Faces and Friends

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The newest batch of R.A.M.P.S jewelry has been received at TAMARACK, the Best of West Virginia in Beckley, WV.  Included are a variety of friendly faces, all hooked with wool strips of fabric through a woven backing and finished off with wool fabric and a pin back. 

Face Pins hooked by Susan L. Feller

These join the hooked mats and small rugs which were juried in last November and have been selling very well.  Another batch will arrive by early November, please stop on your journey through the southern part of West Virginia along I64 and I79 just outside of Beckley, WV.

Hooked on the River

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A retreat should slow the participants lifestyles down to just the focus of their work.  The Hooked on the River retreat does just that. 
New and old friends gathered along the Shenandoah River for three days creating fiber art, sharing words of wisdom, laughter and praise.  The core of this group is members of the Old Dominion Chapter of Pearl McGown Rugcrafters others from the region join in to make the 22 attendees.

Fall Fiesta in Vermont

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Stephanie Krauss of Green Mountain Hooked Rugs created a great event: four days in beautiful Vermont during the height of Fall Foliage Season.  The first Fall Fiesta was Sept 22-26 and I advise you mark your calendars for just the same times in 2011.  I was one of three instructors (others were Jane Halliwell Green and Lisanne Miller) along with a store, retreat session and fabulous food prepared and served by the New England Culinary Institute students.  Located on the campus of Vermont College of Fine Arts just up the hill from Vermont’s capitol, Montpelier this event had everyone attending smiling and calling each other friends in no time.

Fraktur Workshop at Fall Fiesta, VT

 Our class stands outside of College Hall, a massive elegant building housing the workshops for the weekend.

Off to St. Louis

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After Sauder, I went on to St. Louis to teach for Nola Heidbreder.  Her studio is in a section referred to as The Hill, a charming walkable neighborhood of Italian eateries, grocery stores, cafes and bocci clubs.  This is the second time I have been to St. Louis, and it was enjoyable revisiting some favorite restaurants and eating my way around the Meditteranean.  Spanish tappas at Modesto and great Italian seafood the next night.

St. Louis student's work in progress

The workshop was designing a rug with the folk art influence. Each student created a unique pattern and over the three days we colorplanned and with their efforts, saw the rugs evolve.  This class really applied theirselves and I am looking forward to seeing the finished works. 

My trip back home took me on Interstate 64.  I went through Louisville around 8:00 pm admiring the multitude of bridges and clustered skyline with little traffic to hinder the trip.  Remembering the last visit just a year ago when we hosted the TIGHR tri-ennial in Louisville and the end of three years as host country.  Sorry not time to stop and visit this time.

Sauder Village 2010

Last year we thought all the forces had gathered at Sauder Village in Archbold, OH for the Rug Hooking Week in a “perfect storm”. Well this year the exhibit was even better.

Ruckman Mill Farm at Sauder Village 21010

Starting with the pinnacle of inspiration: Noah’s Ark and the collection of works by Mary Sheppard Burton and Leonard Feenan as the featured exhibit.  Although Mary had recently passed away, the retrospective included personal pieces never seen to the very last piece she was working on, being completed by her grand daughter, Jennifer Zamato who was in attendance.

Kathy Wright the event coordinator for Rug Hooking Week at Sauder Village, pulled together several small collections including six rugs hooked by members of a close network.  Each rug included elements worked by every one of the  members.  The owner started their rug and others knew the recipient well enough to either go along with their “likes” or play with this, responding directly to the work already on the piece. The visual step by step evolution of the rugs provided along side, added to viewers appreciation of the process.

Jim and I were thrilled with the turnout again, thousands annually make their treks to what is becoming, after fourteen years, the premier annual exhibit of hooked rugs in the United States.  Friends who only see us here, to workshop attendees over the past year visited, shared their works and went home with more colorful wools, or new patterns.

We were invited back for the 15th Annual Rug Hooking Week, August 15-20, 2011. Go to www.saudervillage.com  and review the Hooked Rug Week Special Events

My urban experience- Ottawa

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Why not just go two hours out of my way after travelling for two weeks and visit Barbara Lukas and Ottawa, Canada. She lives right in the city, yet in a tree-lined historic district, and took me by car and foot all over. We hit the hightlights and more, even stopping to hear part of an outdoor concert, whizzing past the longest ice skating rink (not in season),  over to Quebec and the thrift shop haunts for stuff and FRENCH fries. 

My art lesson was at the National Gallery where we toured the Canadian Arts Galleries focusing on the Group of Seven towards modern.  Seeing artwork in person validates the scale, techniques, materials and colors which the artists chose for their pieces.  Reproductions are informative but I can’t emphasize too strongly to anyone, “Visit art”.

We went to the Farmers Market and I had bubble tea.

Two Bubble Teas and Barbara's stripes

The caramel Tapioca pearls are fun and come through the special wide straws quickly.  We had to return to this shop as the tapioca were not ready when she opened at 10;00.  Well worth the return for the novelty and visual.

Barbara invited several fiber friends over for dinner. And each brought along some of their work.  The evening was filled with sharing and learning from each other. We covered topics as broad as how to preserve using new media current fiber artists at work, in studios or even as we just did in a salon session talking about creativitiy. Other topics were use of color, materials, inspirations for designs, how exact one medium (quilting) is and forgiving another (rughooking).  What benefits we derive from working slowly with our hands and fibers to create.   I look forward to returning to this group in the next year and continuing our effortless journey.

A visit with Jeanne

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Since my travels from Holland Michigan to Belleville, ON take me right past Aurora and Jeanne Field, we arranged a stop over.  What a thrill for me to spend down time with a wise and contemporary rughooking maven.  We chatted, cooked (well certainly missed Andrea and Jim for that part), and solved all the problems in our small universe together for two days.

A sneak peak into the studio of Rittermere-Hurst-Field revealed a new collection of stockings by several rughooking artists.  Andrea had asked these people to create a stocking design and they were revealed at a Circle of Friends hook-in sponsored by the company.  The indigenous people’s design on top is Jeanne’s.

Collection of new designs- Stockings

Loyalist College and Belleville Ontario, Welcoming

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This was my second year instructing on the staff of Loyalist College in Belleville, ON, Canada. Again an inspiring group of students, who kept me working them for five full days.  I have enjoyed traveling and seeing how different groups approach rughooking studies.  The Canadian’s are serious and dedicated to improving their skills.

The new director of Continuing Studies is Holly Cockeline, who come to find out hails from Nova Scotia where she was exposed to rughooking by association with Dianne Fitzpatrick.  Seems from her interest during the week she will be pulling a few loops again in her new home.

This workshop centered around the basics : Elements and Principles of Design. We gradually built on these concepts using small 5 inch mats and the same materials.  By mid week the suggestion for next year’s lesson plan was to zero in on VALUE.  Everyone mentioned and showed me with their pieces that the session helped them see, and grow in their art. 

Registration opens in mid February,

Colorful inspirations Hollyhocks

While in Belleville, the residents of the Dormitories (myself included) entertained ourselves with sidetrips.  Pictured are Andrea and Peggy at the honor system seed box for wild hollyhocks. We travelled to the far eastern side of gorgeous, artistic Prince Edward County one evening in search of these flowers.

Stopped along the way in one of the towns for very local ice cream… delicious. Then saw the Lake on the Mountain, an unexplained phenonomen (high above the water line of waterway)… and ended up eating dinner at a Tim Horton’s.

There was a great seafood restaurant in Belleville on Sydney Street just north of the bridge (would be on your right if heading north immediately after coming over the bridge) Name escapes me right now.

Heirlooms Rug School

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The Blair’s (Fred, Nancy and extended family) conducted another successful and fun week of rughooking in Holland MI.  Again the site was the hospitable Haworth Inn and Conference Center with 9 instructors and a full house of students. 

The fifteen who enrolled in the Fraktur Design Workshop with me produced (with minimal encouragement on my part) unique and personal designs. With five days to dedicate to the patterns, each evolved before my eyes, satisfying me with colorful motifs.  A big thank you to all, looking forward to seeing the completed pieces on display.

Happy Students and Instructor (center in green)

 

Next year will be the 5th Annual Heirlooms Rug School and registrations are open now.  Although I won’t be an instructor (two year rotation rule) there are great people to select from. Contact Nancy Blair at thhkrugs@alteco.net or phone her at 616-895-6378

Color is the word for Holland Michigan

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July in Holland Michigan brings out tourists, friendly locals and loads of color. The shop owners really understand visual abundance.  While teaching at the Heirlooms Rug School at Haworth Inn and Conference Center in downtown Holland, MI we strolled the streets after class hours.  A rainbow of lawn chairs were arranged outside of one shop, the logo for a children’s clothing line was all about color, and the farmers market on Wednesday included artistically arranged produce and flowers. 

All lined up for sale, and pleasing to the eye