Another Amazing Artist Says "YES"

This is the latest “Jeanius Bag” front that I have just hooked for my lifelong pal Gaye. She sent me a clipping from a magazine that featured a painting by an artist named “Jennifer Mack” who lives in Calgary and does incredible paintings of horses, mostly mustangs. She wondered if it would be a good design for a bag and without question, it was.

But, as I told Gaye, I needed permission from the artist before I could proceed. Since the ad also contained the URL for her website, it was very easy for me to find her. To my delight, Jennifer responded to my request in less than 24 hours, not only saying yes, but telling me that she was a textile artist in art college and really only started painting after graduation. She is keen to see what I do, so I will be sending her an email later today to show her progress.

The original piece is very large – 48 x 60, so my little 7 x 9 purse flap had to squeeze a fair amount of detail into a tiny space. Please go and see her website so that you can enjoy the real deal. www.jmackfineart.com

This makes 3 for 3 “Yes” replies from artists whom I have approached for permission to adapt their work. It never ceases to amaze me the willingness in the artistic community to allow others to be inspired.

I think my friend Gaye is going to be more than thrilled with her bag. And I hope that Jennifer will feel that I have done her proud.

My version of The Artful Hooker.

I finished whipping this mat on the weekend - my little indulgence for Mothers' Day. And I am very pleased with the final result.

I sent a note to Deanne to show her the mat finished. I think it's the perfect combination of the two of us. Her pattern and her words. Me hooking my cottage. And I am wearing the "little blue coat" that she admired so much when I was there.

The words really are inspirational and I look forward to hanging this rug in my studio space as a constant reminder to stay inspired. And as a tribute to a fantastic experience I had with a wonderful group of people - led by a truly gifted hooker.

A Better Week for Brother Bill

An update on brother Bill is that he continues to improve, and although there is still some concern about internal bleeding, so far tests are all coming back normal, which may mean it is a by-product of the heart attack.

Hopefully, he will be travelling back to Fredericton from Saint John today, which means he will be closer to his friends and support network - not that they hesitated to make the trip to see him in hospital there. They continue to be incredible!

Sister (and most-time matriarch) Nancy is back here in Oakville, and monitoring things via long distance. She is planning another trip to see him later in the month, by which time we hope he will be home and recuperating.

A big WHEW from all of us here.

Family Matters

This past week has been one that has galvanized my siblings - because one of us is in trouble.

My oldest brother Bill, second from the left in the black and white picture (taken in about 1954) and standing next to me in the colour picture (taken last fall) had a heart attack on Wednesday.

He is the only sibling still living in New Brunswick. The other 4 are all within an hour's distance of Toronto and we can get together as often as we like. In point of fact, we don't do that as often as we should, but there is comfort in knowing that we can.

Brother Bill comes every couple of years for either a week in the summer or Christmas vacation - on rare occasion, both. We are in touch with him on a regular basis, but at the end of the day, he is a thousand miles away.

He is the third male in our family to have a heart attack. My dad died from his just days after his 60th birthday. My other brother Peter had one at age 53. Peter was able to get to hospital at the first symptoms and they reversed all signs of it within hours of his arrival in ER.

Bill has not been so lucky. The week has been filled with ups and downs - with a couple of miracles thrown in for good measures. Luckily, he had his heart attack while at work, so a series of good things, involving a volunteer firefighter administering CPR, a doctor upstairs in his building, and the ambulance arriving in under 10 minutes all got him to the hospital. But, the ride has been bumpy with many unknowns and surprises along the way. And they are still coming.

He is still in a precarious place and we are going from hour to hour, day to day watching and waiting for updates from our sister Nancy who flew to be with him on the day of the attack.

It's a horrible thing to be this far away and unable to be other than a spectator as this all unfolds. But we feel that going there en masse would only send worrying signals to him, since we don't often go there when he is well. But the silbing hot line is in place - Nancy calls one of us and the rest pass the news along. It's becoming the rhythm of the days - and nights.

I hardly knew my brother Bill growing up, since 8 years is a big difference, and he was mostly away at school by the time I would come to know him. But as an adult, I have come to know that he is an amazing person who has a support system that we would all envy.

His peers from work, his friends and even those who aren't that close to him have rallied to cheer him on, visit him and be there for him, even if he's not totally aware that they are there. And I envy them the proximity to be able to do that.

I dearly love all my siblings. We lost our parents very early and it created a stronger bond among us. But, like most, we probably don't tell one another how we feel nearly often enough. And I only hope that Bill contiues to improve to the point that I have an opportunity to do so.

It's been a very reflective Mothers' Day for me. Luckily, both my kids were able to be with me. My ma-in-law was also here and she is an amazing woman who has truly been the best mother figure in my life since I lost my own. But the precarious nature of the week reminds me again that we must continue to tell the people around us how much we care. How special they are to us.

Because when all is said and done family matters more than anything. And that doesn't mean just mean blood relatives, but those we love like family too.

Sheer Jeanius - Again!

These are pictures from the Jeanius Bag Workshop that I taught this weekend at Karen Kaiser's amazing home in Belleville.

Karen's home is on an incredible farm, which we walked after dinner both nights. We hooked in her four-seasons sun room, with a view of her pond and the wildlife who visited there.

Once again, the bags are as different as the hookers who created them. As you can see, the subject matter ran the gamut. And each and every bag turned out beautifully. Kudos to Joan, Liz, Janis, Kerry, Jackie and Lee.

The group was mostly commuters who live within an hour of Karen's. Only one of the students. who came from Guelph, and myself had "sleepovers". Many in the group are fiber artists who spin and knit and weave and hook, and it was fun to hear about their backgrounds and how they came to hooking.

The cat bag (pictured by itself) was created by Jackie, who is wearing it in the non-group shot. She was unable to come on Sunday as she was doing her M.O.B. (mother-of-the-bride) duties at a shower. But, she put the pedal to the metal and got her bag done in the nick of time on Saturday. (Hope the shower was fun, Jackie.)

The large bag in the upper right hand corner was actually hooked by our 'hostess with the mostest'. She had done a 'hooking with pantyhose' workshop and turned her mat into a bag over the weekend. (It's the perfect size for a laptop.)

The group shot shows the students (plus Karen) with their bags. Liz, second from the right, is actually holding my bag with the proddy flower, since she left her finished one at home. However, Liz is my testament to just how addictive these bags can be. She is making 13 of them for a party in September (don't you wish you were a guest at that party!)

I enjoyed meeting Karen's husband Kurt, who worked outside the whole time we were there, stopping only for meals. I also loved meeting Woody, Karen's Bouvier/English Sheepdog cross, who serves as doorbell and escort on walks around the farm.

All in all it was another fabulous workshop. The students, the projects, the food - everything was fantastic.

Thanks everyone for making it great. You are all now official "Jeaniuses". I hope you get tons of compliments on these bags and the many you will create in the future.

A Poem to Share

In my job, I do a fair amount of internet research - on lots of different topics and it is almost always fascinating. Sometimes my journeys are very linear - other times very meandering. Today, I found myself on a blog where I discovered this wonderful poem.

Her website is www.communicatrix.com and it is very brash and sassy. She's a gal from L.A. who speaks her mind. It is the type of website/blog that could potentially offend just about everyone who visited, but if something this wonderful comes from her mind, then you have to respect that talent.

I felt like there are lots of truths that she speaks. I'm just not sure she has to push that hard.

Enjoy.



Everyone has her basket.

And in that basket
are all the things
a body gets
in a lifetime:

The long legs
the natural grace

The way with words
or people
or numbers
or animals

The force field that makes money
or love
or ideas
or children
come to them first

The gene soup
that makes eyes blue
stomachs sturdy
loins fruitful
brains prodigious

Even the luck—
the ponies
the Kojak parking
the pair of pants on sale
or the person of their dreams available
at the exact moment
where need and want meet—
even that
is in the basket.

There will be days
when you look down at your basket and marvel
at the wonderful
wonderful
things inside

And there will be days
when you cannot bring yourself to look
at all
or rather
where the only place you can look
is at the basket next to you
and with longing.

But every day
someone is looking at your basket
with longing

Every day
someone would trade baskets with yours
sight unseen

I have been
in all of those places
and mostly
I am grateful
for the grace
that forgave my foolishness

This is my basket
to carry
and uncover
layer by layer
day by day
year by year

And sometimes
story by story.

May your basket overflow
with beautiful things
of incomparable joy
and wonder

And when it does not
may you be visited
by the same grace that sat down beside me
to show me the beauty
and the joy
and the wonder
I could not see

xxx

Crossing the Border

I am about 85% finished my Deanne Fitzpatrick mat "The Artful Hooker" and am very happy with how it is turning out.

However, I experienced a definite Aha! moment with the border above the lower mat.In the rug pattern, a hooker is working on a mat, so there is the border for the upper mat (where the lettering sits) and a second border under the lettering that defines the lower mat.

I had already hooked a big portion of that border, using the colours from the upper part of the mat. My suspicions were that it was a little strong and I was already contemplating pulling some of the brighter colours.

But, because I had changed the lower design from Deanne's houses to my cottage (another way to personalize the rug) once the cottage and trees were in with a more natural palette, the border was totally overpowering.

I knew I needed to find a transitional border that was quieter, but would still connect the upper and lower designs. And eureka! It didn't take long. Instead of bringing the upper part down to meet the lower part, I came up with a design solution that let them meet in the middle.

I brought the colours from above in simple horizontal lines that hugged the border. Then I created a "log" design which brought the cottage up into the border.

So now I have a border that connects two different places with something special for each. And no passport required.

Things we learn about ourselves.

It's amazing that no matter how old we become, we are always learning, or re-learning things about ourselves.

In our new class of rughookers with my friend Elaine, I am reminded of things forgotten in the time since we pulled our first loops and took our first classes. But these eager new students are running into the same issues that we did when we were starting out. And when they bring them up, we are reminded of what plagued us in the beginning as well.

One of the things they have already decided they don't enjoy is hooking on the diagonal. It came up twice last week. One student was working on lettering and had lots of capital A's in her piece. The other was not happy with the diagonal roofline on her building.

Aah. It all came back to me, how hard that was the first time. I reassured them both that once they get the wool on either side of that diagonal line, they will feel much better about it.

But the piece in this picture really hit a nerve on the weekend. It reminded me that "I hate diagonal lines" too. This is a wonderful purse pattern called "Bar-Jello" designed by my amazing friend Jennifer Manuell. I bought it from her ages ago and it sits at the cottage as an in-between project. I picked it up again this weekend and started to laugh when I came to the realization that it is all diagonal lines.

I also realized this is probably the reason it is not finished yet. In fact, I started on one side, wasn't happy with the work, pulled the whole thing,and started on the other side (which is what you see at the top). But in looking at it again,(although I has happier with the hooking) I knew that I wasn't going to enjoy finishing a project that has every stitch on the diagonal.

So, I decided to modify it. (I'm sure Jennifer is quivering as she reads this post.) I decided to keep the Bar-Jello at the top of the bag, but to introduce circles in the same colours, in various sizes, over the rest of the expanse. I will duplicate the same elements on the other side (which means I will have more diagonal hooking at some point - just not as much).

Come to think of it, circles are another thing that trips up new hookers, but for me they're an element that I have been incorporating into lots of projects, and I don't mind them in the least.

Let's face it, a life of straight-line hooking would be a boring one. But I think I will keep those diagonal lines as few and as far between as I can.

And I will undoubtedly be reminded of other little things about my hooking self that I have forgotten.

Totem Whipped and Pressed

Well, here it is. Finished, other than figuring out a hanging mechanism.

It's been quite a journey and I feel really good looking at the end result. I really like the effect of the triple cord whipping. It definitely "frames" the piece and was worth the extra effort.

Pressing it flat was as much of a challenge as I expected, but my laundry room floor worked well with wet towels above and below. I will probably repeat the process again, once it has a chance to settle.

I think taking one of the happiest moments of your life and turning it into a mat is a wonderful experience. Although committing to full, realistic portraits meant having to make people look like themselves, rather than indicating features, I think all four of us look like ourselves. (I may still have a little fine tuning on Laura's left eye and Rick's nose, but basically, I'm pretty pleased. If I don't stop now, this could go on until I'm 6o. LOL).

I really do love hooking people - more than anything else that I've tried so far. But they do present a unique problem (over and above the hooking that is). You really don't want to walk on them. And how much wall space do you have anyway?

So my next people projects - I'm planning a series of other happy moments - will be small 8 x 10 size, so that I can do a grouping on a wall, rather than a dominating piece. And the floor mats will become my faster, more primitive snacks between these realistic pieces. I like to mix it up anyway.

For those of you who will be at the Annual in Kitchener, I will have this piece on display. No matter what, they always look better in real life. (And even standing on a chair, I had a hard time getting the whole thing in, and as you can see, not crooked.)

Thanks for following along the journey with me.

Triple Whip Whipped

Yikes, I think this shot is a little closer than I thought when I snapped the picture. But here is the last cord whipped! And the double strand means I made good time in the final round.

As you can see, the double strand plus the rolling in of the backing really made a size difference between the inside cord whipping and the outside cord whipping, even though the cording itself is exactly the same size.

Am I completely finished yet? No. When I whipped the third time, the yarn going into the holes separated the yarn in the second whipping in quite a few spots, so I have to go around the middle one to touch up the little show throughs. Lesson learned, always use a double strand, especially on cording that large.

I also need to do a BIG press on this piece. This is the first time that I wish I had a cleaner nearby who could do it on an industrial iron. I know a few fellow hookers who have found folks who will do that for them. But I'm not about to trust this rug to anyone whom I haven't tested first. So, it'll be wet towels on the floor for me tonite. And I will post a picture of the finished product once I have everything lying nice and flat.

I did find a video on YouTube that demonstrated what Bea Grant said about keeping your finger in the yarn until you are ready to place it. I hope this is the link to the video. I ended up discovering it when I watched one of Deanne Fitzpatrick's videos. It's really quite amazing what you find in there once you start clicking on the videos.

At the end of all this whipping, am I happy I made the decision to go around this big piece three times? Indeed. I really think it gives the effect of a bevelled frame, which is exactly what this piece needed.

You can see for yourself later in the week.

Round Three

This is a picture of the third round of whipping for Totem 40. As you can see it is basted in place (no, this is not "rope" effect for the outside whip).

This is the first cord of the three that did not sit ON TOP of the backing. It is rolled inside the backing, in a roll-forward method. This means that instead of rolling the backing to the outside around the cord, you roll it in towards the hooking. (If you click on the image, you can see it full size - HUGE - and get a better idea of what I mean.) "Roll forward" is my favourite method, because it eliminates the need for tape around the back - and especially here, I'm keen to lose yet another finishing step.

Interestingly, the bulk of the backing over the cord produces a third size of whipping. It is quite a bit fatter than the first one (closest to the hooking), but still a lot narrower than the fat, middle one.

I will also try to do double strand whipping around this third cording, as it will go faster and cover better. I realized as I was basting the third cord that a few strands have separated on the second cording, so I will have to go back around it and fill in, which I wouldn't have had to do had I doubled my strand.

At our Teachers' Branch meeting last Saturday, Bea Grant did a presentation on Triple Whipping with Cord, which was very similar to what I have been doing here. (Amazing how coincidences like the timing of this seem to happen all the time.)

All the teachers were asked to bring a small piece to try this finish on. One of the things about it is that it gives smaller pieces more presence. (Plus she didn't want people to have to hook big pieces for this exercise.) But, she asked me to bring my rug to show how this effect looked on a big piece.

Bea shared a little tip about keeping your whipping smooth and not twisted as you go, and that is to actually keep your finger inside the whipping loop until you can lay it in place. I am going to try this and see if it does eliminate the bulk that happens when the strands twist. (Not sure this makes sense without a demo, but if you try it on your next whipping project, you should be able to see what I mean.)

So, for Easter Weekend, my task is to complete Round Three. I find it quite relaxing to do, but certainly not as creatively challenging as dyeing or designing, which I will postpone until this is finished.

And it will be ready for display at the Annual. So those of you who will be attending can see it "in the flesh" at the show.