SOAP's 50 Hoops Show - open thru early Jan. Check it out. Some pics from the opening:

Some pieces just pull me right over. This was one, having gathered pictures of friends' tongues for a diversity of tongues book a few years ago. "(so) there" by Sharon Wickham.

And this one. "Felt Up" by Mary Fitzgerald.

sure enough, this is called "Platapussy", by Barbara Sizelove. I was in good company with my Luv Spider next to this one and Felt Up.

piece by Jan Blythe, called In Utero. i still kept seeing an eyeball.

too clever to think of putting something between the two parts of the hoop. damn, that's clever.

I talked with the artist of this piece, who I don't think was out of gradeschool yet. good for her to go with what moves her and create an interesting piece for this show.

woah ... ok, a bird's nest pops out of swirled corrugated cardboard. of course! artist Katheryn Kenworth.

hard bricks instead of fiber. yes. artist Robert Howard.

I have no idea what this is made of.

green devil horns?

Lisa Mendelson's piece "Label me not".

so if you were given a hoop, what kind of shape would you contort out of it?

i spent all my time admiring the creativity and how it hung and turned in the air that i didn't look close to what is covering the surface. artist Verda Alexander.

pig sweat. um ... that's what it's called. Greg Lowe's piece. gotta say i stared for minutes trying to get a link between the name and the shape, wondering what the molecular shape of pig sweat really was and if the different colors had to do with different elements of the molecule.

it was only minutes later that I wondered just how this was related to an embroidery hoop. where's the hoop?

what is this material? i'm not going to give it away except to say that I've never seen anyone do artwork out of this material before. I can almost guarante that you've handled it at some point. would you think to create out of it? piece by Eve Mendelson.

a close up view in person is so much better.

I looked at this piece several times before realizing it was a frownie, not a smiley. googley eyes are always a kick. piece by Jane Evenson, who I've never seen not smiling yet.

the.      hoop.      show.

go see it!