My urban experience- Ottawa

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

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

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

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

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

Fresh Air Friend

Sometimes you need to get away from a regular routine.  Jennifer Larmour thought that a few weeks ago and called us up.  Seems New York City in the summer gets hot ?!  Determined to travel approximately 320 miles using “public transportation” she caught the Mega Bus from NYC to DC, walked the few blocks to Union Station and AMTRAC to take the 55 mile trip out on the ONLY train going west through Harper’s Ferry, WV on Saturday. 

Great shadows and stacking of shapes

That is where I came in, completing her trip out to Hampshire County in our Toyota (another hour and 45 minutes). You see I wasn’t going closer than Harper’s Ferry to pick her up.  More on the return trip later.

Jim had planned on Jennifer’s visit food wise, shopping at the Romney Farmers Market for fresh snap peas from Bryan Beveridge, cooking up Bob (the rooster in previous post) into broth for Greek Lemon Soup (cold), and marinating some venison from the property till very tender for delicious kabobs with new red potatoes (Bryan’s again) cherry tomatoes and mushrooms (did have to resort to FoodLion for these). 

Talking to the broody hen, while collecting breakfast

We started every morning with farm fresh eggs collected eagerly by Jennifer and served fried on a bowl of oatbran bought in bulk at Miller’s Market, or with bacon and greens from our garden.  Sure is nice to have someone around who enjoys food and preparing it well. Jennifer and I did appreciate Jim.

2010 Garlic Harvest on the Farm, with help

We enjoyed her visit and she stepped in willingly to help with our chores. The big team effort was harvesting the garlic rows before the 90 degree sun got too high in the sky.

A fellow fiber artist, Jennifer and Susan spent hours happily working in the studio.  She finished a portrait of Grandma with very young Jennifer on her lap.  The freedom of interpretation is one aspect of her art we truly enjoy.

Jennifer's hooked rug 2010, Grandma and Jennifer

Tuesday came too soon and we returned to Harper’s Ferry in time for the 11:16 am to DC, coming from Chicago.  When the temperatures get as hot as currently, the trains slow down for safety reasons.  Someone called the 800 number and found out the arrival would not be until 1:45!!   TOO Late for a bus transfer in DC to NYC, we thought about it and agreed to take David (Appalachian Trail hiker who needed to get to a plane for return to Portland, OR) and off we went to Vienna METRO Station about 38 miles closer to the city. Thank heavens for the GPS and my knowing something of the area.  Traffic picked up, the lanes widened to 5 lanes across at one point, but we were in the middle of the dayso not bad.  Pulled into the station, and the travellers had decided to take a cab which would assure them of a quicker arrival in town, WALL-AH a Yello Taxi appeared! 

Received an email from Jennifer around 9:00 pm and she had arrived safe, having consumed a pound of snap peas on the bus trip.  We look forward to another effortless, and very friendly visit soon.  The farm isn’t the same without her, Bob, the cat, misses the extra attention.

Full House

Yes there are 3 Hens in the one box!

These Dominique Hens are fourteen months old.  They obviously are interested in sitting on eggs to hatch.  BUT they don;t understand, only one hen is needed per nest.  We have patiently waited 22 days and are about to throw out the rotten eggs in upper right box and start all over AGAIN. 

The hen is not demonstrative enough to say, “Go Away, I have enough eggs under me, find your own spot to lay an egg.”  What do we humans know about making baby chickens? Not much.

Green Mountain Design Workshop 2010

Orange/Blue, Red/Green and Samples

A full class with beginners and very experienced rughookers settled in on Friday, June 4 for three days experimenting with the design elements and principles at the 29th Green Mountain Hooked Rugs School in East Randolph VT.  Each lesson plan’s end result was a five inch square hooked using materials and exercises to understand the particular elements or principles. 

Colorful Explorations began with a neutral bundle of wools in a warm palette of natural to deep brown.  There were solids and textured wools and the lesson was to use the basic elements of line, shape and form to create a simple composition.

Next we introdced a 6 value swatch from Dorr Mill Store.  The color choices were from the primaries: red, blue or yellow and their complements: green, orange and purple. And the lesson was to work with contrast, and value to enhance the depth of a shape.

Yellow/Purple and Hooked mats by Susan Feller

Third lesson the participants chose four pieces of wool from the color they had and its complement.  This pile included several values of solids and three different textured wools.  Each time they were encouraged to delve into their own scrap bags to suplement the wools.  My bag had been previously sorted by color families and was also well scavenged.

Fourth, put all you learned together and if you want to add as many colors, values, textures you want.

I can conduct this workshop in modules of three hours each, and have a 5 day lesson plan which will be used at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario in July.  Interested in your guild playing with small hooked pieces and learning more about how to design and colorplan? Contact me at 304-496-8073 or through the website.  http://www.RuckmanMillFarm.com  (see pages over on the right hand side)

ATC’s have come to RugHooking

The June/July/August issue of Rug Hooking Magazine includes a great article  by Kim Dubay of Primitive Pastimes about hooking Artist Trading Cards.  Deb Smith, Editor of RHM and Kim established the first ever swap coordinated by the magazine.  To join in,  visit the website www.RugHookingMagazine.com and read about the expectations.  Work on a card ,then upload your card before sending it off and if not a subscriber, consider ordering your year of fiber fun.

                                                                                                           Here is mine:

Small Fraktur Flower

Where did May go?

Today is already the 9th of June.  Since the last posting, I have been to Ripley, West Virginia for the 45th Cedar Lakes Rug Camp run by the Blairs of Tomorrow’s Heirlooms  for a full week of teaching, home for a few days and most recently off to Vermont to the 29th Green Mountain Hooked Rug School at Vermont Technical College in East Randolph, Vermont.  This school is conducted by Stephanie Ashworth-Krauss assisted by her daughters and staff.

To catch up, the week at Cedar Lakes I taught Fraktur Design to 14 talented people, all of whom their own rug pattern by lunch on the first day.  The templates and books along with my encouragement with ideas help anyone, even those who say they can’t draw a straight line.  Truthfully, those are the people who I am most proud of when we see their results. 

This great bird detail is from Susan Latham’s rug, her third hooked project.

Beginning of a wedding rug