By searching through our members’ work on the private site we curated a new selection featuring original pieces from around the world. Visit GALLERY and enjoy the variety.
Tag: contemporary rug hooking
Enjoy a gallery of work by some of our Canadian members works representing nature in honor of CANADA DAY on July 1, 2014, the 147th anniversary of the British North American Act joining the Province of Canada with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as CANADA
These images were curated from our private site’s*** Gallery of members’ works.
***The site is a unique membership benefit which allows members to post images, participate in specialty groups, list events and send messages to other members. All of our newsletters are available online along with our constitution and educational handouts. See Membership Form for more reasons to join.
Udderly Canadian by Susan Sutherland, ON
St. Martins Covered Bridges by Lucy Richard, NB
Impressionistic Poppies by Sheila Stewart, BC
Blue Fish by Lynne Hunt, BC
Puffins by Marilyn Moore, NL
Northern Lights Bunny by Janice York, BC
Words influence the attitude one assumes when discussing their craft. Is it a profession, hobby, social/psychological/creative outlet? We are educating in casual conversation even with an initial title……. rugger, fiber artist, rug hooker, matter, hooker, textile artist, traditional rug hooker. Recently our international membership responded, many describing their mindset for the terminology:
Susan Sutherland, Ontario, Canada
“If someone asks me what I do, I generally say I’m a fibre artist and I use traditional rug hooking as my preferred method of creating my art. If I want to have someone ‘stop in their tracks’ I tell them first I’m a “hooker”, and then I qualify it and say I’m a fibre artist and I use traditional rug hooking methods that our pioneer mothers did.
There is so much misconception about rug hooking with strips of fabric that I find I’m always clarifying what I do. I sometimes say ‘I don’t knot nor do I use short pieces of wool yarn’, especially if someone says ‘Oh yes, I did that when I was a child or in school’. Most of those who say this in Canada are remembering latch hooking.”
Fritz Mitnick, Pennsylvania, USA
“I imagine most Americans say “I am a rug hooker“. I do proddy also. I also thought about our guild name. I never say the full name. I say the international guild or the international guild of rug hookers. Maybe I should start doing it right!
Of course my husband always introduces me saying, “This is Fritz. She is a hooker.”
Judi Tompkins, Australia
“Obviously I’m a “hooker”….and I usually explain that to be a great hooker means that I am a good stripper…..ah how I luv the ashen looked faces I see! Clearly I am the crazed, white-haired ol’ lady…. Sometimes – when I’m trying to be “nice” or “professional” I’ll ID myself as a “traditional fibre artist”….which means I don’t fall into an immediate category of “hooker” (many think of latch hooking) and opens the dialog about the spectrum of how these 3 words might be defined/applied.”
Heide Brown, British Columbia, Canada
“I say “I’m a Hooker.” Which always gets giggles or weird looks till someone, me if I’m alone, qualifies the term to — “Rug-hooker.”
I like “Rugger” — my friend here calls herself a “Matter” and our weekly hook group “Monday Matters”. (NOTE: TIGHR’s newsletter is called “Hooking Matters”)
Jenni Stuart-Anderson, Herefordshire, UK
“I call myself a rag rug maker or designer/maker depending on where it is.
I have not heard the term “rugger” here in UK, maybe rug maker but that could be a weaver. Of course everyone sniggers when I say hooker, even if the term is American.”
Lynne Hunt, British Columbia, Canada
“I think we all struggle with the term hooker. I find here on the Coast most folks think of latch hooking and the shag rugs of the seventies. I tell people I am a fibre artist (gulp). It is a fine art practised at many levels. Whether you design your own work or work with the designs of others, there is so much more in what we do. I tell people I make mats, for the wall, the floor, chairs, tables- only limited by your imagination. I explain that I use a backing of burlap or linen, strips of fibre, mostly wool, new and recycled and a hook similar to one used centuries ago. I explain that the process involves colour planning, maybe some dyeing and choosing textures and materials for your work.
So I am a mat maker in the tradition of our pioneer sisters, creating something functional and beautiful.”
Elizabeth Soderholm, Virginia, USA
“My husband loves that I call myself a hooker and it always grabs folks’ attention. Gives me a chance to talk about this wonderful fibre/fiber art. My boss (who is from Mississippi) will ask me on a Friday, in his lovely Southern drawl, “You goin’ hookin’ this weekend?” It’s probably the best way to bring attention to our craft outside of schlepping our rugs and other projects around with us.”
Liz Alpert Fay, Connecticut, USA
“I call myself : a textile artist or sometimes just an artist.
I make: hand hooked rugs and mixed media sculpture.”
Sarah Province, Maryland, USA
“I call myself a “fiber artist” and our medium “hooked fiber art”.
Jane LeBaron, British Columbia, Canada
“I variously call myself a hooker and braider, a quilter and bookbinder and general fibre freak. I am fully confident that upon one brief look at me people understand my intended context in use of the term “hooker”…
Rachelle Leblanc, Alberta, Canada
“I tell them that I am a fiber artist and I make fiber hookings.”
Mary Watson, Washington,USA
“I say, “I’m a fibre artist and paint with wool”.
Dianne Tobias, California, USA
“Since I came to hooking through braiding I introduce myself as a fiber artist then say I am a braider and a rug hooker. That seems to somewhat limit the usual jokes!”
Sheila Stewart, British Columbia, Canada
“I use the term fibre artist and then say I am a rug hooker.”
Linda Rae Coughlin, New Jersey, USA
“I tend to work with this statement, the response changes depending on who I am speaking with, i.e. fellow artist vs. a layperson.
I am an artist whose medium is textile. I create with the technique of rug hooking/stitching using recycled clothing and materials.”
During the 2009 Tri-Ennial held in Louisville, Kentucky, USA we asked attendees the terminology they used to describe favorite fiber techniques. Miriam Miller, an Australian is a rugger and spinner; Susan Feller West Virginia, USA a fiber artist specializing in rugmaking techniques; Kim Dubay, Maine USA fiber artist; Jacqui Thomson, Australia a rugger and spinner; Iris Simpson, Ontario Canada a Hooker; Yvonne Muntwyler, Ontario Canada a Fiber Artist in rughooking medium.
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Featured Artists
October 15-19, 2014 along with Roslyn Logsdon, Rachelle Leblanc, Alberta Canada and Peg Irish, New Hampshire USA will be the featured artists with their collections of fiber works during Hooked in the Mountains XVII at Champlain Valley Eposition, Essex Junction, Vermont.
Peg Irish is a founding member of TIGHR, past Editor and active contributor to our online site. Her work tells stories and portrays an artistic skill in the dye pots. The piece illustrated includes a hand painted scene for the view out the window. Planned for the shrinkage of loops the wool fabric was dyed, cut and hooked into a Vermont landscape.
Rachelle Leblanc lived in the eastern provinces of Canada until recently. Her move to Alberta did not halt exploring visual art using rug hooking. The sensitivity to her subjects (often family members) is evident from Bed of Violets. Self described as a Fine Craft Artist concentrating in the medium of rughooking, Leblanc is using traditional craft as an artist’s tool. Artsquest.ca produced an interview click here for the text and images.
The Spring 2014 issue of Fiber Art Now features “rug hooking artists who are making strides on the trek toward gaining respect” in the world of contemporary art, according to author Trudi Van Dyke. Editor, Marcia Young has provided the full article for this post. Click Fiber Art Now p40-45- rug hooking spring ’14
Congratulations to TIGHR members, Liz Alpert Fay and Michelle Sirois-Silver who are represented in the interviews with examples of their diverse work.
Liz creates spontaneous original works with such unusual things as shoelaces hooked onto a wire frame. Her technique is what carries on the rug hooking tradition.
Michelle’s work has been impacted by her awareness of reclaiming and repurposing, using, in the Recovery Method series, hosiery seconds from Katherine Soucie’s clothing line.
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Plein Air Rug Hooking!
We all know the time involved in pulling loops, using different colors and creating hooked artwork. Imagine working outside capturing changing light effects as artists in other media can more quickly and you have experienced being a PLEIN AIR HOOKING ARTIST.
Lori LaBerge reported in Hooking Matters Vol 20 Issue 3 :
“Sitting on the deck hooking one day, I grabbed my frame and wool and walked out into the local field. If painters can work plein air (in the open air), why couldn’t rug hookers hook on location. This entails no use of photographs for reference. One hooks what one is viewing.
I had such a wonderful time, I decided to create a website, Plein Air Hooking Artists, that will display the work of rug hookers working en plein air and promote rug hooking as art. Members work on their own and send photos of their work for me to place on the site. Please join us by contacting me through the site under Join Us. Membership will be ongoing for those serious about their work and who will regularly contribute to the visual experience.”
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Happy Thanksgiving Worldwide
October 13, 2013 is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. We extend thanks for our fibre friends around the world. The photo of fall tree line and crisp blue sky above was taken by Don Hill in Ontario.
In keeping with this term’s theme “Back to Nature”, we feature a collection of seasonal treats created by Susan Sutherland of Ontario, Canada. The pattern and article by Mary Ann Goetz about making these creations can be found in the Sept/Oct 2011 issue of Rug Hooking Magazine.
Happy Australia Day to our past board members and all the rughooking enthusiasts throughout the continent.
While attending the Tri-Ennial, we exchanged small 4″ x 6″ mats with a theme of “The Sky’s the Limit”. This gallery represents many of the Australians’ creations. ARG refers to the Australian Rugmakers Guild, our hosts.
For the first time, a video was created archiving several members participating in the Tri-Ennial in Australia. The questions asked were: Why are you a member of TIGHR? and What are you doing with rugmaking?
Two versions were edited, the shorter one has been posted here under Membership (Why Join TIGHR) and the full length edition will be on our members’ only site. By searching on YouTube for Rug Hooking, International Rug Hooking, the public can also view the video and be directed to www.tighr.net
Perhaps you too want to answer our questions. If not a member of TIGHR, consider joining or comment on what you are doing with the rug hooking techniques in your toolbox.
Our bags are packed, E-Tickets printed and off we go to OZ, Australia. Members from Spain, Israel, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States are flying around the world to meet with the Australians in Strathalbyn, South Australia. The Tri-Ennial officially begins Monday, 15 October and continues through Friday. The weekend will be filled with workshops at the EXPO featuring international instructors and members and friends of the Australian Rughooking Guild, at Strathalbyn Town Hall.
Our new Board will be transitioning into action, and be in full swing as of January, the month for RENEWALS of membership. After 19 October check our Membership page for the details.