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Los Alamos is the place to be Saturday

 

 

Fuller Lodge Arts Center Summer Arts and Crafts Fair sign - Los Alamos
High on Hooking will be at the Fuller Arts Center Summer Arts and Crafts Fair in Los Alamos this Saturday. Stop by and say hello!

 

 

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Finding artistic elements: Can I incorporate that into a rug?

Star as artistic element found in Black Forest
I liked this eight-point star superimposed on the blue sky and angles of the building. It’s found in Germany’s Black Forest.

 

I bet a whole bunch of you spend a fair amount of time looking around, see things, and wonder, “That looks cool; can I make a rug out of it?” I do. Even Tom has started asking me if I can use a particular design that he spies in nature, in the store, in the clouds…

My vacation is long gone now that summer is churning forward and August is just around the corner. Sigh… Sure, it’s freaking hot here in New Mexico, but I love the vibe of summer. So, I thought that I’d try go back to Germany in June – it was chilly – and share some of the “artistic elements” that I discovered there.

 

 

 

Metal bird sculpture.
Okay, less an artistic element than a piece of art itself. I really liked these metal yard birds. Also in the Black Forest .
Scalloped roof shingles as artistic element.
These roof shingles were on many of the houses of Breisach, Germany, a little town on the Rhine. As old as the town looked, it was almost completely rebuild after WW2. Besides the scalloped shape, I like the variation in color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lines and reflections as artistic elements in Strasbourg, France.
Just check out the lines and the reflections of these homes in Strasbourg, France.

 

Artistic elements on pottery.
If only my own flower pots has this kind of artistry! Found this at Heidelberg Castle in Germany.

 

 

Sgn for a restaurant.
I loved the individual artistic elements incorporated into this sign, I think for a cafe. It was in Rüdesheim, Germany. The sun, the grapes, and the tea- or coffee pot caught up in the leafy grapevine.

 

 

 

 

Lines as artistic elements - rows of grapevines.
Never mind the steepness of the hill that these grapevines have been planted upon (though workers do have to tie up to a bar at the top and repel down to tend to the vines). Note the rows and rows of straight lines. The ones that go off at a bit of an angle are owned by a different farmer.
Circles and cylinders: artistic elements in the castle kitchen.
Kitchens – even in castles – are full of artistic elements. Here we have circular plates, cylindrical cups and vessels, and the horizontals of the shelving. Saw this in Marskburg Castle near Koblenz, Germany.

 

 

More circles and lines: artistic elements in the kitchen.
Spoons on a rack provide us with more circles and lines. They look like pewter lollipops!

 

Slate roof with repeating tiles.
Marksburg Castle had some interesting slate roof tiles.

 

Floral artistic elements in carved wood walls.
And incredible woodwork!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colored wall panel, floral design.
Both Tom and I looked at this and the other wall panels and thought RUG!
Animal artistic element.
Dog? Sheep? You be the judge.
Snakes as artistic elements.
Maybe snakes are more your thing… Seen in Koblenz.
Stained glass window, cubes of cut glass. Artistic elements.
This window in the Cathedral in Cologne was made of colorful, glass squares. Being that I love to hook geometrics, I was quite taken by it. Wish the pic was clearer, but the camera on my phone bit it soon after this.

What have you recently seen during your travels that might make it into a rug?

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“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!

 

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Crazy days at High on Hooking

Hooked rug
What’s occupied my time these last crazy days of summer. “Patriotic WOOF” was a commission that last week went to its forever home in Missouri. If you notice, it’s an almost copy of my original OD green “WOOF.”

 

Hi, guys! Did you miss me? I hope so. Sorry about the longer than planned hiatus, but life’s been filled with crazy days here at High on Hooking. And they continue for another week. Sharon Smith of Off the Hook Wool Rugs comes into town today; she’s running a three-day workshop for the Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG). Meanwhile, if you’ve seen my personal Facebook or High on Hooking’s Instagram feed, you know that my 21-year old daughter, “the Kid,” suddenly got a full-time job up in Durango, Colorado, an absolutely fabulous mountain town about 3½ hours north of Albuquerque. Hence, she’s moving. We were up in Durango this past weekend securing an apartment. She’ll leave for real Sunday, her minivan stuffed with a bed and necessities. Tom and I will follow her up with packed car(s) Thursday.

You can see the crazy days? But I’ll be back in a week or two. So much to tell, especially regarding our river cruise vacation in Bordeaux last month. Good pics to share. And we’ll have photos of the Sharon Smith workshop too. So much going on… So little time…

How was your summer? Any interesting stories?

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Happy Fourth of July!

Fourth of July fireworks
Happy Fourth of July to all my fellow Americans! I’m taking the week off (from the blog, that is) to finish a couple of rugs up and to start a new one. Come see High on Hooking at Albuquerque’s Rail Yards Market Sunday. In the meantime, get some rest and remember how many good things this country still has to offer yourself and others. What do you have to give back?
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