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Spinning out of control!

Spinning top
My life is spinning… (Photo by Fons Reijsbergen.)

 

Given Covid, I’m amazed at how busy my world’s been these past months – some days are spinning out of control! Besides hosting events, I’ve been attending plenty of others. And then there’s the literal spinning, as in vertigo. For over a month, I’ve had days feeling as if I’m walking on the deck of a boat. Sometimes the waves are just little ripples, like in a pond. Other times, there’s a big, old storm coming! While I suffer a completely unmerited hangover! The ENT says it’s not an ear or sinus infection, and the chiropractor says I’m well aligned. That leaves those pesky calcium crystals that reside in our inner ears sensing gravity. They need to be re-positioned which is why I’m off for a physical therapy evaluation tomorrow. Here’s hoping they can find a way to end the spinning.

Bowyn the Welsh Springer spaniel is sick.
Bowyn on our surprise snow day last month.

Meanwhile, poor, little Bowyn is ailing with a wicked double ear infection and mouth sores that make eating difficult. Dude’s really looking hangdog. Yesterday we saw Dr. Forsyth (of the Taylor Ranch Veterinary Clinic here in ABQ). Now we have new meds and more ear-washing; I am not Bowyn’s favorite person at the moment. Praying he feels better in a few days.

 

 

“PLACES” WE’VE BEEN

Okay, less actual places, more Zoom gatherings. Since we last checked in I’ve been to:

  • The Alt Fiber Hook-In with some lovely ladies from Canda and the US. Perhaps we should plan another for one evening or Saturday? Thoughts?
  • The Adobe Wool Arts Guild‘s first actual meeting, albeit it virtual, since March. If you’re located in New Mexico and interested in joining, email me. We’re looking to set up a class or two for next year. (Still virtual, I’m afraid.) Maybe you’d like to join us.
  • In the Studio’s inaugural Workshop Week. This was fun – Karen Miller, Susan Feller, Beth Miller, Meryl Cook, and I each held a workshop; included with “tuition” was a ticket to an evening hook-in and a closing panel discussion. Such was our success, that we’re planning another week this winter. Keep watch for that. There will be all new classes!
  • In the Studio with Nadine Falgel. Nadine spoke about how she she makes “slow art” to combat “fast fashion.” This being one of my own pet issues, I was really interested. But while I like to recycle old or would-be scrapped textiles into my own pieces, thus keeping them out of landfills, Nadine actually uses these “rags” as her subject matter. See more about her work on her Instagram page. And, BTW, she’s got a solo show coming up in the new year.
  • A Vision of Hope & Healing art show at the Santa María de la Vid Abbey in ABQ. My piece “Holes”
    Story cloth from Multicolores
    A story cloth from the artists at Multicolores.

    hung in the show. It ran until just last Friday. Unfortunately, with the Coronacootie spiking, we couldn’t have the usual opening and closing soirées, but you can see the show HERE, just scroll your way down the page when you get there.

  • Guatemala! It’s the farthest I’ve gone courtesy of the Stitching Stories Embroidery Workshop from Multicolores last week. I took that class because 1) I’ve become more interested in embroidery over the last year or so and 2) I’ve been thinking about doing a story rug. The class was kind of a 2-fer for me. I’ve been holding onto some poems that I think will work well. We didn’t start any projects in the three hours, but we practiced some of the stitches the ladies use and spoke about what we might want to do. Consider, taking one of the online Multicolores classes when they offer them again. (It’s easier than going all the way to Central America!) Micaela and Sara were excellent at demonstrating their work and answering questions on their processes. The fact that everything had to be translated both ways didn’t hurt the continuity of the workshop at all. I passed on the hooking class as I already work plenty with t-shirts, but I hear from friends that it was a good experience as well. And the tuition monies go to a great cause!

WHERE ARE WE OFF TO NEXT?

  • Tomorrow evening at 8:30 I’m heading to the Anchorage Museum in Alaska, for Amy Meissner‘s Intersectional Selves Mending Workshop. More info HERE. Like Nadine and myself, Amy’s also interested in how we can counteror at least mitigate the actions of our throw-away culture. And I’ve got some knit items that I’ve not yet tried to mend.
  • On Tuesday the 24th, the calendar on the wall (sue me; I’m a troglodyte) shows an entry for Abstract Art in America from the Whitney Museum.
  • I’m behind in the Textile Talks that happen every Wednesday. They’re mostly presentations and panel discussions about quilts, but you never know what you might pick up. They’re sponsored by the International Quilt Museum, the Modern Quilt Guild, Quilt Alliance, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, Studio Art Quilt Associates and Surface Design Association. More info HERE. They are recorded, so, if you’re like me, you can catch up on them at a later date.
  • In the Studio with Larry Weyand airs Wednesday, December 2, at 1:00 Eastern. More info on that HERE. A teaser: Through the process of autoethnography, I explore how my work lies in the space where narrative, psychological resilience, mat making and food intersect. Food and rugs! I’ll have more info later.
  • On December 8, I’ll be joining the “CSU Libraries and the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising for expert advice on how to preserve your family archives, photos, and textile heirlooms.” It seemed like a good idea. More info HERE. It’s called Caring for Your Family Treasures.

Who knows what else I’ll find to occupy myself in December? As if I wasn’t busy enough hooking and hemming my last rugs of 2020. And don’t even mention the Ribbon Rug Journal! Only a month and a half to go on that…

Small hooked rug
You too can “Build a Baby Boucherouite” or, as I like to call it, Barbies Magic Carpet.

Plans for early 2021 include the second In the Studio Workshop Week as I mentioned. I’ll also be running Building a Baby Boucherouite on my own for those who missed it in October. Keep an eye out for scheduling if you’re interested.

And although this class is scheduled and up online, I don’t believe that our proliferating Covid problem will allow it to run. Or that I’ll be comfortable leaving home for it so soon after the holidays when it’s clear that so many germs will be shared. (In which case, I can cancel…if there are even any students!) It is, however, just an honor being able to offer a class with Ghost Ranch here in New Mexico.

Just one of the views from Ghost Ranch. Sunsets in New Mexico. Its about the light.

For those not familiar with it, artist Georgia O’Keeffe‘s home in Abiquiú, New Mexico, sits at the edge of the 21,000-Ghost Ranch property, named as such because cattle rustlers trying to keep their stolen cows a secret said the ranch was haunted by evil spirits. Hopefully, the vaccines we keep talking about will work, and we’ll be able to get to this or a similar class sometime sooner than later.

Dizzy? Head spinning? Have I given you vertigo to go with mine? I hope not, especially with Thanksgiving right around the corner. We’ll have a quiet one here, much like the first holidays when we moved to Albuquerque in 2015, before we knew anyone well enough to share our bad habits and proclivities. (We had to go all Siren-like and lure people in before that could happen.) The kid is scheduled to come down for the first time since this whole mess began in March. We can’t put her off any more. Unfortunately, masks, social distancing, and a 2-week quarantine after she leaves are all on the docket. Thank goodness I have so many things to do!

 

Gobble, gobble!

If I don’t make it back here next week, I wish you all a wonderful and TINY Thanksgiving. Remember, you can stay small yet still have all the trimmings. And there will be less dishes to wash!

 

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October events: Are you going?

OCTOBER EVENTS

Hooked rug
October’s here, the pumpkin time of year! This little guy was hooked using wool strips and yarn and recycled t-shirts. The background is primarily cotton batik.

October started at a run right out of the gate. Not sure how that can be in these days of Covid, but I suppose it shows that we’re all adapting to our new reality. And, hey, it’s not all bad. Because of Zoom, many of us are seeing each other on a pretty regular basis, which would NOT have been the case if we had to travel any distance to get together.

So, exactly what’s up in October?

 

Photo for one of the October events
IN THE STUDIO WITH JUDI MILLER – wEDNESDAY, 2020; 1-2 PM EASTERN (11-NOON MOUNTAIN

Wednesday, October 7:
IN THE STUDIO WITH JUDI MILLER

 

Canadian artist Judi Miller joins moderator Karen Miller of Karen D. Miller Studios to discuss artist residencies. Maybe you’ve considered one? There’s still time to purchase a ticket today to get the scoop. Info can be found here. Starts at 1:00 PM Eastern.

 

 

Wednesday, October 14:     ALT FIBERS HOOK-IN

This is a chance to just sit and hook together – okay, on Zoom – for an evening. If you’ve been wondering about hooking with something other than wool, this is the place to come and discuss. Grab a beverage and a project and join us. More info can be found here. Starts at 5:00 PM Eastern. And, yes, wool’s invited as well.

 

Wednesday, October 21:     ADOBE WOOL ARTS GUILD MEETING

If you’re a fiber artist in New Mexico and interested in joining AWAG, the only rug hooking guild in the state, please give a yell to attend. We’re not officially meeting in person yet, but Zoom has let folks meet and talk to one another. Please contact moi at Laura@highonhooking.com for more info. (That’s because I’m the guild president.) Starts at 1:00 PM Mountain time.

 

Monday-Friday, October 26-30:     IN THE STUDIO’S FIRST WORKSHOP WEEK

Who says we can’t have classes during Covid? Not only can we, but people from all over Canada and the US and even beyond can participate!

Photo for one of the October events

 

Teachers include: Karen Miller, Susan Feller, Meryl Cook, Beth Miller, and moi. Workshops by Susan and myself are full, but, if you hurry, you might grab a place in the others. (There are waiting lists.) BTW, not only are there classes, but bonus evening sessions include a hook-in and a panel discussion. More info here.

 

 

With all these October events, I don’t want to hear that you’re bored or you have nothing to do. You are cordially invited to pretty much…everything! Until we get a Coronacootie vaccine in place and working, this is how we’ll be getting together. But I suspect we’ll keep Zooming at least part of the time because, you know, it works! Hope to see you online!

Dogs present "What's on the frame" this today.
Aren’t they playing nice? Tynan and Bowyn both bring you “What’s on the frame” today. It’s a Boucherouite-inspired rug hooked with t-shirts. I started it on vacation last week. Right now it’s got kind of an October vibe going with those Halloweenish colors.

 

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WILL RUG HOOKING SURVIVE?

The other day  I read an email sent to reps on the Education Committee of the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council regarding the potential of online education and the purposes of today’s guilds. This is something my own guild regularly discusses.

I ask because the answers might drive our educational goals in different directions.  And perhaps show us a source of inspiration to promote the continuation of the arts we all love. 
-Kathy Jackson

Earlier in the week and given current events, Beth Miller of Parris House Wool Works started a discussion on her business Facebook page. I urge you to go to her page and read the comments.

Why do we see so few BIPOC and LGBTQ people in rug hooking? Other textile arts are starting to increase in diversity, but I don’t think we are seeing that in rug hooking. Why is that?
For that matter, why are we seeing so few people under 40, or even under 50, hooking rugs? Or men?
What would it take to attract more people to rug hooking?
This is not rhetorical or academic. This is existential.
If rug hooking does not become inclusive, starting with young people, people of color, LGBTQ people, no one will be talking about rug hooking at all in a short fifty years.
-Beth Miller

I just turned 56 and am the youngest person, I believe, in my guild. This is not an anomaly among ATHA guilds. We’re aging. All you had to do was look around at last year’s Biennial in Denver to see that.

On the subject of ATHA guilds, I was amazed to read in Beth’s comments that some guilds aren’t even accepting members any more. WTF?

I also have it on pretty good authority that the circulation of Rug Hooking Magazine has been declining for the last number of years.

So what are we to do if we want to ensure that this tradition sticks around for another 200 years?

Personally, I’m really impressed by the buzz that is punch needle rug hooking these last few years.Those mostly young mostly ladies are all over Instagram, the current social media of choice, especially for artists. They’ve got online and in-shop classes going. They’ve got rock star celebrities like Arounna Khounnoraj of BOOKHOU and Rose Pearlman. No, I don’t necessarily care for all of their designs; in fact, I find many of them simplistic, but perhaps that’s what it takes to get the “youngsters” to sign up and learn the skill. All art and artists evolve with time, and they’re just starting.

Traditional rug hookers are on Instagram too, but, frankly, it’s not the same. We sometimes lack…the panache. Our projects can seem almost…fuddy duddy, I’m sorry to say. Not that there’s anything wrong with primitive rugs or traditional patterns, but, let’s be honest, is a finely shaded rose – and especially all the “rules” that go with that finely shaded rose – going to draw the attention of a typical 28 or 38-year old who’s got a full time job and maybe a baby taking up her time? What we have to do is show EVERYTHING that rug hooking can be, that is has the potential to be a rose and a 3-D sculpture à la Liz Alpert Fay or Rachelle LeBlanc.

In reading the responses to Beth’s questions and thoughts above, a few things stand out.

DIVERSITY
I don’t have to tell you that this is a HUGE topic today. And I mean this very day in June, 2020, not something theoretical. And society is hopefully starting to examine how a lack of diversity and acceptance pervades almost everything making up our society. I don’t feel qualified at the moment to pontificate on how we can draw other groups into our very white, older woman rug hooking demographic. And BTW, I am not apologizing for being a white, middle-aged rug hooker. But any group can grow staid after a hundred years or so. Change is good. Fresh ideas and perspectives are to be welcomed. Again, it’s about evolution.

TIME
A number of folks mentioned how the “young” are busy with: school; jobs and career-building; families and all they entail; and so on. Yes, this is undeniable. I started hooking when my kid was around seven years old. I was working part time as an environmental manager in a manufacturing plant. I was busy too. But I also knew that I wanted to create. Something. Rug hooking was something I could do in the evening when I watched television after the kid was in bed. And I wasn’t on a schedule. If a rug took a year, it took a year. Canadian hooker Karen Miller spoke about this just yesterday on Instagram and Facebook. She’s got a couple of kids, a fiber art business, and writes books! If something appeals enough to an individual, they will make the time for it. Ask Amy Oxford; she sells a lot of punch needles to people like me who are teaching beginners. Again, how do we make rug hooking appealing enough to gain more of our own beginners?

EXPENSE
This is a big one. And it certainly appears that rug hooking is an expensive sport what with the hand-dyed wool, the linen, the cutters, the patterns, the workshops and teachers. I’m sure I missed something. Here’s the thing, though, that’s just bullshit. The Canadian and New England ladies back in the 1800s didn’t have all those things, did they?

I learned how to hook in a community education class maybe 15 years ago. I did have to pay for that and a kit. The experience cost maybe $100. But I knew virtually nothing about hooking. Nor did I know anyone to teach me.

When my class ended, the teacher didn’t offer any additional lessons or mention a guild or anything. She did suggest a quilter’s hoop for finishing the project. Beyond that I was on my own. Thank goodness for the Internet, used books from Amazon, and Rug Hooking Magazine. With those resources I learned that:

  • I could get monk’s cloth for a lot cheaper than linen. (And no one talk to me about hating monk’s cloth and how it “stretches.” I learned on it and have always loved it. Pull in the opposite direction and it’s good as new.)
  • About rug yarn and punching, which I learned on my own. (Caveat: a few years later I took a class with Amy.);
  • How to draw a pattern;
  • How to finish a rug; and
  • Any number of tips which all you ladies have generously shared over the years especially as rug hooking groups proliferated on Facebook.

For years I used the student hook that came with my initial kit. My husband repaired that quilter’s hoop a few times when I over-tightened it. Once it was apparent I was in rug hooking for the long haul, he bought me a Puritan frame for Christmas. I still use it. I didn’t get a cutter until a couple of years ago; it was a guild hand-me-down that I purchased for less than $100.

Having no real rug hooking shop anywhere near me, I initially used wool yarn I found in a local shop. It was pretty thin. Sorry, I’m not good at yarn nomenclature. It took a really long time to hook up the two mats I made with that stuff. Later I bought old wool suit jackets from the thrift store. When I realized that it often wasn’t good wool, I came up with the idea of hooking with recycled t-shirts. They were plentiful, cheap, and came in lots of colors. Silk bouses and scarves and then bedsheets followed. If you can make a strip out of it, you can hook it. And don’t forget the yarn. To this day, so called “alternative fibers” make up the bulk of my work. And I get them at Savers or as gifts from folks looking to unload stuff.

I will admit that when I finally found a guild that sprouted up near me, I had a hard time. Or shall I say they had a hard time with me and my t-shirt rugs. I didn’t feel particularly welcome, though I’m sure some of the problem was my own sense of not fitting in and even inadequacy. I don’t know what it is about Albuquerque, but when I moved and  joined the Adobe Wool Arts Guild, I knew I was home. (See last week’s post.) They might not have wanted to hook with bed sheets, but they thought my rugs were pretty cool. I felt welcome.

During non-Covid years I teach a class to beginners called “Hook a Rug, Save the Environment.” It’s pretty much always filled with ladies who have never hooked and, therefore, have no pre-concieved ideas about beautiful wool or rug hooking rules. BTW, I am not a certified McGown teacher. I have nothing against them; hey, we have four or five in our guild! There’s room for all of us. My career in environmental management was all about rules and regulations. Rug hooking is where I can let it all out, do whatever I want. It’s art and it’s personal. There are no wrong answers. I am the boss of my rug, as we say in our guild.

The punch hookers have grabbed onto that idea and run with it. They use whatever yarn they want. No one cares if it’s acrylic or wool. They keep their pieces small to fit within a hoop or whatever they use to hold the piece; no cumbersome moving of the rug on a frame. Many of them see the back of the rug as the front! (The loops are on the back.) Or, better, they switch it all up and have flat and loops on the front! Sure, I think that loops on the back is a waste of yarn, but who cares? They are the bosses of their rugs. They’re having a great time, and their rugs are new and different.

So, how do we as the “old guard” re-excite our sisterhood (and our brothers) enough so that we can share this marvelous art with the “youngsters”? It’s gonna take technology, I fear. Damn, I’m still not all that excited by Zoom. When “they” let us, we need to get out into our communities and do a lot of demonstrations. And leave the expensive equipment at home. I’m not saying we should all start using bent nails instead of hooks, but maybe have some hoops and burlap or monk’s cloth on hand to let a kid try pulling some Lion brand bulky acrylic yarn. Most get it pretty quickly.

I’ll close my rant with something that the editor of Rug Hooking Magazine wrote in the March/April/May,1993 issue:

I hope the new people we introduce to rug hooking will find in it a totally fascinating art. Let us be welcome to newcomers. Let us teach beginners patiently. …Let us encourage and inspire.

We need new people in rug hooking. …I hope we find many of them. Please welcome them with all your talented, warm and wonderful hearts…
-Mary Ellen Cooper

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Hemming, Hooking, and Punching, oh my!

Here in Albuquerque, we’re hemming, hooking, and punching, oh my!

 

The hemming part of hemming, and hooking, and sewing, oh my!
The hemming part of hemming, and hooking, and sewing, oh my!

HEMMING
The secret project is almost done. The hooking’s complete, but there’s a LOT of hemming to be done, rug binding to be sewn down. It’s been taking a LOT of my time. But if I can finish that and figure how to hang it, I think that I’ll enter it into a fiber show up in Santa Fe to run during the New Mexico Fiber Arts Center (formerly Española Valley Fiber Arts Center) Fiber Crawl in May. Check out the info whether you’d like to be a participant or would prefer to check out the festivities this year.

 

HOOKING
Cathy and I have one more evening in Santa Fe as artists in residence at the Inn on the Alameda. There’s not been all that much action, but we usually get in a few good chats with a guest or two. Two weeks ago we met a group of ladies who came from all over the US to take a workshop that would teach them how to make clothes from the cloth that they’d woven back at home. They were really into the tactile nature of our hooked rugs. One woman had inherited hooking paraphernalia from a relative and got all hyped visiting us. Another loved the idea of using used clothing, especially t-shirts, and wants to give hooking a try. Alas, she isn’t from here, so she’ll have to find a teacher on her own.

Meanwhile, Friday, a friend of a LeeAnne, an AWAG guild mate of mine, came here for an intro lesson Friday. (Bowyn was a BEAR, wanting desperately to become her new best friend. Ideas of what to do with a dog when you teach in your home? Till he’s trained, that is.) Barbara came last week so that she could attend AWAG’s first hooking retreat of the new year. If you’re in the area of Hope Church on Juan Tabo in Albuquerque Wednesday or Friday, 10-3, we cordially invite you to stop by. If hooking’s your thing, bring that. Knitting, embroidery, whatever, we’re happy to have you. (FYI, Thursday, we’ll be holding an in-guild miniature punch needle class, so our hospitality will be “compromised.”)

Dog on hooked rug
Tynan brings you this post’s “what’s on the frame”!

Lastly, as you can see in the photo, Tynan brings you this week’s “what’s on the frame.” It’s a cheery and color-full rug that I’m hooking with old woven bed sheets. Unlike other on-going projects, it’s highly portable. Each evening, too, I hook my daily entry on the ribbon rug journal. More on that next time.

 

Punch needle rug hooking example
Come punch with me in Santa Fe on February 29.

PUNCHING
And lest anyone forget, Saturday, February 29, I host my first Intro to Punch Needle Rug Hooking class up in Santa Fe, in the New Mexico Fiber Center’s new shop. It opened back in November. Most exciting, doing a class in Santa Fe instead of Española cuts my commute by a full 30 minutes! If you haven’t been there, make sure you make a trip. It’s cute and carries more finished goods than the Española headquarters. And if you’d like to try punching à la Amy Oxford, sign up ASAP. If you can’t make that class, contact me about a class in my home or even yours.

 

Toma nd Bowyn, man and dog
My other two boys, Tom and Bowyn. Like most days in New Mexico, Saturday was sunny, so the four of us piled in the car went off on a jaunt. Have you done any good walks and hikes lately?

 

Okay, things could be a lot worse. Hemming, hooking, and punching are all better than working in an office or shoveling snow or even having a mammogram or dental work. Frankly, they’re better than teaching Bowyn over and over how to be a good canine citizen. He’s stubborn and more than a little crazy, that one. But you have to love him. Or at least Tom and I have to. WHAT ARE YOU UP TO THIS WINTER DAY?

 

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AWAG pulls off another great Fiesta

 

Adobe Wool Arts Guild – AWAG – pulls off another great Fiesta booth. All photographs were taken by Gary Lamott. Thanks, man!

 

Hooked AWAG rug
Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG) rug at Fiber Arts Fiesta 2019 in Albuquerque last week.

 

AWAG rug hooking booth at Fiber Arts Fiesta.
AWAG’s booth all gussied up.

 

AWAG friendship rugs.
“9×9”: AWAG’s friendship rug group project.

 

Rugs by AWAG members.
Rugs by AWAG members Cathy, Marcy, and Mary S.

 

Member Dagmar of Zia Woolz.
AWAG member Dagmar wearing her hand-dyed yarn and knitting guru hat. You should check out her Zia Woolz website. Very yummy yarns!

 

Member Catherine hooker extraordinaire.
Catherine hooks and hooks for the public. (In front of “Big Boucherouite.”)

 

AWAG members in front of hooked rugs.
Melinda and Cathy show friendship in front of the friendship rugs.

 

More rugs by AWAG members.
Ruth’s “Klimt” rug (pattern by Michelle Micarelli) on the far left won the Viewers’ Choice award. No one was surprised. Other rugs by Cathy, Mary R, Nancy P, Melinda, Betsy, and Nan.

 

More AWAG hooked rugs.
More rugs by AWAG members. There were 27 juried entries that all got in plus the nine friendship rugs. Rugs here hooked by: Betsy, Nan, Melinda, Catherine, Liz, Nancy H, Laura (me!), Kalea, Mary S, Cathy, Marcy, and Darlene.

 

AWAG friendship rug.
Melinda’s friendship rug. Can you tell which one I hooked? I might add that the t-shirt strips look just like everyone else’s wool strips. (Gary takes a nice shot of his wife’s rug, yes?)
Laura's friendship rug.
And here’s my friendship rug all nice and finished.
Melinda and Laura of AWAG pose with the rugs.
So, I’m not sure why Melinda and I don’t look very happy here. It was the start of Fiber Arts Fiesta 2019. A success story. Thanks again, Gary.

And just like that Fiber Arts Fiesta 2019 is a wrap. Thank goodness. There was a LOT of planning and hooking followed by four straight days of work. In a few days Tom and I will rest. Sort of. We’re off on vacation. More on that later. Perhaps WiFi will be good enough to allow for some Facebook and Instagram pics. If not, you’ll just have to withstand the suspense while you wait for my photos and tales. Be back in a couple of weeks. Enjoy your summer!

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