Every year – usually in the late fall – I create an angel for the coming year. See 2022, 2021, but not 2020; not sure where she went.) This year I was a little tardy and finished her up on January 1. Given everything HOLIDAY going on and the passing of another year, I’m thinking that I’ll keep this schedule from now on. It gives me a break after festivals, sales, and late fall teaching.
THE ANGEL OF 2023, SHE PRAYS FOR RAIN Hooked (various fibers) and embroidered (bamboo yarn and cotton embroidery floss) on 4×4 monk’s cloth; mounted on a black canvas.
In my fiber art practice, I focus on reuse and repurposing, especially of textiles of all kinds. Better to use something than let it fall into landfills. Sadly, this is particularly the case in this time of fast fashion and its concomitant waste. I will never run out of raw materials for my work.
At the same time, I live in the American Southwest, a land still wildly beautiful but suffering from a megadrought. You’ve all seen the pics of Lakes Mead and Powell. No need to repeat it here. Our uncompromising thirst for water and other resources has brought us here. Truthfully, I don’t think that much will change, but if it’s going to, WE better get to it right quickly to help with water and all of our other environmental crises.
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’m wearing an orange shirt today, but only because I have so many Canadian friends on social media. If I didn’t, I’d be clueless to the fact that September 30 is Orange Shirt Day up north. Its other name is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, but again, it’s only “celebrated” in Canada. My question is why don’t we have that or something similar here in the US?
For those of you who don’t have a plethora of Canadian fiber arts friends, you can read about the day and its origins HERE.
Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process. -From the website canada.ca
I get that I live somewhere – New Mexico – that allows me the chance to be aware of our indigenous populations pretty much every day. That “s” making “populations” plural is not an error. Not much more than a mile from my house in Albuquerque, across the Rio Grande, is the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC). There visitors can take in the museum, buy jewelry and pottery, watch Native dances, eat really kick-ass food, and do a host of other things that help to educate those of us who grew up without learning much of America’s early history. You know, before the British, French, Spanish, and other European nations came on the scene and decided the land was ripe for the taking and “clearly” not owned by anyone. At least anyone “civilized.”
The IPCC is run and owned by nineteen New Mexico Pueblo communities. Nineteen. And they’re all sovereign nations. And they don’t include the likes of the Apache and Navajo and others who also abide, at least in part, in New Mexico. My point today is that all nineteen came together to create the IPCC on this particular piece of land:
It is located at the heart of nearly 80 acres of land owned by the 19 Pueblos and governed by the 19 Pueblos District (a sovereign government formed by the Tribal Councils of the 19 New Mexico Pueblo Communities) at the former location of the Albuquerque Indian School (1881-1982). -From the IPPC website
Again, I ask, why aren’t we here in the US wearing orange today in a spirit of solidarity and reconciliation? The same atrocities that happened up in Canda’s schools happened here. And we had more schools!
Last year I wrote about a rug hooking project that was a collaboration between myself, friend and guildmate Ruth Simpson, and Acoma Pueblo artist Patricia Lowden. You can read about it HERE. You can also read about the cushion and our collaboration with Patricia in the current issue of Rug Hooking Magazine (RHM). Unfortunately, I was prompted to write the article after I read another RHM article in which an artist/author indicated that indigenous art is ripe (word used on purpose) for using in rug hooking patterns because: The images of art from indigenous peoples are always ancient, copyright free, and so beautiful. Yes, that is a direct quote, and it went right up my ass sideways. (Pardon my French.)
And people think cultural appropriation isn’t a real thing. How can you if you think all the Natives are dead?
Again, I ask, why aren’t we here in the US wearing orange today along with the Canadians?
I’ve always maintained that September 1 is just as much a new year as January 1. You have a holiday and then you give yourself permission to start over. Maybe it’s a school year, your health, a job, or just a way of looking at life. In my case this September of 2022, it’s health and working on a new perspective. (And don’t get me wrong, I think renewal goes on all through the year, it’s just more celebrated in January and September.)
It’s no secret that I have autoimmune issues. Fibromyalgia was just added to the mix. I shouldn’t have been surprised; it explains so much. But so often when you’re busy, you work with the data that you have. When you’re in your late 50s, you don’t go looking for more things to go wrong with the chasse. Actually, I’m in pretty good shape, I think. Nonetheless, I could be doing better, especially regarding stress and sleep. I need more of one and less of the other. Bet you can guess which is which. LOL
I decided, therefore, that I’m taking a bit of a sabbatical from many of my local responsibilities for two whole months! I’d like to say that I’m making the months all about Laura all the time, but that’s not the case. It would also be très boring. Even to me! No, in less than a week my parents are making their second trip in six years to New Mexico from Connecticut. They’ll be here for 16 days. We’ll be doing some touristy things and even heading up to Colorado for a few days. They’ve never been there. After they leave, I’ll be teaching hooking and punching at the Mountain and Valley Wool Festival in Santa Fe. That takes us into October when Tom and I and a dog or two will take to the open road for Seattle. The kid’s now been there for three months; it’s time for a visit. And while I once spent a weekend in that area years and years ago, I never got a chance to really see it. This is an opportunity, too, to add a few missing states to my repertoire. I’ve never been to Utah (other than Four Corners), Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon.
By the time we get back, it’ll be Workshop Week 5 and even Halloween. Then the holidays and… You see why I need a break?
But I’ll be around online, certainly, and in touch with folks. Being away always lets me refresh, see things in a new way, and be inspired. All of which usually allows for some new and exciting artwork. At least to and for me. Perhaps for others as well.
PLACES WHERE YOU DEFINITELY CAN FIND ME THIS FALL INTO WINTER
Mountain and Valley Wool Festival (MAVWA): September 29 – October 2 The festival is Saturday and Sunday, October 1 and 2, but the workshops happen the Thursday and Friday before. I’m teaching Thursday. Find info HERE. BTW, if you’re thinking of coming for MAVWA, know that it’s the start of Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. Think 500 hot air balloons in the air at one time. Pictures and words can’t do it justice.
In the Studio Online Workshop Week 5: October 23 – 30
While I’m not teaching this time around, I am the general administrator, so if you need a catalog or have questions, please give a yell. We have eight great teachers and workshops scheduled. If you’re just realizing you forgot to register, now’s the time. Some classes have filled, but teachers have waiting lists, and some have already scheduled second sessions. More info HERE.
High Desert Studio Tour – December 3 After missing two or three years, the High Desert Studio Tour is back! As in the past, I’ll be camped out at the home of ZiaWoolz. Dagmar generously invites myself and a few other artists to hang our shingles out with hers for the day. If you’re looking for some gorgeous, hand-dyed yarn, check out her Etsy shop, or better yet, visit us in December.
The boys bring you a HAPPY NEW YEAR WHAT’S ON THE FRAME this week. THE REZ is hooked on monk’s cloth with old t-shirts, wool strips, and wool yarn. So far…
View our CALENDARpage to see more dates to be added as we go further into the fall.
The boys and I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR, a cooler fall, and success with all your efforts at renewal!
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.
I’m wearing an orange shirt today, but only because I have so many Canadian friends on social media. If I didn’t, I’d be clueless to the fact that September 30 is Orange Shirt Day up north. Its other name is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, but again, it’s only “celebrated” in Canada. My question is why don’t we have that or something similar here in the US?
