Hook-in

 

Hook-in at Gaspereau Valley Fibres

Oct. 26, 1-3pm

 

We're thrilled to welcome renowned Nova Scotia rug hooker Laura Kenney for a special 'Hook-In' event! Join us for a relaxed and inspiring session where you can work on your own rug hooking projects, meet fellow makers, and have the chance to ask Laura a few questions about her work and process. This is a donation-based event, with proceeds going to support our local animal shelter.

 

Please call Brenda 902-542-2656 if you plan to attend.

 

 

 

 

About Laura... 
Laura Kenney is a contemporary rug hooker known for her witty and socially conscious textile art. Kenney uses her alter ego “Judy”—a red-haired woman in red boots—as the central figure in many of her hand-hooked rugs, tackling everyday life with humour and heart. Her work blends traditional folk craft with modern commentary, earning her a place in the Nova Scotia Art Bank and exhibitions across Canada, including solo shows at major galleries like the Mary E. Black Gallery and Cape Breton University Art Gallery.

 

Talk for NS Folk Art Society

 Giving talks is a real challenge for me but I got up the courage and did one for the NS Folk Art Society.

Thanks to the society for giving me the opportunity and thanks so much to the very kind audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyylwrECUXc

 

 

Jordan Tretheway and Blood Honey

 What to Wear? What to Wear?" the newest installment of Judy 4 Justice by Writer-in-Residence Jordan Trethewey

@JTpoetlaureate

and artist Lauren Kenney

@LKenneyrugs

! “Judy are not fashionistas. / Frivolity is not fundamental / to their identity.”

 

https://www.bloodhoneylit.com/jordan-trethewey-wir/judy-for-justice-what-to-wear-what-to-wear 

 

Talk in Lunenburg

 You're invited..please come!

NS FOLK ART Festival 2025

 

The NS Folk Art Festival was very cool as always. So many sweet people. So many fun chats…and sold a bunch of rugs. 

 

Folk Art is alive and well and I’m feeling pretty dang fortunate.

 

 

Finally

 Finally, a rug hooker has been chosen for the cover artist of the NS Folk Art Festival.

This is opening doors.

Bravo to Felicia Zwicker.

And... bravo to the powers that be to take this step.

 

 

Thank you Matthew Ryan Smith

 Great article by Matthew Ryan Smith on "This SeemsPersonal" which was held at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in lovely Charlottetown, PEI.

"Power disparities became more pronounced after the exhibition opened to the public, as Kenney’s rug-hookings seemed to foreshadow President Trump’s escalating threats of tariffs on Canada’s industries and natural resources. The now-prophetic rug Friends (2024), which features the submissive text “WE HAVE TO BE FRIENDS OTHERWISE YOU’LL BEAT US UP,” anticipated Trump’s bullying tactics toward his northern neighbour, the United States’ closest military ally and trading partner. Ironically, this “friend” is now instigating a future economic recession. And this says nothing of his warnings to annex Canada as the “fifty-first state” or to make Prime Minister Trudeau a “Governor”—both unprecedented threats against the sovereignty of a fellow G7 nation. In this new light, Kenney’s US-themed rugs have become a site of protest and an urgent rallying cry for collective resistance against American imperialism."

 

https://visualartsnews.ca/2025/07/this-seems-personal-autobiography-in-search-of-community/

 

 

Craft and Craftivsm

 I am feeling fortunate to have been included in this publication highlighting craft people across Canada. 

Abstract

Contemporary work in ceramics, fibres and glass is commanding unprecedented attention in the visual arts world. Many Canadian artists have gained recognition for their aesthetic proficiency, conceptual relevance, and skill-based expertise in provincial, national, and international public institutions using these materials. The visual arts community in Canada and elsewhere seeks information concerning the historical importance and significance to contemporary Canadian craft artists of these materials and skills. Craft and Craftivism, edited by Loren Lerner, Janice Anderson, Shannon Stride, and Karine Antaki, is a biographical dictionary of artists working in these media, created as a free e-publication to fill this need. The material is readily available for both pedagogical purposes and the general public’s use. It aims to encourage scholarly interest while acknowledging the artists’ contributions to Canadian visual arts, a path currently encouraged in many Canadian post-secondary art education institutions. -- Introduction.

https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/995653/1/VOLUME%20TWO%20CRAFT%20%26%20CRAFTIVISM-FIBRES.2.pdf

Review of "Seems Personal " by Jon Claytor

 https://billiemag.ca/this-seems-personal/

 

"One of the first works I noticed was a folksy rug-hooked amalgamation of Canadian and American flags by Laura Kenney, with the words “We have to be friends otherwise you’ll beat me up,” spelled out in soft hues of green, teal, and navy blue fabric. Each day the show was up, these words became more poignant as the political situation with our southern neighbors teetered between surreal and absurdly terrifying. The work and the title seem to be shouting out that famous refrain of second-wave feminism and activism: “The personal is political.” It certainly makes the case that now, more than ever, this phrase is accurate and vital."

 

 

Canada vs USA

I was asked to say a few words about my piece "Friends".

https://confederationcentre.com/behind-the-art-talking-politics-with-laura-kenney/ 

A good way to start 2025

 I've always wanted to be in a exhibition that is included as a must-see show..and it happened!

Happy New Year!

https://www.aci-iac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Newsletter-Winter-Exhibitions-2025_V5.pdf

Confederation Centre Art Gallery

If you happen to be in Charlottetown, PEI...I'm in a group show at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery. Dec 14-April 13

Curator: Brandt Eisner

Artists: Andrew Quon, Miya Turnbull, Curtis Botham, Laura Kenney, Shauna MacLeod, Lux Gow-Habrich, Monique Silver

 

https://confederationcentre.com/exhibition/this-seems-personal/

 

 

Fog Forest Gallery 40 years

A few years back Janet Crawford, owner of Fog Forest Gallery in lovely Sackville NB got in touch with me and asked if I would like to be an artist with her gallery. Heck yah, I answered.

Happy to be a part of this group show...40 years in the art business is something to celebrate.

To preview this new exhibition, "40 Years In The Forest" click here.