Who could resist
My name is Janet Bayar, I’m 60 years young and live in the lake District Cumbria. 2018 January I attended a day felting course,a Christmas present from me to my daughter, with my daughter and now I am hooked. I have created art all my life but feel that now I have found “the one”. I am excited for the journey ahead. Apart from the day course I am self taught and live by the “what if” mantra.
When taking part in the beginner wet felting day like many I couldn’t get my head around how you could make this fibre and flat felt into a 3 d item. With patient guidance from my daughter , who has a degree in art , I mastered the craft of felt vessels. My mind then went to , well if you can have one resist why not more and thus the journey began.
I am often asked , what do I mean by a resist. A resist is something that stops wool fibres from felting together. In vessels it could be a simple piece of plastic sheet , in shobori it could be a button or marble. Something that stops the fibres of the wool knitting. Recently I began thinking about using the same techniques I have used in vessels but adapting them to 2 d pictures. I first laid down a base of Marino topps then used herdwick in various shades sandwiching between three different sizes of circular plastic. After wet rubbing until I knew the fibres were well felted I cut out the plastic
Shaping the piece was next. I have mainly used the ever forgiving Marino in the past and wasn’t ready for the harsh corse herdwick and must admit ended up skinning the side of my hand rubbing the fibres into shape. In the end I put on disposable gloves and used bubble wrap to creat the shape.
I loved the process so much I then went on to experiment more.
I will now develop these. I always treat the felting pieces as the base of my canvas. Sometimes I go into a project with a concept of where I am going it sometimes the piece takes me by the hand and leads.
In this case my sample piece is developing. It’s early stages yet but I know where I am going but will post how it develops to the final outcome.
22 thoughts on “Who could resist”
Loved reading your story…. I’ve been felting for a few years but usually at a course. This lockdown has given me the opportunity to try out felting independently. Your story further inspires me. Well done
Thank you. That’s very kind
Lovely to see you writing for one of my favourite blogs- well done Janet
Thank you Kate. I was so pleased when I was asked. Will hopefully be doing a one on shobori in the future.
Welcome to the blog Janet! You’re vessels look great and it’s going to be interesting watching how your work develops.
Thank you Karen. I appreciate that.
Great first post Janet. I love the craters and the red on the last one really pops out. is it embroidery or something else or a combination of things?
Thank you. It’s embroidery and beads. A work in progress. Hopefully will post when it is finished if possible.
Welcome Janet! I’m happy you joined us and I loved reading about your felting journey. ‘What if’ is such a wonderful way to work and you will always be learning something new. You have created a lovely group of vessels and I look forward to seeing how your wall hangings develop.
Thank you. I can’t wait to share and see. Everyone has been so kind. Looking forward to the future on the site.
Hello Janet and thank you for posting all those lovely photos. Once you’ve learnt the basics it’s great to experiment and self-teach and your resist work has really taken off – love the last one with the red embroidery and would like to see the finished piece.
Thank you that’s very kind. I will post when it is finished but will be a while as I have more embroidery and beading to do. Watch this space and thank you again for the kind words.
Welcome and thanks for sharing your work. It’s so interesting to see other people’s felting stories and I’m glad you’ve decided that felt is ‘the one’. It will be great to see how you develop your ideas further, both in your current piece but also in the future. Like Ruth I’m a big fan of the ‘what if’ approach.
Thank you Lindsay. So excited to carry the piece on and look forward to more posts to come.
Loving all those little “pod holes” in your pieces, they make me want to look inside and expect something magical to happen 😀
Oh, and welcome, Janet!
Thank you Leonor. I think that’s why I like felting so much. You can create wonderful textures , light and shade. A magical journey for your eyes.
Janet your pods are interesting full of texture & different shapes, and like the others above I’m watching & waiting with baited breath to see how your wall hanging finishes. The red embroidery is tantalising.
Welcome to the ‘fibre family’.
Thank you Antye. That’s very kind. The wall hanging is developing well. I will post the end result. My only problem is I don’t know when to stop so it may be some time.
Ok these are AMAZING!!! So creative.
Thank you. Hope to post the finished piece in the future.
Lovely pieces! Great texture and designs. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Marilyn. I am still developing it. It’s grown !!!!