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It’s been a long seven weeks

It’s been a long seven weeks…

 

Dog looking up, leg in a cast
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.

Knees scooter
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

Stitched vessel
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.

Pillow with dog on it
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 Interweave to 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

Casted leg on dashboard
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!

Hooked rug project
New hooking student’s chicken project.
Punch needle rug hooking project
Punch needle rug hooking project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hooked rug projects
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 fellowship next 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!

Hooked vessel
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.

Stitching project
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.

Rug hooking project
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!

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Santa Fe Spring Festival, June 3 & 4

18th Annual Santa Fe Spring Festival: Featuring Lavender and Fiber Art!

Marketing poster for Santa Fe Spring Festival at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, NM.Celebrate Spring with our Spring Festival: Featuring Herb & Lavender, and the opening of our 2023 season! Learn about New Mexico’s rich cultural heritage through an array of fun activities and demonstrations. Experience traditional New Mexican ranch activities like sheep shearing, spinning and weaving, plus a fiber arts marketplace featuring local artisans and craftsmen, horno bread baking, crafts for children, and more!
-https://golondrinas.org/

We here at High on Hooking hope that you can make it up to El Rancho de las Golondrinas (just sounth of Santa Fe) to celebrate the start of summer here on New Mexico’s high desert. I’ll be sharing a booth with Barbara Knupper, weaver and jewelry maker extraordinaire. You can find her art at the Artful Artisan.

We invite you to peruse our wares and enjoy the atmosphere of the Spring Festival on the ranch! Bring the whole family!

PS – To those, like me, who might be from New England, Las Golondrinas is kind of like a more primitive Sturbridge Village, southwest style:

El Rancho de las Golondrinas is a living history museum located on 200 acres in a rural farming valley just south of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Museum, dedicated to the history, heritage and culture of 18th and 19th century New Mexico, opened in 1972. Original colonial buildings on the site date from the early 1700s. In addition, historic buildings from other parts of northern New Mexico have been reconstructed at Las Golondrinas. Villagers clothed in the styles of the times show how life was lived on the frontier in early New Mexico. Special festivals and weekend events offer visitors an in-depth look into the celebrations, music, dance and many other aspects of life in the Spanish, Mexican and Territorial periods of the Southwest.
-https://golondrinas.org/

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The artists are angry; they’re PROTESTING!

Of course, they’re angry; they’re protesting!

That’s what I told a friend last Friday night at the opening reception for PROTEST: SEE Something, Say Something at Fusion in downtown Albuquerque. (More info HERE.) It’s a good, meaningful show, filled with all kinds of media and messages. Rightly so, with protesting as a theme, they aren’t always pretty.

Sheela Na Gig, hooked art piece
Sheela Na Gig is a Celtic symbol. I’ll let you read about her and how she was and now is used for protests HERE. (Hooked on cotton monk’s cloth with mostly old t-shirts and a bit of silk sari ribbon; embellished with glass beads.)

 

As I mentioned on social media after posting pics of my two pieces, I was sorry not to get more and better photographs, but I had to leave early. All Friday I’d battled a migraine; finally, the nausea and fatigue got the best of me. I didn’t feel better till Monday/Tuesday. Nonetheless, I encourage all the local readers to make their way to Fusion one afternoon or evening to see what the (protesting) artwork really looks like and to see it all.

 

Hooked art, THE MIGHTY ONE, THE ANGEL OF @)@@
Later every year, I create an angel for the following year. This was THE MIGHTY ONE, THE ANGEL OF 2022. (Hooked with old t-shirts, repurposed gold lamé, and plastic bags.)

 

 

Felted artwork for PROTEST show
TURTLE ISLAND SIEGE by Patricia Halloran  (Patricia had some cool things in the FABRIC OF NEW MEXICO SHOW.)

 

 

 

TORN BUT STILL WAVING by Elizabeth Potter (paper art)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHOSE BODY IS THIS? artwork for Protest show
WHOSE BODY IS THIS? by Maria Jonsson (vintage dress form and acrylic paint)

 

BIG PHARMA SERIES #4, 5, 6
BIG PHARMA SERIES #4,5,6 by Martin Terry. Martin is also the curator of this show.

 

 

From BIG PHARM SERIES #1, 2, 3 #
Close-up of part of BIG PHARMA SERIES #1, 2, 3 by Martin Terry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GET WOKE artwork in PROTEST show
GET WOKE by Paula Steinberg (upcycled chair, acrylic/oil on wood and vinyl)

 

 

SHE PERSISTED
SHE PERSISTED by Betty Busby (Dunicel, felt)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE HISTORY OF BEARING CHILDREN
THE HISTORY OF BEARING CHILDREN, text by Jacqueline Murray Long, visual art by Martin Terry

 

 

 

 

Poem in PROTEST show
This is a more easily read photo of the text by Jacqueline Murray Loring. Another piece by a different artist accompanied this artwork. Visit the show to see it. (My photo didn’t come out.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re looking for a thought-provoking show, one that will let you see the outrage, the anger about so many things going on in our world today, come see the work by artists who are protesting at Fusion in Albuquerque.  Maybe we all need to start protesting.

 

Protest Art show poster

 

 

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Happy New Year!

 

Happy New Year art
Courtesy of clipart-library.com.

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.

Dogs sit with hooked art
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 CALENDAR page 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!

 

 

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Punch Needle at Heart of NM Fiber & Art Gathering

Love punch needle? New Mexico or visiting fiber folks, this is for you!

The HEART OF NEW MEXICO FIBER AND ART GATHERING happens in Edgewood at the Wildlife West Nature Park during Labor Day Weekend. If you’ve had a yen to learn punch needle, now’s your chance. WORKSHOP info HERE.

PLUS there will be vendors, other workshops, music, animals, and all kinds of things. Register online or contact me with interest or questions concerning the punch needle class.

PS – If you can’t make this workshop, see the CALENDAR for other class opportunities.

 

Punch Needle workshop info and poster

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