Example of hooked rug and materials used to make it
WINE AND ART NIGHT – RUG HOOKING INTRODUCTION
Thursday, July 9, 2020, at 8 PM – 9:30 PM EDT
Karen Miller and Laura Salamy are teaming up for a fun night of showing you how to do your own hooked fibre art! Karen will demonstrate how to pull loops with yarn, and Laura will be talking about how to use all sorts of things that you probably already have lying around your house! We want to show you how little you need to get started, how wonderful the technique of rug hooking is for relaxation and for expressing yourself, and that it is the perfect art form to fit into your life when you are busy with work and/or kids!
Grab a glass of wine (or another favourite beverage), and get comfy on your couch at home for this online session. There is no need to have the materials on hand- we will go through all of that with you and you can just watch our demonstration. If you do wish to have materials on hand to try it as we go, though, just send us an email and we will give you a list. But don’t worry- there isn’t much that you need to make art in this way!
This class is a safe place for everyone and all are welcome! No experience is necessary- in fact this session is for those who have never tried hooked fibre art before, but are interested in learning OR those who have tried it before but didn’t love it and really want to love it! You don’t even have to have made any type of art before- this really is for everyone!
Bring your questions- we love questions and will answer them all!
Interested in joining us?
The session will be held Thursday, July 9, at 8pm EASTERN. It will be held over Zoom. If you would like to join us you can reserve a spot through Facebookand we will send you the Zoom link and password. Or you can email me (Karen Miller) at marzipanroad@bell.net or email Laura Salamy at laura@highonhooking.com, and we will send you the Zoom link and password straight to your inbox.
Looking forward to seeing you there and feel free to share this with anyone who is interested in learning new things!
I have no idea who the artist is. Maybe you know? But isn’t it beautiful? Okay, wine is beautiful too.
Rug love in the wine store?
I’ll explain. I’m having a busy week. Big surprise, I know. But I was trying to figure out something new and exciting (and quick) to write about when Tom and I headed out to the liquor store. A snowstorm was taking aim at Albuquerque, and we were running low. Before you scoff, I’m from New England and lived through the Blizzard of ’78; snow forecasts = a run to the grocery store. By the way, we got almost an inch and a half today. I know, wow.
So, we’re in Total Wine, and I remember how I’ve gotten rug ideas from wine labels. Some of them are so creative, even beautiful. Then I thought that maybe you need rug ideas right about now. Especially for those of you back east and in the midwest who will live through your own winter storm tonight and tomorrow. Enjoy!
Don’t the colorful flowers draw you in? The birds. What would it be like to share a bottle with this graceful lady? (I’m not particularly graceful.) But zoom over to the left, to the name of the wine. “Dirt Diva”! Love it! No problem drinking with this chick after all.I fear that this is more my speed, not so much the beautiful Dirt Diva. At least he looks happy. Or drunk.
This – or something similar – is one of the first wine bottle labels that jumped out at me to inspire a rug. And yet I don’t think we ever tried the wine. Bummer.
I bet I’m not the only one who’s hooked a rug with this element in it.Has no one realized that “The Fugitive” is just the Invisible Man? They are never gonna catch him. I mean…all of them. BTW, here’s how the manufacturer describes this wine: “Not just any wine – the wine that you drink when you know if may just be your last.” Alrighty.Here’s where they start getting scary. Or weird. Or both. Why name it “Juggernaut”? Okay, maybe it’s a huge and powerful force. But am I going to turn into a Robby Benson Beast, only more frightening, when I drink this stuff? I mean, look at the grass under his feet. It’s blood red. Imagine your new boyfriend ordering this stuff on a date…
Or 19 Crimes Hard Chard. Really? What’s the wine trying to say here? Maybe Jane’s husband tried to get her drunk on the Juggernaut and got more than he bargained for? For her crime she’s banished off to Botany Bay. At least she didn’t have to take him.
Two of my favorites. And I think it’s fair to say that I became distracted from my original intention. I am NOT hooking a rug of a framed French convict on Devil’s Island or a skeletal Pope. Who comes up with this stuff?
I DO know who came up this one and the next one. Albuquerque artist Sean Wells is a kick-ass Albuquerque artist whose artwork has been featured on La Catrina Vino, Cerveza de los Muertos, and New Mexico lottery tickets. She also happens to vend at many of the same events I vend at.
Another of Sean’s gorgeous and fun wine bottles.
Okay, I’ll end with a pic of the elusive jackalopegracing this bottle of whiskey. Now something like this could make it onto a rug. And don’t lecture me about the pesky copyright laws. I know all about them. Have a great week. Maybe I’ll pour myself a bottle glass of wine now…
Back to Bordeaux for another week and talking cool statues and sculpture.
Whether you hook rugs or draw or paint or in any way create “stuff,” you’re always on the lookout for other art that just might provide you with some inspiration. At least you should be. In theory. And given that we’re all carrying automatic copying machines around with us (in the form of our phones), there’s really no excuse for not making “graven images” of the things that call to us.
Okay, I admit that I often forget to jot down the artist info or even the name of some of the artworks I see when I’m out and about, but not in a museum or gallery with an identification sign conveniently placed near the object. I had to Google “large head sculpture in Bordeaux” to find out the info above. Enjoy!
That first night walking about the city, we came across the “Monument aux Girondins,” a monument/fountain created to memorialize the local heroes of the French Revolution. The various scenes portrayed seemed almost real in the dark and jet lag after traveling so many hours to get there.
Look at me pondering on how we shall take down that aristocracy and eat their cake.Why, yes, I do see you pondering what this will mean for our future. Do you think that their wardrobes will contain something we can wear? I mean, better than these bedsheets.
I am a mighty steed and have no need for stupid clothing. I am afraid, however, that I have caught a serious head cold.
Forget the Revolution! I fear that we’ve stumbled onto the set of “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Save us, Johnny Depp!
Sorry, sorry! It was the jet lag like I said.
Meanwhile back to real life. These guys were in l’Eglise Collegiale de Saint-Emilion. It’s still a working church though not a monastery any more. Interesting fact we learned: Sincethe Revolution, the Catholic Church no longer owns any of the churches and other buildings in France. It only uses and administers them. Because of such dwindling attendance at Masses in the last decades, the churches do not receive much in the way of collections and support for these marvelous buildings. It’s up to the cities and government to take care of them. It also explains why you can roam at will through them; they are truly tourist sites.
These guys were in the Eglise Collegiale de Saint-Emilion. Never saw anything like them in any of the Catholic churches that I’ve belonged to.
And then there were the carvings in the wall of a wine cellar beneath the medieval village of Saint-Emilion. Who knows when they happened or who made them?
Mon faux-pas! My bad! I neglected to write down the name of the winery who owns this most excellent cellar.
Oops! Sorry about that, Tom. You’re definitely NOT one of the statues, especially carrying those two bottles of wine we purchased.
Okay, this is my most favorite image of the whole trip. I’m assuming it’s Dionysus. I will hook this rug! And I promise that purple will fit in with him somehow.It is all about the grapes in Bordeaux. This is a BIG flower pot.I shall peel these grapes for you, mon cher. Mais bien sûr, we must have another glass of wine.
Okay, okay, I’ll stop now. Instead we’ll leave the statues and the trip behind for this week and head back into reality…
Tynan brings you this week’s “what’s on the frame.” Hm, looks very primitive doesn’t it? Not like what I usually hook. And yet, and yet… More next week!
This is a bridge in Bordeaux, clearly an OLD bridge. I include it under the NATURE category, because the Garonne River is a tidal river. For our boat to go under that bridge, the captain had to have exquisite timing. At low tide.
If you’re a regular reader, then you know that Tom and I took our first really GOOD vacation in ten years in early August. No kid, not even the dog. (Don’t feel bad for Tynan; he had himself a fine time at a guild mate’s “doggie spa.”) Amazingly, neither of us had even been on a plane in five years – when we were scouting out Albuquerque before our move here in 2015. If you consider that this year we celebrated 25 years of marriage, you can see why it was time. So, we headed to Bordeaux, yes, the one in France, and boarded a Viking long boat for a wine cruise. And, yes, it met every expectation that we had.
This is the clearance the boat had emerging from under the bridge in Bordeaux on our way to Cadillac. Thank goodness for a LOW tide.
We saw all kinds of things: vineyards, a big city (Bordeaux), tiny villages, 18th century forts,sculptures, chateaux, and so on. Got lots of pics to share. So many that I blew out my new Dropbox. Guess I have to pare down some. I don’t want to bore anyone, so I’ll post them according to themes. This week we’ll try NATURE.
Ultimately, we cruised along three different rivers near Bordeaux that week. Two met up at at the Gironde estuary not far from the Atlantic coast. Sadly, there were some, but not many, sea and river birds. I never got a good answer as to why that was given the estuary, but it might have something to do with the region’s agricultural practices.
Being in a world-famous wine region, of course, we toured several wineries. There was one which specialized in Sauternes wines – unfortunately, not my favorite, too sweet – but it was beautiful.
Madame La Dinde, a resident of the Sauternes region.
Mind you, chateaux in the Bordeaux area are not at all like those in the Loire valley. While those are about opulence and architecture, the ones in Bordeaux are more about commerce and the making and selling of wine. Often, there’s not a lot going on inside other than rooms for weddings,banquets, and wine tastings. These are real working farms and wineries. To that affect, see who we found at the one in Sauternes.
Colorful pots line the narrow streets of the little port town of Cadillac.More gardens in the medieval town of Saint-Emilion. (My favorite place of the whole trip!)
Those are some very old vines.
Espalier-trained pear trees. Yum!Les raisins étaient partout! Just everywhere as grapes should be in wine country world.
But we didn’t have to be on land to enjoy nature’s bounty.
There was the captain of the Forseti. That was the name of our river boat.
Don’t ask me his name. He was Greek. He had an accent. Isn’t that enough?
Is that not a picture-perfect sunset over the estuary off the Médoc wine region?
Damn, I can get a bunch of posts out of this trip. Next time we’ll talk old buildings or something. I mean, we saw the ruins of a castle from the Middle Ages. You don’t see that every day in New Mexico. Till then, Tynan brings you this week’s rug on the frame.
Tynan presents to you my new “thistle” rug. I started it last week during the workshop that Sharon Smith presented to the Adobe Wool Arts Guild here in Albuquerque. What’s on your frame???
The grapes at Casa Rodena were not going to pick themselves!
Sunday Tom and I tried something new: picking grapes destined to be bottled up as wine by Casa Rodeña right here in Albuquerque. The winery offers an interesting list of “extra curriculars” to members and the public, things like yoga and Pilates in the barrel house, french lessons, even networking for professionals (folks with jobs, not wine-drinking pros).
Only one bucket-full into the day. Still looking and even feeling pretty good. But there were another 3 1/2 hours to go.
Earlier in the month, I’d received an email inviting us (and anyone else on the mailing list) to pick grapes on the property and then enjoy a meal and wine. Sounded good to both of us. Apparently to plenty of others as well; there was a l-o-n-g waiting list.
Bring a hat and sunscreen! Wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.
They weren’t kidding. Hey, it is New Mexico, the high desert. Plus we’re at an altitude of about 5000 feet. The sun’s muyfuerte. While Tom – being Lebanese – is swarthy and tans at the drop of a hat, I am not. In fact, I’m the perfect melanoma storm: pale skin, red hair, lots of freckles. Hence, I do NOT leave the house without plenty of SPF 50 or higher sunscreen on this body.
Not so promptly at 9:10 or so (New Mexican time is often like Caribbean time), they gather us together to give the pep talk. Casa Rodeña was once again, seventh time in a row, voted best winery in the Albuquerque area. Not surprising; it’s the best we’ve found here. Could easily hold its own in Napa or Sonoma. Don’t worry about the bees. They’re just interested in the juice. And we’re screwed without them! Amen, but a lot of those “bees” looked suspiciously like yellow jackets. Amazingly, none of us we’re stung (or bitten). There’s a romance in grape-picking. And it’s good that we’re doing something slow, even old-fashioned in this digital, always go-go-going age. (I’m paraphrasing.) I couldn’t disagree with that assessment. Besides, the whole thing ends in wine. That’s romantic enough for me. It’ll take us a good three to four hours. By 10:30, you’ll be wondering when it will end. Picking grapes is WORK. Yes, yes, it was. With all those capital letters, it most definitely was WORK.
Tom’s a happy picker here. We’re done!
For some reason grapes prefer to grow low on the vine, like way down towards the ground. Okay, it didn’t help that I’d blown my lower back out earlier in the week. Saw the chiropractor who told me to keep moving. That worked fine till I stretched after being on the recumbent bike Friday. Tom: You think it might be too much for you? We were to pick grapes at a winery. Then have free food and wine. My thought: If you’re gonna drown, go for the deepest water you can find.
So, we picked. And we ripped the leaves off the vines to expose the grapes. They couldn’t hide! And we picked some more. Get hungry? Eat some grapes, but keep picking. (Okay, they had water bottles and some snacks.) For a long time, Tom and I worked the same row of vines. Me, being the more anal one (for this activity), I worked long and hard on my vines. No grape was going un-picked. There was a lot of crouching. Eventually, though, it was easier to just sit on the ground. We were all getting dirty.
Casa Rodena Winery is beautiful. You’d never even know that we’re in the desert here. Let me tell you how pleasant it is to sit near that pond on a warm summer day with a glass (or perhaps a bottle) of wine. If you’re in Albuquerque, make sure you stop by for a tasting.
And then…there were no more grapes to pick! Lunch time! Hot and sweaty, I just wanted some water, which was readily available. I downed that puppy in no time, and we made our way over to where parties and weddings and such are held. A band played jazz. We found the food and wine lines and collected our reward.
Where to sit? Seats and tables were at a bit of a premium, but, you know, at events
Making friends and stomping grapes…with Susan on the right.
like this one, fellow workers become friends. We sat down with another couple. He was mellow, and she was a little bit rowdy…much as myself. Sure, it was a little difficult to talk over the music, but we managed. Turned out Susan’s a technical writer, and Jerry’s an artist. We hope to dee them again sometime soon.
There was wine, talk, music, more wine, and much fun. Susan even managed to get me into the tank to crush grapes à la Lucy (enjoy below). Despite my sore back – I went back to the chiropractor Monday – Tom and I will definitely be back at work picking grapes next year.
