Wow, I cannot believe it has been so long since my last post. So long, in fact, that I turned 75 during the break. How can that be?????
To celebrate the entire clan, us, our kids and spouses and our three grandkids made our way to a beautiful AirBnB in PEI. It was a crazy five days filled with beaches, and lobster, and oysters, and JOY. This shot captured some action, and may become a mat one day.
On my birthday eve, after an amazing dinner of oysters, lobster, corn and salad, I told everyone to make a crazy face, they sure rose to the occasion. I cannot think of a better way to mark this 3/4 century milestone. This would also be a hilarious mat.
Okay, so what was I doing in the gap between June and the end of August? Let's see how I can explain my absence.
Lots of hooking.
I finished Everleigh's "Happily Ever After" rug, which is waiting for her to change bedrooms and then it will be a feature on a wall.
I finished my Kitchen Sink Rug which I will give to my sister Beth when we are together. I cannot find the picture of the fully finished one, so I cropped into an image where the hooking is done. You get the picture.
I went to an amazing workshop in Picton in July. It was just three days, but it was a fun, fabulous and BFF time, since my bestie Elaine and I celebrated our mutual 75th birthdays while we were together.
The workshop was hosted by Bear Epp who has now shown me what the "epitome" of a workshop.
We had a fabulous instructor from England, Graham Hollick. He has lived his entire life in the "textile world", but has only come to rug hooking within the last few years. His approach is very different from the traditional fare I am used to. Here is a link to his website
https://www.grahamhollick.com/
The purpose of the workshop was the bring a "concept" to life. I had been gestating an idea for some time, and by the time I got to the workshop, it was well on its way. I think it was shocking for everyone, including me, but it turned out even better than I imagined.
The stimulus to the concept was how awful the behaviour of one orange-crested asshole has affected the world, and my mental health. My anger just increased month over month, insult over insult, until it had gone past simmer to full boil, and this piece is the result.
Nothing like my usual pieces, and yet in many ways it is exactly like them. It's a portrait that I have hooked before, albeit in black and white. But the red scale seemed to really capture the rage. And the words around the border, embroidered and then appliqued to the mat, reflect what caused the rage.
As soon as that was out of my system, I created a small piece, filled with joy, which I call Downward Dogs. It's my granddaughter and her dog Lulu doing exactly that off the end of the bed. Luckily, my daughter captured the moment with her phone.
So now it is September, and things are back to normal - somewhat. I have been busy knitting too, but will save that for another post.
Hope everyone had a great summer.
