It’s exciting when you know your piece shipped from Australia has arrived safely in Canada. My 3D hooked Australian Witchetty Grub is to be included in the Magnificent Bugs in Rugs exhibition.
Magnificent Bugs in Rugs will be a travelling exhibit of artistic, hand-hooked rugs and a children’s book. Profits will go to creating programs aimed at kids, promoting the traditional craft of rug making to a new generation.
MEET THE CURATORS: When Canadians Yvonne Iten-Scott and Leslie Knight met in an online rug hooking workshop, they instantly realized they had lots in common. Not only were they passionate about rug hooking and all things fibre art but their farms were only 15 minutes apart. They quickly became friends, and started traveling to rug hooking events together, joined the current board of The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers and realized they both wanted to curate a global rug exhibition that would appeal to the next generation of rug hookers.
Leslie and Yvonne hope you will follow along to meet the inspiring and innovative rug making artists who will be creating Magnificent Bugs in Rugs! https://www.instagram.com/magnificentbugsinrugs/
After the Grand Opening in August of 2024 the bugs will be traveling to Niagara Falls, Ontario. They will be displayed from August to October @niagarafallsartgalleryto coincide with the 30th anniversary conference of @tighr24where many of our participants will be in attendance.
If you’re in the area visit this hands-on learning environment and, to learn more about TIGHR (The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers) visit www.tighr.net
This list of the participants includes rug hookers from Australia, Canada, Japan, Norway, UK & USA.
SO MANY HOOKED RUGS! Family members and close friends all have been gifted one or more of your special creations; you have many rugs rolled up and stored in cupboards because of lack of wall/floor space, &/or you are in the throes of downsizing, but… you want to keep hooking, so what to do?
Putting your work up for sale may not be a realistic option because in today’s economy it’s not easy to sell art work, as most people don’t recognize, or just can’t afford to pay what it’s worth – taking into consideration the amount of time spent from design through to finishing and the cost of materials.
However, there is another option; have you considered bartering or swapping your work with an artist in another medium, i.e. potter or jewellery maker or quilter. Two of my rug hooking friends have done just that.
Brigitte Webb (Scotland) and Judi Tompkins (Queensland, Australia) have been good Facebook friends for several years and in recent years established an informal barter system. At one point Brigitte loaned a hooker a copy of one of her favourite rug hooking books, but didn’t get it back. Judi had two copies of that book (one autographed by the author) which she sent to Brigitte as a replacement copy. Brigitte in turn sent Judi one of her wonderful, hooked throw pillows. And so, the barter continued.
Recently, 3 more hard-to-find, out-of-print books found their way into Brigitte’s library and magically, a large, brightly coloured, hand-hooked rug found it’s way to Judi.
The rug Brigitte chose to send was one designed by Håkon Grøn Hensvold (Norway) called
“The Doll’s House” (based on the 3-Act play of the same name by Henrik Ibsen). Brigitte and Håkon, also good Facebook friends and exchange items through their own barter system. Håkon gave Brigitte the copyright permission to hook his “The Doll’s House” one time (he drew the design for her on the linen).
Judi, overwhelmed by being gifted this piece, immediately attached a label to the back of the piece showing the copyright and story. Judi decided that the best way to display the piece while keeping it intact was to attach it to a stretched canvas that would serve to emphasize the work and the vivid colours, requiring yet another label. Both the Norwegian designer and Scottish rug hooker approved of the addition.
Brigitte Webb and Håkon Grøn Hensvold were featured in a 2019 video production by the Global Textile Hub… rughooking around the world; produced by Kira Mead, narrated by Kira & Warren Mead (Lost the Plot Productions, Western Australia). You’ll see Brigitte’s work 3.30 min into the video and Håkon’s approximately 11 min in. Judi also narrated sections of the video, I (Jo Franco) did the research and networking in the lead up to the production.
This is just one way Australian rug hookers began using social media, global communications, and real-time chats to network with a very interesting world of makers.
In this Global Textile Hub video (Rug Hub 2019) you can see works by, and hear from, or about, the following rugmakers.
Sadly a few are no longer with us.
Shown below by country (alphabetically) are the rug hookers, textile artists and authors/editors interviewed in the video. Where possible their status has been updated to include current websites and social media. For those not familiar with online videos, you can see in the tool bar at the lower/centre of the images where the person’s interview falls within the 23 minute long video.
AUSTRALIA:
Gail Nichols, Braidwood, New South Wales; three years ago this month, Gail was battling bushfires on her home front at Mongarlowe in the Braidwood area. With Gail’s permission, some of the images shared at that time on her Facebook page were shown at the end of Out of the ashes , a report of the 2020 bushfires at Miriam Miller’s Narrawilly Rug Room.
Gail is a renowned ceramicist, and she made this comment when asked about her hooked creations… “When dealing with galleries I describe my works as ‘hooked tapestries’. I find this communicates what they are more accurately than if I call them ‘rugs’. I faced a similar semantic issue during my previous 30-year career in ceramics. As far as galleries were concerned I made ‘ceramic art’ because that is their language, but amongst other clay workers we we’re usually happy to call our works ‘pots”. The full interview and images of Gail’s “hooked tapestries” can be seen here and more images of her contemporary hooked work on her Facebook page.
Miriam Miller, Milton, New South Wales, President of TIGHR during Australia’s term (2009-2012). Miriam’s Narrawilly Rug Room was also impacted by the January 2020 bushfires, she was forced to evacuate her home at Narrawilly twice before the 23rd January 2020. Remarkably Miriam published both the January and February newsletters that year (Issue 48 & 49) on the first day of each month. You’ll find Miriam’s monthly newsletter Connecting Us archived on this website. Those who’ve met Miriam know how steadfast she can be – here is an excerpt from her reports of the fires… “Strange things help – Robert planted sunflowers as he always does around my house. None of them came up this year because of the drought. So there was a bare dry piece of ground in the paddock in front of my garden bed with the roses, which was covered with thick wood chips. If this garden had gone so would my verandah and my house, so thank you drought”. Through the end of 2022 both Miriam and Gail have been impacted by the horrendous floods that have left so many lives and property on the east coast in ruins! To contact Miriam please email: narrawillyfarm@shoal.net.au
Shelley Pinnell, Albany, Western Australia, describes her Tapimatic rug making machine which uses the traditional ghiordes or rya rug making technique on traditional rug canvas. More information on those techniques can be found here https://schachtspindle.com/ghiordes-knots-or-rya-damascus-edge-and-finishing/
CANADA:
Val Galvin, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada – “Renditions In Rags Hooked and Braided Rugs”. Val says “ COVID has changed up my routine a BIT. I open up the Studio by appointment now and I’ve started teaching hooking and braiding again, usually through the local museums. Lately I’ve been dyeing wool and hooking that. Of course, I still use wool fabric and recycled textiles.. especially when rug braiding!” You can see Val’s work on her Renditions in Rags Facebook page
Meryl Cook, Nova Scotia, seen here holding a section from the Global Textile Hub’s “Textile Tessera”, displayed at Rug Hooking Week, Sauder Village in 2018. Visit Meryl on her website, Engagement by Design and Instagram @merylcook.
Lesley Larsen, Ontario, Ottawa past president Ottawa Olde Forge Rug Hooking. As librarian Jane Thacker, current president, created an interesting and helpful Resources page. Starting with the heading INSPIRATION; information on rug hooking history and galleries, including search tools, i.e. articles in Rug Hooking Magazine and its precursor, Rug Hooking News and Views. Other headings in this section are PREPARING TO HOOK, HOOKING, FINISHING, PUNCH NEEDLE HOOKING, COPYRIGHT/SELLING YOUR WORK, CARING FOR HOOKED PIECES, INSPIRATIONAL ARTISTS and MISCELLANEOUS GEMS – where you will find Miriam Miller’s large wall hanging story.
Deborah Merriam and Linda Chapelsky, Alberta, Canada.
Michelle Sirois-Silver, Vancouver, BC – Contemporary Textile Art Canada – you’ll find amazing fiber works by Michelle on her website and social media pages Instagram and Facebook
Also, Michelle’s take on teaching “an honest truth” is a must read – her opening statement “I don’t believe that art-making and teaching are mutually exclusive. It’s simply a choice.” Her thoughts on teaching include, generosity and sharing, her love of the craft form and learning something new. Michelle and I were in the same “workshop for teachers” twenty years ago, she’d already been teaching, and I was just starting out. We’ve meet up since in person in Vancouver on a few occasions, a visit to her studio 2015 being the last time, so her words on teaching in her studio resonate with me. I’ve followed her progress from a rug hooker to a contemporary Fiber artist and am in awe of Michelle’s creativity and body of work, while after all this time, I’m still doing more talking than hooking, but since discovering the word “networking” I feel happy that I’ve found my niche!
ENGLAND:
Sue Gilmartin, Cumbria, is involved as a volunteer with the Lunesdale Ruggers featured on the video and is one of the many creative volunteers at Space2Create a non-profit group, which aims to help people in their local community with physical and emotional difficulties by using creative activity to support a pathway to wellbeing. The group uses many creative techniques. Work by members can be seen on their Facebook page and Instagram A recent project “Bookshelves of the mind” an anthology by the S2C writing group working together over the last 4 years. The Book Launch took place at an Exhibition on 11th Nov 2022
On a sad note, Diane Cox, Penzance, Cornwall, who you will hear speak on the video about her group, The Myrtles, and the book they published “Doing what we can”, and Heather Ritchie have both passed away since the video was made, Diane in 2020 and Heather in 2022. They will be sorely missed not only by their families and friends but by rug hookers around the world, many who travelled to the 2018 TIGHR Triennial held in Heather’s hometown of Reeth in the Yorkshire Dales.
VALE Diane and Heather
JAPAN:
Fumiyo Hachisuka, Tokyo, Japan. Fumiyo held her 31st Rug Hooking Exhibition in Musashino City, Tokyo Kichijoji, at Gallery Nagatani-1 from 13th to 18th October 2022. You can see Fumiyo’s recent work on her website.
NORWAY:
Håkon Grøn Hensvold’s work has been featured in Rug Hooking Magazine, shown in Gallery exhibitions and can be seen on his website and bothFacebook and Instagram.
SCOTLAND:
Brigitte Webb, Dingwall, Scotland has no online social media presence, but she belongs to many online groups. In 2019 Brigitte had the great honour of being chosen as an international Rug Hooker of the year for the Hooked Rug Museum of North America. Brigitte travelled to Nova Scotia with a large suitcase full of her work which was on exhibit at the museum for a calendar year. The wonderful late Judy Carter visited the museum to see Brigitte’s rugs and at Brigitte’s request Judy was presented with the wall hanging of a Badger. Brigitte also donated to the Museum, a very large Egyptian floor rug she had hooked, designed by Christine Little, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Brigitte has had two earlier rug exhibitions in Dingwall where she lives; and has gifted most of her work over the years as she said “I did not wish to keep them rolled up and out of site and maybe last for years when I am no longer alive. One of my gifted pieces was for the now late darling Heather Ritchie. I made a cushion for her commemorating her dressing up as Queen at the castle during the TIGHR Gala dinner”.
UNITED STATES of AMERICA:
Janine Broscious, EVERYWHERE, USA. Janine and her husband reside in their fifth-wheel RV and travel the US. Her rug designs are obviously inspired by her travels and her interest in nature. Janine shares the progress of her rug art on her blog and social media, Facebook and Instagram.
Susan L Feller, West Virginia, is an early adaptor of the digital world in fiber art, while maintaining traditional crafts which she uses to give a Voice to Causes and Communities through her art. She is an avid researcher and author and through journaling, on her website ArtWoolsshares the progress of her fiber art projects such as her “Year Study” and 100 Days sketching. Her work has been juried into and received awards in multi media exhibitions nationally. You can also find images of her work on Instagramand Facebook.
Tracy Jamar, A Contemporary fiber artist and author. Tracy’s Fiber works; Sculptural, Mixed Fiber Techniques, Hookings, Odds and Ends, Black T Boros and Bone, Feather, Shell etc. can be seen in the Gallery on her website along with her books Coils, Folds, Twists and Turns: Contemporary Techniques in Fiber and American Sewn Rugs: Their History with Exceptional Examples by Jan Whitlock with Tracy Jamar. Also on her social media Instagram and Facebook
Marcia Young, Massachusetts. At the time of the video interview Marcia was the Editor/Publisher of Fiber Art Now magazine. After selling FAN, Marcia is now a fiber artist and author of the recently released “Create Naturally; Go Outside and Rediscover Nature“and is now looking for her next project. Connect with Marcia on Instagram andFacebook
Images were also included in the video by Australian Rugmakers: From Western Australia, our dear friend Robin Inkpen, who passed away shortly after the video aired, Judith Stephens, South Australia, a cofounder of the Australian Rugmakers Group, Wanneroo Rugmakers (WA) and the Sunshine Coast Rugcrafters (QLD).
Prior to the Hook-in a Global Survey was sent out with the following questions…
Where do the groups meet?
How often do members of a group meet?
Are you a closed group, or are new members welcome?
How did you learn to hook?
Does your group give lessons or workshops?
Passing on traditional crafts
Taking rug work in a less conventional, more creative direction and displaying in a gallery
Answers from Australia, Canada, England, Japan, Scotland, UAE & USA can be found at the end of the video.
Editors Note: As I began this Blog with the sharing of work between Brigitte, Håkon and Judi I was reminded of the sense of “sharing” while gathering information in 2019 for the Global Textile Hub’s video. It’s been interesting and enjoyable reconnecting with those textile and fibre artists again to update their information. Thanks to Kira Mead and Judi Tompkins for their collaboration on this and other Global Textile Hub projects.
The Calendar page of this website is being updated as news comes in from rughookers around Australia … it looks like 2019 will be a busy year! Continuing the recent coverage of news from Queensland and New South Wales, scroll down for reports from Tasmania, Victoria, Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.
TASMANIA:Emma Gunn from Hobart came to my attention in 2018 when I discovered this rug she’d posted as “inspiration” in a public online group she’d started, to bring together those keen to use up-cycled materials in craft projects. It’s a public Facebook group anyone can join; https://www.facebook.com/groups/hrootas/
Emma said this vintage rag rug, probably made in the 1930s at a guess, is made from old jumpers and has lasted pretty well. It belongs to a friend but lives in her spare room
Emma’s second rug. Recycled wool from old clothing cut into wide strips with scissors and hooked through latch hooking canvas – before she discovered and moved on to “proper” hooked rug backing!
Emma was invited to join the Guild, she did so and then went off to visit a relative in Canada also traveling to the USA. On this trip her interest in rug hooking increased – she’s now definitely hooked! Here is what she had to say ….
In late August last year, I was fortunate to travel to Canada to visit my daughter who was completing an internship at the University in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Whilst in Canada, I was keen to further my interest in rug-hooking, which I had experimented with over the last few years. Researching onlinebefore I booked my itinerary, I found very few contacts for rug-hooking in Quebec and realised that rug-hooking was a lot more common in Nova Scotia.
So, my itinerary included Halifax in Nova Scotia and on one of my days in that lovely city, I hired a car and drove down to Mahone Bay, admiring the wonderful scenery on the way. Mahone Bay is a picture-perfect town and while there I visited both Encompassing Designs and Spruce Top rug studios in both of whichI was warmly welcomed. I couldn’t indulge myself too much as I would have liked as I was travelling by plane, train and bus for 2 months in total but managed to stash three patterns and a new hook at the bottom of my suitcase.
On the way back to Halifax I also visited the Hooked Rug Museum of North America and viewed the amazing collection of rugs that is held there, some ofwhich were room sized. All in all, it was a dream day for a novice rug-hooker!
Back in Montreal I was longing to start hooking, but as I usually repurpose old woollen clothes and blankets for this purpose this didn’t seem practical given that I was travelling. Then inspiration struck – maybe just this once I could hook using wool yarn! I looked up knitting shops and found that there was one within walking distance – a very pleasant riverside walk too. Once there, a very helpful lady helped me find appropriate wool to at least hook the design part of the pattern and so I could start. I think I may have been the only person to ever come into the shop looking for wool to hook a rug.
By an amazing co-incidence, shortly after this I saw a notice on one of rug-hooking websites about a book written by US rug hooker Judy Taylor about hooking with yarn, so I looked up her website for some reassurance that what I intended would work.
The resultant cushion cover was hooked on the train across Canada, in Calgary and Canmore in Alberta as snow fell outside, in Seattle, Washington, Flagstaff Arizona, Yosemite and San Francisco, California. It was finished at my home in Hobart, Tasmania where I hooked the background with wool that I bought locally. The backing is, true to my usual practice, an old felted sweater sourced from an op shop.
It now sits on my Jimmy Possum chair, which I made at a workshop using recycled timber to copy vernacular furniture made by an itinerant craftsman from northern Tasmania at the end of the 19th Century.
Every time I look at the cushion, I remember my travels and the colours of late summer and early fall on the other side of the world. Emma Gunn
VICTORIA: Melbourne; There’s a new Guild member in the metropolitan area, Anna Martin from The Studio in Camberwell.
Anna gives Punchneedle hooking workshops to adults and children. Anna learned the technique from Clare Thornley, Jilliby, NSW who sells raw materials and tools to fibre artists through her online shop FELTFINE. Beside Oxford Punchneedle tools/backing you can purchase lovely yarn and spinning and weaving supplies.
Yarra Valley; The Yarra Valley Rugmakers are still taking turns traveling to each other’s homes to meet up once a month. Their last meeting was in Warrandyte on 23rd March. Visit their Blog to check out when/where future meeting will be held and to see what they’re currently working on – here’s Robyne’s Magpie rug being used as a chair pad on one of her Hubby’s willow chairs. She says, the fox pelt was road-kill.
NORTHERN TERRITORY: Rughooking in the Outback
Sue lives and works in an Indigenous community in the Outback, north and west of Alice Springs, off the Larapinta Dr, close to Papunya. You can see by these images shared from the Facebook page of Empowered Communities – the NPY Region, is really isolated.
However not all the area is flat – a couple of hours drive away is Haasts Bluff, also known as Ikuntji, another Indigenous Australian community in the West MacDonnell Ranges. Read more
Sue made contact through the Guild Facebook page to say she was interested in rug hooking so I sent her a copy of Miriam Miller’s book Proggy & Hooky Rugs – she’s now definitely “hooked” and is going to introduce rug hooking as a craft to the people in the community but is waiting on some supplies of material. They have some Hessian backing but need fabric and would welcome any donations as they do not have money for this resource. If you or your group could help out you can contact me through rughookingaustralia@gmail.com and we can arrange to get the fabric to her.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA:
Members of the StrathMatters enjoying the extra space at the CWA Hall in Strathalbyn, South Australia.
The Strath Matters have a new meeting place – their previous meeting place, the Little Red Hen, a converted railway carriage, was just not big enough to accommodate the numbers of the growing group. You’ll find them now in the CWA Building, behind the Town Hall which is located on the High St. in Strathalbyn.
Much interest has been shown by the group in tapestry weaving, so a tapestry workshop is to be given on 12th April by Betty Wolf – it will run from 10:00am to 3:00pm – This article introduces Betty, who has a background in social sciences and education and a diploma of visual arts, specialising in tapestry weaving, and is an active member of the local arts community in the near by town of Murray Bridge. There are a couple of spaces still available – if interested contact Judith Stephens studioblue20@gmail.com
Here are a couple of members of the group with their finished projects –
Angela and her cushionAn Op Shop Find, rug pattern designed by Claire Murray, USA and hooked by Judith Stephens, South Australia is to be raffled.Chris and her bag which began as a mat.
A celebration of the founding of the Australian Rugmakers Guild in Strathalbyn, October 2008, will take place in October 2019 with an event hosted by the Strathmatters group
Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th “Rugmakers Revelations – out of the past, into the future” will take place at the Town Hall on High Street in Strathalbyn.
This event will be FREE and open to the public with hands on demonstrations and conversations about different forms of rugmaking and the global travels of rug hookers.
SAVE THE DATES – more information to come.
On Saturday 5th October after the days events, there will be an Australian Rugmakers Guild General Meeting in the Town Hall, Strathalbyn. It is a long weekend in South Australia and on Monday 7th, the StrathMatters group will have their rugs displayed in the Strathalbyn Show.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA:
The Wanneroo Rugmakers continue to meet in the Library at Wanneroo every Saturday morning from 10:00am to 1:00pm. New members come and go, joining a core group of ruggers who have been together since 2010. The group works on a community project each year as well as bringing their own projects for show and tell. Meeting in a space open to the public creates much interest, with passers by stopping to see what’s happening. Newcomers to the group are taught proggy(proddy) and started off being shown how to make a Christmas tree – examples of these can been seen on the group’s website.
Most of the “regulars” also belong to other textiles groups – knitting, various forms of crochet, lace-making and felting are represented so there are often impromptu demonstrations given. This explains the knitted and crocheted beanies being prepared for the Alice Springs Beanie Festival. I had such fun volunteering there in 2017 other members of the group are headed to the Festival this year.
Sharon found this picture, but no instructions. She liked the beanie and asked one of her knitting friends to create the pattern for her and was thrilled with the result.
Sharing their own works creates many learning opportunities when problems arise, or someone just wants to add something extra to their current work. A Waldoboro session was given recently using one of Judi Tompkins(QLD) teaching examples – a ladybird. Brenda has finished her ladybird and when asked what would be hooked alongside it, she said she didn’t know – she is going to let her 9-year-old grandson draw something? It’s to be finished as a hooked cushion to go in his room. He has shown an interest in other crafts she’s worked on so I think she has an ulterior motive – there may be a future rug hooker in the family.
Editors note: Some interesting contacts have been made through this website – besides helping people find rug hooking supplies, groups and instructors, a couple of our members have repaired rugs and I answered a call right before Christmas from someone wanting a rug kit hooked up – here is the end result –
it’s a Claire Murray design from the USA. The kit was purchased 20 years ago and can you believe the various “tagged” colours were all still there – wouldn’t have happened at my house – they would have been raided for other projects along the way. It came with a numbered colour chart; I didn’t think I’d like “hooking by numbers” but it was actually a bit of a challenge and fun and much easier than having to colour plan and then source the right fabric – besides being wool yarn there wasn’t any cutting involved. I’m pleased to report, the owner is pleased with the result – Happy Hooking
Jo Franco, Editor & Membership Chair, Australian Rugmakers Guild
This is the time of year for reflection and planning – looking back 2018 has been a busy year for many of the members of this Guild. Workshops given, new rug groups formed, solo exhibitions and travel – Miriam Miller and Jacqui Thompson from New South Wales take the award for most distance travelled!
With so much happening where to start? ….. By State – on the East coast, North to South and across to Western Australia.
QUEENSLAND:
In July, two Judiths from Queensland (Judy Brook and Judi Tompkins) along with another Judy and gave workshops at the Kingaroy Regional Art Gallery’s Winter Craft Festival .
In October, Judy Brook travelled to the UK to attend The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers (TIGHR) 2018 Triennial in Reeth.
Below, Judy shows a piece she started in Reeth as she tells members of the Sunshine Coast RugCrafters group about the Triennial and her travels, at the first of the “Palimpsest Studio Days” to be held in Judi Tompkins’ new Studio in Landsborough, on International Rug Hooking Day.
Much of Judi Tompkins time was taken up this year with “Re-imagined” a virtual online Exhibition co-convened with Jo Franco – but that’s another story (Blog).
The“Re-imagined” Exhibition includes works by several members of the Sunshine Coast Rugcrafters.
Judy Owen embraced the Brief, with embellishments required in the Call for Entry, with her original design “Memories of my Father”
Annette White has a way with animals. Her Exhibition entry was a hooked elephant hand puppet – she also hooked and prodded this “bear rug”.
Bea Nitschke added to her butterfly collection with this blue butterfly. Her “Re-imagined” entry was sculptural, a 3D gold butterfly on driftwood.
and Stella Edmundson did more than rug hook in 2018 – entering “Re-imagined” and completing several commission pieces (her own designs)
Stella won first place in the sport of Tae Kwon Do in both traditional and creative patterns for female black belts over 60 years of age at the Pan Pacific Masters’ Games held on the Gold Coast, in Queensland.
Trees were popular subjects as Exhibition entries – Cynthia Nicklin, Mt. Glorious, QLD entered “The Mother Tree”. (Mother tree – timber getters’ parlance for a large old tree whose seed resulted in the surrounding forest)
The subject for Cynthia’s original artwork, an ancient flooded gum, stands outside her kitchen window. Cynthia’s artist statement read “It is thought she saw Captain Cook sail along the southern coast of Queensland in 1770. She survived cyclonic winds and rains, droughts, hail storms, severe lopping, insect infestation. She has been a tent support, a cubby house platform, a rubbing post for cattle, a holder of swings and a haven for birds, marsupials, creepy crawlies and native orchids. And yet she still stands, the last of her kind in this area.”
In Brisbane Claudia Forster-Purchase was busy working on an original tree design, embellished with paper bark found in the area where she lives. Unfortunately preparation for a trip to Canada prevented her from finishing it in time to enter. We look forward to seeing this piece finished and framed.
Bec Andersen from Mt. Tamborine held a Solo Rug Hooking Exhibition at Under the Greenwood Tree Bookstore and Contemporary Art Gallery (Aug 10 – Sep 2) and a Make Do & Mend crafting workshops and installation – this link will tell you more about the project created during a series of workshops spanning over three months across Scenic Rim.
These images of Bec and her work were taken at the end of year gathering of Bec’s group, Happy Hookers posted by Janis Bailey, were reposted on Rug Hooking Magazine’s Facebook coverage of International Rug Hooking Day.
NEW SOUTH WALES:
Jilliby: Guild Member, Clare Thornley, www.feltfine.com.au , offers everything for people to start their rug making journey; Oxford Punch tools, three types of backing fabrics, hand-dyed rug yarn and frames. You can contact Clare online or arrange a visit to her studio not far off the M1.
Sydney : Martha Birch – represented ARG at this year’s Sydney Craft Fair in Darling Harbour – members of the Narrawilly Proggy Ruggers came up from Milton to assist. There was much interest in the colourful display and Martha has formed a Facebook rug hooking group open to the public, From Rags to Rugs, Sydney Rug Hookers https://www.facebook.com/groups/387146415123046/
Martha has also given well received beginner rug hooking workshops and started regular group meetings in the Sydney suburb of Epping 26 Stanley Rd at the Epping Creative Centre .
In 2019 the group will meet on the 2nd Saturday from February to November – from 10.00am to 4.00pm – Tuition is available. Here are images from those first workshops.
Milton is home to a couple of intrepid travellers Miriam Miller & Jacqui Thompson who in 2018 travelled the Australian East coast then around the world. In July they drove north on the west side of the Great Dividing range to Cairns and back down the coast – catching up with family and rug hookers along the way. A distance of approximately 2,652k (almost 1,648miles)
Miriam Miller, Judi Tompkins and Jacqui Thomson at Judi’s new home in Landsborough, Queensland.
Immediately after their return they went up to Sydney and helped Martha talk rug hooking to people at the Sydney Craft Fair in Darling Harbour.
Then began their BIG trip – starting in Milton at the local bus stop – where at 6.00a.m. they caught the bus to Sydney – flew to the UK and visited with family in the south of England – sharing in daily journal entries, emailed to interested family and friends by Miriam’s daughter Robyn, many images of places, rug hookers and their impressions of the different countries they visited. Many of the images from their travels were shared on the Guild Facebook page.
Their itinerary went like this – from Brighton, UK, to the Isle of Guernsey – across to France to stay with the family of a rug hooker – back to the UK to attend the TIGHR Triennial in Reeth where they stayed with Heather Ritchie. Miriam and Jacqui couldn’t get over how much was planned during the Conference, they will be recounting stories from this event for months to come.
There were new friends to be made at the TIGHR Triennial in Reeth as well as many old friends to catch up with – including Marg Arland and Susan Sutherland who have visited Miriam and Jacqui at Narrawilly in Milton.
On the return trip they were Artists in Residence in Corris, North Wales – then travelled to Ireland to met up with Neville Smith the maker of the Irish (Hartman) Hook and his family.
From Ireland they flew to Iceland to take a knitting tour in the company of Heather Ritchie, back-tracking through the UK to Canada. First visiting Newfoundland, then Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, staying with rug hookers who introduced them to members of their groups and their many rug hooking friends, generally touring them all over, even though the weather had definitely turned to winter.
While staying on Cape Breton, NS, Cathy, their hostess, took them on a special tour of Les Trois Pignons – Museum of the Hooked Rug and Home Life in Cheticamp – here is just one of the many large finely shaded rugs hooked by Elizabeth La Fort, click the link above to see all the rooms filled with amazing rugs in this museum.
The travellers arrived back home to Milton just in time for the Narrawilly Proggy Ruggers annual Fashion Parade with group members modelling and purchasing the garments donated by a local Op Shop to be cut up and used to hook with. Proceeds from this event goes to Heather Ritchie for her Rug Aid project.
With much work, from this pile of donations evolved a Fashion Parade
BERMAGUI: Early in the year members of the Narrawilly Proggy Ruggers visited Dawn Hollins to see her new craft room and from Dawn comes the following news;
“The Bermagui & District U3A Rug Hooking Group held its Christmas lunch gathering in my craft cabin in Cobargo on Wednesday 12 December. We have been meeting once a month during term time at the home of Lindsay Potter, our teacher. Since completing the wall hangings for the Bermagui Surf Club two years ago we have been working on our own projects and have welcomed new members. A new cafe in Bega dedicated to using recycled materials has asked us to make hooked covers for all their stool cushions – a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase our craft!”
BRAIDWOOD: Gail Nichols has had a very busy year – beginning with her entry “Stepping Out” on exhibit in the “Re-imagined” virtual Exhibition
Followed by “Rug Up for Winter” a Workshop given with Maggie Hickey to the Braidwood Regional Art Group.
and an Exhibition – “In transit” at the Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
and yet another Exhibition “Landscape”, which opened 17th November at Narek Gallery in Bermagui featuring “Wallace Street”
Gail was also a finalist in Rug Hooking Magazine’s Celebrations 2018 – this work “Temple fish” was published in the Celebration of Handhooked Rugs 2018.
ACT – Canberra – Maggie Whyte was one of nine Guild members from five Australian States, who attended The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers (TIGHR) 2018 Triennial held in the UK at Reeth in the Yorkshire Dales.
Earlier in the year Maggie gave a Braided-in Workshop at Narrawilly in Milton and was on hand to help with the recent Narrawilly Fashion Parade filling in for Jacqui Thompson who due to ill health was unable to attend and was missed by all at the event.
VICTORIA: Warrandyte – Anne Schafer also attended the TIGHR Triennial in Reeth and along with Maggie Whyte, Canberra and Janet Tayler-Henry, NSW visited Miriam & Jacqui at their Artists in Residence in North Wales.
Anne Schafer snuggled up under a rug knitted by Miriam Miller
Anne will be entertaining the Victorian group, the Yarra Valley Rugmakers, for some time with tales of her travels …. the knitting tour and sightseeing in Ireland as well as all the wonderful events she took part in at the Triennial in Reeth, UK.
In her absence Robyne demonstrated rug hooking at the Melbourne Show where she started this rug. You can see what inspired her, how she planned the “No name” proggy rug and follow her progress from start to finish on this link
Yarra Valley Group members take turns to gather in each other’s homes, travelling between Lily Dale (Post Code 3140) a suburb 35k NE of Melbourne to Loch (Post Code 3945) in South Gippsland, 106 k SE of Melbourne and Warrandyte (3113) 27k NE of Melbourne.
For those wanting to learn rug hooking who live West of Melbourne in theBallarat (3350) area you’ll find an instructor 30 minutes away, in Lal Lal (3352) Marcia King is a solitary rug maker who also gives workshops, locally and further afield.
Marcia will be teaching an Intro to Rug Hooking at Opendrawer, 1158 Toorak Rd, Camberwell Opendrawer.com.au
on January 22nd, 2019 – 10am to 4pm
Marcia enjoys recycling – this work in progress, a floor mat, is being hooked using T-Shirts some she has re-dyed using Procion dyes to get some nice vibrant colours. The backing is a piece of wool fabric, found in a discount bin at the Creswick Woollen mill many years ago.
TASMANIA: Deloraine – A rug hooking group meets every week on Monday morning at Art as Mania; a Shop, Studio and Gallery space located in the heart of Deloraine Tasmania showcasing the works of talented artists, craftspeople, wood and metal workers and artisans.
Art as Mania, is at 20-22 Emu Bay Road, Deloraine – you can also find them on Facebook.
Hobart: Hobart Rag Ruggers a new Facebook group – open to all –
Emma Gunn is the administrator, and in August organized a get together at the South Hobart Community Centre (in the D’Arcy St Playground). Emma has also been travelling this year, checking out rugs and rug makers in the USA and Canada. For more information about meet ups, contact her via the Facebook page or this Blog.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA; Strathalbyn The StrathMatters rug group started 2018 in a new home and have been busy since, with a trip to the Australian Tapestry Workshop in Melbourne to view the Gordian Knot – these photographs by Malcolm Edward-Cole.
Outside the Law – Hookers and Police?
They also visited the National Gallery of Victoria to view the large interactive rug installation acquired by the Gallery – “Santa Cruz River” by Alexandra Kehayoglou, a Buenos Aires–based artist and designer who uses hand-tufted wool rugs to draw into focus landscapes under threat of irreversible change.
Their Annual weekend retreat, held this year at the Normanville Jetty Caravan Park from Friday 26 to Monday 29 October, involved surprise workshops. The main event was a demonstration and try-out of Tapestry Weaving with guest craftswoman Betty Wolf.
A surprise workshop – button necklacesResults of the button necklace workshop
The StrathMatters also entered rugs in the Adelaide and Strathalbyn shows.
One of the members travelled even further afield – Kathy Saint went to the TIGHR Triennial in Reeth like all the visitors, carrying a rug for display. The small town of Reeth was covered in “hooking” with over 100 members arriving from around the world bringing hooked items to be displayed along with the work of the UK members. The interior of the church and buildings throughout town were “adorned”. The rug, shown below, that may have put Kathy over her airline baggage limit, was designed by Judith Stephens and hooked by both of them. On the way to the Conference Kathy took a textile tour in Italy where she was introduced to an unusual lace making technique
SAVE THE DATE! 1st weekend in Oct 2019 – It’s over 10 years since the Guild was formed in Strathalbyn and more than 2 years since the last Guild meeting was held at the 2016 Coast to Coast Exhibition in Canberra
its time for a coming together of Australian Rugmakers!
Information on the event will be published early 2019 – it’s mentioned here so you can plan holidays and time off.
Suggestions for workshops or events to take place on this weekend are welcome.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA: The Wanneroo Rugmakers meet at the Library and Cultural Centre in Wanneroo every Saturday from 10.00am to 1:00pm to work on community projects and their own hooked creations and share many different textile techniques including felting … here are some of Peta Korb’s delightful Aussie critters
Robin Inkpen visited from Donnybrook in the States South West and showed how she made the coils for her entry in “Re-imagined” the virtual Exhibition
“Warning! Bleached coral in a plastic sea” 2018 by Robin Inkpen 68cm x 65 cm Photograph by Skip Watkins
after Robin’s visit Kath Smith created a wrapped rope basket to go with cushion covers she made using the Canadian smocking technique.
Tricia Thacker wearing a beanie 10 years in the making – a circular weaving project put away as a UFO and finally finished this year!
The main focus for the group this year has been on the construction of rug hooking frames. The current models are being made of PVC pipe and started with plans kindly made available by Judy Taylor of Little House Rugs(USA) who has also featured as rug maker of the month on her website two Australian rugmakers Judi Tompkins and Judith Stephens. Images of their rugs are shown in Judy’s new book “T-Shirt Treasures”
Wanneroo group members continue to re-design and refine the frame design and have finally come up with a way to keep the backing drum tight without having to import metal gripper strips not available locally.
This year, travel was on the agenda for several of the groups members. Peta visited her son in Canada and took the opportunity to take more textile workshops, sharing some of her new found knowledge on her return. She is currently traveling in Europe with her other son sending back inspiring images of extraordinary architecture and works of art.
Sharen Smith is back in the fold after a trip to some interesting places in Europe – while the weather was cold, the decorations for the Christmas season made for magical photo opportunities.
Jo Franco gave up on her planned trip to TIGHR when she was invited to attend the Opening of the virtual Exhibition “Re-imagined” at the annual Rug Hooking Week in Sauder Village, Ohio USA – a huge event with several featured Exhibitions, many vendors, and open to the public – think Australian Craft Fairs on a bigger scale. Workshops – daily and residential are booked out as soon as they open at the beginning of each year. “Re-imagined” the virtual was seen on a big screen TV by many, as over 4,000 people go through the event during the week. There was much interest in the “virtual” concept, and the “Textile Tessera” installation, with visitors wanting to know why only work from the Southern Hemisphere was featured – wishing they’d had a chance to participate. They will – there’s to be another virtual exhibition in 2021, coinciding with the next TIGHR Triennial in Newfoundland, Canada, and that virtual exhibition will be open worldwide. Watch this space for more to come!
From the Editor:This is an extremely long post but it doesn’t begin to cover all that’s happened this year in the rug hooking world in Australia. I hope you will take the opportunity to follow the links to read more about the different groups and events.
Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year to All.
From the Wanneroo Rugmakers in WA (Western Australia) comes news of a first rug, designed and hooked by Daleen, on a PVC frame made for her by friend Kirsty from instructions for a “Playing Hooky” frame by Judy Taylor of WA, (State of Washington), USA. Could be confusing, both locations using the abbreviation WA!
Daleen had a wonderful time hooking her original cat face design using a mix of brightly coloured, upcycled fabrics. While hooking was under way, the cats face wasn’t easily discernible. The finished piece was turned into a cushion cover by another friend. Now, from a distance, the face jumps right out at you – especially the eyes, hooked high and sculpted – they seem to follow you as you walk past the cushion on the chair.
Daleen and her friends first encountered hooked rugs when they visited a Wanneroo Rugmakers Open Day at the Wanneroo Library. Impressed with the array of different types of rugs on display they were eager to start work on their own and couldn’t wait for gripper strips to be ordered and a frame made up – so Kirsty made one. She said she’d copied it from the internet ….
Oh No! is there going to be copyright problem – will the frame have to be dodged when taking group photos?
Kirsty gave me Judy Taylor’s blog and website address and said there was a note on the website to say the instructions could be copied and used for personal use (not to manufacture for sale). When I visited the website I discovered Judy lives in the State of Washington, not far from where I would be staying with my son and his family after I’d spent a week in Sauder Village Ohio at Rug Hooking Week.
An email to Judy confirmed her address and that she would be at home during the time I was in Washington. Judy also mentioned her latest book, hooking with T-shirts, about to be published and asked if any of our Aussie members hooked with T-shirts – what a question …. I told her T-shirts were used almost the exclusively by rug hookers in Australia. She asked if I could send images. As I was preparing to leave on my trip I put the word out to the Guild and several members sent photos directly to Judy who received them in time to show in her new book – “T-Shirt Treasures – Creating Heirloom Hooked Rugs from the Humble T-Shirt”.
Arriving at Judy’s house the first thing I saw were her Jacob sheep and Angora goats, raised to provide the wool she spins – so it was obvious why wool yarn was her choice of hooking material and the subject of her books.
Judy’s frame was in pieces when I arrived, she wanted to show me how simple it was to assemble her new “De-lovely” frame (patent pending). She has also shared instructions for making this “neck saving” frame for personal use. We discussed the fact that not all of the joints were glued, as she prefers to be able to change it from a lap frame to a standing frame. Judy was interested to hear of Kirsty’s modification – replacing the use of plastic clamps. To help hold the backing in place, all of Judy’s frame designs have rubber non-skid material (shelf liner) glued around the PVC pieces which make up the frame face (Note: PVC 3-way joiners are hard to find in that giant hardware warehouse! locally they were found in a smaller shop selling irrigation supplies)
Instead of the plastic hand clamps Kirsty used pool noodles on all four sides, making Judy’s frame design as effective to use and less lethal (on both hands and hooking) than the traditional gripper strip frames. With a couple of twists, the backing fabric is pulled drum tight across the frame and work area, and the “noodles” canbe used over previously hooked work.
Discussing rug making and viewing Judy’s rugs, the afternoon went all too quickly. I told Judy about my trip to Rug Hooking Week at Sauder Village and the opening of the virtual exhibition and before I left we’d had an “exchange”; Judy gave me copies of her books on “hooking with wool yarn” and I gave her one of the remaining pieces of the Textile Tessera, No 7.
Before we knew it, her husband was home and we adjourned to the deck for coffee and cake and conversation about travel. Taking care livestock in the Seattle climate Judy goes through a lot of wellies and has found a good use for the castoffs.
Here are photos I took of some of Judy’s rugs, my favourite is the Gordian Knot rug into which Judy hooked a poem written by her son when he was only 18 years old.
More images of Judy’s rugs can be seen on her website and blog. She is still in search of images of rugs hooked with T-Shirts so if you have any to share, connect with her through her website and blog.
From the Editor: How serendipitous was this, to learn of someone with similar interests, living so close to where I would be staying half way around the globe. Thanks Judy for a lovely afternoon.
2008, 11th & 12th October, a Rag Rug exhibition in Strathalbyn, was billed as the “First Rughooking Exhibition in South Australia” It wasNot so!
Shown here, Judith Stephens, President of the Australian Rugmakers Guild and Joyce Emery, a founding member, discussing the rug hooking supplies Joyce can no longer use as arthritis is preventing her from continuing to rug hook and she would like to advertise them on the Guild website. The box Judith is holding is full of Cushing dyes. There’s also some patterns and a Fraser cutter to be sold.
At almost 90 years of age Joyce still makes lace and spins and doesn’t hesitate to drive herself, along with her well dressed passenger, from her home in Elizabeth, South Australia to Strathalbyn an hour and a half drive.
Back in 2008, early on the morning of Saturday 11th, the day the Strathalbyn Rag Rug Show was to be Opened, Joyce read about it in the Adelaide newspaper and called Judith to ask if she could enter some of her rugs. After the long drive from Elizabeth to Strathalbyn Joyce arrived with a car load of rugs and news that this wasn’t the “first” – there had been many rug exhibitions in South Australia, in the late 1960’s and 70’s. Joyce proceeded to give Judith her knowledge of the history of rughooking in South Australia
Joyce: “American style rug hooking started in Elizabeth in the late 60’s when a lady from Canada came to live here. She was Pam Whitehead, she had been making rugs in Canada for some time and had done a course at the Rowan studio.
I was teaching in the Elizabeth Girls Technical High School at the time and found out that Pam was holding evening classes there. The original members ofthat class stayed together as friends and met at Pam’s house on the first Sunday of the month for over 30 years. During those years all of us passed on our craft to others. Pam had classes in the evenings in Elizabeth, Salisbury, the Barossa and the Hills.
I taught groups in Eudunda, Gawler, Salisbury, Spinners & Weavers Guild, Stansbury and demonstrated all over the State during the 150th celebrations.
I have made over 50 rugs and wall hangings both floral and geometric. I have also made 2 large pictures depicting special activities in the sky. Haley’s Comet and Jupiter. I have only ever sold one rug when I was helping to set up an exhibition at the institute in Lyndoch. Every Easter our group put a collection ofour rugs, made in the previous year, in the hall for the Vintage Festival.
From the original group new groups formed as we moved within the State. A large group was created in Mt. Gambia by Rene Moss. Faye had a group in the Grenville Centre in Elizabeth and I had a group in Salisbury, each one meeting every week. Now all these have closed as people have got older and our craft involves patience and time and there are no people interested any more in working to make rugs. I have been showing how to make cushion covers out of wool, spun wool is not is not good as rugs as it will wear.
Of course when we started, the classes were done through adult ed. and the Education Dept so we never had to worry about getting people to learn, we always had good numbers and people in the country could get a teacher to go to them to run a class.”
“The Rowan Studio, in Canada (mentioned by Joyce) was run by Margaret and Ted Rowan. It became Rittermere and then Rittermere-Hurst and is now the rug hooking supply store of Rittermere-Hurst-Field.” This information was taken, with permission, from the website of Deb Merriam(Canada) http://sustainableslow.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/traditional-rug-hooking-resources-rug.html
Pam Whitehead’s son Peter came across his mother’s name on the Guild’s website and gave this update: Pam moved to Australia in early 1950’s married his father in Goondiwindi, Queensland in 1953 and went to Canada in 1955 arriving back in Australia in 1969 and lived in South Australia until her death in 2006.
Peter said “my mother was involved in many crafts but Rug Hooking was her passion. She would have been so happy to see it continue to flourish in Australia.”
In 2008 we worried about having enough rugs to fill the exhibition space. At that time, you could count the number of Australian rug hooking instructors on one hand; Judith Stephens, South Australia; Miriam Miller, New South Wales; Judy Brook, Queensland and me, Jo Franco, Western Australia. There may have been more rughookers around the country but therein lay the problem, not only were rughookers separated by vast distances, they were mostly in small country towns so there was no way to “connect” and the general population was not aware that this craft was being practiced.
The Internet and Social Media has changed all that!
In 2008 Miram, nominated as the Guild’s first President, had just published “Proggy & Hooky Rugs” also a first, the first (and only) Australian rug making book. Miriam had been giving rugmaking lesson to friends and neighbours for some time and in 1994 her friend Jacqui Thomson encouraged and helped her to form The Narrawilly Proggy Ruggers. They meet at Miriam’s Rug Room in Milton and the groups been growing in number ever since.
Miriam Miller, rughooking instructor, NSW Australia_photo, Gillian Lett Milton Ulladulla Times
We shouldn’t have worried about having enough rugs to show – there were over 100 hooked and prodded pieces to be displayed that weekend and we three were tired when this picture was taken late Sunday.
Following the inaugural Guild meeting in 2008 the next “General Meeting” took place in 2010 in Milton at the same time Gene Shepherd was giving workshops in Miriam’s Rug Room.
In 2012 the TIGHR Triennial Conference was held in Strathalbyn – Judith & Jo having submitted a nomination for Australia to be the Host Country, even before the Guild was formed. Some of the international instructors attending the Conference stayed on to give a weekend of workshops.
This was followed in 2014 by another weekend retreat and General Meeting in Strathalbyn and the
Coast to Coast Exhibition and General Meeting in Canberra, ATC in 2016.
The next General Meeting of the Guild will take place in South Australia in 2019. Hopefully it will coincide with the weekend of the Strathalbyn Show which now has categories for rug hooking. Here are some of this year’s entries
In the meantime if you’re in South Australia you might like to arrange a visit with the StrathMatters in their novel meeting place.
With so many of the Australian rug makers travelling overseas to rug hooking events this year there will be much to share at the next meeting.
As soon as dates have been set Guild Members will be notified by email so holidays can be planned for next year.
“TEXTILE TESSERA” is an installation by Judi Tompkins (Queensland) and Jo Franco (Western Australia),
Conveners of
“Re-imagined” a Challenge with a Difference –
a virtual mixed media Exhibition.
As participants in the “Re-imagined” Challenge finish entries, take photographs and write Artist Statements, the conveners have just started their textile installation to be displayed at the Opening of “Re-imagined” at Rug Hooking Week at Sauder Village, Ohio, USA.
The original abstract design, a representation of the puzzle of a fibre diaspora was Judi’s. Jo being more literal, immediately saw it as a map of Australia, suggesting it seemed appropriate with the Exhibition featuring work from the Southern Hemisphere.
Thus, Judi’s tongue in check reference to this particular piece of the installation as :-
“My multi-coloured piece with the glass sparkly bits and bits of metal are indeed representational of Australian outback (drawing on my taxidermy-ness)…
as if a road train has driven at speed through a flock of Lorikeets and scattered the feathers and shattered windscreen across the landscape!! Oh….maybe that is too vivid?
Was thinking of calling this piece…Flattened Fauna…. Maybe that’s too strong?
Judi goes on to describes the process so far;
At first glance, Jo and my decision to collaborate on a piece for “Re-imagined”: a Challenge with a Difference seemed pretty straightforward. After all, we have a pretty good understanding and respect for each other’s opinions and approach to rughooking and fibre/textile art; we communicate well and offer support and criticism in a constructive way; agreed on our common goal; are willing to compromise; are reliable and reasonable time-mangers; and Jo is pretty tolerant!
So, could we have overlooked anything in our simple plan to share the work on acommon project and bring it smoothly together at the end?
You bet! (Keeping in mind that your experience will differ from ours.)
Life Like all of you, we both have incredibly busy lives on a “good” day with the usual appointments, chores, family “stuff”, frustrations and things that requireattention and get in the way. I however managed to add selling a house, movingand building a house and studio into the middle of this; and the building process became quite awful just about the time I was due to work on our mutual project and served to redefine and clarify the concept of “challenge” for me!
Logistics Naturally if you build a new house and don’t have family to live with (sponge off?) then you need find someplace to rent and keep your “stuff” – most ofwhich you are convinced you won’t need because the build will, “only take about four months”. Hah!
Just to keep things interesting and adrenaline-filled, I initially kept only a few boxes of rughooking and fibre supplies, frames, fabrics and fibres in a small room at my rental unit – supposedly my “studio” but used by my dog as her “office”.
“I’ll just keep the necessary things because I can easily get anything I need from one of the two large shipping containers at the building site”.
Hah! (again)
I realised too late that access to these containers would be “delicate” because of the construction toilet and the sheer volume of stacked building materials. Oh well…surely, I can get what I need from Spotlight. Wrong.
Gradually I unloaded more and more from the storage units into my rental“studio” and into the back bedroom,
ensuring I can’t find anything in any location.
(“but…I know I have it somewhere”)
Timing The realization that I need to get my “bit” done well in advance of my shifting house; preparation for a workshop/demo early in July and Jo’s leaving for the US when she takes our collaborative piece to the launch of the “Re-imagined” Challenge at Sauder Village, made the next obstacle an extra challenge indeed!
Tabula Rasa Yes. The dreaded blank slate indeed! In spite of all the communication via email, Skype, photos and Facebook with Jo…I just couldn’t start hooking!
Didn’t know what to do (I thought I did at first…but I didn’t!); didn’t know where to start; didn’t know what fabric and colours to use; didn’t like what I did start; convinced I just couldn’t do it; thought it was probably a dumb idea anyway (whose was it? Surely I was innocent in all this!).
Nearly suggested that Jo should “just do it”. I didn’t.
I’m sure there are and will be other hassles and frustrations with getting this collaboration done but it has been worth the aggravation. It is indeed a challenge and had really pushed me (nearly over the edge…but not quite…yet!)
I need to think faster; keep the goal and vision in mind and
just “do it”! I will. I am. I will be OK in the end…everything is frustrating at the halfway point.”
From Jo …………
To brighten my day and tie our works together Judi sent me some of this yummy coloured silk yarn purchased from Clare at Feltfine.com.au
My section of the project is also underway, however in a more “restrained” style.
If you haven’t collaborated on a textile art work, you really should give it a try, it’s amazing what you learn and it is fun!
these are 2m long (6ft) enlargements, of my footprints being hooked by the Wanneroo Rugmakers as part of a research project using single-use plastic bags.
Textile artist Susan Feller (USA) included this research project in a presentation she made on “Educating about Craft” at the recent Association of Traditional Hooking Artists Biennial Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Here’s project information sent to Susan Feller by Sue Girak PhD Visual Arts Specialist City Beach PS, Perth, West Australia, :
“Walking Together with Pride is a collaborative installation that represents society’s ecological footprint. The initial phase of this project took place at City Beach Primary School in 2016. City Beach Primary School is a small government primary school located in Perth, Western Australia. Approximately 160 students attend the school which is situated in an affluent beachside suburb. Our local beaches are pristine, so it is very easy for children to underestimate the environmental degradation that is caused by plastic pollution in our oceans. As a means to highlight the growing dependence on plastic and its associated problems, the older children and I came up with the idea to make a large-scale installation artwork that would highlight the negative impact single-use plastic bags are having on the environment. When we first exhibited our eight footprints the younger students wanted the project to continue, so we invited others to add more footprints for a second showing in 2018. There is an associated research component that accompanies the project. My colleague Dr Jackie Johnson and I are interested to know if reusing discarded materials in art-making will make a difference to artists and crafts people’s environmental attitudes and behaviours. The Wanneroo Rughooking group was the first group to participate and make a start. They are using the proddy (proggy) hook method to make a pair of 180cm (6’) footprints made from salvaged plastics. As well being involved with the Wanneroo Rughooking group, Jo Franco is a member of the Western Australian Fibre and Textile Association (WAFTA). WAFTA have decided to work with my school as part of their community engagement initiative in 2017/18 and to teach rug making. I want to use old t-shirts to highlight the environmental problems associated with fast fashion. Further afield, Mandurah City Council is interested in extending the footprint project. Mandurah is a city 72km (45 miles) south of Perth, and they want to work with their schools and community groups to produce pairs of footprints, which will be exhibited at the Drift Exhibition in May 2018. This means the footprints made by the Wanneroo Rughooking group will be exhibited twice next year. Finally, in August 2017, I presented the project at the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA) conference in Korea. The response was positive, I have schools in Beijing and Slovenia who wish to do their own footprint project and inquiries from Deakin University (Melbourne, Australia) to incorporate the concept into a community arts program.”
Susan’s presentation continued ……..
“If any of this audience wants to participate in their research that would be great. Contact info if seriously interested in a group participation is belfleet@bigpond.com Sue would be happy to work with a group from the US or Canada. Jackie and Sue are very interested in the creative reuse of salvageable materials in art-making and whether that would trigger shifts in environmental attitudes and behaviours. (Sue) Originally thought that the research would only be for locals who would contribute to her school’s exhibition. However, if there are international rug makers that would like to participate, they would love to hear. While there may be problems sending actual footprints to Australia, if people are willing to make a pair (as per her instructions) and photograph them, Sue will include that in the exhibition. Her students would love to see how their art is inspiring others around the world. The research component is a before and aftersurvey, photos to show process and the possibility of an interview.”
The Wanneroo Rugmakers have completed the “before” survey and are enjoying thinking of different creative ways to embellish the footprints. While it’s a group project, members are working independently on the footprints – each adding their own ideas and techniques.
Anna thought it would be humorous to indicate a shoe-size and knitted a strip using white plastic bags and sewed the strip onto the footprint in the shape of a figure eight, adding a one – these footprints are surely bigger than a size 18! She is using plastic wrappers off sliced bread to fill in the foot. Coloured department store bags are being used for the toenails and the flip-flop straps.
Sharon, a new member, was taught the proggy technique and is practicing by edging the footprints. Kath made elaborate floral decorations for the flip-flop thong straps added to the footprints by Peta.
Kath discussing footprint embellishments with AdeleColourful department store bags cut with a Townshend cutter are used to hook around the embellishments on the thong strap.Tricia who normally works with proggy is learning to hook on this project – a challenging endeavour using the slippery plastic!
From the Editor: Jo Franco – With my WAFTA hat on, having volunteered to teach Sue’s students how to rug hook, I visited her school to deliver an over-sized rug hooking stretcher frame for them to learn on. At that time Sue showed me footprints the students had already made and I gave me this one to take back to our group as an example.
For a base they had used a soft flyscreen material and had rolled and folded single-use plastic bags stitching them into place. Hooking through this material was not “user friendly” so we reverted to our usual Hessian backing.
This is an interesting project for our rug hooking group since we already work with recycled material and as of 2018 single-use plastic bags will be banned from supermarkets in Western Australia. Completing the initial survey was also timely and created much discussion as we had all viewed the ABC’s TV program on the excessive amount of waste generated by the use of cheap clothing.
We’re looking forward to presenting our finished footprints to Sue’s School.
I’m “on the road again” and have been interviewing rug makers along the way as I travel across Australia.
Maybe it’s my turn to answer these questions.
Like many of the rughookers I’ve spoken with, I come to rughooking from a background of “domestic” textile techniques; dressmaking and knitting.
First lessons from my Grandmother, a tailoress, then my Mother, a perfectionist; patterns were to be followed to the “T” and all preparatory steps adhered to. I was still “tailor-tacking” when everyone else had switched to knit fabrics, “quick” patterns and making a garment in an afternoon!
I also liked to draw and have dabbled with lessons in oils and water colour. Living in the USA, Caribbean, Philippines and North Africa and having been fortunate to travel in the UK, Europe and Asia; without really being conscious of it, I’ve been infused with an awareness of how other cultures use fabric, materials, colour and texture in their art whether it be fibre, tiles, rugs, paintings etc. which speaks to the importance of exposing oneself to a broad range of experiences and why pushing boundaries is so important, you never know how that experience might emerge through you work.
When I discovered rughooking it seemed as though “I’d come home”.
McGown pattern hooked by Jo Franco as a Show n Tell at a McGown Teachers Western Workshop
If a gallery called you, how would you describe your work?
Initially, I would have said I “painted with wool” (fabric strips).
These days I’m more apt to say I use rug hooking techniques to create fibre art.
What captures your imagination about a particular technique or approach to your work?
The “simplicity” of the rughooking techniques means I don’t have to pick up a tape measure or a ruler – phew! There’s a certain “freedom” – I’m not constrained by tiny stitches or exacting work.
I find the simple repetitive movements of pulling loops to be very relaxing, even therapeutic.
These days I choose to work using recycled fabrics and yarn rather than the narrow strips of woollen fabric, width measured in 32nds of an inch, used for this rectangular Scroll Sampler (turned into a clutch purse) which shows the different types of shading.
Colour planning is now a different process for me. With an idea of the colours I want to work with – I gather fabrics in those hues, bunch them together and photograph and then begin to hook, often changing my mind as I go, instead of working it all out ahead of time, painting on paper and then dyeing fabric to come up with the desired results.
Who – or what – influenced your early work? Has your later work been influenced by the same person/style/technique?
Learning to hook while living in the United States and gaining my accreditation with the McGown Guild, gave me a great appreciation for the detailed and fine-shaded work of the many experienced rug hookers. Charlotte Price, then the Director of the Western Teachers’ Workshop, Eugene, Oregon, sponsored me, a novice rug hooker, to participate in the 5-year accreditation programme for rughooking teachers. Experienced rug hooking teachers come together at these annual week long residential gatherings to share their knowledge and rug hooking specialities, also train sponsored rug hooking teachers in the finer points of rug hooking and how to teach others. The prayer rug was the project for my first day as a rug hooker – not much was completed that first day. However, before I graduated it was finished, along with the other four projects from that first week.
Having the good fortune to take workshops from so many experienced and well known rug hookers from all over the USA and Canada, gives me a feeling of a personal connection when I see their names in print in Rug Hooking Magazine.
My fellow trainees included Laura Pierce (LWP) – from whom I’ve learned much about dyeing. Also Michele Sirois-Silver who has taken rug hooking to a different level and is always happy to share her rug hooking “processes” with me. “How to teach rug hooking” class was given by Michele Wise who’s gone on to become the Director of the McGown Western Teachers Workshop. Many Australian Guild members would have met Michele when she visited Australia as a member of TIGHR for the 2012 TIGHR Conference in Strathalbyn, SA.
“Rose Cottage” – was the pattern I was required to hook and teach for my final assessment. A novice rughooker teaching a class of experienced teachers was a very stressful situation.
Something I’ve discovered about rug hookers in general though, is they are a very friendly group of people. I’ll never forget how Oregonian Carol Fegles made me feel so welcome on that very first day back in 2002 when I arrived by myself at the Teacher’s Workshop, a complete stranger, knowing I really wasn’t qualified to be there. I’m pleased and proud that I pushed through it, as it was too good an opportunity to miss and has opened up to me an exciting life of creativity, friendship and travel.
Several of my McGowan and TIGHR contacts are taking the traditional rug hooking craft into the world of ART. Through my association with these rug hooking artists and following their blogs I find myself wanting to “create” rather than just “do”.
“Handing it On” a hooked installation by Josephine Franco, exhibited at the Blender Gallery, Joondalup, Western Australia.
My later work has been influenced by the very creative Judi Tompkins as we work together on the Australian Rugmakers Guild website.
Entry in WAFTA’s “Mysterium” – Eco dyed silk by Judi Tompkins embellished with hooked sari silk off-cuts by Jo Franco
I also find inspiration through my association with the Western Australian Fibre & Textile Association. The membership represents emerging artists from different textile disciplines, providing an inspiring motivational environment, helping me to find my creative side, and to draw myself away from the “technical – by the book” approach!
Volunteering as WAFTA Librarian means I’ve access to a wide collection of books on many different techniques. A learning experience in itself, as updating the library catalogue and setting up and maintaining the catalogue online, requires me to look through these inspiring publications.
Are you pleased with your artistic progress? What boundaries or limitations do you find are the hardest to push?
While I’m pleased with my artistic progress, I still value the traditional aspect of the craft of rug hooking knowing the reasons for the “rules” were mostly to do with serviceability.
However, I must say I’m enjoying the challenge of creating my own pieces. The hardest thing for me is to let myself “free up” and over-come the urge to try and just reproduce what I see and to stop worrying about being technically correct.
Apart from pushing my “creativity”, I’m proud that in my “senior years” I’ve entered the world of IT and social media and have been able to apply what I’ve learned to various organizations; Local, State, National and International. This speaks to networking which is so important in making the rug hooking craft known, especially in Australia, and helping to bridge the art/craft divide.
Where do you see your work in 1 – 2 – 5 years? In other words, where do you see yourself going with your current approach and technique?
Initially I was interested only in completing kits and giving rug hooking lessons.
To do this I had to first try and promote the craft and fell into the role of publicist for rug hooking in Australia. I’ve been Editor since the inception of the Australian Rugmakers Guild in 2008; covering this same position for TIGHR (The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers) from 2009-2015.
Over the 7 years of the Community Group’s existence, it has grown not only in numbers but also in creativity, with much sharing of techniques by the members.
I’ve facilitated the completion of several major works by this group, the works both donated to, and purchased by, the City, as well as creating a finalist entry in a “wearable art” competition in 2014.
Writing about rug hooking and networking is something I really enjoy, so I would like to continue with this while pushing myself to be more creative and enter rug hooked works in “textile art” exhibitions.
In what way do you think the techniques you currently use relate – or could relate – to other textile techniques? In other words, would you look to incorporation of other media as part of your work?
With the interest in up-cycling by many textiles groups and the use of re-cycled fabrics, I can see rug hooking techniques easily being incorporated into other disciplines. Likewise, embellishing and incorporating other media into my rughooking is possible, since rugs are no longer made only for the floor and serviceability is no longer the main consideration.
Aquarius – hooked & prodded by Jo Franco, featuring a shisha mirror & using sari silk off-cuts, recycled foil tape and carpet wool.
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hand-hooked rugs and a children’s book. Profits will go to creating programs aimed at kids, promoting the traditional craft of rug making to a new generation.
common. Not only were they passionate about rug hooking and all things fibre art but their farms were only 15 minutes apart. They quickly became friends, and started traveling to rug hooking events together, joined the current board of The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers and realized they both wanted to curate a global rug exhibition that would appeal to the next generation of rug hookers.
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