Merry Everything

I am signing off for the year.
I wanted to wish you all hope, peace, love and joy.
And a very lovely 2019.

Love Will Heal Her

My rug "Love Will Heal Her" is up for auction...check it out and let's raise some mola!
https://www.facebook.com/events/200349270906323/?active_tab=discussion

Dumping Day

Dumping day...the first day of lobster season when the fishers place their traps...be safe.

Judy..leaving no tree behind.

Judy..leaving no tree behind, she decorated the forest.
7.5 x 25"
160$
Update: SOLD

Demo-ing this Sat.

I am going to be demo-ing rug hooking on Sat. Nov 17th 10-12pm..and then I am going to chat with the cool people who make the cool stuff and then buy some cool stuff for some cool people I love..see you there.

Wee Rugs Available

These are 6 x12", 65$..add a bit for shipping. Just send me a message, lkenneyrugs@gmail.com and we will get you hooked up.

SOLD

SOLD

Understorey Magazine

My rug "Holding On" is featured in Understorey Magazine.

"My days were full of caregiving from the moment I woke up until I laid my head on the pillow at bedtime. And sometimes I’d be called upon once or twice during the night too. My morning shower was the only time I could guarantee that I would be alone".

 Esmeralda Cabral

https://understoreymagazine.ca/article/you-can-do-better-than-that/?fbclid=IwAR1XZNqeFAozPUvR1445y9Jc2-fBMeKheeDzzQCo8IuCY19-RnaDy62XDHI

Things that are happening in the future.

1) I am doing an IG takeover (if you don't know what that is..don't worry, neither did I) on Oct 30th of the Craft NS page, @craftnovascotia...a day in the life of a hooker.

2) Demo-ing at NSDCC show at the Cunard Centre in Halifax, Nov 16th, 10-12pm..if want to learn how to hook, please stop by.

3) And last but not least, someone should buy this rug. :) Image Worthy, wool and silk on burlap
48 x 13 1/2
$850
Secord Gallery

You, Me and Maud

In ‘You, Me and Maud’ pieces by students and staff at the Colchester Adult Learning Association (CALA) join the artwork of textile artist Laura Kenney.

“Many learners, because of their own challenges, could relate to Maud Lewis,” said Sarah Thornham, a CALA instructor. “I’ve seen them rise above and find the bright spots too.”

"You, Me and Maud" is up till Oct 30th.

https://www.trurodaily.com/living/colchester-adult-learners-and-artist-inspired-by-maud-lewis-252429/?fbclid=IwAR2kUVKGnDcRLglYBqry09QP_PvnX5mgKGovLeRRDas50JfY6LFSYMdKkAA

Harvest Gallery

If you are looking for a rug to buy, I have a few at Harvest Gallery in Wolfville.

http://www.harvestgallery.ca/searchresults.php?artistId=6830&start=1

Hike Our Clearcuts,41 x18", 1250$

Secord Gallery

If you are looking for a rug to buy, I have a few at Secord Gallery in Halifax.

http://www.secordgallery.com/art/index.php?/category/117

Image Worthy, wool and silk on burlap
48 x 13 1/2
$850

Hooking at Mary E. Black Gallery

Thanks Rosie for the pic.
Demo-ing for Nocturne was a hoot..great chats with lots of cool people.

You, Me and Maud

Opening was lovely.
Congrats to CALA students and teacher Sarah Thornham..and thanks for letting me participate.
Marigold Centre
Truro NS

Nocturne

I'll be demoing (is that a word? ..looks weird) rug hooking tomorrow at Mary E. Black Gallery 6:30-7:30 pm for Nocturne...come on by..you too can be a hooker!

Thank you Aya Al-Hakim at CBC.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/revolution-exhibition-craft-nova-scotia-mary-e-black-gallery-me-too-movement-women-1.4850985

Why speak when you aren't believed ?

Opening of Revolution

Brittany is missing, Gloria has been murdered, Mira said, "No", and he didn't stop. They took away Beata's kids at the border....and we march for change.
"Change is Coming"

Opening tomorrow night.

Revolution Craft NS's Member Exhibition
Opening Night Sept. 20th 6pm
Exhibition runs Sept. 21st - Nov. 4th
At the Centre for Craft Nova Scotia's Mary E. Black Gallery

Revolution

I have a rug in this show...so stop by and take a peak..please and thank you.

Excerpt from Billie 2017, Volume 2/Issue 2

I came across this and found it so cool as I love Nancy Edell's work..so to be mentioned in the same paragraph is ..well, it lifts my spirits.

The Hooked Rugs of Alexandrya Eaton
Family Ties

Atlantic rug hooking artists Nancy Edell and Laura Kenney both explore the dreams, experiences and humour of women working in rug hooking. Throughout the 1990s, Nancy Edell created a series called Art Nuns, and Kenney's work currently features a character named Judy. I saw their work at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia after my first visit with Eaton and reflected on their shared decision to use this most traditional of media to portray modern women and communicate a feminist message.



 https://www.alexandryaeaton.com/media/docs/Billie_2017_-_family_ties_-_Alexandrya_Eaton.pdf

Kids are back in school

Always a weird day..when the kids first go back to school.
The house is so quiet.
A bit unsettling....but also a sense of relief...I am free..to hook.

Whose Maud?

If you didn't have a chance to take in Whose Maud? here is a peek while Steven and I discuss Maud and identity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCLo4RcwJNE

Acadia University Art Gallery on Whose Maud?

https://acadiauniversityartgallery.wordpress.com/2018/07/27/current-exhibition-whose-maud/

Article on "Whose Maud"?

http://www.kingscountynews.ca/opinion/columnists/column-theres-more-than-youd-think-to-maud-lewis-jewel-like-paintings-228498/

Canada's Ocean Playground

"CANADA'S OCEAN PLAYGROUND"
... a sometimes painfully beautiful place

Harvest Gallery

Deanne Fitzpatrick, Laura Kenney & Steven Rhude
July 21 - August 18, 2018
Opening Reception, July 21st 2-4

 

Upcoming Events

Things that are going to happen.
1) Artist/curator talk..Whose Maud, Acadia University Art Gallery. Wed, July 18th, 1pm.
2) Opening of Canada's Ocean Playground, Deanne Fitzpatrick, Steven Rhude and Me..Harvest Gallery, Opening July 21st..not sure time yet.
3) NS Folk Art Festival.. Aug 5th, 12-4 pm Lunenburg, NS
And then I will disappear for a bit back to my studio and make some more rugs.

Kids in the Gallery

I am the type of person who should not watch the news...too sensitive.
But I do.
And I have been seeing images of kids in cages, separated from their parents in the USA... and boys trapped in a cave in Thailand...not knowing if they are going to survive.
It's heartbreaking.
So when I saw this image of kids in the gallery taking in Whose Maud?..I just thought yes, this is where kids belong..safe, in a gallery, thinking, making art and then home to their parents at the end of the day..this make sense..this is good.

The Hooker - and some notes

Steven Rhude has been doing some great writing on hooking, and Maud and Ev and #me too..it is all fascinating stuff.

https://srhude.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-hooker-and-some-notes.html

Judy..right next to Maud.

Harvest Gallery, in lovely Wolfville NS, is having a show ....Women's Work...and Judy is right next to a Maud...she is in heaven.

Art Talk- Whose Maud?

Dr. Laurie Dalton, Steven Rhude and I will be having an artist discussion ..please come.
#whosemaud

July 18th
1pm
Acadia University Art Gallery
Wolfville,
NS
 

Road trip.

Steven and I took a ride to Maud's neighbourhood a couple of days ago. We hung some art on her memorial....kinda like leaving flowers at a tombstone.
https://srhude.blogspot.com/2018/06/what-really-happened-in-marshalltown_27.html
#whosemaud

Acadia gallery hosts Maud Lewis exhibition

In The Chronicle Herald

http://thechronicleherald.ca/valleyharvester/1580056-acadia-gallery-hosts-maud-lewis-exhibition

Before Everett, there was Emery.

Before Everett, there was Emery, 14 x 20".
"Maud would have later sketched a picture of herself and Emery in embrace, hints that she wished for his return. A kiss is a kind of hope."

Lance Woolaver, The Heart on the Door.

Maud's Wedding Dress

Maud's Wedding Dress

"It was lengthy, ribbed and gathered-in at the waist. Some skilled and patient artist had sewn beads of jet in rows, like a Lakota breastplate, from the neck to the waist. Imagine the hours expended."

Lance Woolaver, The Heart on the Door.

#familiesbelongtogether

Fred

"They (Maud and Everett) get their water from a well. They keep a trout in the well and call it "Fred"."
Shirley and Lance Woolaver, The Joyful Art of Maud Lewis, Chatelaine, Toronto, ON., Dec 1975.

Judy made the cover of "The Rolling Stone"

Whose Maud?

Whose Maud? Exhibited June 12th - July 28th, 2018
There were many social, physical, and emotional factors that influenced and shaped Maud’s life; an often-unknown fact about Maud was her relation to the Marshalltown Poor Farm, or Alms House. Set back from the highway from Maud’s own home in Marshalltown sat the imposing Alms house. Kenney and Rhude believe that before we can truly comprehend the work of Maud Lewis, we must first understand the relationship between both her life and the space in which she lived and found inspiration, and its influence on rural Nova Scotia's marginalization and socialization of the poor.

“To think that this chapter is merely a footnote in Nova Scotia’s history is to overlook the contemporary social issues ranging from the modern welfare state, to that of captivity, in all its various social guises. The Poor Farm is a modern tale whereby our collective concerns about being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space, have been housed, but not necessarily cared for or nurtured. It is a metaphysical prison that haunts us today.” – Laura Kenney and Steven Rhude

Thanks!

Opening of Whose Maud? was great..thanks so much to Laurie Dalton, curator and Steven Rhude, painter extraordinaire and to all who came out, really appreciate it!
The show at Acadia University Art Gallery runs till July 28th, gallery hours are 12-4pm, Tuesday-Sunday.

Getting Excited for "Whose Maud?"

This is one of the pieces that will be in "Whose Maud?"
Opening is June 12, 7pm, 2018
Acadia University Art Gallery
Wolfville, NS

"The Maud Squad"

Whose Maud?

WHOSE MAUD? | Laura Kenney & Steven Rhude
Exhibit Opening Tuesday, June 12, 7pm at the Acadia University Art Gallery, in Wolfville, NS
The artists will be in attendance. Light refreshments served.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The exhibition, Whose Maud?, presents the work of rug-hooker Laura Kenney & painter Steven Rhude.
The exhibition takes as its central question: Whose Maud? in that there are many interpretations of Maud as artist, as individual, as folk art icon. The artist & her work have come to symbolize a bucolic rural landscape, but this stands in stark contrast to the harsh realities of her life.
The artists, Kenney and Rhude, by researching, repositioning, & reconsidering, through their own art practice, beg the audience to question, Whose Maud?
Curator: Dr. Laurie Dalton
The exhibit will continue until July 28 at AUAG, in the Beveridge Art Centre (BAC bldg), 10 Highland Avenue, Wolfville, NS
Gallery Hours: Tuesdays–Wednesdays & Sundays: 12–4pm. Closed Mondays. Groups may book free tours outside these times with advance notice.

Image: You're Richer Than You Think (detail), painting by Steven Rhude

Rugs Delivered To Acadia University for Whose Maud?

Why I like Maud.

The first time I saw a Maud..well, ok..it was not a real Maud, was in my Grandmother's basement apartment in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. Just as you went in the door..boom!..colour. She had a couple of prints.. and I think a Maud mug. And if they had the magnets, socks and key chains available at that time, she would have had them too. When Christmas or birthdays came around,  'What do you buy Gram? Answer.. something about the Royal Family or something Maud. I wish  I had asked her why she liked Maud...maybe she could relate to her. My Dad said they were so poor at one point he had to steal a chicken from the neighbour so they could eat. Maybe she liked that Maud could make cheerful paintings even though her life was tough.

Why do I like Maud?

Because she had balls.

Maud was a powerhouse. She would paint a crow and outline it with bright yellow or blue. She put beautiful fall coloured leaves on trees in the winter and painted the hills green..she didn't fuss with what things were suppose to look like. She fell in love with a fellow named Emery and had a baby out of wedlock.  She smoked Cameos, she lied about her age and said she had no living family when really her brother was alive and well. She knew that you can have a cranky spouse, health issues and tourists wanting the same oxen and three cats,  but when you sit down and make.. all that goes away. 

She was an underdog. In the world of Folk Art in Nova Scotia, it seems the male carver reigns. Chris Huntington, who was the decision maker of who was in and who was out in the Folk Art world, was before Maud's time. But if he had visited her little house in Marshalltown, I am sure he would have dismissed her as a "housewife painter". It makes me happy to think that Maud is the most well-known Folk Artist in Nova Scotia, maybe Canada. The NS Folk Art Festival continues to this day in lovely Lunenburg... and my hope is the powers that be will widen their view and let some female painters in on the limelight, not just because they are female, but because they are that good and deserve it.

  
It seems everyone has a take on Maud. Politicians, writers, directors .. a hooker, a painter.. a bank..we all have an angle. Just say her name and it gets people talking. All I know is she is ours, she was loved and she found happiness in this world. She wasn't a saint, she wasn't a victim, she, as corny as it sounds, is an inspiration and I am in awe of her everyday.

Flowers for Maud