline dyes for red, orange, and other brights, thus they run when wet. I have to admit that this would make me really nervous if I had a party at my house. Or children. Or even dogs. Not that my dog drinks alcohol. At least not out of a glass.
And another.
Here’s one “tree of life.
Museum volunteers held up items for auction.
Hank, the boisterous auctioneer, started the auction just after 1:00 p.m. As he said, it wasn’t quite like being at a livestock auction, but Tom made for damn sure that I didn’t even scratch my nose – just to assure that I didn’t accidentally bid for a $1200 rug or even a $300 one.
Needless to say, given that the room was full (maybe 300 people), I did NOT go home with a Navajo rug that day. According to Mary Beth Hermans of the Maxwell Museum, “The average price for a 24-by-30-inch rug is about $350. …many of the rugs sell for the opening bid [specified by the auction].” (From an Albuquerque Journalarticle by Kathaleen Roberts on November 20, 2015.)
Rugs, rugs, and more rugs!
While my shopping basket remained empty that day, all was not lost. We learned plenty about Navajo rugs and the auction process. Even better, the woman seated a row ahead of us clued me in to a monthly rug auction going on about two and a half hours west of Albuquerque. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere on some reservation. Crownpoint‘s got lower prices, I hear – some sell for less than $50! The auction doesn’t start till 6:00 p.m. on a Friday, so we’ll have to find a place to stay. Not in that town; there’s no lodging there. But that’s why we moved out here to New Mexico. It’ll be yet another adventure.
I fell in love with this diamond twill.
Anyone out there have experience at a Navajo rug auction? Other auctions? I saw how easily I could’ve lost control. (Not that Tom would’ve let that happen.)
Who knew you could get a round rug perfect for a table top?
Some big collector was offering this one for auction. He told me that he was ill and divesting of his collection.
They were all so hard to resist. Next time one will become mine!
Creative Living Beyond Fear
