yes, Polenta is from that Italian persuasion… we have lots of ethnic in Sonoma County.  i’m Heinz 57, so all ethnics belong to me… ha!   i had Heuvos Rancheros for breakfast this morning, at the Moose Club.

Gypsy in gold and blue

i have been hooking some of the Flying Dog Hookery patterns… just for fun!  I was going to put a Proddy ring around this Gypsy, but it didn’t work out for me.  i took the proddy pieces and hooked them in the 1 corner… Viola!  then i did a bit of ‘Rip & Wrinkle’ instead of proddy around Gypsy.  i like the way the gold and blue melt into each other.

Sunset Clouds with bare branches

i love the bare branches of the trees and bushes; the vistas beyond are revealed. 

 

Michele Wise and student, Denise Hund with Jane Olson doll.

This was Denise Hund’s project for Little River Inn Rug Camp with Michele Wise this past November.  Michele wrote an article for RHM about her hooked dolls… it was such a pleasure to see Denise’s doll version of Jane Olson come to life.   She added all the little extra’s that were part of Jane’s teaching uniform; a pencil in her curly red hair, the tape measure around her neck and many other telling things.

 

I’m hooking a city scape of San Francisco!  the Pyramid and Coit Tower are the SF signatures in the skyline.  Part of the Bay Bridge is in the fore front… i’m wondering it will dissappear into the background…!?  it may be a subject for the ‘Critique’ session at the Monterey Fiber Jam. 

 

In case you find the Monterey Fiber Jam over-whelming… let’s just say that it’s a Smorgasbord!  Take a look, sample what you like, and enjoy the feast!   check out the line up listed on my website: Monterey Fiber Jam 

Winter Cloud Wisps

 

I did buy a SLR digital camera… I need it, as an artist and business woman.  Nice to be in the driver’s seat… but much to learn.  i do like a ‘point & shoot’ camera, glad it can be both.   The sky in Petaluma was beautiful after Christmas.

Nancy's patio view

 

Thursday group switches around from person to person, everyone takes a turn hosting.   Nancy has a beautiful garden and view in the Green Valley area near Sebastopol; I always enjoy the views from Nancy’s patio.  This photo from December 2011 is posterized.

 

Latta Miniatures; John, Emma, Mary, 1922

 

I gave this rug to my mother for Christmas,and  hope she enjoys it.  Her style and mine are quite different; she is more Modern, i love the Impressionists. 

Carmella, our grand dog!

A Christmas gift to my daughter and son-in-law… off my wall… no, actually, i wrapped it up as a present. 

a good dog, a nice piece of linen… a fun rug!  

 

8x10 Mermaids at the Golden Gate

 

a CA postcard doubled in size with mermaids…  could be fun!   i’m getting the Fiber Jam Challenges all mixed up!

Hook one and send me a photo!

Wow!  what a year; 2011!  I’ve met so many terrific people; students, hostesses, mentors, and internet friends.   I’ve been inspired, amazed and learned a lot! 

The trip to Vermont and Lancaster, PA was a double high light for me!  The personal tour of Vermont by Brigitta Bradford Phy, Sherlburne Museum, hooking up with Anne-Marie Littenberg in Burlington, and visiting the farm where Brigitta grew up… wow! the folks that live there now were harvesting potatoes and fixing up for winter. 

Shelburne Round Barn with yellow leaves

2012 promises more excitement, but at a slower pace.  i’m looking forward to several teaching gigs and a few rug events.  The trip to Australia in October 2012 for the TIGHR convention will be very special, as my husband, Kirby, has always wanted a return trip to Australia. 

First up in 2012 is the Monterey Fiber Jam; at Asilomar, February 12-17… it’s coming right up!  We have lots of little events planned for our week, and the Challenges are already affecting us.  we’re hooking California Postcards and Butterflies, thinking about hooking a Mermaid and wondering about those Pissarro Vanishing Lines.  I published some of my photos with Pissarro v-lines super-imposed and was spoofing!  i just matched some lines and didn’t think about the ‘vanishing point’.  Pat Merikallio called me on it… ha!  my 2 photos of the Navarro River have a vanishing point nearly in the center, not off to the side.  here are the corrected illustrations. 

vanishing point in the middle on the bridge.

I flipped the Pissarro v-lines upside down, since there were high hills on either side of the river.

vanishing point out at the mouth of the river.

phew, I hope this is right!  at least it got us thinking about vanishing lines and vanishing points… and that’s what the Fiber Jam is about!  trying stuff out, thinking about things and getting creative!    Let me know if you want to join us.

We have 4 challenges for the Monterey Fiber Jam; if you should choose to accept them.  First up is the California Postcard Challenge, orchestrated by Gail Becker.  She has been promoting it on her blog: CA postcards.  It has been very fun and challenging to work in the 4×6″ format; especially for a wide-cut hooker! 

Second up is the Pissarro vanishing lines Challenge.  There is a wonderful show of Pissarro’s paintings at the Legion of Honour in San Francisco right now; it is about his paintings of people, his family and workers.

Our third challenge is the Butterfly Challenge; proposed by Brigitta Phy.  ‘Hook, prod, knit, quilt, felt or combine these or other fiber arts to make a Butterfly.  There is no size limit or style restrictions.  However, the butterflies should ‘appear’ like they would at a museum where they are displayed in cases with pins.  Each Butterfly should stand by itself with a background and frame.  The frame does not have to be wooden, but could be hooked, etc.’ 

 This one is quite captivating… butterflies are like that.  at some point, i remembered a colouring project i did as a child… where we would fold a piece of paper in half, write our name in cursive on the fold, then copy the name to the other side to create a design.  Abstract Art at such an early age… ha!

Laura in cursive, mirrored

well… i thought… maybe i could just add some butterfly wings to my name and proceed…  (as you may notice, i sketched with pencil, then used a marker to darken in the lines that i wanted.)

 

 

butterfly wings with name

After colouring it in with Photoshop, i found the butterfly a little squat, so i stretched it a bit.

Yellow name butterfly

it is a fun and not serious exercise that might take you back to your childhood games.

Finally, a fourth challenge from Martha Whelchel; use her Mermaid pattern and add a landscape or ocean scene. it can be any size.

Martha's mermaid pattern

This is actually an older challenge and I’ve seen a few of these Mermaids around; Martha shared this pattern at 2007 Little River Inn Rug Camp and since Martha is joining us at the Fiber Jam, we decided to offer it again.

btw:  if you’d like to join us this February 12-17, 2012 at Asilomar for the Monterey Fiber Jam, we have a possible participant that needs a room-mate.  Let me know asap!

Wedding Rug for Sarah & Terry

I guess i work well with assignments… there are requirements and my creative self gets to work it out… solve it.  
The little wedding rugs are done with scraps; that’s the challenge. this little rug reminds me of a Kadinsky painting i’ve seen; the colours of the landscape. The border includes bubbles, suggested by my daughter. i’m doing a series of these little rugs… lots of fun seeing how they all turn out!

I’ve been working on my WTW teaching project and enjoying the process.  the rug is almost hooked, the dyeing done with notes, and I’m thinking about the ‘finish’!  

CA postcards

The CA postcards are coming along; finally got 2 whip-finished with postcard labels sewn on!  the other 4 have been stitched onto cardboard and framed with matting, little Rug Arts.  I’m hoping to have another Rug Art Show next year.

Logging Road

California Postcards are a challenge for the Monterey Fiber Jam! other challenges have been proposed, for instance… the Pissarro vanishing lines. a Pissarro painting, vanishing lines, and your creative response. we’re talking about bringing coloured construction paper and glue sticks… we can rip paper and play with the idea.

Pissarro painting with vanishing lines drawn over

thinking about the vanishing lines and looking over some of my recent photos… i realized that the lines apply to some of my photos… sometimes i need to flip the lines or stretch them…

heading inland from the coast along the Navarro River

vanishing lines super imposed over the photograph.

Navarro River approaching the Pacific Ocean

vanishing lines flipped…

Overlook before the little town of Elk, looking south on Hwy 1

vanishing lines stretched…

Sarah and Laura at Little River Inn

Ha! even the architecture creates vanishing lines equal to Pissarro’s painting…

 the Butterfly Challenge and a Mermaid Pattern Challenge are coming up…

Our LRI Rug Show is always wonderful; to see and to be in.  This year i made a list of the rugs in the show … to include in my Camp Booklet.

Brigitta Phy hooks in front of LRI Rug Show south wall

My daughter, Emma Logan, came as my Assistant this year.  We got the rug show up by the end of Sunday night.  Next year, i’ll let her do more of the ladder climbing and nailing.   i just wanted to show how it was done this year… ha!  sometimes i don’t really think about how it works, until i think about teaching it to someone else.  The Rug Show went together easily, we had some of the big rugs right away and got them up first.

My teachers, Michele Wise and Nancy Miller Quigley, were very accomodating… moving their beautiful wool out of the way of my ladder. Brigitta and I shared the closet to outfit a nice little store. Sharon Smith brought some of her fun patterns to sell and they were popular!

LRI Rug Show over Michele's tables

Michele Wise fit her wool and goodies into a corner. 

LRI Rug Show in the south west corner

Michele’s Rules are boldly posted near her fun creations; feather trees, hooked journals, dolls and creatures of many sorts.

LRI Rug Show north west, near Nancy's class

Rugs, wool and fiber artists… a happy combination!

LRI rug show north east

Our biggest wall in near the kitchen. it also has a movie screen that lowers from the ceiling. Anne Jeter, Nancy Quigley’s mother is at the end of Nancy’s table. It was delightful having Anne and Phoebe, Nancy’s sister, with us for Nancy’s last year. 

LRI rug show east - a few rugs over the windows

 Nancy brought out her hooks each day to include with her various rug hooking needfuls.  On the far right are Emma Webber’s braided rugs and seat pads for sale. 

Tanya Graham's 'Bear' rug hangs over the mantel.

We never light the fireplace, but if it got really cold we would.   If i need the space over the fireplace, i just ask the Maintenance guy to remove the beautiful painting of Little River Inn. 

Laura with a few portrait rugs

Here I am with some of my latest Portrait rugs; my mother with her folks around 1923, below is Mable with her folks, various dates, on to the right is my husband’s grandfather Will Pierce, at a young age.

Michele Wise is teaching about colour - LRI rug show south east behind her.

After 8 years of hanging rug shows on the walls of Abalone Hall,  I’m very familiar with all the corners and crannies.   We use every bit of space in the Abalone Hall;  for the LRI Rug Show,  the goods for sale, and the rug campers.

The Beach at Asilomar... walk out the board walk and cross the road...

I’m wondering if i can post my Monterey Fiber Jam registration form here on my blog?  next question, can campers print it?

2012 Monterey Fiber Jam reg1_2

so… this is a test.  and even though it’s a test… i should add some photos of beautiful Asilomar.  the Beach is beautiful and easily accessible.

Moon over beach at Asilomar

this shot is looking back towards the Asilomar Conference Center… not much visible, but beyond the sand dunes, it’s there.  to the right is the ’17-mile Drive’ and to the left is a walking path that will take you to Monterey and the Aquarium!  a beautiful place!

We’re going be Fiber Jammin’… doing our thing with fibers… hooking, knit or crochet, felting, or applique!

'Bucks County Fractur' by Beverly White

This rug certainly caught my eye; i love this type of background, varied yet close in colour with swirly bits here and there.  i also love Frakturs; this one has a ‘distlefink’!  it is simple and appropriate for Pennsylvania Dutch.

'Echo' by Corrine Watts

this basic geometric has been spiced up a lot with plaid (I assume).  it sparkles and beckons you for a closer look.  This is not the whole rug; I cut off abit on the left wanting to see where the sparkle was coming from.

'Snowscape' by Marie Bresch

 

It was a thrill to see this rug in person; it’s on an older RHM cover and it still looks great!  I know Marie Bresch from Western Teachers’ Workshop and  she is also a long time ATHA member.  We got a chance to talk about this rug; she says it’s stays colour perfect because it’s all natural… ha!  no dye!

'Flight' by Liz Marino

This little gem was tucked around a corner, and soared in it’s own magnificance.  the colours and the reflections in the water… make my heart sing!  

'Southern Leopard Frog and Tricolor Heron' by Judy Carter

Judy Carter and i correspond via email, etc and i had seen this rug as she worked on it.  i didn’t realize there was a Heron involved until i looked at the name tag.  The colours are wonderful and the action is real… will the little frog end up being the heron’s supper?

'Crab Shanty on Tangier Island' by Arleen Mauger

Wet Paint… don’t touch,  the shadows create the illusion of sunshine.  i would say the Rug Show was hung by ‘colour’.  This rug was next to Cheryl Bollenbach’s ‘Memories’ (see last post); Arleen’s colourful floats, green shack and white w/grey shadows  match Cheryl’s flowers, quilt and man of the memory.   Really a great Rug Show… congratulations to Carrie Martin and her crew!  and all the Rug Artists, too.

View out back in Bird-in-Hand, PA

On Sunday morning, Brigitta, Julie and I headed downtown Lancaster for breakfast.  We found a local Coffee shop doing a brisk breakfast business and joined in for ‘baked oatmeal’ and fritattas along with our coffee.  We drove along the ‘old Philadelphia Turn Pike’ and stopped in Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse to do a little shopping.  i was keeping an eye out for a ‘horse and buggy’ and caught a glimpse of 2; they zoom by fast.

Beautiful produce and bird houses for sale.

i was sad that i was already burdened down with too much stuff for the trip home; the cauliflower looked delicious and i loved the whimsical birdhouses. 

Farmer's friends - Laura & Brigitta

This General Store had everything; hardware, cooking wares, antiques, produce, plants and gee-gaws!

Christ Church in old town Philadelphia

After a pleasant drive through Amish Farm country, we found our way to old town Philadelphia.  Parking the car, we realized we had 1 hour before we had to head back to the airport.  We saw Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Benjamin Franklin’s place, Christ Church, Betsy Ross’s place and Benjamin Franklin’s grave site.  it was a quick tour on foot with Julie leading the way. 

Laura munching her Philly Cheese Steak sandwich

of course, no trip to Philly is complete without a stop at one of the many Philly Cheese Steak eateries… we found Sonny’s!  It’s a lot… so i stuffed the other half in my purse and brought it home to my dear husband, Kirby.  He enjoyed it heated up by the Micro-wave… Amazing!

'Memories' by Cheryl Bollenbach

Wow!  yes, i am amazed… this portrait by Cheryl Bollenbach has so many facets to it…  a Masterpiece, for sure!  it was fun meeting Cheryl, she attended my Thursday night class. 

Many Thanks to all the students on Thursday night; a learning experience for me and i hope a learning experience for all!  I got the Saturday class hooking right away, and i tried to fit in all my little lectures around the ‘face’ hooking.  i think it worked better… so thanks again!

Gemstones by Eric Sandberg

I was so happy to see this rug again!  Eric had it at Maryland Shores and i saw it up close.  it’s made with 3 strands of #3-cut wool looped at a time…!  the clear colours, the light values… it does sparkle like jewels!

'Two on Two' by Ann Davis

I love the light in this rug by Ann Davis;  i noticed it beckoning me from far away.  As i look closer, i love the little cow heads over the fence.  i’d like to hear the story behind this rug.

The Chalfonte by Ellen Savage

A beautiful place to have a rug camp; Cape May, NJ.  I’ll be teaching a class in the 1st week at Cape May; September 9-14, 2012.  It’s going to be a very fun trip, and i’ve heard that Cape May is a great camp!

Blue Star - Auction item?

i appologize for not knowing who hooked this wonderful rug; it was taken out of the show to be auctioned off, i believe.  i didn’t attend the auction, so i don’t know.  i love it’s simplicity of design and colour.  the plaid leaf veins provide a little sparkle and the 2 primary colours are strong and well balanced. Wow!

Larry and Kathy Clark at the ATHA Rug Show of Briner Rugs

It was great to see friends at the ATHA Rug Show; i was so glad to have a couple of days to hang out at the rug show.  The time went very fast, but i did see many friends.   Kathy loves hooking old fashioned rugs, so i wasn’t too surprised to find her and Larry in front of this section of the rug show.   Larry hooks rugs too, but he prefers fine-cut.

3 rugs on an End Panel

top rug: ‘Chicken’ by Eleanor Dunker, middle rug: ‘Crest’ by Catherine Kelly, bottom rug: ‘Love at the Oasis’ by Gail Becker.  The Rug Show panels were very nice; the dark grey was a good backdrop for our colourful rugs.  it seemed that they were easy to assemble and arrange however needed.  i watched them disassemble everything on Saturday afternoon; the vendors all shut down and moved out, the rugs were returned and the panels were taken apart and packed into flat boxes.  it seemed like a terrific system.  wish i could get a tiny bit of the system for my next event; Monterey Fiber Jam, at Asilomar!

Blue Moon by Laura Kenyon

 Another rug with great Light!  and this one is monochromatic without being obvious…

'Poppies and Daisies Up-Close' by Cyndra Mogayzel

 My room mate, Margaret Beardsley, was crazy about this rug!  i dont blame her; big and bold with delicious colour! 

'Verklempt' by Pris Buttler

Looks like Pris is having too much fun!   She’s playing around with Klimt designs, letting Gustav influence her in filling the canvas with this and that with gold sprinkled all around. 

'Halloween Hooligans' by Peggy Bloom

There were 5 0r 6 of this rug pattern, greeting us as we entered the ATHA Rug Show; this one was unique with it’s silouette treatment!  It seems like it’s noodley… that is left over cut wool… sorted… darks and medium lights.  Fun!

Red Rose by Gail Becker

Wow!  what wonderful Red to fall into…!  Gail’s response to the ATHA ‘Red’ Challenge was sold to lucky hooker, Janet Griffith.   it wasn’t marked with a red dot until Gail noticed.  Janet was lucky to be close at hand after the red dot was applied, declaring the little rug for sale.  i’m hoping Gail will share her technique at hooking this beautiful Red Rose, but on a much bigger scale.  i’d like to step into it, wouldn’t you. 

There were many more beautiful rugs…   lots of meetings, greetings and hugs…  good to get together, eh!

Martha, Norma & Brigitta

Our first stop was an overnight at Brigitta’s sister’s place in Worster, Mass… pronounced Whusta with a bit of r over the top.  It was quite comical at the Boston Airport… trying to get all our suitcases into Martha’s new ‘Big’ car.  Martha and her family live in a sweet little home, previously owned by another family member. Norma came over for breakfast the next morning and told some of the old stories!  It was a wonderful start to our Whirlwind Holiday on our way to ATHA Biennial.  Later that morning, Martha drove us up to Manchester, NH Airport to pick up our car rental; from there, we drove up to Bradford, VT. to stay and visit with Martha and Brigitta’s mother, Susan Bradford.  Susan lives on Main Street and has her studio and gallery across the street.

beautiful leaves at Shelburne Museum - friends

The next day, we drove over to Burlington, met up with one of Brigitta’s college friends, toured part of Shelburne Museum, visited Anne Marie Littenberg, had lunch on Church street, then drove back to Bradford.  Brigitta talked the whole way… all the stories of growing up and going to college in Vermont.  it was a beautiful drive over in the morning and i finally started taking photos out the car window.  it was a good thing, since it started raining on our way home.

Brigitta, Laura, Anne Marie, Julie visit in Anne Marie's studio.

Tuesday, we visited the old homestead… on top of a hill… a beautiful spot with new and friendly owners.  They were harvesting potatoes from the garden.  When Brigitta talks about chores… you can imagine that they were never ending on this little slice of paradise… the views were beautiful enough to make you forget all the real work in running a little hilly farm.

Brigitta’s hill

Julie in front of the down hill view

That night we had dinner with  another college friend of Brigitta’s;  Anna and her family also live up on a hill, in a big rambling house.  It was very comfortable and I could imagine that the space is well utilized in the middle of winter. 

Julie, Anna & Brigitta

We got up early the next day to drive down to Lancaster, PA; a 9 hour drive.  We were looking forward to being ‘Leaf Peepers’, but the rain clouds made everything grey.  Just as we were getting close, a horse and buggy drove over an overpass.  Then we spotted a Mini-van with a rug hooker’s license plate; ‘Padulas’.  we waved and they waved back; we knew were getting close.