High on Hooking dogs Tynan and Bowyn wish you a joyous and restful holiday season. WOOF! (Meanwhile they await their gifts from Santa Paws – very serious business indeed.)
The gifts are wrapped; it’s Christmas for real now. I look forward to taking a week off from things I HAVE to do so I can accomplish some things I WANT to do. Like working on a new hooking project and planning some new ones for 2023. (More on those in a few weeks.)
If you’re still looking to fill a creative’s stocking or or even gifting yourself, HoH has a few ideas. Our winter teaching schedule is filling – for both in person and online events. Yay! After the holidays, I’ll give more info, but find the salient info below.
IN THE STUDIO ONLINE WORKSHOP WEEK 6 – Various Fiber Arts
February 16-26, 2023
Nationally known teachers! 9 workshops and 5 lectures plus 2 bonus events!
More info HERE.
FULLER LODGE ART CENTER / LOS ALAMOS ARTS COUNCIL Introduction to Rug Hooking – Saturday, February 25, 2023 Introduction to Punch Needle Rug Hooking – Saturday, March 4, 2023
Fuller Lodge Art Center, Los Alamos, NM
More info HERE.
We here at High on Hooking thank you for all your support this past year – students, festival organizers, schools, and customers. We wish you the best of Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, whatever winter holidays you might celebrate. Here’s hoping for a joyful and peaceful 2023.
I know I’m late to the party congratulating Karen Miller of Ontario on the release of her new book The Art of Mothering: Our Lives in Colour and Shadow, but I will NOT be the last, I guarantee you.
Karen’s book, published by Rug Hooking Magazine, came out in October. I think I received my copy in early November. Unfortunately, I’ve been très busy the past month, so I’ve only been able to scan through it thus far, but with the holidays almost here, I’m hoping to sit down soon and pore over it – no interruptions!
It’s a beautiful book, certainly, filled with all kinds of art. It’s vivid and colorful as it shines a light on how female artists have dealt with not just the topic of motherhood, but its actuality.
From the back cover:
Motherhood has been the richest experience of Karen Miller’s life. It has also inescapably changed her life trajectory: her career path, her energy levels, her commitments, her time, her marriage. It has affected everything. Join Karen as she and 21 contributing artists lift the lid on motherhood and peer inside to examine the reality of their lives through textile arts.
The Art of Motherhood: Our Lives in Colour and Shadow illuminates the feelings that so few of us talk about – but so many of us feel – as we navigate the journey that is motherhood.
“Rejection,” 14′ x 17.5″, hooked on monk’s cloth with wool strips and yarn, is one of my pieces in Karen’s book.
Karen’s known for a long time that being a mother hasn’t always been the best of experiences for me, so when she asked me to contribute to the book, I jumped at the chance. It’s always stuck up my craw sideways that women rarely feel comfortable being honest about motherhood and what it does to us. Even in a group of just women! How dare we speak up about not feeling quite like the Madonna and her perfect Child. News flash: I’m no Madonna and it took a lot of alcohol to get through my only kid’s high school years. (Those years made the previous 14 look like an f-ing picnic.) But after fertility problems and two miscarriages over two years, no one wanted a kid as much as I did. And I have no regrets. (Most of the time.)
“Holes,” 68″ x 33″, hooked on monk’s cloth with recycled textiles and silk sari ribbon. I’ve talked about this piece before.
That’s the kind of candid crap you’ll find in this book though in a much more eloquent form, LOL. And LOTS OF FIBER ART, hooked and otherwise. If you’re a mom or know a mom or ever had a mom, get thee online to order this book. It’d make a kick-ass and thoughtful Christmas or other type of gift. I promise. You can order from RHM HERE. If you’re in Canada, contact Karen through her website.
PS- Not all moms are biologic. And mother figures count as moms.
FYI-
Below is a list of the Instagram handles of all the artists who, in some way affected by motherhood, contributed work to Karen’s truly excellent book. Check out their work.
Karen Miller: @karendmillerstudio
Nadine Flagel: @pretextstudio
Meryl Cook: @merylcook
Laura Salamy: @highonhooking
Emily van Lidth de Jeude: @emilyvanartist
Jane Smith: @blogginthebay
April Deconick: @aprildeconickart
Linda Friedman Schmidt: @lindafriedmanschmidt
Rachelle Leblanc: @rachelle_leblanc_art
Trish Johnson: @trshjhnsn
Patti Colen: @woollycronedesigns
Alexandrya Eaton: @alexandryaeaton
Michelle Kingdom: @michelle.kingdom
Carmen Bohn: @carmenbohn_art
Elizabeth Miller: @northatlanticfiberarts
Ellen Skea Marshall: @twocatsanddoghooking
Amy Meissner: @amymeissnerartist
Michele Micarelli: @michelepmicarelli
Linda Rae Coughlin: @lindarae_coughlin
Sayward Johnson: @saywardjohnson
Lori Laberge: @lorilabergeart
Karen Larsen: I don’t believe Karen is on Ig but she is on fb
It’s a brand new holiday market, and High on Hooking is participating. The festival is local – here in Albuquerque, and it’s free! The parking too!
WHAT’S INCLUDED:
More than 80 unique artists and vendors from the area – perfect for buying holiday gifts for friends and family (and yourself, of course).
Live entertainment.
Food trucks!
Workshops and demos like knitting and crocheting, belly dancing, and free-motion quilting. Kids can make their own crafty gifts too.
WHAT YOU’LL FIND IN HIGH ON HOOKING’S BOOTH:
Fabulous hand-hooked art in the form of rugs, bench covers, table runners, wall hangings, and so on.
Tynan bids you all a WONDERFUL FALL and we hope to see you at the New Mexico Arts & Crafts Festival November 19. This hooked art would look marvelous in your house on Thanksgiving!
Hand-dyed yarn.
Oxford punch needles.
info regarding hooking/pinching classes and the Adobe Wool Arts Guild, NM’s only hooking guild.
So get thee to the UNM Continuing Education Conference Center at 1634 University Blvd. NE, on Saturday, November 19. Mention High on Hooking’s blog or other social media and get 10% off anything we’re offering.
PS – See our CALENDAR page to keep up to date on where you’ll find High on Hooking.
Hope to see you in a couple of weeks at the New Mexico Arts & Crafts Festival!
That’s what I told a friend last Friday night at the opening reception for PROTEST: SEE Something, Say Something at Fusionin downtown Albuquerque. (More info HERE.) It’s a good, meaningful show, filled with all kinds of media and messages. Rightly so, with protesting as a theme, they aren’t always pretty.
Sheela Na Gig is a Celtic symbol. I’ll let you read about her and how she was and now is used for protests HERE. (Hooked on cotton monk’s cloth with mostly old t-shirts and a bit of silk sari ribbon; embellished with glass beads.)
As I mentioned on social media after posting pics of my two pieces, I was sorry not to get more and better photographs, but I had to leave early. All Friday I’d battled a migraine; finally, the nausea and fatigue got the best of me. I didn’t feel better till Monday/Tuesday. Nonetheless, I encourage all the local readers to make their way to Fusion one afternoon or evening to see what the (protesting) artwork really looks like and to see it all.
Later every year, I create an angel for the following year. This was THE MIGHTY ONE, THE ANGEL OF 2022. (Hooked with old t-shirts, repurposed gold lamé, and plastic bags.)
TURTLE ISLAND SIEGE by Patricia Halloran (Patricia had some cool things in the FABRIC OF NEW MEXICO SHOW.)
THE HISTORY OF BEARING CHILDREN, text by Jacqueline Murray Long, visual art by Martin Terry
This is a more easily read photo of the text by Jacqueline Murray Loring. Another piece by a different artist accompanied this artwork. Visit the show to see it. (My photo didn’t come out.)
If you’re looking for a thought-provoking show, one that will let you see the outrage, the anger about so many things going on in our world today, come see the work by artists who are protesting at Fusion in Albuquerque. Maybe we all need to start protesting.
This is an FYI for all who have been a part of In the Studio Online’s Work Shop Weeks in the past:
Registration for Workshop Week 5 is upon us!
If you’re a past student, you should’ve received the catalog this past Friday evening via email. If you didn’t, then contact me at Laura@highonhooking.com ASAP! If you haven’t had the pleasure of taking a class with us YET, then also send me an email requesting the catalog. It will go out to all interested on Monday, August 15.
Please note that In the Studio Online Workshop Weeks are not just about rug hooking. We look to provide contemporary rug hooking artist/teachers as well as:
“…additional instructors who can offer something – not necessarily rug hooking or even a textile art – beyond the expertise of the original In the Studio artists. We look for complimentary/ancillary/supporting arts and skills.”
Teachers this time around are a mix of prior and new. They and the classes they’re offering during Workshop Week 5 are:
Anastasia Tiller LANDSCAPE IMAGERY FOR A TEXTILE PATTERN USING IMPRESSIONISTIC TECHNIQUE
Susan Feller FINISHING IS AN ELEMENT OF YOUR DESIGN – CHOOSE THE RIGHT ONE
Karen D. Miller POINTILLISM AND PAINT: EXPLORING NEW TECHNIQUES IN TEXTILE ART
Elizabeth Miller DESIGN YOUR OWN MISSION RUG: INSPIRATION FROM OUR COLLECTIVE PAST
Rebecca Martin EXPLORING YOUR CREATIVE SIDE WITH ALTERNATIVE PUNCH NEEDLE RUG HOOKING TECHNIQUES
Yours truly won’t be teaching this WW, but I’ll be handling all the admin, so if you have a general question or one about our two bonus sessions, please give a yell. If you’re wondering about specific classes, you’ll do best to contact the specific teacher. All contact info can be found in the catalog.
Information regarding some of our previous Workshop Weeks can be found HERE and HERE.
We hope you can join us at Workshop Week 5 in October.
