Northumberland Rug Hookers
Promoting rug hooking in Northumberland County, Ontario!
Saturday 6 April 2024
Hook-In & Tea Time with Judy
Monday 25 March 2024
Kaffe Fassett - the World of Colour
The Northumberland Rug Hookers will be holding an in-person workshop with Karen Kaiser:
Kaffe Fassett - the world of colour.
We have a couple of spaces available if you’d like to join us. The cost will be $60 (payable to the Northumberland Rug Hookers) plus $45 for the kit* (payable to Karen Kaiser on the day of the class).
- Pattern on linen
- Cut wool to complete the hooking
- Yarn for finishing the edges
Thursday 21 March 2024
Semi-Local Fibre Events
Spring can’t be far away…..despite what the weather is telling us! Just look at the number of upcoming fibre-y events in our general area:
April 5: Opening of Wanda Elliot’s display of rugs at These 4 Walls in Trenton is on April 5. Originally from Newfoundland, Wanda is a member of the Campbellford Rug Hookers. Here’s a link with a few more details.
April 6-28: A Textile Sampler, from Gather In The County. This looks to be an interesting display of all things textile, with artist talks and demonstrations each Sunday. Full info can be found here.
Until April 27: And don’t forget Laura Kenney’s show at the Art Gallery of Northumberland - all things JUDY!
June 15: Gather in the County is a new annual market, taking place at the historic Crystal Palace in Picton, Ontario. Gather will feature an indoor/outdoor market providing our visitors with an exciting and innovative gathering of textile makers, small batch producers, indie dyers, artists, collectors and community guilds producing a wide range of handmade textile wares + supplies. More info can be found here!
Mark your dance cards now for these wonderful events!
Friday 15 March 2024
Snippets from A Cup of Conversation
The Art Gallery of Northumberland does artist talks with most of their shows. Called A Cup of Conversation, it’s a great way to meet the artist and learn about their work.
March 2 was the designated day for the talk with Laura Kenney, and it was a wonderful and very engaging time - for rug hookers and muggles alike.
I filmed it, but had to stand to do it, and as a result it’s a very jiggly prospect to watch. However, I’ve selected out some snippets for your viewing enjoyment. Here’s the first installment:
The full show is available on Laura Kenney’s facebook page, or on our youtube channel….
I’ll post more snippets in the next little while.
The Art Gallery of Northumberland show of Laura’s works is on until April 27 in downtown Cobourg.
Sunday 10 March 2024
They Got Hooked!
(This post & photos - courtesy of Brenda Ashton - thanks!)
We had a wonderful afternoon demonstrating primitive rug hooking for the second time this year at the Port Hope Library. We had 16 eager learners and 5 hookers to share their hooking knowledge with others! It was a perfect rainy afternoon fun.
Many thanks to the Port Hope Library, and to the trainers for their time, and to the trainees who braved the weather!
Saturday 2 March 2024
Laura Kenney, Live!
The Art Gallery of Northumberland held the grand opening of their latest exhibition “Judy” by Laura Kenney, featuring a wonderful series of hooked works of art.
The display is a fantastic and inspiring series about issues important to the main character, Judy - covering topics like climate change, women’s issues, Nova Scotia, etc. Olinda Casimiro, Executive Director of the Gallery hosted the opening event, and introduced Michael Maynard, Board Chair, as well as Cobourg Mayor, Lucas Cleveland. Then Laura Kenney took the “stage” and told us about herself, her alter ego, Judy, and much more! We’ll feature more on Laura’s talk in a subsequent post.
Board Chair Michael Maynard |
Mayor Lucas Cleveland |
Executive Director Olinda Casimiro |
Here are some photos of folks enjoying the show! Thank you to everyone who came out to help make this such a success. (And thanks to Brenda Ashton for several of these snaps.)
Monday 26 February 2024
Oops!
The talk with Laura Kenney on March 2 starts at 1 pm, not 2 pm as previously stated! Don’t miss out on this one!
Saturday 17 February 2024
Save the Date: Laura Kenney at the AGN
We’re soooo excited! Laura Kenney, rug hooker extraordinaire from Nova Scotia, will be exhibiting her works at the Art Gallery of Northumberland this spring! Details will be available shortly, but in the meantime, please save March 2 at 2 pm in your calendars for a very special event at the AGN in downtown Cobourg.
Here’s Laura’s bio, from her website:
Laura Kenney was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, but her roots are in Nova Scotia. Kenney has been creating and exhibiting hooked rugs as a professional artist for 21 years in her studio in Truro, NS. While rug hooking has a long tradition of artistic production in Nova Scotia, it is often seen only as a form of decorative craft. Kenney's work bridges these lines of fine craft, contemporary art, and folk traditions.
Kenney received juried status with the Nova Scotia Craft Council in 2010. Her works Morning Routine and Waiting for the Cat to Let Her Out were purchased by the Nova Scotia Art Bank for their permanent collection. In 2016, Kenney had her first solo show at the Mary E. Black Gallery in Halifax, and a selection of Kenney's work was included in Terroir, a survey of art in Nova Scotia at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.
If you’re not familiar with Laura’s work, here are several goodies that may be of interest:
- a interview from 2023 - Billie Magazine
- another interview on Ragged Life Blog
Here’s the image she currently features on her website (“Funeral Procession”):
You can find Laura on:
- her website,
- her blog,
- facebook, and
- instagram.
The Art Gallery of Northumberland is located in Cobourg, in historic Victoria Hall. Here’s a snippet from their website:
The mandate of the Art Gallery of Northumberland is to promote and provide access to art and related programs as a community gallery for the enjoyment and education of the people of Northumberland County.
We exist to serve all of Northumberland County as a public gallery. We present intellectually stimulating exhibitions and programming, as well as maintain a permanent collection of visual arts. Along with exhibitions we fulfill our mandate through educational activities which encourage active dialogue between the Gallery audience and the visual arts; including lectures, films, workshops, artist talks and tours.
Hope to see you on March the 2nd!
Monday 12 February 2024
Wet Felting with Resist
Basically, you take wool roving/fleece and wrap it around a small balloon (the “resist”), encase it in pantyhose, and then apply friction, water, soap and a bunch of your energy to make the felted fabric. The actual instructions are a whole lot more involved than that, but you get the general idea. The end result was a small bowl/vessel.
Laurie did a great job of leading everyone through the process!
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We’re soooo excited! Laura Kenney , rug hooker extraordinaire from Nova Scotia, will be exhibiting her works at the Art Gallery of Northum...
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Yes, indeedy - we have an upcoming in person class with Carol Shewan on Sept 26, and space is available for a few more folks! This one da...