Wordless Wednesday

Fortress Photo by Edwina Sutherland

A visit to my Studio

I was honoured this week with a group of visiotrs to my studio. They were friends of the National Gallery here in Ottawa, a study group, who visit artists studios.

I spent the afternoon before getting my studio tidied up , all my sewing projects put away and the art spread out on all surfaces, for easy viewing. It looked pretty respectable once finished!

There were about 14 people in the group, which was quite a crowd in my studio. I gave a little presentation, explaining my artist's methodology, that I was part of the West End Studio Tour and my background. Then I let them ask questions. I think the most difficult medium to explain to people is needle felting. Quite a few people have tried knitting and felting things, which is not like needle felting at all. I gave a little demo on how it works, but I could not see the light bulbs going on.

Horatio and Dame Edith are prime examples. Completely made with wool fiber, every detail is wool, all the face shading and colour is wool fiber. perhaps the mystery of the process helps its cachet!

The group was very appreciative, and I was certainly grateful for their visit and many flattering comments. It's a great boost with what I am doing to share my work in this way to such a warm audience.



Dame Edith

Thanks for coming, everyone!!



Horatio



Wordless Wednesday




Cogs

Photo by Edwina Sutherland

 

Dancing in the Moonlight.

I finished this piece a while back, but totally forgot to take a photo and share it with you.

It's needle felted using Corriedale fiber, which is one of my favourite wools to needle felt with.

Dancing in the Moonlight

I found the base on a floral display, so immediately saw it as a base for a doll. I had to wire her feet to it, which meant reworking them a bit, but I think I pulled it off.

Dancing close up

This time I didn't wire the hands. I can make them much more delicate if I don't wire them. The figure is 13" tall from her toes to her finger tips. It was a challenge to create the face all in white and I did consider some colour for the eyes, but finally left it white. I used the suggestion of eyes, by making the lids half closed. I saw this on a stone statue and thought it very effective.

Needle felters can learn much from statues.

I saw her dancing in the moonlight, a figure lit by the light of the moon. She'll be up on my Etsy store soon. maybe today!

Wordless Wednesday

Remember

Photo by Edwina Sutherland

Have you tried Felting?

If you haven’t tried the many styles of felt making, you are missing a big part of the textile arts experience.

The hottest trend in the fibre world right now is felting. To take beautiful colours of wool fibre and turn it into something useful, like slippers or a bag, or something sculptural like a vessel, is to witness the most amazing transformation. Let me introduce you to the different methods of felt making available to today’s fibre artist.

Wet felted bag

• Wet felting is the oldest form of felting. Using wool fiber, the magic of wet felting will produce a small bag, a vessel, any shape you want! Wet felting is the process of removing air from the wool fiber, which is stacked in organized layers, wetted with water and soap and massaged, rubbed and finally formed into a felt object. This magic process makes fiber into felt. Dating far back in human history, felt has been there, providing warmth and comfort. Clothing, tents, yurts (a round shelter) and many other practical items have been produced this way.

Pied Piper - needle felted

• Needle felting is one of those arts that have evolved from industrial uses. The humble felting needle is secured in a bed by the thousands and used to produce things like carpet underlay, felt boot liners, insulation and quilt batting. Taken by itself, it becomes a very versatile tool for the fiber artist. Without stitching a shape or stuffing, a figure can be built, layer by layer with wool fiber and one simple tool: the felting needle. A face can be detailed entirely with colored wool using this method. The possibilities are limitless!

• Knitting - Many knitters are having fun with felting: knitting hats, bags, mittens, etc. with wool yarn. These are then placed in a washing machine to shrink and become felt. This process is properly called “fulling,” though it is commonly referred to as felting. It results in felt fabric, which is strong, warm to wear and beautiful.

• The Embellisher machine - The newest comer to the felt making scene is the embellishing machine. An embellisher is a sewing machine of sorts, without thread or feed dogs. Felting needles do the work of needle felting, inserted singly or in groups in the needle holder of the machine. Using the machine, flat pieces of felted and embellished work can be made. Many fiber artists and quilters are creating wonderful work with this single-purpose machine.

So try playing with wool if you haven't already. There are so many styles to choose from. I love it and am very passionate about felting in all it's forms. You can find kits and supplies on my web site, Edwina Dolls.