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!
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.
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!
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 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 CALENDARpage. 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 Feagain 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!
If you live in central or northern New Mexico or will be visiting later in May, and you’ve wanted to learn to rug hooking, now is your chance! I’ll be running a class up in Española at the Fiber Arts Center on May 20, 1:00-5:00 PM. Registration info can be found HERE. Any questions, please give me a yell at Laura@highonhooking.com.
Hope to see you there. I promise that we’ll have a truly excellent time hooking rugs and saving the environment!
What a great experience it was teaching at the Shakerag Workshops this month! For those of you not familiar with them or my class there, please find info HERE.
Because anyone who might test positive with Covid during the week and even before we got on the shuttle at the airport would earn a number or nights in a hotel till they could be put on a return flight, I was pretty stressed out before I left and even after I got there. Too many mask-less folks in airports and on planes. And too many friends have come down with the Coronacootie during air travel in the last month or two. Fortunately, I never tested positive – deep relief. Though I wasn’t able to extend my trip to stay, as planned, with a nearby friend after her son came down with it. We’ll try to rectify that next year when she and her husband make a first trip to New Mexico. Fingers crossed!
The Res at Shakerag, inviting even in the early morning light.
Coming from the drought-full New Mexican high desert, Tennessee was a “wetter” place to visit, especially if you count humidity. But I really enjoyed my morning walks even if Bowyn couldn’t be with me. I saw the “Res” where swimming happens most every afternoon. And I loved the bike path. History was present all over too.
History – a sign marking the Trail of Tears.
But the best thing – other than ALL THE FOOD which was just as delicious as promised – was my class. Titled HOOK A RUG, SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT, it was one of the younger classes I’ve held; mostly because several staff members opted to learn hooking and punching. Spreading the gospel of a traditional art to new folks excites me, but I do fret about our ever aging population of devotées (and a few devotés too). We just can’t lose this 160-year old or so practice.
The ladies are working, working, working.
I needn’t have worried. While some folks were concerned about breaking rules, others plowed on doing exactly what they wanted with hooking and punching. Fabulous. I also love to share with any students of mine the Adobe Wool Arts Guild creed: I AM THE BOSS OF MY RUG. After I repeated it a number of times and wrote it out on the white board (to remain for the week), they all took it to heart.
Like anyone learning a new skill, several folks wanted to run away after the first few introductory hours, but all were busily hooking away by Monday afternoon. Tuesday was devoted to punching, and one or two folks managed to get a piece done later that day. Woohoo! By clean-up on Friday afternoon, several had two or three pieces fully done, including hemming. It doesn’t get better than that.
The week’s first success story was Tori’s!
Joyce and Stacey were my first mother and daughter team.
As a teacher I knew I was successful when I came into the studio Wednesday and found Holly on the floor already planning a BIG rugAre these not the best punched figs? Kate is a potter who has a fun food specialty.
Interestingly and relatedly, back home this week, I attended an online meeting with other fiber folks as well as a lesson featuring quilter Heidi Parkes – not at all a quilter in the fussy, traditional way. Which is exactly why I like her work. During both events there was talk about difficulties that the traditional populations of our various arts present when one wants to cross boundaries and try new things. Unfortunately, that kind of work is often disparaged by the textile “establishment.” And yet, isn’t that exactly how all art evolves? Early on in my own hooking career, I had faced challenges; my work with so called “alternative materials” wasn’t at all appreciated by most. Could pieces hooked with old t-shirts really be considered on par with those hooked using beautiful, hand-dyed wool? Fortunately, times have changed and more and more of us are jumping on that bandwagon which is 1) often more sustainable and 2) to the liking of younger people who don’t want to be told how to do their own art. Hurray!
Susan and her fabulous book on stitching.
My week at Shakerag was memorable for other reasons. Teaching STITCHING AS DRAWING across the hall from me was none other than Susan Brandeis, author of The Intentional Thread: A Guide to Drawing, Gesture, and Color in Stitch. The past year or two, I’ve been looking at the book, wanting to purchase it, but being distracted by my own workshop and how I might make it a success for all involved, even when I met her – Susan and her husband stayed in the same house that I did – I didn’t put two and two together. Not until I saw the book in the Shakerag store. AH! Needless to say, I quickly bought it, and Susan graciously autographed it for me book is beautiful, but you should see her work in person. Mamma mia!
Isn’t this a fine looking class of new hookers and punchers? BTW – all that humidity! My hair hasn’t been that wavy since I moved to the Southwest.
So, my week in Sewanee at Shakerag was a most definite success. Essentially, it’s an adult summer camp devoted to art – learning and making it. I really hope they invite me back again one year. If you’re interested in perhaps attending next year, Liz Alpert Fay will be teaching next year, specifically how nature can inform and influence hooking. I believe that registration opens up in August of this year.
Claire Nolan, studio assistant extraordinaire.
Special thanks to Claire Nolan who acted as my studio assistant and helped facilitate the class. Also, to Christi Teasley, a Shakerag founder and the textile/painting/drawing coordinator and computer specialist. Christi generously put my name forth as a possible teacher. Yeah, she’s a remarkable hooker as well. In fact, she was able to work with local hookers in the area like Cass Gannaway, enabling us to borrow enough frames and hooks for the workshop. It takes a village, and you all made it happen.
IF CLASS TOOK AWAY ONE THING, I HOPE THAT IT’S: THE ARTS ARE EVER EVOLVING, NEVER DYING!
