Tag: High on Hooking

May 24, 2021

IN THE STUDIO – May 26 with Courtney Turner

Courtney Turner’s art as a means of healing and coping

Join Canadian Artist Courtney Turner on In the Studio as she discusses her artistic journey thus far as an emerging artist. She’ll give the audience a glimpse into what her creative process looks like and will share how she uses her art practice as means of healing and coping while living with chronic illness.

Courtney Turner is an emerging contemporary artist currently residing in Canning, Nova Scotia. Her unique combination of abstract rug hooking and representational self-portraiture painting is a direct representation of the connections between her current self and her child self, her healing journey of living with chronic illness, and memories of significant familial textiles that have brought her comfort throughout her life. Courtney graduated from NSCAD University in 2020, majoring in Textiles & Fashion.

You can learn more about Courtney Turner and see her work at www.courtneyturnerart.ca and on Instagram @courtneyturnerart.

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ:

The Zoom link for this presentation will be emailed to you the day before the talk (or after you purchase your ticket, if you purchase on the day of the event). If you don’t receive it, you can contact the organizer at info@karendmillerstudio.com.

Tickets will be on sale until 10:00 am Eastern the day of the event. After that time you will no longer be able to purchase tickets.

Please note that the time of the talk is 1:00 pm EASTERN.

Find tickets for this event at Ticketscene.

FAQ’s

* Will this talk be recorded for viewing later?

Unfortunately, no. Due to the logistics involved, we decided some time ago to keep these events live. Hopefully if you can’t make it to this talk, you’ll be able to make it to a future talk.

* It’s the day of the talk and I’m having trouble finding or using the link for the talk. How can I find help?

It is very advisable to LOG INTO THE EVENT A FEW MINUTES EARLY to be sure that you have no trouble with the link, and if you are having trouble the organizer can help you out. You can email or message the event organizer up until one hour before the talk on the day of the talk for help. ONCE THE EVENT STARTS, however, messages and emails are not able to be monitored.

* I’m finding it distracting during the talk seeing all of the other participants on my screen. What can I do?

During the event the organizer will put the screen setting on “spotlight view” so that the presenter is the focus on your screen. Depending on your device, you may still see audience members on your screen and changing your setting from “gallery view” to “speaker view” should help with that.

* What Time Zone is the time of the talk in?

The time indicated on all ‘In the Studio’ talks is the EASTERN (EST) time zone. If you live in a different time zone, be sure to check what time you should tune in to ensure you don’t miss the talk.

*I can no longer make it to the talk. Or, I missed the talk. Can I get a refund?

Unfortunately no- the price of the ticket is so low that it is not cost-effective to refund those amounts. If you are unable to make it to the talk and you already have a ticket, or you forget to attend, please do contact me at info@karendmillerstudio.com. I always offer a ticket to the next talk to make up for it. All of the artist speakers receive a portion of the ticket proceeds so we very much appreciate your contribution to supporting artists!

May 11, 2021

On to Ghost Ranch!

Meet up at Ghost Ranch in June!

You know that old saying “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away”? Well, indeed He does. Just ten or so days ago, I wrote about how excited I was to be finally attending an in-person fiber festival up at El Rancho de las Golondrinas near Santa Fe. Then, last week, Cathy and I got word that, due to state or county Covid guidelines, they had to cancel it. Not sure why, as that county is opened as much as anything can be here in NM. And I’d gone to a couple of farmers’ markets that were pretty crowded down here in Albuquerque where we aren’t quite as open. I was so anticipating the festival and chatting folks up about hooking and all things fiber…

But there is some good news. Because, I’m fully vaccinated, I taught a lovely 80-year old to punch last Friday. In person! She’s quite the pistol too. I hope to have pics when the yarn I ordered for her comes in, and I can get over to her house again. And I have a student coming this Friday as well! I’m looking forward to spreading the fiber gospel some more. In person! Thank goodness for the vaccines!

Then there’s even better news. I’d alluded earlier to the fact that I was planning to teach at a “special” venue. It’s finally up online so I can spill it. June 27 – July 2, I’ll be teaching at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiú north of here in New Mexico. Having only driven by and never stopped, I can’t wait to spend the better part of a week there. We’ll be working on both hooking and punching, stressing all the while the use of recycled and reclaimed materials in our work. Think old t-shirts, bed sheets, plastic bags, and so on. The workshop is titled HOOK A RUG SAVE THE PLANET! (Click on the link for more info.) There will be plenty of downtime to hike and explore the Ranch and surrounding area.

For those not familiar with Ghost Ranch,

The landscape of Ghost Ranch—made famous by painter Georgia O’Keeffe and the incomparable hospitality of first director, Jim Hall—encompasses 21,000 acres of towering rock walls, vivid colors and vast skies. People from all over the world come to work together in creation care, to paint, write poetry, to hike, ride horseback, to research globally renowned archaeological and fossil quarries or simply to rest and renew their spirits.
-Ghost Ranch website

Photograph by ghostranch.org.

Georgia O’Keeffe is indelibly and colorfully linked to the Ranch though she only owned seven acres of it. More info on that HERE. The actual owners gifted it to the Presbyterian Church who created the Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center. The Center “fosters well-being and spiritual health through this historic, inspiring southwest landscape.” They do that by offering various activities on the land like hiking, camping, and horseback riding as well retreats and workshops. And that, my friends, is where my class comes in. The Ranch values good stewardship of the earth. An art workshop stressing re-use of materials to make something beautiful and maybe even useful falls right in their wheelhouse. And I couldn’t be any happier. I’m thinking of what it can mean for my own art and then just to have that time away from “home” stuff. Time to talk fiber, time to hike and sketch.

Chile pepper hooked rug — “The Ripening” is all New Mexico. (Old t-shirts; 9.5″x9.5″)

If you’re thinking about traveling this summer, maybe a peaceful, fiber retreat in northern New Mexico, a place filled with our special light and color, is the place for you. Chile peppers always available!

April 19, 2021

“Automatic” hooking

Example of automatic drawing. — Example of automatic drawing done by moi during Sketchbook Revival.

Automatic hooking – it sounds like a machine is involved. Or worse! Wink, wink! But when I typed automatic hooking, I was actually referencing the art technique developed by the Surrealists. For a quick idea of what I’m talking about, the following comes from Wikipedia:

Automatic drawing was developed by the surrealists, as a means of expressing the subconscious. In automatic drawing, the hand is allowed to move “randomly” across the paper… Hence the drawing produced may be attributed in part to the subconscious and may reveal something of the psyche, which would otherwise be repressed…

Most of the surrealists’ automatic drawings were illusionistic, or more precisely, they developed into such drawings when representational forms seemed to suggest themselves. In the 1940s and 1950s the French-Canadian group called Les Automatistes pursued creative work (chiefly painting) based on surrealist principles. They abandoned any trace of representation in their use of automatic drawing. This is perhaps a more pure form of automatic drawing since it can be almost entirely involuntary – to develop a representational form requires the conscious mind to take over the process of drawing…

You’re probably wondering why I might be providing this art history lesson when I am in no possible way an authority on art or art techniques (except, perhaps rug hooking, of course, and then only certain aspects of rug hooking). It’s because, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve been participating in Sketchbook Revival 2021, and one of the workshops was about automatic drawing.

That workshop was presented by Shelley Klammer of Expressive Art Workshops:

Shelley Klammer is an online therapist who supports creative women to heal “unfinished emotional business” from the past. She is also an educator with the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association. Shelley supports women to authentically self-express through spontaneous art and writing practices as a way to anchor self-safety, self-confidence and self-love.
-Karen Abend of Sketchbook Revival

To be honest, I wondered how much my drawings were really made without conscious thought. Wikipedia mentioned that too when I was exploring more about automatism..

…surrealist artists often found that their use of “automatic drawing” was not entirely automatic, rather it involved some form of conscious intervention to make the image or painting visually acceptable or comprehensible…”

Artist Stephen Berry was also a bit skeptical, but he could appreciate it regardless:

It was very liberating and thoughtful. It was also an interesting way to explore different shapes, to watch myself as an artist from “the outside” and see what shapes I’m predisposed to, where I’m reverting to certain habits that are lazy, what was exciting and interesting to explore that surprised me, etc.

He had more interesting stuff to say about the technique. Click on his name above.

Hooked rug; example of automatic hooking — Close-up of my current happy rug, “Abundance.” Lots of recycled textiles. I think I like my automatic hooking better than my automatic drawing.

Scintillating as all this is, you’re undoubtedly wondering how it relates to hooking. In that aforementioned post of mine, which I wrote before I started Sketchbook Revival, I mentioned my night-hooking project, the one the boys are pictured with. It’s part of my “happy rug” series in which I’m trying to focus on the brighter aspects of life after such a crappy last year. And I wrote:

For this one, I’m trying to really just go with the flow; there’s little advance planning in it. Other than the holes, which the rug dictated to me as I sewed on his tape.

See the SYNCHRONICITY that’s happened?!!? I was already kind of doing automatic hooking before I even learned about the drawing technique. Each evening I sit down and hook whatever comes to mind at that moment with whatever I have in the two big bag and one laundry baskets of fibers I have next to me. (Yes, there’s a LOT of hooking stuff in my family room at the moment.)

Both the automatic hooking and drawing efforts are fun to try if you’re so inclined to experiment. For the latter, just Google “automatic drawing,” and a slew of options will come up in your feed. As far as rug hooking goes, just throw some hooking materials into a bag and go to town. I’m using all kinds of fibers: wool strips, wool yarns, novelty yarns, a plethora of fabrics, ribbons, and so on. There’s lots of textile recycling going on!

Dogs on example of automatic hooking — Tynan and Bowyn bring you another view of “What’s on the frame.” Obviously, someone is not completely clear on the concept of his job. It should’ve been an overview of the newest happy rug, “Abundance,” an example of automatic hooking. (Let’s imagine Tynan’s thoughts for a moment…)

What have you done lately to spice up your regular practices be it hooking, painting, writing, or even working out?

April 7, 2021

Teaching at CREATE DIY in June

CREATE DIY High on Hooking will be teaching at CREATE DIY in June.

I really do miss – and prefer – teaching in person, but one of the Coronacootie’s most pernicious side effects is how it’s kept us all from one another. From family members, from friends, from students and teachers, you get the idea. But humans do adapt, and makers still gotta make, so Zoom entered all our lives. Truthfully, I think that we all understand that that hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing. Many more folks were able to “get together” through Zoom talks and workshops than would’ve been possible pre-Corona. And Zoom will continue well into our futures even when we’re all vaccinated up and, hopefully, have achieved herd immunity and get back to meeting each other in real life. But till then…

If you or someone you know would like to learn how to rug hook, in June I’ll be teaching a class through the online textile arts festival CREATE DIY. In fact, there will be several workshops and a couple of lectures going on during the event. General info can be found HERE. Topics include:

Quiltfest presents … Create DIY, a comprehensive journey into the magical world of the textile arts. Indulge yourself with Create DIY! This online festival includes educational workshops, studio tours, live presentations, and more.

Quilting ■ Needle Felting ■ Stampwork ■ Crochet ■ Wearable Art Japanese Boro Stitching ■ Jewelry ■ Paper Weaving ■ Dollmaking ■ Dyeing ■
Thread Painting ■ Dorset Buttons ■ Embroidery ■ Rug Hooking■ Macrame ■ Knitting ■
Modern Weaving ■ and more!

Join us online:
Thursday through Saturday, June 10-12, 2021

Introduction to Rug Hooking – Not So Traditional
Friday, June 11
Half-Day Workshop
12 pm – 3 pm EDT, Friday, June 11

Learn the basics of traditional rug hooking with a bit of a twist. Not only will we use the usual wool fabric strips (more about that in class), but we’ll also try old t-shirts, yarn, ribbon, and anything else you might have in your house that you can pull a loop with. We will:

Discuss the history of rug hooking and where it is today, including its various forms;
Learn how to prep our materials;
Begin hooking a “mug rug,” a small table mat, or wall hanging; and
Discuss the ways we can finish the piece when the hooking is done.

Welsh Springer spaniel on hooked rug — While big brother Tynan snoozes, Bowyn brings you “What’s on the frame.” “Abundance,” part of the #happyrugseries, is an adventure in mark-making with all kinds of fibers. And she has three holes!

There’s more info online HERE. Kits are optional, but participants need to contact me to make sure they have everything. Contact me at Laura@highonhooking.com if you have any questions.

Hoping to have a new and very special venue announcement in the next week or so. Stay tuned!

So, after a year, what’s your stance on Zoom workshops?

March 2, 2021

Public Service Announcements

Public service announcements, odd from an art blog, I know. But still genuine.

Public service announcement 1: Don't let blepharitis happen to you. — PSA 1: Blepharitis, don’t let it happen to you.

PSA 1

You know when they say that you should throw out old makeup? Eye makeup, in particular? Yeah, it’s true. You go almost a whole year NOT going out, NOT needing to wear the usual make up (because God was cruel to redheads and caused our eyes and eyelashes to recede as we age). Who cared? No one was going to see you. And then you finally get a date early-bird-special evening/afternoon with your husband. You put on some mascara to go with your best yoga pants to have truly excellent gluten-free pizza at Farina Alto (in Albuquerque). You plan on, even try sitting on the patio, but the freaking wind is too strong. It’s 4:00 pm; there’s barely anyone in the restaurant, so you chance it and move inside. The pizza, the wine, they’re all great! And then a day later, your eye starts to twinge, then redden, then swell. Where’s an pyrate’s eye patch when you need it? By early Tuesday morning you’re in the urgent care located conveniently up the street. BLEPHARITIS, they say. WTF? Swelling of the eyelid. Who knew? The people who say to change out your old mascara knew. Stupid blepharitis, stupid coronacootie.
Public service announcement 1: Chuck all makeup from 2020 and before; buy new shit even if you rarely wear it (and it looks practically new)!

PSA 2

If you’re working on a particularly difficult rug or painting or short story or other piece of artwork, always have something else requiring less concentration that you can work on in the evening.

Rug needing less concentration — PSA2 : Always have a rug that needs less concentration.

I typically work at night while I watch television or Netflix or whatever. Otherwise I’ll fall asleep. (I know you get this.) A couple of weeks ago, I started a piece, a wall hanging, that requires good light and my full attention. That means day-hooking. Not that I’m against day-hooking; actually, I love it. In fact, I really miss the Adobe Wool Arts Guild‘s three annual retreats, one of which usually happens at this time of year. I can hook all day long for three days in a row and get assistance when I need it from all my AWAG peeps. Sadly, our last retreat was in February of last year. Again, stupid Covid. Now I have to deal with this rug on my own. I miss you guys…
Public service announcement 2: Work on your more difficult pieces during the day; save the fun, easier stuff for evening.

Whimsy, a rug needing a forever home — PSA 3: All rugs need a good forever home, including “Whimsy” (approximately 15″x36″).

PSA 3

Some rugs need a home. Yeah, this is completely self-serving. “Whimsy” is finished and looking for her forever home. And yes, in the pre-pictures on Instagram and Facebook, I did hide that she has a hole built into her. But that’s just part of her charm. Consider giving “Whimsy” a home.
Public service announcement 3: All rugs need a home. Don’t let them suffer.

That brings us to the end of the PSAs. Though don’t forget that on March 20, High on Hooking is holding another online workshop: Hooking With and Beyond the Wool. If you’re interested in playing with fibers other than wool (much like those original rug hookers), contact me at Laura@highonhooking.com. It’ll be fun; I promise. Now keep hooking, or otherwise playing, and stay safe! We’re so close to being able to achieve herd immunity. Vaccinate!

An extra public service announcement, crazy dog — Instead of “What’s on the frame,” we have a public service announcements corollary. Never ask Bowyn to be serious in the evening. His concentration, like my own, is shot. Tynan, meanwhile, is properly aghast.