Hooking

In last week’s primitive class I decided to try my hand at a self portrait. We took my picture on a phone and then sent it to Wendie’s computer where she opened it in a program called Be Funky which isolates the blocks of colour. Using the picture on the computer as a guide, I made a simple sketch. I had a basket of dyed nylons which I thought would be great to use. I ended up adding all kinds of alternative fibres–yarn, sari silk, roving and ribbon. It was really freeing to use all the different textures and I especially enjoyed using the thick and thin slub wool as background.  The hooking went very fast. I plan to hang it on the wall of my studio along with my soon to be finished shoes, another form of self portrait. A big thanks to Wendie for her inspiration.

 

Here are the rugs which we began in the primitive rug course with Wendie Scott-Davis. The really interesting parts of a rug hooking class–besides the things you learn and we all agreed we learned TONS from Wendie who is such a generous and experienced teacher–are the stories that come as rugs are hooked. Each of the pieces below reflects its creator in design and narrative. First you see Mary Anne’s Iggie the Piggy and Nancy’s story from her husband’s childhood.

Next, work from Cindy, Jane and Carol–each with their own twist on the primitive principles.

And finally a Maud Lewis from Deborah and a ‘hot’ fish from Maribeth and Harley’s moose. What fun we had!

I started the day off with this lovely email:  I love my new red bag. It’s scrumptious, lovely, beautiful, it smells wonderful and I feel blessed to have it. I took it to book club yesterday and wowed the gals.  Everyone appreciates positive feedback and this lovely comment has put a smile on my face this morning. And there is more to smile about–it is a beautiful sunny morning here and it’s day two of an excellent  hooking workshop I am attending.You no doubt recognize the work of The Rugged Moose. We are so lucky to be able to spend four days here with Wendie learning about primitive rug hooking. Primitive rug hooking with a definite techno twist! It is already an outstanding course. I will post some of things we are working on soon–but for now here are some of the fabulous rugs that Wendie brought to inspire us.

Here is the winning rug in the pictorial category, designed and hooked by  Pat Bonn of the Ottawa Olde Forge rug hooking group. Thanks to those who helped me with this! There is another winner too, Joan Foster, of the Moira Mat Makers, whose bell pull won in the alternative fibres category.  I was not able to get a good photo of this piece but have decided to include a photo of the group display, just to give you some idea. Since Joan is in my rug hooking group, I will arrange to get a good photo of this marvellous piece and post it here soon.

Following are some rugs which caught my eye. These are not all of the amazing rugs at the show–just a taste.  First is Lois Morris’ gymnast. I kept returning to look at this piece; it was very powerful.

Below is a pictorial by Trish Johnson, Fluff and Puff by Gail Finlayson and a wonderful snow scene by Gunda Gamble.

And finally, a rug which I love, from featured artist Joan Boyle.

 

The Ontario Rug Hookers held their 43rd Annual Conference in Kingston on the weekend. It was a marvellous weekend on all counts–congratulations and thanks to Area 1 and the Limestone Loopers!

It is always a challenge to get good photos of rugs hanging in a display–here are some of the award winners. More tomorrow. There were so many amazing rugs there.Above is Rhonda Kellet’s adorable pup the winner for fine-cut and below Gloria Jonkman’s sunflowers which was the winner in the wide-cut category.

Below is Dolores Detschel’s Caterpillar rug (which had us all guessing)– the Rowan award winner, followed by Karen Kaiser’s winner in the theme award category and Nancy Fox’s winner in the original category. 

 

 

I was at our rug hooking group again this morning. We meet in our city’s wonderful new recreation centre, gathered around a table drinking tea, swapping stories, sharing health care advice and…hooking. We have been meeting together for a long time now, Wednesday mornings. It began in a member’s home, but we have long outgrown that space and time. Now we rent a spot and share the building with swimmers and yoga enthusiasts. In our room,  the glass wall barely contains all the colours of our imaginations.  As my friend MA walked me to my car today, she commented that the people we share these mornings with are the essentials, and that our creations grow in part out of that rich personal connection.

I think I have the value gradation figured out now. As I have said earlier, this is a learning exercise and I have learned lots from it. The shoes were fun to hook and relatively easy. But the background proved a challenge. I wanted it to be interesting but it ended up being distracting. There are still a few things to change, but I think I can now move gradually into the lights. Still, the interplay of background and foreground is something I will continue to experiment with in future pieces–it intrigues me. I’ll post it again when the lights are in.

I was delighted to receive a new piece of hooking from Catherine in Matangwe, Kenya. Although I was in Matangwe teaching hooking for several weeks, Catherine joined us only in the last two days. But, she learned quickly and completed her first piece before I left, making a special trip to the clinic to make sure that she gave it to me personally. And then this week this one arrived!  As you can imagine, supplies in Kenya for rug hooking are very limited–but somehow she has found enough t-shirt pieces to make a well-designed piece. I am delighted and have great hopes that the women will be producing small rug-sized pieces next year.

All the small hooked mats made by the women in Matangwe will be on display at the OHCG Annual in Kingston.

And here are the shoes at this stage. This background is proving more challenging than I expected. I knew that the values would take special care–but I wasn’t prepared for the issues with colour. Because the pieces I am using are spot dyes and marbelized, the background has more colour than I want in places. I find some of the turquoise distracting and think it has to go! I’ll continue to work with it and post an update on Monday.