RETREAT IN THE MOUNTAINS 2017

Wool drying after a dyeing demonstration by Nancy Parcels

Finally home after two and a half weeks on the road. The weekend before last was spent in West Virginia at Susan Feller's annual Retreat in the Mountains. We worked, hooked, shared and laughed. 

Everyone participated in sharing an interest. Some topics were yoga, movement, making a footstool, color planning in a dyepot (results in photo above), information on Penland School of Craft, hooking with velvet , TED talks on creativity, a TIGHR video and much more. The interests of group members are varied and many.

This was the 10th anniversary of the Retreat. Congratulations and thank you to Susan for all the work she puts into this. 

Here are some of the rugs worked on or shared over the weekend:

by Brenda Reed

by Shirley Hairston

by Deb Smith

by Susan Feller

in progress work by Karen Larsen

by Patti Burr

by Myra Davis

by Randi Cohen

by Nancy Parcels

in progress work by Beth Zerweck-Tembo

There were many more projects both in progress and completed. Next year promises many more.

HOOKED RUGS AT "RETREAT INTO THE MOUNTAINS 2015"

Susan Feller leads the way during a woodland walk to a local waterfall at "Retreat in the Mountains 2015".

A wonderful weekend of education, hooking, laughter and music was had by all.

Here are some of the rugs seen during the Sunday "Throwdown", where we place rugs on the porch for all to see.

Partial shot of rug being worked on by Elaine Montambeau.  The colors pop against the neutral blue-grays.  3-D flowers add to the beauty.

Close-up of Keri Sue Brunk's geometric.  Note the variation of hooking in alternating circles that she incorporated.  Colors are a dream.

This rug hooked by Liz Gordon shows her love of folk art.  Lots of neutrals in this with a wonderful pop of turquoise.

Beth Tembo was working on this piece last year and now we get to see the completed work.  The contrasting geometric design on the sides compliments the piece nicely.  Special thanks to Beth for helping me out with our weaving session.  Never would have completed my little 4 x 4 square without her help.

Deb Smith, editor of Rug Hooking Magazine, brought along this work to show.  It has a beautiful crocheted edging she explained to us over the weekend.  Note the sparseness of this piece with the subtle snowflakes in the background.

Deb also explained the dye process for the beautiful mix of color in the background of this piece. (Partial photo of work)

Karen Larsen was working on some Koi fish.  This shot gives a good idea of how the blue background on the top will show up against the motifs in the rug.  The blues will show off the fish beautifully.


Geometric hooked by Nancy Parcels.  The unexpected pop of bright yellow Nancy added brings life and a contemporary feel to this traditional design.   

  Part of Susan Feller's year long study.  She has been experimenting with different fiber techniques and creating a square a day for 365 days.  All twelve months will be on display at Sauder Village Rug Week this August.

Tracy Granger's geometric hooking.  Orange is my favorite color and it mixes great with the turquoise blues in this piece.  Beautiful color changes while still keeping the piece balanced.

 Jen Pelton joined us this year and brought along her little chick.  She added real chicken feathers in the chick itself, a shag effect with wool strips for the upper section of bedding and traditional hooking.  Definitely a chick with attitude.

Shirley Hairston is creating a large spiral rug and the photo above is just the beginning.  Looking forward to seeing this one completed.  It takes careful choosing of colors and values to make such a large piece come together.

I'm already looking forward to next year to see what members of this group will be working on, sharing, and creating throughout the year.

Check out more information on the activities we participated in over the weekend by reading Susan Feller's blog here and have a great day.

DISCUSSING DESIGN AT A RUG HOOKING RETREAT

I'm putting up what I can this week.  Internet access has been sporadic this week on the road.

Susan Feller hosted Retreat into the Mountains last weekend in a beautiful wooded setting.  We received our exercise by walking to a waterfall, relaxed and hooked while sitting in rocking chairs on the porch and received large doses of inspiration by sharing our thoughts on 

design. 

One of many beautiful views on our walks.

I recently wrote an article on plein air for RugBeat Magazine’s April issue and had the chance to speak about composition in plein air at the retreat. Susan spoke on her year long project creating daily five inch squares in a monthly format, Karen Larson shared her graphic design background along with her design process, Nancy Parcels shared the design aspect of a hooked barn, Tracy Granger showed us work created by the blind along with work from the Rug Aid Project and Beth Tembo brought photos of kuba cloth which inspired her latest creation.

What always intrigues me about meeting a group like this is the variety of interests and enthusiasm for all aspects of rug hooking.  One can be so energized and excited to return to the studio and create.

Here are a few of the pieces showing the variety of hooking genres seen and/or discussed at the retreat:

Geometric -- Beth Tembo

Modern textural -- Liz Gordon

Large floral -- Shirley Hairston

Architectural -- Karen Larson

Realism -- Nancy Parcels 

Year long project -- Susan Feller

Contemporary color -- Deb Smith

Deb is editor of Rug Hooking Magazine, which can be found here.

There was a true appreciation for the direction each of the members took with their work.  Explore where you are headed with your art, narrow down your real interests, be true to yourself and have a great day.

If anyone mentioned here has a website or blog I missed, please email me at lorilaberge@gmail.com and I will update with your info.