Tag: HGA

July 5, 2024

Convergence, here we come!

Convergence poster

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!

Hand-hooked purse — “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!

*More on Convergence. HERE and HERE.

January 7, 2024

Cheers – it’s 2024!

Happy 2024! I hope that everyone toasted to love and life at midnight a week ago. Tom and I did, albeit at about 6:00 PM. Drinking late at night doesn’t work well any more. LOL Besides, even after more than eight years out here in New Mexico, we still celebrate the New Year on East Coast time.

Happy 2024

My 2024 will be a big teaching year.

Classes are scheduled for the Española Valley/New Mexico Fiber Arts Center up in Española, New Mexico, this month (1/27, hooking) and in February (2/24, punching). The hooking class is full, but they’re opening a second session that should be on March 9. It hasn’t been posted yet, though, and probably won’t be for another week or so.

In Aril, we’ll be up in Loveland, Colorado, for the Maker Festivals Colorado/Yarn Fest Again, I’ll be holding workshops in both hooking (4/13) and punching (4/12). I love Colorado, so I’m pretty pumped for this trip.

And in July, we’re off to Wichita, Kansas, for HGA’s Convergence. Hooking’s up (7/13). I remember the marketplace when Convergence was in Providence 10 or so years back. Read about that HERE.

And while I’m not teaching at In the Studio Online’s Workshop Week 2024, I am the Administrator, so very much in the middle of things. If you’re looking to work with teachers you see on social media but couldn’t travel to, check out our offerings right this minute. Prices are right, and no travel is needed! Classes are filling. We’ve got some great bonus events too like a talk by Liv Aanrud sponsored by Sauder Village. And if you’re interested in attending Rug Hooking Week at Sauder Village in 2024, Deb Ridgway will be giving a free talk on that and more. (BTW, some of the SV teachers this year are teaching at WW2024! Again!)

Fortunately, all of these events are at least a few weeks away, as I’m still recovering from a much too busy December. And the kid arrives tomorrow from Seattle to have her holidays. Sadly, in the hospitality industry, one does not often have Christmas off. So, I will be busy with family this week but still available if you have any questions.

My wish for you all is a 2024 filled with kindness and creativity. Learn something new; risk a bit and maybe you’ll surprise yourself!

July 18, 2023

MAVWA UPDATE – Punch needle class info (and more!)

Updated information

Logo for the Mountain and Valley Wool Festival

Mountain and Valley Wool Festival
Santa Fe in October

If you read the previous post from way back in June – hey, it’s summer and I’m enjoying a break! – you saw that I’ll be teaching an all-day workshop on punch needle rug hooking. At that point, I didn’t have the info on when the class would happen. I do now!

The class will be on Thursday, October 5. It starts at 9:00 and ends at 5:00 or whenever you decide you’ve punched plenty. Because MAVWA’s workshops happen on Thursday and Friday, students won’t miss any of the festival events that weekend. In fact, because my workshop is Thursday, you can still take a class on Friday too! See both days’ offerings HERE.

Punch needle rug hooking — Punch needle by Amy Oxford. Original design.

If interested, please note:
To allow folks from places afar to plan, festival organizers make decisions about workshops running in early September. If they don’t think they have enough students by around Labor Day, they will cancel a class. It happened to me last year. If you think you want to take a class, forget late registration. Do it now! Or plan on a private lesson here in Albuquerque. That also happened last year. LOL

In addition to this MAVWA update, take a peek at our CALENDAR page. There are some new listings just today. Most exciting is that I’ll be teaching a INTRO TO RUG HOOKING at Convergence in Wichita next July. I am sooooo thrilled. HGA (Handweavers Guild of America) hasn’t yet put up the info for Convergence, but keep an eye out for it. Back in 2014, before I moved out here, I attended the exhibits and vendors’ market at Convergence when it was held in Providence. Little did I know that I’d be a part of such a BIG EVENT so many years later. Or such a great organization. HGA promotes all fiber arts here in the US and abroad.

Lastly, I’m finally going to make it to Sauder Village’s Rug Hooking Week this year. WOOHOO! As a judge for this year’s Celebration contest, I was invited. I even get to put a rug in the Celebrations exhibit. How cool is that? Also very exciting: Because I hooked New Mexico’s cushion for the USA50 project, I have a piece in that exhibit too! I only wish that Ruth Simpson could attend with me. I did the easy part – hooking – while she had to put the whole thing together! Read about it HERE. So if you’re going to be there, I hope we can meet up. I’ve no plans other than soaking it all up and taking lots of pics. Let me know!

So, it’s been a busy summer so far. If you’re going to be in the New Mexico area, okay, a really BIG area, give a yell. High on Hooking will be at at Las Golondrinas in Santa Fe again the first weekend of August for the Beer and Food Festival. Stop by to say hello and pick up a gift for family, friends, or yourself. In the meantime, stay cool!

January 25, 2022

Lying to myself

I really have been lying to myself. More than I’d like to. But I bet you do it too. Take that last blog post of mine from a couple of weeks ago. It really must’ve been the chardonnay whispering because that little slow down before breaking down that I went on and on about… Yeah, it didn’t last very long. Oh, the gratitude crap did for a bit, but the oxygen mask? I took that off right quick.

textile art from Stitch Camp — My Stitch Camp piece piece watching me, always watching me. And waiting.

But I tried. I really tried. Last week I was smart enough to sign myself up for Stitch Camp which consisted of five days of self-paced and very short videos by Gwen Hedley. I have to say – and I am not lying to myself here – I started out well. Sunday I pulled out the paints, the fabrics, the various threads/yarns, the needles, all kinds of implements and textile substrates. On Monday I made my marks. Not sure how much I liked them, but then how often do we question our own artwork in the throes of creation? Onward ho! Tuesday, I cut the painted fabric into pieces. Come Wednesday – despite four online events, meetings, appointments – I sewed some of them together. I had momentum, a big stone rolling down a hill. I was making time for myself.

And then Thursday happened. I remember that I went out for a haircut. Where the rest of that day went, I have no idea. No worries, I told myself. There’s Friday and a weekend. Friday I watched the videos for Thursday and Friday. And then…nothing. The piece that I began last week sits draped over a dining room chair eying me with reproach. I tell it we’ll be together in a week or so. I hope that I’m not lying to it. And to myself.

Why am I lying to myself?

Like many of us, it’s because we just get too busy with all the things and people that make up our lives and relationships. I suppose that I’m grateful for that busy life; it’s certainly better than being bored and not having enough to keep me engaged. And I have great friends and family and projects.

Unfortunately, the Stitch Camp piece is destined to wait for another week or two because:

Tomorrow I have an online class about how to better serve on a nonprofit board. That’s two hours I’m happy to give to Susan’s Legacy where I’ve been a board member for three or four years. Women’s mental health will always be important to me, and we all know someone who could’ve used what SL provides.
Saturday I’ll attend an online Guild Development Retreat put on my the Handweavers Guild of America. No, I don’t weave, but it’s all about the betterment of all kinds of textile guilds. “Through panels and discussions, we hope to strengthen guild leadership, unite organizations, and provide a platform for the sharing of ideas. We want participants to end the day feeling motivated in their effort to build and grow their guilds so that all guilds can thrive.” The Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG) here in Albuquerque is a fine guild, but we have our issues too. As president of AWAG, I feel this is an imperative. Two other members think the same and will “go” with me.
This is the newest Boucherouite-inspired hooked piece that I’m using to get ready for Sunday’s class. (Hooked with old bed sheets and a little t-shirt.)
Sunday we kick off In the Studio’s Workshop Week 4! My Build a Baby Boucherouite class is the first to roll followed by our panel discussion led by Susan Feller and three of the teachers: “What inspires you to be creative when in the doldrums?” Lord knows we’ve all been in the doldrums! There are a few workshop openings if you’re interested. Me, I’m adding to my ~~workload~~ creativity toolbox and taking Jane’s watercolor class. Because I don’t have enough to do. (As I type I’m also making a chicken soup.)
And because we never have enough to do, I’m trying to finalize AWAG’s plans to have Donna Hrkman here for a second visit in late February. We’re praying that Covid doesn’t waylay those plans a second time. Damn, I need to come up with a project for that too!

So all those nice sentiments I expressed last post? I guess that I prefer to think that I was hopeful rather than lying to myself. There are always going to be crazy days and weeks in our lives. It seems that this January is one of mine.

High on Hooking Dogs show off newest Boucherouite-inspired hooked rug. — Tynan and Bowyn, the High on Hooking Dogs, bring you this week’s WHAT’S ON THE FRAME. Sadly, they’re frustrated with how little walking has been done in this new year, but they too look forward to better days.

And I remember now! Thursday went to buying a new mattress to deal with my lower back problem. That took a few hours. To all those who have kindly expressed concern, I’m on the mend…slowly. With steps forward and then again backward but then again forward. The new mattress is a help. We even got one of those frames that lets you raise your head and feet. Very cool. I will never live without that again, I promise you (no lying!).

Life really is good. Tom and I celebrated 29 years married Sunday. Of course, there is always Tynan and Bowyn. And they have made all the difference.