Tag: Shakerag Workshops

December 30, 2022

Here’s to a maker’s 2023!

2023 is right around the corner!

Hooked art: FIRE WORKS — Happy 2023! FIREWORKS (repurposed t-shirts and sparkly ribbon on monk’s cloth)

My plan for this week between Christmas and the New Year has been to do the things I WANT to do rather than HAVE to do. (The last couple of months planning Workshop Week 6 and handling some other things – like LIFE – were exhausting.) Things I wanted to do include the usual end of the year review and, more importantly, making plans for the coming 2023.

Gotta say I’ve been a little lazy on all accounts. Also, the final holiday rush took its toll physically. I’ve been mostly lying low the past few days: started a novel, doing Sudokus, and working on a new hooking project. Going through my piles and drawers and closets to organize and dispossess hasn’t happened. Yet. I still have a couple of days, especially given that it’s a long weekend. Watch for that ANGEL OF 2023! She’s a little late this year, but she’ll make an appearance by January 1.

I didn’t feel up to a detailed post mortem on 2022. Sadly, the end of the year brought with it a flurry of deaths in my little part of the universe. Nonetheless, like everyone, my 2022 brought some downers and some nice pluses. Teaching in Tennessee at the Shakerag Workshops was right up there. If you have a chance to participate – as a teacher or a student – I highly recommend the experience. A couple of articles I wrote were published in Rug Hooking Magazine. There were art shows and festivals here in Albuquerque and in Other Places, New Mexico. In the fall I made it out to Seattle to visit the kid. With a little luck, Tom and Bowyn, and I will make a road trip there in 2023.

What about the coming year? In 2023, I’d really like more time to myself, time to explore my making. Certainly, I look forward to teaching and sharing how others can get in on this calling of rug hooking and other fiber arts, but I need to carve out time for myself to sit in one place and ponder and experiment without distraction. I find it really easy to administer, to volunteer, to vacuum (ew!), to do anything but make the things I’ve seen in my imagination. Busy-ness, a need to feel needed, and the concomitant exhaustion – they can kill an art practice. I see it in others, and all it leads to is regret.

Hooked art/rug — What I’m losing myself in tonight. NO NAME as of yet (repurposed t-shirts on monk’s cloth)

So, my big goal in 2023 is: SOLITUDE. Not that I plan on blowing anyone off. I’m a très social being who has a hard time saying NO. But it’s time for a little me-time. (Being Catholic and Irish, I know I’ll apologize for that all year.)

My New Year’s wish is that you too carve out some solitude for yourself and your art, your gaming, your reading, whatever it is that you can lose yourself in. Happy 2023!

July 1, 2022

Shakerag postscript

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.

Historical marer in Sewanee, TN — 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.

Shakerag Hooking and Punching workshop — 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.

Shakerag particpants — Joyce and Stacey were my first mother and daughter team.

Shakerag participant — 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 rug

Rug by Shakerag participant — Are 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!

Shakrag instructors Laura Salamy and Susan Brandeis — 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!

My Shakerag class — 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.

Shakerag studio assistant Claire Nolan — 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!

May 31, 2022

Looking to learn hooking or punching in 2022?

Looking to learn rug hooking or punch needle rug hooking this year? If you’re in or plan to be in New Mexico in the fall, you’re in luck.

While High on Hooking is happy to give private lessons pretty much any time, we’re now announcing that we’ll be teaching at two fall fiber events:

HEART OF NM FIBER & ART GATHERING – LEARN PUNCH NEEDLE RUG HOOKING
–September 3/4, 2022
-At the Wildlife West Nature Park in Edgewood.
-There will be vendors, workshops, live animals, and demonstrations.
-Workshops haven’t been scheduled just yet, so check back on their website or contact me directly to take part.

MOUNTAIN AND VALLEY WOOL FESTIVAL (previously known as the Taos Wool Festival)
–October 1/2, 2022 This is perfect if you’re planning to come to New Mexico for Balloon Fiesta!
-Santa Fe County Fair Grounds, Santa Fe
-There will be vendors, a fiber critter corner (live animals), demonstrations, live music, and food! Workshops aren’t scheduled just yet, but check back on the website.
-We’ll be teaching both rug hooking and punch needle rug hooking.

In the meantime, in a couple of weeks, High on Hooking is headed to Sewanee, Tennessee, to teach at the SHAKERAG WORKSHOPS starting June 18. I believe that there are still openings for workshops, so take a peak if you’re looking to learn something new or just enjoy an adult-only, creative summer camp. My own class still has room for one or two more.More info HERE.

dogs and hooked art — Bowyn and Tynan bring you WHAT’S ON THE FRAME – May 31, 2022. Yes, Bowyn needs a haircut bad.

We’ve been so busy here that it’s been a while since I’ve shared what’s on my frame. Clearly, that peeves the boys who are always on the lookout for a job that provides them a treat or eight. So, here they are. And, yes, Bowyn is hiding much of the piece. More on it later.

Hooked art - glasses of red wine — LE VIN, LA VIE is hooked with repurposed textiles, old plastic bags, silk sari yarn, and wool yarns and strips. The “mini Me” inspired the whole series.

In the past couple of months, we started a fun, new series of hooked art: The Cocktail Series. So far we’ve finished two pieces: the “Margarita” and “le vin, la vie.” I’ve got more drinks in mind and will intersperse them between other larger projects. And stitching and crocheting projects as well, of course. Why do just one thing when you can fill your summer up with all kinds of fiber fun?

What are your summer plans??? I hope they include a bunch of fiber projects and at least a few margaritas.

Hooked art - margarita — MARGARITA hooked with repurposed textiles, silk sari yarn, wool strips, and tulle ribbon.

February 28, 2022

Workshop, workshop, workshop! And more…

We’re in workshop heaven here at High on Hooking. Let me explain.

Boucherouite inspired hooked rug — Your Boucherouite will be your own pattern. It can be small just to try it all out in the workshop or as large as you’d like. (Original design.)

MARCH 12: BUILD A BABY BOUCHEROUITE

Because of interest during Workshop Week 4, we added another session for those who couldn’t make it in January. (The class was getting a little large too.) If you’re interested and available on Saturday, March 12, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, give me a yell. We’re at six right now, so there’s a little more room. For info about the class, see HERE. (Also, watch for coming announcements regarding Workshop Weeks 5 and 6!)

APRIL 15: INTRODUCTION TO PUNCH NEEDLE RUG HOOKING

Albuquerque’s BIG, BIENNIAL FIBER ARTS FIESTA, postponed from last year, will be open for business Thursday – Saturday, April 14-15. There’s a superb line-up of classes including my own punch needle workshop on Friday at 10:00 a.m. It is in person, and you’ll need to be vaccinated, but masks will be optional at this point. Yay! You can contact me here or see WORKSHOPS LISTING.

JUNE 19-25: HOOK RUGS, SAVE THE PLANET

This is a week-long residency workshop in Sewanee, Tennessee, as part of the SHAKERAG WORKSHOPS. We’ll be doing

Rug hooked with reclaimed textiles (old tshirts and bedsheets). — Table runner/wall hanging hooked with recycled textiles (old tshirts and bedsheets). (Original design.)

both rug hooking and punch needle rug hooking. In addition, though we’ll still have wool to work with, we’ll strive to look beyond the wool to materials that otherwise might end up in landfills. You know, old textiles you probably have in your house this very moment: ripped t-shirts, stained tablecloths, clothing and scarves that have seen better days… If you’re looking to pair vacation and fiber art therapy, this one’s for you. More workshop information can be found HERE and below.

Shakerag Workshops is a group of arts classes for adults held in June each year on the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee campus, in Sewanee, Tennessee. Instructors from around the world offer classes in a variety of media – knitting, basketry, book arts, clay, digital arts, felting, fiber, mixed media, jewelry, wood working, sculpture, and painting. Most participants, faculty, and staff stay on the campus, eating and working together for the week. After classes, participants enjoy hiking on the campus trails, swimming in the stream-fed mountain lake, and relaxing in yoga classes. Meals feature locally grown and organic foods served in historic Robinson Dining Hall. In the evenings, faculty members show slides and talk about their work. The studios are open throughout the night. The week culminates with a Tennessee meal on Friday evening for faculty and participants.
-from Shakerag’s website

As you can see, we’re busy these days here in the New Mexican desert. Covid’s waning, and folks are slowly getting back into the swing of things. More good news came in the mail yesterday in the form of Rug Hooking Magazine. If you recall that, during 2020, I spent much time on a yearlong project, the RIBBON RUG JOURNAL. If you turn to page 50 in RHM, you can read all about it! I also urge you to peruse Pretext Studio Rug Hooking’s Nadine Flagel‘s article on page 40. We share attitudes about the growing textile waste crisis. Her website slogan is Making Art out of Making Do: Reclaimed Text & Textiles. “Boucherouite” is a Moroccan-Arabic word for “torn” or “reused clothing.”

Dog with hooked rug — The High on Hooking Dogs, Bowyn and Tynan, bring you WOOLLEY MAT HORSE by Woolley Fox.

Bowyn actually calmed down enough to be in this week’s WHAT’S ON THE FRAME. This is a pattern I inherited when a member of the Adobe Wool Arts Guild passed away a few years ago. As a guild, we’ll be highlighting Pat’s rugs in a special exhibit at Fiber Arts Fiesta in April. The pattern, as I received it, was not identified.

You might remember, I hooked it a couple years back after receiving it. Because it sold, I needed to make another for the exhibit. Patti on Instagram was able to identify the pattern this week; she hooked it herself awhile back. LOL It’s from Woolley Fox and is called Woolley Mat Horse. As before, I’m hooking it with old t-shirts. Because we believed it to be Pat’s design, not a purchased pattern (also based on an antique rugs by Magdalena Briner Eby), I won’t hook the design again after I finish this iteration.

LASTLY, PLEASE KEEP THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE IN YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS. IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO HELP OUT IN A SMALL WAY, SEE THIS DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ON ETSY, BY A UKRAINIAN ARTIST. (THERE ARE OTHER ARTISTS AND PRODUCTS AVAILABLE; JUST USE THE SHOP LOCATION FILTER UNDER SEARCH.) IT PUTS $5 IN HER POCKET, AND GOD KNOWS SHE AND ALL OF UKRAINE NEED IT.

December 10, 2021

Shakerag Workshops in June!

Finally I can let the world know that I’m teaching at the Shakerag Workshops in Sewanee, Tennessee in 2022. They asked me about it awhile ago, but between our schedules and some electronic issues, there was a bit of a delay on the website. I’m happy to say that my class listing is now up and complete. You can find info about it HERE. I have to admit that there are some other very inviting art classes during the two week-long sessions. Take a look. And it all kicks off with a four-day knitting retreat with the folks from Modern Daily Knitting. (While I get their newsletters, I’m a crocheter; I’ve never been able to grasp the whole purl thing. A girl has to know her limits, and this girl is sticking with hooks.)

About Shakerag Workshops
Shakerag Workshops is an adult studio art workshop program. For 2022 we will begin with a Knitting Getaway retreat in Session I (June 8-11) and then move to week-long classes offered in various media in Sessions II and III (June 12-18 and June 19-25). Participants may register for one or more sessions. Classes in Sessions II and III meet from 9:00-12:00 and 1:00-4:00 daily. Participants and faculty members often work together in the studios during late afternoons and evenings, occasionally taking time away from their artistic endeavors for sitting and talking, hiking, practicing yoga, or swimming in our mountain lake.
–from the Shakerag website

Traveling to teach in Tennessee, specifically in Sewanee, is exciting for a couple of reasons. First it’s the biggest “stage” that I’ll have taught on, certainly in person. I’m honored to have been asked. Second, there’s a LOT of synchronicity going on. Other than the song learned by watching Looney Tunes long ago that starts “Way down upon the Sewanee River far, far away…,” I really knew nothing about Sewanee or even that it’s a town! Then, a number of years ago, a good friend from college and her husband were both hired to teach at Sewanee: The University of the South. Unfortunately, Kelly and I haven’t seen each other since they moved from Boston. Then I moved from Massachusetts to Albuquerque. Not a lot of geographical overlap between the two. LOL But a few years after Tom and I arrived here, I made an online connection with a hooker from Tennessee, Cass Gannaway. Her son lives here; she even met some of the Adobe Wool Arts Guild while some of us were demonstrating at the BioPark. Cass is pretty much a guild member at this point and has taken classes with us online during Covid. We hope to see her for real soon. Did I mention that she happens to be Kel’s neighbor? Oh, and that the director of Shakerag is also friends with Kelly and her husband.

It gets better. Cass and some of her Tennessee hookers have taken my and other In the Studio Workshop Week classes during the past year and a half. And now, thanks to all these convoluted relationships, Cass’s son-in-law, Charlie Dalton – you might know him as The Hooking Colonel on Instagram – is teaching a second time with In the Studio come February! (I actually had the pleasure of meeting Charlie last year during the holidays when he was visiting his Albuquerque in laws.) And that, my friends, is what SYNCHRONICITY is all about. This New Mexico-Sewanee connection was meant to be.

HOOK RUGS: SAVE THE PLANET, June 19-25, will provide instruction on hooking and punching. It’s perfect for beginners and those familiar with the art forms. But we won’t be focusing on wool (not that there won’t be wool), rather we’ll look at how we can use materials that are often discarded and fill up our landfills. We’ll do our own little part to slow that process. See the links above or email me at if you’re interested in joining us.

REMINDER:
In the Studio (Online)’s Workshop Week 3 (WW3) was a resounding success in October. January 30 – February 6 will find us in WW4. Classes are filling rapidly. See the workshops and other information by following the link above. I’ll be offering last winter’s popular Baby Boucherouite class. Follow In the Studio’s Instagram as each of the nine teachers take over for a day during the next few weeks. Our Facebook page also provides plenty of fiberific findings.

Dog on hooked rug in front of holiday decorations — Tynan brings you what might be the last WHAT’S ON THE FRAME of 2021. Bowyn wanted to be there but couldn’t control his wild and crazy nature. The ANGEL OF 2022 should be finished next week. Tynan wishes that your holidays are filled with too many treats to count. Oh, wait! That’s what he wishes for himself.

Lastly, I hope that everyone’s taking the time to enjoy the holidays. Certainly, we’ll all have more friends and family with us than we could last year. Tom and I will actually have folks here to see our Christmas tree for the first time in years. The kid and my brother both manage to arrive on or before Christmas Eve.

I’m hoping to slow down in the next week or so to write cards and bake. And I’m almost done with my annual angel project; the Angel of 2022 will be finished shortly. It’s time to start planning the project that will take me into the New Year. What about you? Working on anything special these last days of the 2021?