"CLIFF BY THE SEA", PREPARATION FOR PENLAND CLASS

"Cliff by the Sea"  13 1/4 X 10 X 2 1/2  Lori LaBerge 2012

One more rock rug was completed before I spend the next two weeks taking a weaving class at Penland. The rock used for "Cliff by the Sea" reminded me of the White Cliffs of Dover.  A photo of the cliffs can be seen here. Since the area of the cliffs has a fence line, I created one for my own "cliff".

 Close-up of fence and rock,  "Cliff by the Sea"  Lori LaBerge  2012

The fence took on a rougher look, weathered a bit by time. Old picture hangers, nails, wire and fishing weights were gathered. The weights were used as buoys hanging from the upright posts of the fence.

I have also been busy ordering supplies for a rug weaving class with Michael Rohde at Penland. It is a two-week course with studios open 24-7.  I will let you know how it is going next week.  The thought of combining weaving and rug hooking has been in the back of my mind for a while and I am hoping I can acquire enough skills to make this happen.

Since I am new to weaving and have not created a design yet, I had a difficult time ordering colors.  How much of each color will I need?  There is red, orange, light purple, dark purple, white and black.  Hopefully, it will all work out.

Some of the typical supplies for classes.  On the back right side, there is  a book on rug techniques by Peter Collingwood.  I'm finding the book fairly technical.  It should be easier to follow when I am actually looking at a loom rather than visualizing one.  I could not find a site of the late Peter Collingwood's work, but his son Jason has a great site here.  Lots of geometric eye candy under the gallery heading.

Here are items I am totally unfamiliar with.  On top are a heddle hook, for threading and a rug beater for packing down each row of weaving.  The second row is a temple for keeping the edges of the rug straight.  The bottom two are stick shuttles for holding the yarn as weaving is done.  Do I sound like I know what I'm talking about?  I'm so much more comfortable with rug hooking tools.

Yesterday, I started creating an art journal with photos of colors, textures, and ideas for the class. It is great to feel like a kid again, cutting and pasting photos from magazines. 

Here is my journal page on texture.  Bumpy, rough, furry, I love them all!  Most of the photos I cut out are from one of my favorite magazines, Interior Design.  

Next up were design and color.  You can really learn a lot about yourself by doing this exercise.   There was no surprise that I veer toward contemporary designs.  The surprise came with the circles, not a shape I find myself using much.  I love all color combinations, but analogous ruled with a bit of complementary.  The simple act of pasting one picture over another gave me some great ideas for future pieces.

Grab yourself an art journal (you don't need anything fancy), reach for your inner child and have a great day.

JASPER ROCK RUG AND BROKEN JEWELRY

"Jasper Out of Reach" 12" X 9 3/4" X 4" Lori LaBerge  2012

It's funny how things come together. I knew when I saw the piece of red jasper above that the rug for it would revolve around the colors of Sedona, Arizona and the western U.S. The color of the jasper is very similar to that of the red rocks for which Sedona is known.

Colors of wool used based on the photos below.

There were actually more shades of green out west than I expected.

Shades of orange, red, green, black and white seen in the rocks.

I have ideas for every piece, but don't always fully develop how they will be implemented at the beginning of the project. When the rug section was finished, I took a break to clean the bedroom closet. There I was, cleaning a shelf, when I picked up one of my necklaces and the chains broke and fell all over the closet floor.

I honestly had no interest in putting the chains back together because I was already thinking of a way to use one of them in the rock rug. The last two of the rock rugs have dealt with barriers and what better barrier than a chain. 

 Close-up of chain, nails, wire, and washers used for barrier.

I love creativity. It is always amazing to me how people think in different ways and come up with different ideas. Sometimes a simple thing like a broken necklace can lead to a new thought process.

Enjoy where simple accidents can lead you, explore your own creativity and have a great day.

METAL MEETS ROCK RUGS

Since I've been using both new and salvaged metal parts in wall pieces, it was only a matter of time before metal began to be used in the rock rugs.

"Caged Rose Quartz"  12 3/4" x 8 1/4" x 2 1/2"   Lori LaBerge  2012

Close-up of wire wrapping.  Lori LaBerge  2012

Rocks are embedded and safely surrounded within their natural homes before being removed, mined, sold raw or worked into finished gems.  The rose quartz shown above has thick picture hanging wire wrapped around it to simulate a caged and trapped environment.   It is more along the lines of keeping things protected and safe from the outside world.   The rougher wire was used to compliment the rough cut of the rock itself.  The rock is set on its own island section of the rug.  The various blues portray water flowing between the various land formations.

"Camelot"  13" x 9" x 2 1/2"  Lori LaBerge  2012

Shades of pink, green, dark gray and off white were used in the rug above to bring out the variety of colors in the piece of watermelon tourmaline.   Again, the thought of rocks being kept safe in a natural home was used.   In this case, the rock is fenced into its own little area within the rug.

  Close-up of watermelon tourmaline rock.  Lori LaBerge  2012

Working on these pieces made me think of how often we confine people or things, not to purposely imprison them, but to keep them safe.  We see children playing out in the streets less than they used to, we keep our pets indoors, we place our money in a bank and we have fences around our homes.  There is no animosity in these actions.  We merely want to keep our children, pets, money and homes safe.  It is interesting how confinement can be both good and bad.

Think about what you keep confined in your life ( I like to keep my work tools confined in their little box and, yes, I'm guilty of keeping my chocolate in a certain place).  Have a great day.

MICA ROCK RUG AND TOE RIVER STUDIO TOUR GALLERY SHOW

Mica Rock Rug   Lori Laberge  2012

This will be the last rock rug completed before the Studio Tour. The piece of mica on this rug has black, silver and white hues. The edges of the rock are jagged and form layers. Though this piece looks rugged, it is quite delicate due to the thin layers. The way the silver reflects and shines from different angles is beautiful.

Close-up view 

On another note, the Toe River Studio Artist Show is now open at the Toe River Arts Council Gallery in Spruce Pine, NC. My husband and I took a ride over this week and here are photos of some of the work displayed.

Since I love fiber, this piece really caught my eye. The workmanship and color use are beautiful. Artist Louis Grenell created this woven piece. She also created the rabbit.

Jim Waters does amazing encaustic work. I own one of his pieces and am tempted to purchase another. There is great texture and depth to his work which, again, appeals to the fiber artist in me.

Rolf Holmquist's work includes the use of all sorts of items. It is just plain fun to spend time looking at and identifying them knowing they were used to create one piece of art.

John Richards "Big Blue Dog" is made out of bottle caps. Love it!

I have purchased two of Valerie Schnaufer's works. I can't resist the ways she tucks items into various hollowed out areas in her ceramic pieces.

Here is my piece, "Lakewood". It was one of the pieces made for a show on stripes.

The tour takes place June 8-10 and information can be picked up at the Toe River Arts Galleries in Spruce Pine and Burnsville. If you get the chance, take some time to meet the local artists, view their studios and have a great day out on the town.

Lapis Rock Rug and Studio Cleaning

Lapis Rock Rug  Lori LaBerge  2012

The latest piece finished is a rug designed for piece of brilliant blue lapis. Lapis is mined in the Colorado and California areas of the United States. It was used in a powdered form to create ultramarine paint in medieval times. Cleopatra was said to use lapis eyeshadow. There are beautiful white streaks through the piece that are created by calcium carbonate in the stone. This particular stone has two flat sides which lends it to being displayed upright as in the above photo or horizontal as in the photo below.

Lapis Rock Rug  Lori Laberge  2012

I have been spending time here and there cleaning out my work area for the Studio Tour June 8-10. Below are some before and after photos. There is still quite a bit of work to be done as I tend to work in organized chaos, but I'm getting there. I used to be the type to clean up after every little bit of work I did until I took a class where the instructor told us to "focus on the work and forget about the mess". 

 Here is the studio are in total chaos.  This is the way I like it.  Everything is out and in reach.

Here it is more organized.  I like visitors to have room to walk around the table, touch the wool, and enjoy themselves.

Even I have to admit the desk area is a mess.  Papers and smaller tools really did need to be organized for easier access.

This is a start.  The desktop is better organized, but maybe I need to work on those books up above.

Here is where I place various color inspirations.  Quite a few of these are from the color class I took at Penland.  The framed piece is a hooking I did years ago based on a visit my husband and I took to Cleve Abbey in England.

Whether you prefer to work in an environment in total chaos or total organization, enjoy the work you create and have a great day.

NEW WORK AND A VISIT FROM RUG HOOKING MAGAZINE

Two new pieces mixing rug hooking with local raw gems were completed this past week. The people over at the local gem shop have been extremely helpful in educating me in identifying various rocks from the area.

Lori LaBerge  2012

This work features a beautiful piece of raw emerald.

As in similar works I have done, the wool used is from leftover strips kept in one of two large plastic bins. One bin is mostly 6-cut strips and the other 3 and 4-cut strips.

I really need to use these up as they are beginning to take up quite a bit of space in the studio.

The second work uses a piece of tourmaline with bits of garnet. I chose the red for it to sit on to pick up on the bits of garnet which are a reddish brown color.

Lori LaBerge  2012

While working on the above pieces, I received a call that the editor of Rug Hooking Magazine, Debra Smith, was in the area visiting a friend and would like to see the studio. The women came over on Tuesday and we had a wonderful time discussing various aspects of rug hooking. We talked about some recent dyeing Debra had done, tools of the trade, the need to preserve the history of the craft, as well as the importance of moving the craft forward with contemporary works.

During the conversation, I was offered the opportunity to write and present an article to the magazine. I'll be taking notes and putting ideas together while also preparing for the Toe River Open Studio Tour in June. Busy is a good thing!

Reading on the deck.  Just happened to be finishing up Chinese take-out with a fortune cookie, actually believed to be introduced by the Japanese and mostly consumed by Americans, so this dessert was perfect with the cover.

Enjoy the opportunities that come your way, thank the people that make them possible and have a great day.

Note:  I apologize for extra spaces left at the bottom of some blogs.  Blogspot simply does not seem to be letting me delete these at present.