Re-imagined a Challenge with a Difference

It’s a Wrap

ISSN 2207-001X – December 2018

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 the Ballarat (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 –

you’ll find them here .

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.

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.

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.

Beanies were made, entered and sold in the Alice Springs Beanie Festival

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.

Its a Small World – for Rug Hookers

ISSN 2007-001X 3rd September 2018

Sharon from Ohio with Jo from Australia at “Re-imagined” booth, Rug Hooking Week, Sauder Village

Rug Hooking Week in Sauder Village, Archbold, Ohio, was the place to meet rug hooking friends old and new from across USA and Canada and a chance to put faces to contacts made on Social Media.
Speaking with Sharon Felton from Ohio, our first visitor to the “Re-imagined” Exhibit booth, I discovered we had a mutual friend …… Miriam Miller, Pres. Emeritus of the Australian Rugmakers Guild. When Sharon visited with her daughter who was living in Australia, she took a workshop from Miriam. On her return to the US they kept in touch and Miriam and Jacqui visited with Sharon on their way to a TIGHR Conference. Pictures of Sharon’s finished rugs have shown in Miriam’s newsletter – no wonder her name sounded familiar. Sharon is currently working on a design which she described as ……..

Sharon Felton’s current project a Sharon Smith pattern

“started out as one of Sharon Smith’s patterns…then she went to the market ….. my little country bunny in progress I am having so much fun with all the dimension, she just keeps on growing …. lol”

Coincidently, Sharon Smith, of Off the Hook Wool Rugs with helper, Nada Ferris, had the booth next to our “Re-imagined” space. Hanging on the wall of Sharon Smith’s rug booth was a colourful image of a flower which I’d shared on the Guild’s Facebook page – it was good to meet these online contacts. Also, to know there’s a rug hooking group in the Bay Area East of San Francisco.

Sharon Felton, Ohio and Sharon A Smith Walnut Creek, California

As we talked, Sharon Felton was joined by her friend Joyce Krueger from Wisconsin’s Cream City Rug Hooking Guild who I met at my first McGown Teachers Workshop in Eugene, Oregon. Joyce’s rug “King” is in Celebrations 28`It was an interesting start to the day!

“King” designed and hooked by Joyce Krueger, Wisconsin

Barbara Lukas who visited Australia for the TIGHR 2012 Conference had a booth at Rug Hooking Week, her business, Art in Textile focusses on translating Canadian art into textile forms, which lend themselves to passing on the beauty created by one generation to the next.

These forms include traditional rug hooking, punch needle hooking, embroidery, wool appliqué, quilting and felting. Maud Lewis is one artist and there will be more artists in the future.

Maud Lewis Christmas card and hooked version by Barbara Lukas, photo by Janine Broscious

Barbara owns several original Christmas Cards painted by Maud Lewis, a well-known Canadian folk artist from Nova Scotia. Copyright is owned by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and Barbara has been given license to produce and sell patterns of the Christmas card images.

About the Exhibit, Barbara said ………..

“Kathy Wright was the curator of the exhibit at Sauder. She put out a call on Facebook for finished rugs which could be featured in the exhibit. There were many rugs in the show besides mine and Doug Rankin’s. Kathy also led a session to describe Maud’s life to a pre-registered group, and invited Doug Rankin and me to be vendors. Art In Textile has different patterns than Highland Heart Hookery. Doug has quite a few and I have twelve. My license also extends to other textile forms, as spelled out above.”

Maud Lewis Exhibition, Rug Hooking Week, Sauder Village, Ohio. Curator Kathy Wright, photo by Janine Broscious

Maud Lewis Exhibition. Curator Kathy Wright, Photographer Janine Broscious

Maud Lewis Exhibition, Curator Kathy Wright, Photograph Janine Broscious

Anne Neely Boissinot – another long-time TIGHR friend and one of the Judges for Celebrations 28, stopped by with Janine Broscious, whose

“Dragonfly Dream” designed and Hooked by Janine Broscious

Dragonfly rug was featured on the “Re-imagined” Facebook page as a good example of embellished rug hooking.

On Facebook, we’re currently following Janine’s new rug design taken from a photo of her and husband Matt on a rocky shore in front of a lighthouse. The faces in the design with only a small amount of detail portray strong emotions. The sky shows realistic movement. It is interesting to follow her progress online and to see the growth of this hooked piece as she tackles the water, shoes and rocks. Janine and husband Matt were at this event in their motor home – here’s a picture of one of their rug hooking neighbours.

Jan a travelling rug hooker at Rug Hooking Week, in campground at Sauder Village. Photograph by Janine Broscious

TIGHR members mentioned here are known to many members of the Australian Guild, but Aussie members are not as familiar with members of the Pearl K McGown Guild, even so, I will continue to “drop names”. What a surprize to see Charlotte Price walking towards me. In 2002 Charlotte was my sponsor to the McGown Teachers workshop in Eugene, Oregon. Over the five years I attended the annual workshops to complete my accreditation I met many rug hooking instructors from the USA and Canada.

Liz Marino of South Egremont, Massachusetts is the McGown webmaster, we had only connected online so I was pleased to meet face to face. Liz designed and hooked her 2018 Celebration’s piece (14.5 x 18inches) adapted from a painting by Giovanni Battista Salvia da Sassoferrato.

Liz Marino with her hooked adaption of “The Blessed Virgin”

Green Mountain Rugs – I sat in on a presentation by 3 members (2 generations) of women representing 5 generations of a rug hooking family. Mariah Krauss the youngest, her mother Stephanie Allen-Krauss and her aunt, Pam Kirk.
There’s more information on the family (time line) here
and some additional info about each of them,

Gallery Talk – Rug Hooking Week, Sauder Village. Stephanie Allen-Krauss and Mariah Krauss talking about Green Mountain Hooked Rugs as a family business.

At the presentation, they spoke of the family history – Mariah’s great-great-grandmother who at the tender age of 19 started a rug hooking business in an era when women were not involved in business.
What making rugs meant to each of them personally as well as building a working relationship with each other within a family business

Pam Kirk, Stephanie Allen-Krauss and Mariah Krauss with hooked piece by Mariah of her Grandmother Anne Ashworth representing three of the five generations.

and “that damn rug”, a 5ft x 23ft rug which Mariah’s grandmother, the matriarch of Green Mountain Hooked Rugs, was commissioned to hook. When design delays by the purchaser left only 6 months to complete, newspaper advertisements were placed to find additional rughookers so it could be finished within the time allowed.

“That damn rug” 5ft x 23ft designed & hooked by Anne Ashworth

This rug has been in place on Green Mountain’s studio floor for 10 years. Follow this link to read how that “Damn rug” came home.

We were introduced to Sibyl Osicka at the TIGHR Conference in Kentucky, USA in 2009. Sibyl has been a long-time officer of ATHA and has had many of her rugs published in Rug Hooking Magazine’s Celebrations.

Nadine Cloutier is another Facebook contact. Nadine’s rug (below) was featured in progress on the Aussie Rugmakers Guild Facebook as an interesting technique to be used. Nadine says “This rug is a study about creating a new design layer on top of a previously designed pattern.”

Nadine Cloutier, Brighton, Michigan. “Pretty Maids in a Row” – designer Tish Murphy Fruit & Floral

“Re-imagined” a Challenge with a Difference becomes

“Re-imagined” a virtual Exhibition

Have you wondered why and how we created the virtual Exhibition? To answer the many questions during the Challenge we decided to make a video explanation – here it is

“Textile Tessera“ – created as an example of embellished rug work by Jo Franco, Judi Tompkins and Peta Korb, exhibited at the “Re-imagined” booth – has now dispersed ;

No. 1 “Kimberly Colour” by Jo Franco – to Florida with Pam Kirk
No. 2 “Bungle Bungles” by Jo Franco – to Queensland
No. 3 “Lorikeet flock meets Road train – Flattened Fauna” by Judi Tompkins to Nova Scotia, with Meryl Cook

Meryl Cook, Nova Scotia, Canada & friend with Textile Tessera No.3

June Reynolds, Ohio with Jo Franco, Western Australia, with Textile Tessera No.4

No. 4 “Tropicana” by Jo Franco – staying in Ohio, with June Reynolds
No. 5 “Fibre Oasis” by Judi Tompkins – going home with Jo to West Australia
No. 6 “Interactive Wearable Art” – by Judi Tompkins – went to Cami Smith in Seattle, Washington State
No. 7 “State of Mind:The Unbearable Lightness of Being” – by Judi Tompkins is also in Washington state; south of Seattle in Auburn with Judy Taylor
No. 8 “Citadel: The Political Divide” by Judi Tompkins – went home to West Virginia with Susan Feller
No. 9 “Assemblage: Recollections of Another Time” by Judi Tompkins – has gone to Walunt Creek, California, with Sharon Smith
No. 10 “Big timber to the sea” by Jo Franco – to Vermont with Kris McDermet
No. 11 “Apple Isle” by Jo Franco is now in Pennsylvania with Tracy
No. 12 “Coral – Beyond a pinkish shade of Orange” by Jo Franco went to Florida, with Pam Kirk.

Rug Hooking Magazine’s “Celebration 28” Exhibition

While there were many amazing rugs on exhibit – here are some of my favourites

“Glacier National Park” Original design by Ken Hamlin, Adrian, Michigan.

Across from our booth “Glacier National Park” an original design hooked by Ken Hamlin of Adrian Michigan – was of special interest to me as my husband was born in this mountainous area of the United States.

On the same wall was “Café-Shadows” another original design – this one by Martha Rosenfeld, Kalamazoo, Michigan. My apologies to the artists if my photography doesn’t do their work justice.

“Cafe Shadows” an original design hooked by Martha Rosenfeld, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Trish Johnson’s “Honest Eds” street scene. I just loved this hooked tapestry especially the reflections in the store windows of the cars out on the road.
“Aaron” by Russell Nichols

Celebrations 28; “Aaron” designed hooked by Russell L Nichols. Image shared from Rug Hooking Magazine Facebook post

The use of light to bring out detail in this grayscale portrait was addressed by Susan Feller in the Gallery Talk – so it was interesting to see this artist’s use of bright colour in his animal pieces

YES!! an Australian entry in Celebrations 28

“Temple Fish“. by Gail Nichols (Braidwood, New South Wales)
Unfortunately Gail’s rug was not on display, however Gail is a finalist and there is still time to place a “Readers Choice” vote – click the link below and follow the prompts https://www.rughookingmagazine.com/voting/Readers-Choice

Val Flannigan, a McGown Guild member, pictured here with Janine Broscious who took many of the rug images shown in this blog. Two of Val’s rugs were on exhibit, “Elephant” and another of my favourites “Fiddler” – standing in front of the actual work, the fiddler was almost dancing off the wall.

“Elephant” hooked by Val Flannigan with Janine Broscious

Here are some more of my favourite rugs shown on the Celebrations 28 Readers Choice page :

“America” – 30x41in – designed and hooked by Nancy Thun, Hoboken, New Jersey

“Liberty” 18x28in – designed and hooked by Sharon Smith, Walnut Creek, California.

“Back Lit Jack Pine” 47 x 30 in – designed and hooked by Donna Brunner, Westerose, Alberta, Canada

“Scotty McGruff” 16 x 16in designed and hooked by Laura W Pierce, Petaluma, California

“At Jesus’ Feet” 26 x 38 in – Designed and hooked by Eric Sandberg, Onancock, Virginia.

During the day at Rug Hooking Week, contact with my “Re-imagined” Co-Convener was via Facebook messenger. Susan Feller and I spent the evenings updating our Facebook pages. We were surprised late one night when the screen on my laptop lit up and who should appear, calling me on Skype … Judi Tompkins she was a passenger in their car in Queensland, Australia, 14 hours into our tomorrow … cyberspace at its best! Judi’s comment; “Um …. I think Jo and Susan can hear me talking in their sleep”

Online Connection – Australia & Sauder Village – Rug Hooking Week 2018

Wrap Up – at the end of a wonderful week –
from Susan Feller:
“This is how neatly the show pieces are prepared for owners to pick up and check out at end of Rug Hooking Week at Sauder Village. There is no way names can be put on a list of thank yous, someone would be left off. Suffice to say the ENTIRE staff of Sauder Village knows how to make their guests feel part of a welcome community. A big thank you to Kathy Wright who loves spreadsheets and I believe has one programmed in her brain she is that organized, with a smile for all !
She gives herself one day off then begins the plans for 2019 August 12-17 (put it on your calendar).”

I second Susan’s comments and look forward to returning to Rug Hooking Week ..…. one day. This “LONG” report, much of which has already been posted on Facebook, is shared here for those of you who don’t “do” Facebook. Visiting with rug hooking friends continues as I wend my way home to Perth.

Hope you enjoy reading about the event as much as I enjoyed being there –

and … here is what prompted this trip –

The virtual “Re-imagined” Exhibition is what took me to Sauder Village this year – to see the online Gallery – Click this link to enter https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/121832/re-imagined

IT’S IN THE BAG

ISSN 2007-001X August 2018

Textile Tessera, a collaborative hooked installation by Judi Tompkins, Peta Korb and myself, is packed in the suitcase ready to take and show at the Opening, at Sauder Village, Ohio, USA, of “Re-imagined” a Challenge with a Difference .

In this video produced by Kira Mead, Judi talks about how the challenge came to be.

This time next week I will be in Ohio setting up the installation and displays. As the online Exhibition will be viewed on a big screen, this collaborative installation was created so visitors could actually handle pieces made with different rug making techniques, fabrics and embellishments.

The “Re-imagined” exhibit, will include hands-on-demonstrations of various techniques. Images of works by Guild members and information about the Guild and its members will be on display.

Above is just one of 12 pages of different rugmaking techniques – click here to see them all.

The online “Re-imagined” Exhibition convened by Judi and me resulted from our Challenge to all textile artist in the Southern Hemisphere in order to promote the use of various rug making techniques in other disciplines and to encourage those already pulling and pushing fabrics through an open weave to create a hooked surface, to use embellishments and work outside their comfort zone.

While some of the Australian Rugmakers Guild members follow the North American traditions of rugmaking and use wool fabric strips or wool yarn – there is an increasing interest in the use of recycled fabric. The recycling aspect of the craft resonates with those who are following the “War on Waste” and who have become interested in the return to traditional “slow” crafts.
Generally speaking, rug making is not held in high esteem by other textile artists. Our aim was to show the craft of rug making can be effective in social, environmental and artistic pursuits.

We hope you enjoy this video of our collaborative entry and we look forward to showing you through our Gallery Exhibition.

Jo Franco and Judi Tompkins

June and July, a time for travelling

ISSN 2007-001X August 2018

At the end of June, Miriam Miller from Milton and a group from the Narrawilly Proggy Rugmakers travelled to the Sydney Craft Fair at Darling Harbour and along with Martha Birch and Helen Orr of Sydney, talked rug hooking with fair goers at the Australian Rugmakers Guild stand organized by Martha.

In July, Miriam and Jacqui Thomson, drove even further north to visit family, friends and rug hookers. Their long road trip also being a trial run – “what to pack considering differing weather conditions” – in preparation for their overseas travels later in the year when they’ll attend the The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers (TIGHR) Conference in the UK in October and a knitting tour in Iceland in November. The temperatures on this trip ranged from 27C at Atherton to -7C in the mornings at Dubbo and Cowra.

They covered 6,600.03 kilometres (yes, they clocked it down the last fraction of a kilometre). Their route taking them from Milton on the south coast of New South Wales, over the mountains and up the inland route through the outback of New South Wales and Queensland to Atherton on the Atherton Tablelands near Cairns in the far north of Australia. Their travel journal is detailed in Miriam’s newsletter “Connecting Us” July/August issue, archived on the Guild website.

This map shows (roughly) the stops they made along the way; Blayney, Mudgee, Lightning Ridge, Surat, Emerald, Charters Towers, Atherton, Bowen, Gladstone Coolum Beach, Landsborough, Brisbane, Murwillumbah, Byron Bay, Texas, (yes there is a Texas in Australia) Warialda, Dubbo and Cowra.
After leaving Lightning Ridge – famous for mining of black opals, they drove 75ks East to Surat and stayed at the Myall Park Botanical gardens at Glenmorgan, for two nights, and … “enjoyed the walks, short and long, examining the Australian flora all named and described. This whole area is maintained by volunteers. On the property gifted by Dorothy Gordon are the three grevilleas the Gordon’s bred, named after their three daughters – ”Robyn Gordon” is the best known (The Grevillia walk would be spectacular in the spring).”

On the return trip they drove the coastal route and in Coolum Beach, met up with Annette White a former Narrawilly Proggy Rugmaker now a member of the Sunshine Coast RugCrafters

and visited the groups leader, Judi Tompkins in her new home in Landsborough.

and three more members of the Sunshine Coast RugCrafters.

The next stop was Murwillumbah, where they visited the Art Gallery and the Margaret Olley Exhibition. This was followed by two nights in Byron Bay visiting a former member of the Narrawilly Proggy Rugmakers who, when she lived in Milton, was famous for keeping the fabric shelves tidy in Miriam’s Rug Room. Her rug below would remind anyone who has been in Miriam’s studio of the colourful of wall fabric.

Then it was off to Texas on the QLD-NSW border to visit the Rabbit Museum, which the travellers said is most interesting and worth a visit. Those new to Australia might not know of the rabbit problem – The battle of the Bunny – and the steps taken to overcome the scourge, i.e. the introduction of the disease Myxomatosis and the rabbit-proof fences – like the one that separated Western Australia from the rest of the country. As a child I remember driving from Perth to the East Coast with my parents, and being the one designated to get out and open and shut the gate.

Their final stop was Cowra where their accommodations really made an impression on them – “a fully self-contained cottage in a vineyard surrounded on three sides by grape vines with a creek in front. There was wine, biscuits, cheese and chocolates on arrival – 7 kinds of fruit and food for a very substantial breakfast! Lovely heating, interesting books galore, DVD’s, comfortable furniture and beds, all washing facilities, washing machine & dryer. Big picture windows looking out over the vineyard.”

So impressed were the travellers they provided details: Tinnies, Back Creek Vineyard, Chiverton Road, Cowra. Hosts Bob & Meg Clark. http://www.tinniesatbackcreekvineyard.com.au/

This trip was no mean feat, it was a serious driving holiday, with many sections involving 4.5 – 5.5 hours on outback roads and extremely winding roads through the Great Dividing Range.

Good going Miriam and Jacqui!

In a few days it’ll be my turn to travel – flying not driving, to Rug Hooking Week at Sauder Village, Ohio, USA for the Opening of our “Re-imagined” Exhibition, which I hope to share with you on this page on 17th August.

Until then – Happy Hooking – Jo Franco, Editor

Challenges of Collaboration

ISSN 2007-001X April 2018

“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 a common 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 require attention and get in the way. I however managed to add selling a house, moving and 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 of which 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!

Visiting South Australia

ISSN 2007-1X 17th September, 2017

StrathMatters, Strathalbyn, South Australia

On my way home from Queensland, driving across the country to Western Australia, I stopped in at Strathalbyn, South Australia to visit with the StrathMatters rug hooking group, who meet in the supper room of the Town Hall on High Street. Members of TIGHR will remember this was the location where we held workshops after the TIGHR Triennial Conference in 2012.

What a hive of activity there was last Friday morning. Even with several members away on holidays and one in hospital, there was a large group around the table, all busy on a variety of projects. Chris seated at the end of this table is making a proggy rug using recycled jeans.

Here are some of their projects……

Noreen’s colourful hooked piece will become a tote bag. Irene is working on a rug design outlined in black to represent a stained glass window and Annette was busily making a toothbrush rug.

Heather, who is also a spinner, is using a mixture of wools for this hooked piece she designed, including some yarn she had spun herself.

While busy hooking Maggie and Marlene were in conversation across the table with Annie who was also creating a toothbrush rug.

The hooked fish is by Jenny L one of the 3 Jenny’s in the group.

Jenny B has designed something small and simple for her first hooked piece.

Trish has already finished a Christmas project, a proggy wreath to which she’s added a string of battery operated lights. She tells me her next wreath will be made entirely of the red Christmas ribbon and it will also have the little lights.

In the foreground is Judith’s latest proggy rug in progress. Trish is explaining to Cheryl how to create a bowl by crocheting over rope and below you can see Cheryl seems to have mastered the process.

The groups upcoming rug retreat at Robe on the coast of South Australia was a topic of discussion. Group members and their spouses will stay in caravans and cabins in a caravan park by the beach and the rugmakers will work on a “secret” rug hooking project planned for them by their leader, Judith Stephens, the Guild’s President.

I was pleased to have had the opportunity to talk about “Re-imagined” a Challenge with a Difference” that Judi Tompkins(Qld) and I have launched.

“Re-imagined“ offers fibre and textile artists an opportunity to participate (for no charge!) in a new kind of fibre art challenge open to all rugmakers and textile artists who live in the Southern Hemisphere!

We encourage all members of the Australian Rugmakers Guild to enter as individuals or in collaboration with others in their groups to show the creative and innovative work they are producing.

TIMELINE for “Re-imagined“; between now and the end of 2017 submit an entry form containing your name, email contact and a brief bio of your textile pursuits (up to 150 words) i.e what textile techniques you use; your general interest in textiles; if you are a rug maker how you came to rugmaking ……. and of course what part of the country you live in.
THAT’S IT – no need to include anything about your creation on the entry form …… in fact you may not have thought about what you are going to submit.

A digital image of finished work must be submitted by end of April 2018. There will be much more to come on the “Re-imagined” website’s – FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) page including information about photographing your work and what type of images to send.

“Re-imagined” will debut August 2018 at a premier rug hooking event in the USA. The virtual Exhibition will be hosted by online media in Australia.

We enjoyed our stay with Judith in her new house full of rugs; on the walls, on the floor and on the furniture

Happy & Creative rug hooking

Jo Franco, Editor

To copy or not to copy?

ISSN 2007-001X 12th September, 2017

With promotion of “Re-imagined” a Challenge with a Difference underway, it seems appropriate to bring up that controversial subject “copyright” vs “inspiration”.

Much has been written on craft Blogs about this often misunderstood subject.
Recently two good references were posted on the Australian Rugmakers Guild Facebook page

“Owning It” written by Sharon Givoni, an Australian Intellectual Property Lawyer, see a review by Lynda Worthington of Artwear Publications.

The other is a Flow Chart published in the USA, Springfield, Missouri, by Ginger Davis Allman of The Blue bottle Tree (Polymer Clay Tutorials & Info) along with an interesting article by Ginger on this subject and about her lessons learned. While Ginger is talking polymer clay, I think the information applies equally to textiles and rugmaking.
Ginger’s flow chart designed for the hobbyists and crafts-person is very easy to follow and may be copied for personal use providing the author is acknowledged, and includes the copyright information on the form.

Rug maker Kris Miller (Spruce Ridge Studios, USA) has written several Blogs on this subject. Here is the most recent Blog which covers Copyright from a rugmakers point of view.

To summarize – and remember I am not a lawyer or an expert on copyright – just someone interested who has read many articles on this subject.
Generally speaking, anything created prior to 1923 is in the public domain and can be used as inspiration (copied) as long as the artist (if known) and where the work was seen, is acknowledged.
After 1923 – it’s best to assume all works are copyrighted, which covers the life of the artist + 70 years and no amount of change (many different percentages are bandied about) allows any work to be copied without the written permission of the artist.
A work would have to be changed so much that it was unrecognizable – if that’s the case why not create your own design to begin with.

With regard to what can or cannot be copyrighted, it should be noted some subjects, such as animals and landscapes and traditional craft techniques and ideas, cannot be copyrighted. However, an animal shown in a certain way or as a design on a logo or brand of a corporation can be copyrighted.

If you feel you’re unable to come up with an idea without some form of ‘reference’ ….. use your own photographs, but be sure and document the place and time and any details of your photographs so your can trace back to you own inspirational image should your work finish up resembling that of another artist.

Problems arise because many people think; if they’re creating a work of art for their own enjoyment with no intention of using it commercially or to show, then it’s OK to copy and just acknowledge the artist.

Unfortunately this doesn’t work – even if you don’t share on Facebook, or Pinterest or various online newsletters and Blogs, one of your friends might, and before you know it – you’ve gone VERY public indeed.

A recent example of this was a guild member who used an image from a quilt design for her rug. Since it was purely for her own use she thought all she had to do was acknowledge the artist. She submitted two rug images for inclusion in the Guild newsletter and was advised that for the copied piece to be published she would need written permission from the artist. She applied and her application was rejected. The other image she’d submitted, a rug of her own design, which she didn’t think was very good, was shown on the Guild Facebook page. Having seen both images, I think her own piece (shown below) was equally effective in both colour and design as the copied design.

The bottom line here is either purchase a commercial pattern, or come up with your own design without copying another artists work.
Remember, simple ideas i.e. geometrics, can be very effective.

You really don’t know what you can do until you try!

Trying to create something different, is the basis of the current Challenge and why the Call for Entries has such strict instructions as to the use of so many unusual embellishments.

Don’t let your Challenge entry be rejected because you’ve copied the work of another artist.

This is the reason we want members to understand the difference between “inspiration” and “copying”

and

we’re looking forward to many entries being submitted.

Jo Franco, Editor & Judi Tompkins, Communications Chair

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From Jo …………

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