Feltfull

I have had a wonderful time at Feltfull. I met many wonderful people from all over the world and I learnt so much about felting . I can't really write it all down its just too much !!!!!!!. So here are some photographs of the people that were there and their work .

Just a few of the amazing felt works of art that were made during this fantastic week.

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Preparations for Feltfull

Well I am so excited , because on Friday TOMORROW I am off to Feltfull. Feltfull is a whole week of felting, how wonderful is that going to be. So I am preparing , this requires quite a bit of thought and I am sure I will forget something vital.

First there is all my tools , my pens ,crayons and paper my scissors, my soap, my felting needles, a tape measure and and ..... the list goes on and on.

Then my felting materials. This has really required the most thought. I needed to think of colours and I wanted to have two different colours for my two workshops. So I have collection of purples and pinks and a collection of oranges and greens. Fibres, fabrics , yarns , and threads.

 

I also have made a piece of felt in my star style for a bit of a show and tell.

 

First workshop Ornament lead by Miriam Verbeek and then a workshop Halszaken- translated to Capital Cases by google which cannot be correct lead by Claudia Burkhardt.

 

Trains are sorted , packing is on its way and so shall I be soon. I can't wait!!!

 

 

 

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Finished....... Almost

Well amazingly I have actually finished my panel. Well almost. I haven't framed it , yet but part from that it is finished. I haven't framed it because my tutor , Kate, wants to see it. It is 84 cm x 34 cm so once framed it s a bit tricky to post . It will therefore be posted for assessement unframed then returned to be framed.

I have gone on quite a lot about the preparation process , so here is the details of the felting process.

 

What a mess! All my materials aid out ready.

I first made some Shetland fibre prefelt. The tree had green dyed throwers waste incorporated to be like the moss on the bark . I then stitched bark using green silk on my sewing machine. Trying the follow the lines of the branches and be both regular but random like bark. The reflection was the same prefelt but without the stitching or the moss , as neither of them appeared in the reflection.

The background was different colours of BFL covered in lovely springy Norwegian fibre.

I laid my prefelt on top and then used more wool fibres and lots of silks to give the textures of the grasses , the reflections of the sky in the water and the leaves on the ground.

 

Just the reflection. This piece was so long it was almost I possible to photograph the whole thing on the table and I had to pull my table out from the wall , so I could actually felt it.

This is the best I could manage

Here it is finished.. Almost. Hanging precariously from a door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Options

I think it is quite hard to make a good mounting display for a piece of felt artwork. There are many options to hang it on the wall but not all will show the texture and composition of the felt to its best effect.

I have researched a number of options and eventually decided for my tree panel there are three possibilities to choose between. When selecting my main criteria has been that I want it to look like a professional piece of art work but I do not want it to be behind glass.

First option , would be to use eyelets. These are simple , cheap and would allow the art work to be simply hung . I am however not sure that the weight of the felt itself would be enough for it to hang flat and straight on the wall. Perhaps the addition of weights as used in curtains could solve this problem.

Second option , make it like a scroll. So add tabs top and I think bottom and two rods . The top one could then have a cord attached to hang it up. I have seen some very large felts hung in the manner using I think curtain poles. Here there were no cords but the pole had probably been attached to the wall using typical curtain pole connection. I think again here getting it to hang straight requires some thought , but this whole idea is not going to work for me , as the sizes are all wrong. So I wonder if using sticks from the woods could look rustic and at the same time professional. I have collected some just in case!

Third option , use stretcher bars. I got this idea from Lisa Call  http://blog.lisacall.com Here is a small extract from her website.  I think these  fabric prints look great.

Maybe thought I would not have a border or maybe I could. The panel backed by a nice natural jute type canvas could look really good. I don't think I will be able to decide until I have made it. Actually I think that is not allowed , when working a commission from a client, so I think I am going to give my client four options . Eyelets, sticks , and stretcher bars with and without a border.

I have started making some samples of parts of my panel and here is one , with and without a border by the wonders of photoshop. Which do you prefer?

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