Are you going to be at Convergence* next week? I hope so, and I also hope that you drop by my classroom to say hi. No, at this moment, I have no idea where my classroom might be. As a Convergence newbie, I’m taking it one day at a time.
While I’m clueless about my class location on Saturday (July 13), I do know that Friday I’ll be at the Marketplace entrance volunteering from 1:30-3:30. (After that, I’ll most likely be IN the Marketplace. Don’t tell Tom. Hopefully, he’ll be napping in our room then.)
At some point we’ll both head to the exhibits (and probably the Marketplace again). I’ve got a piece in the Leaders Exhibit. Very exciting!
“Seasons Change” can be found in the Leaders Exhibit at Convergence. (Instructors are referred to as “leaders.”) She’s hooked with wools and repurposed textiles.
Beyond that, there are no plans. Of course, I’ll be taking notes and lots of photos. Keep an eye on my Instagram; I’ll post if I get the chance. A full report will follow here. 🙂
If you’re into fiber arts at all, I hope to see you in Wichita next week!
Bowyn was velcroed to me right from when I got home from having surgery. It’s been a long seven weeks for him too.
If you follow along on Instagram, you know that way back on March 11, I had ankle surgery. They cleaned out the detritus from bone-on-bone arthritis and tightened up my slacker ligaments. Sure, I’ve never broken or even sprained the ankle; I spent a lifetime walking all those turns off. I just didn’t realize how my ankle was being destroyed from inside.
Hence, there was a forced convalescence of sorts during those weeks. Initially, I had a big honker of a plaster cast on the left leg. A few days after feeling like I was going to bust that sucker open – swelling – they took it off and replaced it with a slightly smaller fiberglass cast. A week after that, the doc checked the wound and okayed another slightly smaller and bright purple cast. Crutches quickly gave way to Blue, my sweet, little knee scooter, and I became a bit more mobile.
Blue, my faithful steed through the seven week ordeal. Yes, I had to boost her pad with duct tape; it was deteriorating finally.
But while I wasn’t so mobile and had to keep the leg up pretty much all the time, I needed something to do. My ass was glued to the couch. Sadly, I’d finished a hooked piece right before I went under the knife, so I didn’t have that. But that hooking was an experiment. I was looking to create a kind of “vessel” with it. Before I had a chance to really think it all through, I picked up
Second of the stitches vessel. Wool and cotton fabrics, DMC flosses, baubles and buttons.
some tiny bits of “waste” wool and cotton, watched a little YouTube, then looked to make a kind of vessel out of them. It worked! So well, I went right on to stitch another one. Eventually, yadda yadda yadda, I got around to the hooked vessel and finished it. Now I’ve started stitching a new cotton one.
Sadly, during this time, we lost the original High on Hooking dog Tynan. He’d been slowly losing ground the past year and a half but was still very much a presence and always on the lookout for something to eat. We haven’t moved his bed out of the living room yet, and Bowyn studiously avoids it. But a bright spot arrived in the mail a week or two later. If you haven’t seen Kay LeFevre’s work, head over to her Facebook page. Within days of Tynan’s passing, Kay had created this incredible pillow in his likeness. Tom and I are incredibly touched by her kindness. You can read more about it in my Instagram post.
Such a wonderful tribute to Tynan, pillow by Kay LeFevre. It looks just like him! We miss you so much! (Hooking, embroidery, sequins, and so much more!)
Last year, long before I discovered I’d need surgery, I’d contracted with Interweaveto teach a couple of classes up at YarnFest in Loveland, Colorado, in April. Fortunately, I was able to schedule the ankle work between that and other classes here in New Mexico. So, Tom and I traveled up to Colorado a couple of weeks ago. Having a CRV-full of
On the road again. We were so lucky driving up to Loveland. Gorgeous weather. Snow on the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado. Great drive. Except for the fact that I have a cast on my leg.
frames and fibers and all the crap necessary to teaching both hooking and punch needle workshops, I definitely needed a sherpa. Sure, I could drive, but getting the STUFF from the house to the car to the hotel room to the classroom was more than I could handle with only one good leg. THANKS TO TOM, both classes were successes, and there are now fourteen more people in the world who can hook and/or punch. It’s all about spreading the fiber arts gospel!
New hooking student’s chicken project.Punch needle rug hooking project.
Working, working, working…
Meanwhile, I learned during the winter that I’d been accepted into an arts fellowship here in Albuquerque. Surprise and…YAY! ABQ peeps, this is what the Arts Hub is all about:
Arts Hub’s purpose is to unleash the power of the arts as a tool to engage the community, create solutions to urgent issues, and drive the creative economy.
The arts are a thriving part of Albuquerque’s culture and community, but artists continue to face barriers to work in this city. Besides a thriving arts community, sustainable artistic creation has an added benefit: it also sustains a class of creative problem solvers. Art is a powerful tool to engage community members and catalyze positive social change.
Consider applying for a fellowshipnext time around. It’s been truly edifying and a great way to make new connections, particularly outside of the fiber arts world. We’ve got two more meetings. Business plans are up next week!
First of the hooked vessels. All kinds of fibers on monk’s cloth.
So, while I’ve been mostly lying low, there have been bursts of activity the last seven weeks. But the best is tomorrow! Tomorrow morning at 10:40, the cast comes off! Yes, I’ve definitely been counting down. Seven weeks of dragging a cast around when you’re almost 60 is definitely a different animal than when you do it in your 20s. (Then it was a broken wrist.) My whole body is out of alignment despite doing yoga since after the first week (okay, with a butt-load of modifications).
After tomorrow comes the rebuilding. There will be physical therapy, for sure. Bowyn and I are both bursting to get back to our regular miles-long walks in the Bosque. But I know I can’t push it for a while. If the surgery didn’t work or I mess it up in the coming months due to unnecessary roughness (sorry, Tom’s watching the NFL draft behind me, and I do have my Patriots cap on), I’m looking at an ankle replacement. Collective shudder!
But enough about that, tomorrow is all about the giddiness of losing a couple of pounds of fiberglass and walking on two legs, albeit in a boot. And getting a pedicure! I’m planning on the giddiness freedom can bring me. Oh, and Tom taking me out to celebrate after I make my toes human pretty again.
Current stitched vessel project. This one is cottons rather than wools.
Yes, it’s been a long seven weeks, but now I can start looking to the future. The Patriots will draft an excellent quarterback, and, along with a new coach, we have a new lease on life… I digress. Nah, really, I’m looking forward to getting back to my walking and hiking with Bowyn, especially now that he’s an only dog… I’m having fun with this vessel phase I find myself in… I’m loving where teaching has been taking me. Colorado this month, Convergence in Wichita in July. (FYI – class is almost full!) And more to come! Keep an eye on our calendar and social media.
Going along, collaborations are on my mind. I love the hooking community, but there’s an even bigger fiber arts and mixed media arts community(s) out there. Given all the issues challenging our shared world these days, I think it’ll take everyone jumping in together to get messages out and find solutions. It’s time to mix it up and work out of the box.
Also taking up my time – planning for In the Studio Online’s Workshop Week 2025. You’re hearing it here first; we’ve decided on the dates: February 6-16. So, mark it in your calendars and keep an eye out here and on our shared social media for details. For info about WW2024, see HERE.
Finally, got a piece drawn and started to hook, so we do have a WHAT’S ON THE FRAME. Wool fabrics and yarns, repurposed textiles on monk’s cloth.
I give my sincere and profound THANKS to all of you who have kept my spirits up these seven weeks. To those who expressed their dismay and sympathy when we lost Tynan, especially Kay. To my students who had to deal with my wheeling about the classroom rather than easily moving back and forth to help. THANK YOU! And I’ll toast everyone of you tomorrow while I’m out celebrating. You all have a great weekend too!
Happy 2023! FIREWORKS (repurposed t-shirts and sparkly ribbon on monk’s cloth)
My plan for this week between Christmas and the New Year has been to do the things I WANT to do rather than HAVE to do. (The last couple of months planning Workshop Week 6 and handling some other things – like LIFE – were exhausting.) Things I wanted to do include the usual end of the year review and, more importantly, making plans for the coming 2023.
Gotta say I’ve been a little lazy on all accounts. Also, the final holiday rush took its toll physically. I’ve been mostly lying low the past few days: started a novel, doing Sudokus, and working on a new hooking project. Going through my piles and drawers and closets to organize and dispossess hasn’t happened. Yet. I still have a couple of days, especially given that it’s a long weekend. Watch for that ANGEL OF 2023! She’s a little late this year, but she’ll make an appearance by January 1.
I didn’t feel up to a detailed post mortem on 2022. Sadly, the end of the year brought with it a flurry of deaths in my little part of the universe. Nonetheless, like everyone, my 2022 brought some downers and some nice pluses. Teaching in Tennessee at the Shakerag Workshops was right up there. If you have a chance to participate – as a teacher or a student – I highly recommend the experience. A couple of articles I wrote were published in Rug Hooking Magazine. There were art shows and festivals here in Albuquerque and in Other Places, New Mexico. In the fall I made it out to Seattle to visit the kid. With a little luck, Tom and Bowyn, and I will make a road trip there in 2023.
What about the coming year? In 2023, I’d really like more time to myself, time to explore my making. Certainly, I look forward to teaching and sharing how others can get in on this calling of rug hooking and other fiber arts, but I need to carve out time for myself to sit in one place and ponder and experiment without distraction. I find it really easy to administer, to volunteer, to vacuum (ew!), to do anything but make the things I’ve seen in my imagination. Busy-ness, a need to feel needed, and the concomitant exhaustion – they can kill an art practice. I see it in others, and all it leads to is regret.
What I’m losing myself in tonight. NO NAME as of yet (repurposed t-shirts on monk’s cloth)
So, my big goal in 2023 is: SOLITUDE. Not that I plan on blowing anyone off. I’m a très social being who has a hard time saying NO. But it’s time for a little me-time. (Being Catholic and Irish, I know I’ll apologize for that all year.)
My New Year’s wish is that you too carve out some solitude for yourself and your art, your gaming, your reading, whatever it is that you can lose yourself in. Happy 2023!
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.
