Juried Art in 2011

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The following three works were juried into exhibitions and/or publications this year.  This exposes the traditional craft of rughooking to a contemporary art audience.  Hope you can visit one or all of the exhibitions:
State Museum, Culture Center, 1900 Kanawha Blvd E, Charleston, WV 304-558-0220 for hours
Tamarack, One Tamarack Park, Beckley, WV 1-888-TAMARACK
June 19-Aug 13
Sauder Village, Archbold, OH www.Saudervillage.org Rug Hooking Week
August 17-20
Celebrations XXI published by Stackpole Books  August 2011

The desk has moved into our home

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Jim worked for six weeks in the workroom to create this desk. We moved it into the house on Memorial Day, setting it in a place of prominence right inside the front door.  It was supposed to go up in the study facing a wall! No way, Jim’s favorite side is the back.

Desk in house walnut side

Click here to see a slide show with more images of the sides and progress building the desk.

Cedar Lakes in 2011

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Again a great group of students and wonderful weather for the 47th Cedar Lakes Rug Camp in Ripley, WV.   Registration for 2012 is open now. Contact Nancy Blair at thhkrugs@altelco.net or call 616-895-6378. The dates are May 13-18, 2012.

Seems the theme for rug designs included birds, flowers and geometrics. Wow! Must have had some inspiration from the FRAKTURS.  They sure did.  We also learned about the elements and principles of design and used these lessons when looking at the rug exhibit on Wednesday.

Laurel Mountains 2011

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Becky Headley’s Family Tree

 Family trees, Floral Bouquets and Spring Rabbits were popular subjects for the Fraktur patterns created by students in the Laurel Mountains workshop.

 
This was the first time I had come to Ligonier, and truly enjoyed the town and Ramada Inn where Shirley Engel and her crew coordinated another successful workshop.
 
The other instructors were Jayne Hester and Barb Carroll working with wide cuts and wonderful textured wools.  And Nancy Blood instructing fine cuts using values and detailed drawings.

Retreat report

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Gathered at the Falls

Wonderful new friends, great outdoors and many steps along our fiber journey are some of the memories we took away from the RETREAT INTO THE MOUNTAINS 2011 at Peterkin Camp and Conference Center. 

Texture, Shapes, Form

 The design sessions were very rewarding.  Many of the 5 inch squares were completed by Sunday afternoon.  Plans are for the 5th RETREAT to be held on April 13-15, 2012.  Registration material available soon, contact Susan for a copy at rugs2wv@yahoo.com.   Sure to fill up quickly.

Results from one of the Dye Sessions with Jim

Four participants worked with Jim Lilly in the Dye Studio and created wonderful ARTWOOLS.

Top 15 Tamarack Artists! Thanks

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WVLiving Magazine has just announced on their Facebook page that I am one of the 15 Top Tamarack Artists!   Much thanks to my worldwide audience who entered the pole at http://wvlivingmagazine.com

I will be featured in an article in the Summer issue along with the other artists.  A new order of my hooked mini-mats will be delivered the first week of May to TAMARACK.

Mini Mats by Susan L. Feller

A stop at “the Best of West Virginia” when traveling on I64/I79 is sure to please all of your senses.

Jim’s newest woodwork

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Furniture galore is coming out of the new woodworking shop.  Enjoy the gallery format with images of the cupboards, tables and accessories as they are finished. Jim is available to discuss commissions at 304-496-8073

We are live with an updated site!

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If you clicked onto this blog through http://www.ruckmanmillfarm.com   welcome!  Look around the posts and pages to learn even more about Susan Feller and Jim Lilly at home in the Mountain State of West Virginia.

Logo designed by Michael Anderson, Romney, WV

  We are thrilled to have an official logo honoring the log home Jim built and the era of time we both are reliving… the Arts and Crafts period of the early 1900’s.

Michael Anderson is our graphic designer, web creator, fellow artist, and friend.  I have found him to be easy to discuss concepts with and the magic in cyberspace he has worked should make your visits enjoyable.

Let us know of any problem, difficulty or enjoyable clicks while on the site, so we can improve it.  

At Home by Jim Lilly

Enough of the thank yous,  ENJOY and come back soon.   Susan and Jim

Loyalist Schedule

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The summer program for Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario, Canada will be online at www.LoyalistFocus.com on March 25.  My class is listed for the week of July 11-15 and can be found on page 19 of the catalog.  I am thrilled to add that one of my pieces was selected for the back cover also.  Rug hooking on the cover of a college brochure!

Value scale and swatches

The class will focus on VALUE and the other Elements and Principles of design. Bring a work in progress for consultation.  There will be daily exercises using rughooking and we will work up a new pattern for each person.  Expect to incorporate contrast, and values into  your design. Geometrics would be a great way to address this subtle, yet very valuable element.

I will be studying at the McMichaels Collection outside of Toronto the week before and expect to bring these experiences to the class.

I lodge at the College also and am looking forward to spending evening hours with resident students.  We had a great time the last two years visiting Belleville restaurants, eating on campus and going out to the County.

Planted the tomato and pepper seeds

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Jim and I planted the garden seeds today.  Now we feel like survivalists again.  Looks like much better starter soil than last year, first step.  It will be up to Mother Nature to help us get the plants growing when we put them in late in May.  Until then the kitchen is our incubator.

Put in three dozen pips of RAMPS two weeks ago in the woods.  Got them from Ramp Farm Specialists, the only place selling Ramps as bulbs or seeds.  Although these delicious alliums have a mystique of being only found in the mountains of Appalachia, we have found them growing in New Jersey and learned they are prolific in Colorado and many other areas. 

An acquired taste, one chef we met says a ramp needs to be “tamed” like a colt. Boiling and throwing off the water once takes the extra bite out of them.

To promote our heritage I have branded my jewelry line R.A.M.P.S. “Rag Art Means Personal Style”.