Deanne Fitzpatrick Rug Hooking Studio

Dear Diary, Yesterday on my morning walk I was coming down over the hill and in the lush green was great big bear looking at me. Around here bears are not known to attack, I have never heard of one, but still, who wants to take a chance. I turned around, walked the other way and flagged down a car, and hopped in with, Amanda, a woman I barely knew. I was relieved. I have an accent, so when I tell any story involving a bear, there is always some confusion. Yesterday, a friend of my son’s was here and when I told the story, he went,”whaa?” with a puzzled look on his face. Apparently, I say beer, not bear. So I essensially told him that…” I was walking down the road and got frightened because there was a beer on the side of the road.”Actually, I always thought they were synonyms, bare arse, bear on the side of the road, going on the beer…they all sound the same to me. I still think they are the same sound, but once again I offer those who love me the opportunity to mock me. We all seem to enjoy it. This morning I am walking down a different road, just in case.

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faithfully I want to offer you free shipping
from the studio for the next week, until June 30.
We will remove all shipping charges when we get your order.
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It is now available as a download, cd will be available soon

Dear Diary, These diaries I have kept track of over the years. I keep most notes. As I sifted through them this fall I thought I would make an audio book of entries and stories I have written about art , life, creativity and rug hooking. It is nothing like a how to book, it is really just like the diaries have always been, the bits and pieces of mind, meant to be taken with a grain of salt. They are little stories to hook by, meant to be listened to a few at a time. It is a project I went forward with with lots of trepidation. To write it is one thing, I learned. To speak it is another. For me in putting this together, I learned about myself. It is  a reflection on my life as an artist in the context of  family and community as so many of these diary entries are. The music for the cd was composed and played by Rocky Ripley, and the music is beautiful.

 The audio book has gone to be made into a two cd set. It will be available for shipping in a month or so. In the meantime  it is available as a digital  download to your computer.

Hooked Rug from the Cyrus Eaton House in Pugwash Village

Dear Diary , This morning I was astounded. I took a drive out to the Cyrus Eaton House in Pugwash to see the site that is being restored, and to see the hooked rugs that lined the floors. I found that the rugs littered the floors. They were everywhere throughout the house. They were mostly hit and miss and geometrics, pale in colour as they had naturally faded with age, but they were as collection that can barely be rivaled. The house itself is the home of  Cyrus Eaton, who founded the Thinkers Lodge, and The Pugwash Peace Conference. He believed in creating a place for people to gather, think, restore and renew ideas that would make the world a better place. I found it interesting how in such a place the floors were lined with hooked rugs because I believe that making rugs is an act of peace in itself. It leads us to the quiet center of ourselves. The rugs made the place warm and comfortable, a place to retreat to and grow from.

Dear Diary, Summer nights after a day that is too hot to hook, to hot for tea, you could only read and nap and swim.
My big red poppies came early this year. They swing in the wind, the filament of their petals looks so weak but is so strong. A friend noticed last week the same about the lupins, how they were taking a beating in the wind, bending over and standing up again, a steady fall and rise. Plants are stronger than I expect. Today before it got to hot, I hauled weeds mercilessly. Once someone told me that a weed is any plant where it is not wanted. I remembered that advice as I hauled lambs ear that had flown across the garden and set up shop in new spot. I chopped and hacked and hauled until the only thing left to do was read.