Alex by Pat Merikallio

Can you use blue, purple and green in a Portrait of a child?  Why… Naturally!  it adds liveliness!  This is Pat’s first colour portrait; she based it on an old American painting of a child, but made it her granddaughter, Alex, added her cat and a cat’s paw rug.  Inside the rich paisley border you find Pat’s initials and 1996; that’s the year I started hooking.

 

Phyllis as Queen Mary of England by Pat Merikallio

Here’s is Pat’s latest portrait rug, her laughing sister Phyllis in a beautiful dress, crown and frame.  This is just off the hooking frame, soon to be delivered to it’s new home.

 

Family from long ago by Sarah Province

Sarah found a small faded photograph of her father’s family, he’s the baby, and managed to create a beautiful hooked portrait from it.   It is fun bringing these little sepia photos to life with colour and the luster of wool.  don’t ya love Grandma’s hat?

 

Alice Neel by Diane Learmonth

 Here’s another colourful portrait; a self-portrait by Diane, inspired by Alice Neel.  It was great to meet Diane, face to face!  we’ve met via the internet, which is good, but nothing is as good as campin’ out and fiber jammin’  together.  A connection we didn’t talk about is that Diane taught wide-cut self-portraits to Patti Stephens and Nancy Terhaar several years ago.  I saw these 2 portraits on-line and was inspired to hook my own wide-cut scrap portrait.   it’s a great way to go; using up scrap wool, forcing yourself to make choices by value.

 

Pat Merikallio also uses cut scrap wool as needed.   it’s a challenge that echoes back to our fore-mothers who had to use whatever scrap wool they could accumulate.  If you don’t have exactly the right colour, you can approximate that colour by using a couple of similar colours side by side.  if you run out of a colour, use something of the same family, it’s traditional! 

 

Al, Will and Chuck

Al is Sunny Runnells’ husband and Captain in Metz. Sunny took my Portrait Workshop in Victoria last year and created this wonderful portrait. She added the background from another photograph. Will is my husband’s grandfather, as a young man. it’s based on a small sepia photo on a strip of photo proofs. Chuck is Nancy Winn’s husband and her subject for a Portrait Workshop I taught for the Wine Country Rug Hookers guild last year. Nancy used lots of colour to create this lively portrait!

I asked Pat to teach Portraits at the Fiber Jam and she agreed, even though 1 day is not enough time for this subject. Several jammers joined in at the last minute, creating patterns the day before. We dumped scraps out on the table, got started and had several colourful portraits in good shape by the end of the day. I don’t often take in-progress photos, but my daughter Emma took some that i’ll share.

 

Up close Mona Lisa by Laura Pierce

Colourful up close kitty by Nancy Winn

There are several other portraits from the day and i’m looking forward to seeing them completed; particularly a yellow portrait that Sara Judith was working on… I love yellow!  perhaps i’ll see it at Rockaway; Friends by the Sea Rug Camp.  Several of us Jammers will be re-united there.

Sara Judith watches Gail Becker start punch hooking

Tuesday was a class day with Sara Judith teaching Punch Hooking. Sara gave us a demonstration of how it works, a break down on all the hooks, and history of how Amy Oxford developed her ergonic punch hooks. Sara has impressed many of us in the Rug hooking world by combining traditional rug hooking with punch hooking. After the demo, many Jammers decided to try their hand at this technique. Sara had many design templates on hand and Jammers used them to make patterns on Monks clothe, bought punch hooks and small balls of yarns and got started.

Sara gives Brigitta Phy a few pointers

Brigitta didn’t need to use any design templates; she just drew a big heart with several little hearts around her canvas and got started.  Always a stellar student, Brigitta finished her punched rug by the end of the day.  perhaps she’ll show it on her website; Green Valley Rug Hooking

 

Rita Schucker punches a leaf

It was nice to see Rita take a break from her large fine cut Oriental to try her hand at punch hooking.  Rita impressed us all with her beautiful hand-knit sweaters; a different one every day. 

 

Monterey Fiber Jammers 2012

We took our group photograph on Tuesday, because it was a beautiful day and I had a photographer available; thank you Richard!

from left to right; Susan Bradford, Brigitta Phy, John Hund, Gail Becker, Kay Carmichael, Diane Learmonth, Sunny Runnells, Michele Wise, Sara Judith, Dawn Barbour, Linda Baerthel, Laura Pierce, Martha Whelchel, Andrine Smith, Sarah Province, Rita Schucker, Nancy Winn, Pat Merikallio, China Dusk, Emma Logan and Debbie Clement.   Somehow, Denise Hund missed getting in the photo.

 

Brigitta and Susan - daughter and mother

  It was wonderful to have my daughter Emma with me at the Fiber Jam; she took care of the vendor table and worked on her geometric hooked coasters.  The other mother and daughter were Susan and Brigitta.  Susan is hooking a rug based on one of her oil paintings from Italy, while Brigitta is working on a Tile rug that will be showing up in her Rugger’s Roundtable. 

 

After dinner, Michele Wise showed us a million ways to journal, including hooked journals.  She had the tiniest frame i’ve ever seen, that she carries with her on her trips with her husband.  When they stop for the day, she hooks her memories of the day and assembles her journal when she gets home.  Sorry, no photos… I simply enjoyed the discussion and the samples.

Creating the line-up from the proposals Fiber Jammers offered, I scheduled a lot of  ‘events’ for Monday.  We started off each day with a Rug Show & Tell and pointed out some of the items available from our Vendors.  1st up was Sarah Province; she gave us a demo about her method of  ’Framing a Rug’.   She uses archival materials and makes her small rugs into Gallery ready Wall Hangings. 

Sarah Province applies archival tape to her wooden stretcher bars.

Sarah had several of her steps already completed and explained the what and the why.  Then she demonstrated the last few steps.  Pictured here from the left; Brigitta Phy, Diane Learmonth, John Hund, Michele Wise, Sara Judith, Sarah Province and Andrine Smith.

Jammers check out some of Sarah’s framed rugs, while she folds and staples.

Sarah covers the stretcher bars with an archival board, which makes things sturdy and also provides a great place to add notes about the rug.  In one case, there was an old letter placed in an envelope on the back that correspondes to the memory rug.  Picture from the left; Sarah Province, China Dusk, standing – Sunny Runnells, Kay Carmichael, Debbie Clement and standing - Rita Schucker.

 

Next up was a Beaded Rope demo that turned into a class.  Everyone was able to buy a small kit for a bracelet and learn the technique from Dawn Barbour and Linda Baerthel.

Dawn Barbour gets everyone started on their beaded rope bracelets

 

Dawn’s kits included everything you needed plus a copy of her instructions.  Pictured here from the left; Debbie Clement, Sara Judith, Denise Hund, Dawn Barbour, Andrine Smith, Sunny Runnell and China Dusk.  Dawn will be teaching this same class at Wine Country Rug Hookers March meeting.

 

Linda Baerthel helped Jammers get it right

 

Pictured here at the table from the left; Brigitta Phy, Linda Baerthel, Nancy Winn and Gail Becker. We scheduled an hour for this Demo/class and it became obvious that everyone wanted to continue… so we did!  We just moved the next event back an hour and continued a while longer after lunch.

 

Our next event was a discussion about Art and Creativity by Martha Whelchel and myself.  Martha gave us many tips on using Art to make life fulfilling and interesting.  We briefly discussed the copywrite issues and encouraged everyone to do their own thing.

 

Butterfly by Brigitta Phy

 

There were several challenges proposed; the California Postcards, Butterflies, a Mermaid pattern and the Pissarro Vanishing Lines.   For those of us that respond to challenges, it was hard to choose just one… so all were included.  Monday afternoon, we had a Show and Tell of the other 3 challenges.

 

a few more butterflies

 

Michele Wise used hooking and needle felting in her framed butterfly in the top left corner.  next to hers are 2 Emma butterflies; my daughter Emma’s Swallowtail in Geometry and below it is my mother Emma’s fantasy butterfly.  On the box, is a 3 dimensional butterfly from Nancy Winn and a beaded Monarch on a satin pillow by Linda Baerthel.  In front on the left is my applique and needle felted butterfly and 3 Butterflies by Martha Whelchel.

 

China Dusk's Pissarro landscape, the lines and inspiration

 

The Pissarro Challenge was inspired by the little postcard at the top of this photo, below it are the lines China gave us to use as our inspiration.  China hooked the beautiful landscape while babysitting grandbabies in Hawaii.  She brought books of Impressionists’ work, as Pissarro was considered by many to be the father of Impressionism.

 

Sara Judith created an abstract out of the Pissarro lines.

 

Taking this challenge to another level, Sara Judith not only repeated the design to create an interesting composition, she punch hooked it with wool strips at a weekend retreat.  It is an interesting and fast technique… once you master it.

 

 

SF Pissarro landscape & Tulips in Pissarro lines

My SF skyline is still in progress, while Gail Becker’s rows of Tulips turn the Pissarro lines 90 degrees to create another interpretation.

 

Minnie the Mermaid by Martha Whelchel

 

Martha Whelchel saw this mermaid on a tavern sign many years ago, and brought this rug to Little River Inn Rug Camp several years ago.  She challenged us then to use the mermaid pattern and hook it our way.  Since we were meeting by the Sea, i asked her to let us re-issue this challenge.

 

2 mini mermaids

 Dawn Barbour is hooking a Mermaid CA Postcard with the Asilomar beach in the background, while I hooked a Mermaid at the Golden Gate.

 

After Monday night dinner, we had 1 more event; a discussion about Aesthetics lead by Sara Judith.  After Sara’s initial discussion, there was an exercise with another participant that you didn’t know that well and then introductions all around.  Next year, this will possibly be the opening event and include everyone.

 

Whew!  Monday was our busiest day;  the rest of the week was more relaxed!

 

well… we had the good luck!  We had a wonderful mix of Fiber Artists, a wonderful meeting room; roomy, well lit and a fire burning when it was cold outside.  Monday was rainy, but Wednesday was glorious; there were lots of walks on the beach that day.   My daughter, Emma, and I walked down to the beach after breakfast on Tuesday and she snapped this photo of me.

Laura at Asilomar Beach

Emma has an i-phone, of course; she snaps photos with it and sends them out to Facebook!   it’s great that there is a photo proof that i got out to the beach.  i spent most of my time at the Fiber Jam, enjoying the events and visiting with the jammers.  

We started right off on Sunday night with a presentation of the California Post Cards with Gail Becker, and then a demonstration and show of Nancy Winn’s paper mache critters.   

Gail talks about how she came up with the California Postcards!

Gail has an article coming up in RHM about adding the postcard backs to these little rugs.  She will also be featured in the next issue of RHM’s new on line newsletter; Rug Beat.

 

Nancy Winn with some of her paper mache critters

People were amazed by the twisting of wire, ripping of telephone books, crumpling and taping the paper around the wires… and the creation of playful critters.  At the end of Nancy’s demo and show, Jammers were considering the possibilities!  From left to right; Michele Wise, John & Denise Hund, Diane Learmonth standing behind Adrine Smith , Nancy Winn. 

Nancy is working toward her upcoming Open Studios weekends; June 2,3 and June 9,10, 2012  sponsored by the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. 

 

Room View from 2004 visit to Asilomar Rug School

I used to organize a Rug Show visit to Asilomar Rug School with friends; a few days out of our lives to go down and mingle with the lucky campers.  On this trip in March, 2004, 4 of us went down and rented a room for 4 in the more contemporary buildings.  It was an upstairs room with this fabulous view complete with a full moon night; i didn’t want to sleep at all, just stay up and watch the view. 

Margaret Beardsley with Asilomar deer, 2004

Margaret was impressed by the deer that live at Asilomar; they are quite present and picturesque!  On Wednesday after we got checked in, we visited the rug campers in Scripps… I met some rug hookers whose rugs i had seen in RHM and Celebrations; including  Sarah Province!  I was thrilled to meet her and we struck up a conversation and friendship that continues to this day.

Almond orchard near Gilroy

On our way home, we stopped at a park near Gilroy for a picnic lunch.  The orchards across the street were in bloom; on the trees and on the ground.  It looks like good inspiration for a rug to me!

 

A couple of my students are coming down to Asilomar on Thursday, to see what we’re up to.  They have never been to a rug camp and would like to get an idea of what it’s all about.  We decided Thursday would be the best visiting day, since there is not a lot of Fiber Jam events planned for our last full day.  

 

When i started running the rug camp at Asilomar in 2010, I was discouraged from having a Rug Show in Phoebe’s Social Hall, which had been the tradition of the Asilomar Rug School.  The happy result was the Rug Show and Tell in our classroom that starts each day.  This year with the new format, we’re playing it all by ear; we’ll include a sampling of the Vendor’s wares, then have a Fiber Show & Tell each morning from 9am – 9:30am.  So, if you come to visit, try and make it on Thursday; no rug show per se, but lots of happy campers willing to share!

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…