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Author: Jan

Realy im not 12, i am just sivearly dislexic. i can spin, weave, felt, garden, Draw, Paint, and do layout but i realy cant spell. if you read out louwd i do make more sence.
Needle Felted Flat Landscape Workshop 2019

Needle Felted Flat Landscape Workshop 2019

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Ann told you about the workshop she gave on felted Flowers. So I thot you might like to hear about the last workshop I was teaching. This was the first time I had taught it and I was a bit nervous and excited (inner voice to self, take a deep breath, relax). In December you heard about the panic of making the Catalogue sample for this workshop. (https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2018/12/01/this-is-the-story-of-a-felting-emergency/)

As you may remember I have a background in both commercial and fine art.  Add to that the sivear dislexia which tends to change my way of approaching a subject or at least the way I tend to interpret it.

Last August the guild started to set up the list and order workshops that would run in 2019. There were a number of felting workshops but we had requests for felted landscapes in 2D. I had signed up to teach Inkle weaving as usual but Our Workshop coordinator was sure I could do the landscape and re-run a felted sheep class I had done over 10 years ago. I said sure and between working on the Catalogue for the workshops, restructuring the Guild library and a few Exhibition and Sale chores I started writing my notes.

I am pretty big on notes.  I want a student to be able to look back on them and remember what to do even if it’s been a year since they took the workshop.  For this one I felt I needed to include a bit on composition, perspective, aspects of different mediums of painting and finally how to deal with the felting itself.  So think small book rather than regular notes.

1

(picture 1 Name tags and a bit of back ground information )

I was going to teach them a different way to look at felt; treating it more like a water colour than an acrylic and using some of the work principles used in pastels and oil paintings.  Because of the time restraints of only 5 hours to felt I went for a smaller size, working in a 5×7 inch format.

 

2 (picture 2 the supply,  a stack of notes, a picture chosen and all ready to start )

I prefer workshops where you don’t have to go searching for a long list of supplies to bring.  So I try to have everything that will be needed to start your adventure included in the materials fee. The Introduction to inkle weaving workshop is the same, students even get the integrally important box of smarties. For this workshop smarties were not as important but they did get a 5×7 frame with white mat, a selection of needles, a mat to work on (I took a workshop from Megan Cleland who had used Dollarama Garden kneeling pads as work surfaces which were light and worked very well. The handle even held fibre I was working on!)

I had found some mid-weight felt at Michaels that was longer then needed for the project so we had enough to do  a name tag too. I started everyone off by making a name tag. Firstly, so I would remember their names.  Secondly, it would give them a chance to try the eye-hand coordination required to needle felt. It also let them get a feel for the differences between needles at moving fibre.  They had 2 each of the fine, medium and coarser needles and one spiral in a fine gage.  I had ordered a Multi-needle tool (it’s the flake clover needle holder from china) but it was not expected to arrive in time. it arrived Friday afternoon just before the Saturday workshop.

3(picture 3 transferring image )

We started by discussing different ways to transfer an image to the felt. Megan was teaching a variation on the light box using a window. This will only work well on thin felt. So if you want to work on a heavier ground or a dark colour choosing another method would be preferable. I mentioned the most common methods for scaling and transferring images including using a Lucy or projector, the grid method and the template method. (I also mentioned pouncing as an option, it is used with frescoes) Since I haven’t seen anyone teaching template transfer we went with that.  Its low tech and requires only scissors, permanent marker and an image.

I had selected a number of images ranging from quite simple to more complex since the class was to accommodate beginner and intermediate students. I had a couple students bring their own images too. With a bit of discussion they all chose there images. As they prepped and transferred there images to the felt I did a vary brief overview of perspective, how overlapping objects give the illusion of distance, how colour fades out as it recedes, detail in the foreground and less detail in the background and sky is lighter at the horizon and darkens as you go up. We discussed light and shadows and keeping your light source consistent if you are using more than one photo reference.

I also explained about thinking about using wool as paint.  Using properties from water colour , acrylic and oil techniques.

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(picture 4- 14 Slideshow Work in progress )

By that time they were ready to begin.  There was much poking but I don’t think anyone stabbed themselves. (I did have 3 boxes of bandages just in case) Most of the students had never felted before so were quite amazed as the wool started to turn into a picture. There was some reworking of areas to get the shadows they wanted but it started to come together.

15 (picture 15 Framing there work)

As you have probably found out yourselves if you put a frame on even a simple sketch it gives it importance, focuses the viewer and gives it the feeling of Art. As the students put there finished pieces into their frames it was fun to see them so pleased with their results. Two of the students had to leave early due to impending bad weather and lengthy drives home.I realized afterwords i missed getting a picture of there finished piece.

 

(picture 16- 19 Finished and Framed )

 

2018 the year of the Workshop(S)

2018 the year of the Workshop(S)

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2018 Taking Felting Workshop #3 with Moy Mackay

2018 was a big year for workshops for both myself and my husband. He finally got time off in the summer coinciding with the Blacksmithing conference he has wanted to attend for more than 10 years. Even better it was finally a drivable distance! I think he was feeling guilty because after many years of not traveling we take a big trip and it’s to go to a conference for him.  From Ottawa, Canada our ultimate destination was just north of Richmond Virginia.  But first; Via Landsdown fiber festival (for Jan),

then cross the border and head to the steam train museum in Scranton Pen.(for Glenn)

Blast Furnnice at Scranton
Interesting bits of train i wonder if i could make that in felt?
textural train bit
This one makes me think of Ann i wonder why?
Oooh colours!!!maybe silk and dyed blue faced lester?
this was a cool shot lots of wimon working in the silk company in 1929
the thinkg you see when you are visiting the states
this was a cool dispaly in the same rest stop

Turn west and drive, the next day reaching the Woollery in Kentucky (for Jan)

I also discovered that although the distance from Scranton Pennsylvania to the part of Kentucky I wanted to see was not that great a distance on the map. The diagonal lines crossing the highway on that map were not some decorative feature but small mountains. With lots of tippy truck signs!! I had not realized it was such a big problem for trucks in the states.

the Woolery!!
Felting suplys
Fleting Fiber
Felting macheen
Felting tools
Felting Tools Rollers

The Woolery had a lot of felting tools, rollers, abrasion boards with nobbly surfaces, felting needles, needle holders, and lots of fibre. They also had wheels, looms, yarn, fibre prep and a comfy chair in the corner to leave husbands while you shopped. It was sort of like reaching Mecca!

Glenn in Husband Area
Great Restrain in Shopping

(Pic of Glenn in husband corner and Great restraint in Shopping)

While at the conference I found out there were non-blacksmithing classes for those with badges that said “Spouse of (insert name of blacksmith)”. There were a couple of painting classes, a broom making class, one on repousse for non blacksmith, leather work and 3 basketry classes. Yes I made 2 baskets and a hearth broom  and had a blast. I also did a lot of spinning in the air conditioned comfort while the blacksmiths were outside in the summers most extreme heat wave with multiple forges going. What were they thinking?  When they could have been cool inside having fun making brooms, baskets, spinning and felting!

When we got back to Ottawa we discovered there were going to be interesting felting workshops at Twist (a big fibre festival in Quebec).  One was 3 days long on sculptural felting with  Marjolein Dallinga , (i promise i will tell you about that one eventually) and the second was on pet portraiture, with Megan Cleland which was also lots of fun. You have already seen the fox I was working on in the second workshop. There was one more workshop in 2018 and I would like to tell you about that one. ( It took me a while but i finally got to the point to this post.)

The Moy Mackay Workshop

Ann spotted it let me know it was happening. We had both looked into going to the east coast for a felting conference but after looking at the location, how to get there and the overall cost decided it was just too expensive. So we were both extremely excited to have the opportunity to take a workshop with an instructor we didn’t think we could make dues to distance and cost. Well it was still pricey but the commute was excellent!! We both signed up as soon as the store, Wabi Sabi, was open. We were joined by one of our guild-mates, Carlene, for a 2 day workshop with Moy Mackay! Day one we were to wet felt two pictures: one a landscape and one a still life. On day two we would embellish them using felting needles, stitch-work (Embroidery) and free motion machine stitching. We were sent a long list of the supplies to bring. The one we all had trouble acquiring was the garden netting. It must be a British thing?

We all looked at the list of what to bring and I was a little dismayed. Not knowing what the landscape would look like but having to bring wool to do it was a bit stressful. what to bring? Well my solution was to bring almost everything. If I didn’t have it likely Ann and Carlene did! Next problem.  What is Garden netting? We discovered it’s a British thing. Not like the plastic netting we use in the garden here to keep birds out of the Saskatoons and Gooseberries! (Sorry i couldn’t take a picture of what British Garden Netting looks like.)

The day of the workshop arrived and, with a well filled car and my folding blue wagon, I headed off to the Hintonburg Community Centre just a few stores down from Wabi Sabi. This is very convenient since Wabi Sabi had promised to have a large selection of fibre in case we were missing any.

One of the advantages of taking workshops is you can see the methodology of the teacher. You can try to figure out why she is working in one way and not another. You can ask her lots of questions too.  I have noticed there is often more than one way to do a thing.  Just look at my spelling. Sometimes the choice is more a matter of “we always do it that way” but sometimes it’s because it is more efficient or effective if you chose this method over that one.

Moy is a fine artist and sells her pictures. She has to be able to produce images in a reasonable time to be able to support herself and continue her artwork,  She does not have the option of taking hours to needle felt the background and then add many more hours to hand stitch the final embellishments after the felting is done. So she has developed a method that works for her purpose. She is fast!  This is definitely not a negative thing. I was truly impressed at how quickly she worked.  It was obvious that she has had many years of practice and was comfortable and confident in her colour palate and design choices.

46
Our Insperation on Day One

She showed us the 2 landscape photos she had chosen for us. They are views from her new house in Scotland.  They showed the yellow fields and looked out to her neighbours farm house.  One shot had fencing and wildflowers.  The other had sheep but they were very tiny. For composition I tend to like dramatic lighting or repetition or overlap that draws you into a view. Also yellow is really not my favourite colour, except if I’m painting with rhoplex to make my acrylic paints more transparent, then yellow gets much more interesting. (I bet you can smell the fumes destroying my brain cells even as I think about it!) Ann said “no grumbling and do it anyways” she is right.  We are here to experience her way of working and watch her colour palate and methodology.

She did a demo for us. (she didn’t want us to take pictures of her working)  It was amazing to watch how really fast she laid out her colours. Both Ann and I were sure all the spinners would be cringing if they watched her carding to blend fiber but it worked for her and gave her the amount of blending she wanted. And it was a lot faster and produced larger amounts than the hand blending I tend to do.

She sent us off and gave us the rest of the morning to finish the layout for our landscapes. From 2 pictures it was very interesting to look around at lunch to see what each of us had taken from the compositions since there was quite a bit of variation within each of the two themes. But you could still see unifying elements within all the pictures.

After lunch she set up a vase with flowers and then Moy demonstrated her technique for laying in back ground, table and creating flowers. The vase and flowers where there only to inspire us. We could expand upon what we were looking at.  We were happily adding leaves, flowers and background and she told us we had to hurry and finish up so we could felt both pieces before we had to clean up the class room for the next group coming in. EEK!! Felt Faster!!

 

We discovered she doesn’t like bubble wrap.  It is too aggressive for what she is aiming for. What she is doing in wet felting is not creating strong cohesive textile as you would for a vessel, slippers or a cat cave but a thin softer felt which more resembles pre-felt for her base.  She can then still manipulate the felt after it has had its wet felt treatment. If it were felted as fully as a vessel or even worse my cat cave fish it would never fit under the pressure foot on the sewing machine.

I did stick with my bubble wrap but I was pretty back weary by the end of the day and was sure I could keep the fibres from over felting (I was too sore by then to be aggressive anyway). So after only minimal felting I was done and packed everything up into my wonderful wagon and headed back to the car. When we were all packed up we took a quick shopping trip up the street to Wabi Sabi. More Wool!! Really you can’t have too much wool can you? After a good dose of fibre we all headed home so we could do part 2 tomorrow!

33
Drying Outside In a Light Breeze

Day 2 Embellishments

Moy does some needle felting with her pieces but mostly she does a form of embroidery and free motion sewing on a sewing machine. She spent the morning with demonstrations of needle felting, hand embroidery and machine embroidery/ sewing.  My sewing machine doesn’t have the feed dog covers and I’m not sure I can get them but I watched her demonstrate with the felt and sewing machine.  It was interesting to see her add more detail with just a bit of stitching.  And again She was fast! She demonstrated the technique enough that I am confident I have the concept if not the dexterity to understand what she was describing.

 

I spent most of the time working with the needles making my trees mildly 3 dimensional. By the end of the workshop I was wiped and I still had more work to do on the landscape and all the embellishment left to do on the flowers!

Ann’s and Carleen’s are much more embellished than mine are but I hope to get back and finished them eventually!

It was fascinating to see all the pieces together at the end of the workshop. There was a lot of variation on the theams we were given.  I am very glad I was able to attend this workshop. I learned a new way of approaching picture felting, used pre-felt for depicting the building and really enjoyed the workshop. (But i am still not fond of Yellow.)

Wheels on Fire Spin-In 2019

Wheels on Fire Spin-In 2019

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Winters can be long and cold here,  with the cool to really cold months greatly out numbering the warm to hot ones. To counter the general feeling of bone-chillingly cold and break the misery that winter brings the City of Ottawa organizes Winterlude to embrace winter sports and activities (which doesn’t include spinning, weaving or felting outside – luckily). But the weather often has its own plans for Winterlude, usually being brutally cold or unseasonably mild which closes the canal for skating and melts the snow sculptures.

denice crop
Denise
bernadette crop
Bernadette

Denise Knebel and Bernadette Quade, two of our local guild members came to the conclusion we needed a post-Christmas spinning break from winter as a way to bring together spinners from both sides of the Quebec and Ontario border.  In 2018 they put together the first Wheels on Fire.  They found a really beautiful location in Gatineau just across the Ottawa river at a converted  horse farm barn,  “la Ferme Moore”. (No really look at the pictures it was a stunning venue!)  they had lined up a few local venders  from both sides of the river so there were shopping opportunities and they even had Door Prizes!!!!  So from 10am to 4pm we blissfully enjoyed  the beautiful scenery, while shopping, chatting, spinning, sock knitting, and ceinture fléchée.

 

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2018 Wheels on Fire spin in at la Ferme Moore

Unfortunately the group running the facility folded later that year and we were not able to book the location again.

The event had proved  very popular so they began the search for another venue for 2019. They did not disappoint!  They found another spectacular log structure called the “Cabane” and described it as;

“The Cabane is a massive round-log construction that backs onto the Gatineau Park. Our room has lots of natural light and views of the park from nearly all the windows”.

The site had even better access for the mobility challenged with long ramps inside installeded along one side of the building.  There was the large room we occupied and 2 other rentable rooms available for future expansion (one had a spectacular fire place in it). They scheduled the event for Saturday, January 19, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

 

2019 Venue The Cabane
2019 Venue The Cabane
2019 Venue The Cabane

Shots of venue and park

Ann McIlroy and I both consulted Google maps to get driving instruction and suggested driving times. Google maps lied to one of us. It told Ann it would take her 41 minutes from her home well south of Ottawa and told me I would take 40 minutes from the west end of Ottawa close to the high way. We stopped, picked up breakfast, toasted bagles with butter and cream cheese, resumed our trip heading across the river and into Quebec. We followed googles instructions up and across the snowy beauty of Gatineau park. There was a particularly nice view crossing the river with mist and blowing snow and another view looking up the valley along one side of the park. Unfortunately there was not a good spot to stop and take pictures at either location. I have been known to drive like a plane at as very low altitude ( but I wasn’t that day) and still got there as the venders were setting up.  I think Glenn-porter-of-stuff and I were the first participants there and payed our $5.00, getting our door prize tickets. I picked a spot by a window and snagged a second chair to work on. Another lady put a small folding wooden table next to us and I expected to see one of the electric spinning wheels emerge. Instead were the cutest little needle felted sculptures. We had a felting corner at the spin in!!!!

I got Glenn settled in with his book in the corner and I wondered off to do photos of each of the venders and gets some crowd and venue shots.  The venders this year were;  Elizabeth Watt, Joanne Howard, Isabelle Perdigal, Bernadette Quade, Lee Scott, Wendy Wellbond, Erin Krekowski,  Judy Kavanagh, Céline Paquette, Christine Gagné, and Luc and Nathalie and Céline Cléroux.

 

 

venders tables

When I returned I found Glenn had all the pieces I was working on out of my basket  and was showing them to the other spin in participants.  I hear my fox was well photographed.  I better get around to finishing his whiskers’ upgrade soon so he will be ready for his photo session.

 

shots of more participants

Bernadette had asked a local spinner to give a talk on spinning with local bast fibers, such as the stock of milkweed and the invasive dog strangling vine. Both make a spectacular fiber similar to nettle or linen. The colour variations available from different soil, mould and weather conditions were extremely intriguing. We are hoping to get Cole to submit an article for Ply magazine talking about his practical spinning experience and the equipment he is using to spin.

 

shots from Cole’s talk

And there were again Fabulous Door Prizes!!!  I didn’t get shots of all of the winners but all looked like they were very pleased with their winnings. Ann who was sitting on the other side of me won a batt of mixed fiber and traded it with the vender for a feltable one. The Canadian Co-Operative Wool Growers in Carlton Place generously made a donation of a fleece to the door prizes. I will someday tell you all about this wonderful resource we have close to us but the highlights are that it was established in 1918 to collect, grade  and sell members’ wool on a co-operative basis.  It grades approximately 3 million pounds of raw wool a year and sells at the best price available. Much of its sales are going to China.

 

 door prizes and one of the winners

After door prizes had been dispersed  it was back to the socializing, spinning, felting, ceinture fléchée and of course more shopping.

 

More shots of the participants

4pm pack up came much too soon and there was defiantly enthusiasm for another Wheels on Fire for 2020! Much thanks to Bernadette and Denise for all their hard work finding and arranging for this really nice venue.  It is great to have something to look forward to in the extreme cold of January! Next break will be at the Chesterville Spin-in in February. I will hope to see all of you in Chesterville in February (weather permitting) and book ahead for a visit to Ottawa for next January and join us for Wheels on Fire Spin-in 2020.

(No wheels were actually burned or threaten in any way at the spin in!)  But one somnolent blacksmith / Fiber and equipment porter was spotted. Glenn has been seen napping at most of the local fiber events.  Watch for him at an event near you but poke him if he is snoring.

Sneaky Presents

Sneaky Presents

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This year one of my brothers-in-law decreed we should not give gifts at Xmas.  Oh no! But I love Xmas.  It’s so fun to see if I have guessed right what everyone will like.

So this year I did 5×7 Xmas cards for our Oakville Xmas. That technically isn’t a present it’s a card. I had a plan.

OOPS, I took Mom shopping 2 weeks before Xmas and had 3 bags of groceries; one was just a bit heavier than the others. Ok, as soon as I lugged it into the house I knew it was too heavy. I lasted long enough to get everything into the fridge and realized I wasn’t doing anything else. I was much better after spending most of a week in bed being very uncomfortable, frustrated and all caught up on Xmas movies.  So I was a week behind on Xmas and sure I had a bit longer until it arrived. (Surprise! It’s still on the 25th!) Drat!

My husband works for the post office so this year was going to be a very short visit. (The Post Office was open on Monday, Dec 24th.) The original plan was to drive for 5.5 hours arrive late on the 24th or early on the 25th drive back on the 26th so he could work on the 27th.  He had requested to have Monday off so we could leave earlier but we had to wait to see who else requested because it would go by seniority and there are a lot of more senior people working at his station. Thursday night he found out that he could have Monday off and we had a mad scramble to drop off Ottawa presents (before the freezing rain arrived) and gather everything for the trip.

Friday started out with freezing rain changing to rain. I had collected my portfolio a bag of various coloured fibre and a strip of the felted duvet that had been donated to the guild felters.  I think I told you about that a while ago. I finally got to use a bit of mine and it worked very well. So if you acquire a felted wool duvet do not despair take it apart and use it for a base to felt on!

The drive down started with light rain changing to vary heavy rain eventually stopping and changing to decorative wisps of snow north of Toronto but nothing stayed on the very green ground we found in Oakville. There was an amazing decorated Xmas tree and Glenn’s Parents to greet us.  so Green Xmas isn’t all bad.

1-xmas-2018.jpg
No Snow in Oakville but a spectacular tree!

So Saturday morning I pulled out my bag of fiber and sent Glenn to find a cereal box in the recycling bin in the basement.  I cut out part of one side and made a 5 x 7 window and sent the rest back to recycling. Then took over a corner of the dining room table. (My back still wasn’t very happy and decided that living room furniture was not to be tolerated but dining room chairs were fine – stupid back)

Hum, what would my in-laws like on their card? Well, we were definitely having a green Xmas and we hadn’t brought any snow with us (what little we had after the rain and freezing rain in Ottawa) ok, a snow scene it would be.

2 xmass 2018
swirly application of fibre

 

3 xmass 2018
adding a tree and a snowy slope
4 xmass 2018
another tree and more swirls to the sky and a winter sun

Again wisps of colour laid down this time in swirls of patterns to the sky, very van Gogh of me! I added bare trees (there is a golf course full of bare trees just across the street) then needed something to balance their weight.  The nephews had created a grisly snowman murder seen the last time they had visited but unfortunately no snow so no snowmen. Hum ok, a less grisly snowman with a scarf to blow in the wind.

5 xmass 2018
check with the cereal box frame for balance to the composition
7-xmass-2018.jpg
Ooh, a frame makes everything look better! One down 2 more to go

Yes, l think that will work.

One down 2 to go!

Next Brian and Alex like birds and there are lots of birds usually here.  But this visit seemed to be all about squirrel wars and retrieving the squirrel-proof feeder from where the Raccoons had taken it across the backyard. I hear there is an opossum visiting but I didn’t see it.

9 xmas 2018
Squirrel wars, a momentary pause

Usually, there are lots of cardinals and blue jays, sparrows, chickadees, morning doves and never enough crows for me. Ok, cardinals it is.

A quick trip to the internet since my camera wasn’t as helpful as it usually is and I had chosen a bird.

12 xmas 2018
cardinal underway

Again background blended with wisps of colour then started adding the detail work. Checking the size with the 5×7 window and a lot of poking (but not my fingers!) and I had Xmas card number 2 done.

It was Xmas Eve afternoon by the time I started the last one.  Bob and Judy were not expected until about 4 pm Xmas day.  So I had to felt my fingers off since I knew we also had turkey dinner, Xmas breakfast and a lot of presents to open!

21 xmas 2018
Christmas Morning! One more to finish!
13 xmas 2018
Glenn’s Christmas morning Blacksmithing hat and lots of pyjamas
14-xmas-2018.jpg
part of Jan’s Christmas tablet weaving books!

Hummm, now what might they like?  I had rectified the lack of snow and did one of the birds that we enjoy here.  Oh yes, the rabbits! We see them mostly in the spring and early summer but they’re very cute.  Bob would like them and make him think of his parents’ home.

So bunny it was. I didn’t have the photos I had taken of this spring’s bunny visitor but remembered what it looked like so off to the internet for photo reference. Much poking later I had a very painterly interpretation of an Oakville bunny.

beginning of the bunny
adding more detail
18 xmas 2018
Framing of Christmas card #3

You may have noticed I tried a different base to work on. It’s the foam from the dollar store that kids’ play mats are made of. Mine was about 7 inches square and had a puzzle piece in the centre of each square.  The puzzle part in the middle tends to want to pull out but I would suggest not using tape to hold it together since the stickiness would transfer to the needle and make a mess. I found holding down the center worked fine and it wasn’t as annoying as it sounds to work on. When the bigger ones reappear I will get more. I did work 3 layers thick so had no poke through even with the top surface deterioration. If you haven’t tried this as a base you may want to experiment.

22 xmass 2018
Dollar store foam pieces
23 xmas 2018
3 layers worked well

All recipients seemed very pleased and surprised with their “Xmas cards” I had found frames at Dollarama with a white mat so they looked a lot more polished with the frame as presentation.

Now on to class notes for the 2 workshops I’m doing in January! I can see a lot more felting ahead in 2019! I hope you get a chance to try small format felting, it is relatively quick, doesn’t take much wool and it’s lots of fun!

This is the story of a Felting Emergency

This is the story of a Felting Emergency

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The background:

Each year the local guild builds a year long workshop schedule.  The main foundation multi-day workshops in weaving get scheduled first, then the rest of the multi-day workshops, then we work through the list of other workshops.  Sometimes there are workshops that would be good to balance out a topic or that have been requested, but instructors didn’t list them this year. The workshop coordinator usually sends a couple emails or a quick phone call and tries to line up the missing ones.  This year we needed a couple more felting workshops.  I had taught needle felted sheep before and there was a request for felted landscapes.  Great, I can teach that too.  Oh wait!  I need a sample!  I gave away all my felting last year as Christmas presents.  Hmm. Better make another sample, quick.  Since I would need a picture for the workshop catalogue and we would also need an example for the web site.  Luckily they could be the same pictures.  I just had to make one, fast!

PANIC!!!

OK.  Off to the photos I had taken and then a quick perusal of the internet image search.  I dug back through the last few years to see what I had that would make a good landscape.  I had a number of shots to choose from; some of the cottage, the Tay river (OK it’s a bit small for a river), some from the trip south to go blacksmithing,  some just west of Westport (also with Glenn blacksmithing),  getting lost at the north edge of the map coming back from a week blacksmithing in Halliburton,  a couple from the Champlain lookout but it was cloudy so I didn’t like those much.  I had a lot of tight focused pictures of leaves, pine needles, or milk weed but they’re not really what you think of normally as landscape. (If you’re not selling your piece consider looking at calendars with photos of landscapes, they often gives good compositions and subject matter)

1 west of westport

West of Westport at a blacksmithing workshop (the building with the forge is behind me as I’m taking the picture)

2 north of the map

The top edge of the map as we are about to get lost on our way back from a week of blacksmithing workshops at Halliburton.

3 sewmack

Sumac on Iris by the transit way in fall. (Absolutely nothing to do with blacksmithing)

4 pine needles

Pine tree I think it was Oakville on 6th line?

OK, let’s check the internet for some options.  Lots of possibilities but only a couple of the winter shots caught my eye.  One was from a video of snow in the farmland south of Ottawa.  Ah, I like that one.  And I found one of a winter fence.  I have always liked the look of fences and it has large blocks of colour (mostly shades of white and grey) with a bit of detail to make it interesting.  Hum, still needs something.  Let me think on that while I transfer the image to my felt.

5 Fence posts in winterSnow and fence south of Ottawa

Checking the image for viability.

Is this a composition that will read easily?  What are the tonal values within the piece? How does it look if you colour block it?  Copy the digital image into Word and go to the image tab when you have the photo active.  Now change the photo to black and white.

5.1 Fence posts in winter Gray scale Is it still easy to tell what you’re looking at? Next go to artistic effects and try the option called cut out.

5.2 fence posts in winter colour blocksIt colour blocks the image to give you basic values.

There used to be an option called paint by number which was fun too but I can’t find it anymore.  This step isn’t totally necessary but it gives you more clues whether this image will work.  This helps reduce abandoned projects and general frustration.

I had bought some felt at Twist festival and a couple more sheets at Almonte Fibrefest.  I selected a blue and blocked in the composition with a medium fine Sharpy (a brand of permanent marker).  Megan Cleland had used quilting markers (they got all over the side of my hand) with the light box technique. She had us trace on the prefelt but with thicker felt this would not have worked.  If you are not comfortable doing a free hand drawing there are a couple of other options.  I had found the thin prefelt too stretchy and had to be careful not to let it distort the image.  So I chose the thicker felt for greater stability and less distortion.

I have worked with thick felt, felt I have made, a couple different weights of commercial felt and prefelt and even felt made from acrylic and what feels like sizing or glue (icky feeling to felt on but it did make a nice picture – see at the end of the post).  If you can find and afford it, the real wool felt has been much nicer to work with.

Megan had given out the dollar-store garden kneeling pads to work on in her workshop and I found them excellent to work with.  I will be watching for them to come back into stock this spring! You can see the rainbow one I have been working on. The handle is a handy place to stash bits of wool so I can grab bits of fiber as I need it.

6.1 laying in the background

I again was working background towards foreground then adding details.  I took lots of pictures to check the progress as I went.  The photos work like holding a painting in front of a mirror to check you have your proportions correct.  I decided to take out some of the snow on the fences and found I wanted to add a bit more interest.

6.2 laying in the background6.3 laying in the background6.5 laying in the fence

 

So, back to the internet.  Let’s search snowy owls on fence posts in winter.  Armed with reference photos I added the missing bird and continued adding detail to the foreground and shadows in the snow.

7 snowy owl refernce photos 7.1 snowy owl refernce photos 7.2 snowy owl refernce photos

7.3 adding owl and forgrond

As soon as I added the tree trunks behind the field I was starting to be pleased with the progress.

8.1 adding trees in backgound and working forgound8.2 adding a bit moe detailand shadow

I had an Ikea frame but the mat did not fit the picture.  Next time look at the mat size and make the art to fit the mat.

9 landscape 2 framed temperarily

It’s a lot cheaper and easier than trying to get a mat cut on the afternoon of Halloween.  But I was eventually successful in getting an acid free mat cut.  It cost more than the sheet of mat-board did so I may be investing in a good mat cutter if I continue to work in this flatter format.  You can see how much better the piece looks with the mat in the correct size!

10 2019 samples of some of the felting workshops for 2019

So I was able to create a speedy example of a felted landscape in time for the workshop display at the guild sale the first weekend in November.  I also had a photo of the piece so I could put it in the catalogue and also on the guild web site.  The Flowers are for an evening felting workshop with Ann McElroy and the sheep I am teaching again this year.  As you can see in the very tiny print we will be having quite a few felting workshops this year!

For those of you, like me. whose eyesight isn’t up to the fine print,  let me give you the list so you can see it.  It really is a rather impressive list! I’m not suggesting you take them I just thought you might like to see what a range of felting is happening in Ottawa next year!

Felting Workshops 2019

Wet Felting

1913 Wet Felted Cozy Cowls (B) 1 Day, Sun, Feb 10, 2019 – J. Tulloch

1919 Jewelry Making with Felt (B) 2 Days, Sat, March 2 and 9, 2019 – J. Tulloch

1922 Custom Fit Wet Felted Hat (B) 1 Day, Sun, Mar 17, 2019 – A. McElroy

1924 Wet Felted Chicks and Egg (B) Half Day, Sat, Mar 23, 2019 – M. Hegedus

1929 Beautiful Wet Felted Flowers (B) Evening, Wed, Apr 10, 2019 – A. McElroy

1936 Luxurious Nuno Felt Scarf (B) 1 Day, Sun, April 28, 2019 – A. McElroy

1956 Luxurious Nuno Felt Scarf (B) 1 Day, Sun, Nov 24, 2019 – A. McElroy

1942 Techniques for Intermediate Wet Felters (I)  1 Day, Sun, May 26, 2019 – A. McElroy

Needle Felting

1902 Needle Felted Sheep (B) 1 Day, Sat, Jan 19, 2019 – J. Scott

1917 Needle Felted Flat Landscape (B) 1 Day, Sat, Feb 23, 2019 – J. Scott

1938 Needle Felted Fairy Garden (B) Half Day, Sat, May 4, 2019 – M. Hegedus

1948 Needle Felted Pumpkin (B) Half Day, Sun, Oct 6, 2019 – M. Hegedus

1958 Needle Felted King Winter (B) Half Day, Sun, Dec 1, 2019 – M. Hegedus

1960 3D Wet Felted Vessel/Pot (B) and up, 1 Day, Sun, Dec 8, 2019 – A. McElroy

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed my panic driven adventure in felting.  The moral of my story this time is don’t give away all your examples as Christmas presents if you are going to be teaching a workshop in the topic!

Post script;

12 land scape This is the landscape I am working on at the moment.  It is on acrylic felt.  It is a bit stretchier than wool felt but not as stretchy as prefelt.  I was expecting the acrylic felt to be truly hideous but it is not as bad as I thought it might be. There is an odd resistance and slight scraping sound as I started to work with it. Now that I have a base built up it is behaving better. There is still a lot to do on this new piece before its done but I am again pleased with the start. Now will it be a fox, wild turkeys, or deer that will accompany the hay bales? If you are not too bored by now maybe I can show you later? Have a great time felting!!!

West Carleton Fibre Guild’s tour of the Puppet exhibit

West Carleton Fibre Guild’s tour of the Puppet exhibit

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Although the Ottawa Valley weavers and spinners guild is the largest guild in eastern Ontario, we also have many smaller neighbour guilds. One of the closest neighbours is the West Carleton Fibre Guild who hold their meetings on a Tuesday afternoon in Dunrobin, Ontario (just a bit past the west end of Kanata).  But the September’s meeting was special.

1 door of the museum

Back door of the Almonte Textile Museum

 

They had a field trip to the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte. The trip was planned so they could have a special tour of the Puppet exhibit by Noreen Young.  At present there are 3 exhibits at the museum.  There permanent display of Mill equipment and modern weaving looms, a spectacular quilt exhibit and Noreen Young: a Puppet Retrospective.  With 150 examples of some of her life’s work in puppetry.  She is internationally known and has received the order of Canada for work with producing, writing and puppeteering in many children’s and educational programs.

 

2 Poster for the exhibit            3 fist puppet in the exhibit

Poster for the exhibit.                                   First puppet in the exhibition (a rod puppet with detachable legs

4 Noreen with her first puppet Noreen with her first puppet

She gave us a tour through the exhibit explaining different puppets and giving anecdotes of her work with them.  She was asked if she had a favorite and told us her Granny character, Mrs. Gertrude Diddle and Gloria Gopher she was particularly fond of.  She took some down from the display and showed us how they moved and what they voice sounded like.  She did the voices for most of her puppets but occasional had to lip sink to a voice actor which was harder.

Almost all her puppets were to be worked with the puppeteer below holding one arm up to operate the mouth and the other hand controls the rods to move the hands. She showed us how it was important to make the puppets bob as they moved or it looked like they were skating along or floating in the air witch just wasn’t right.

 

Her earliest work was in the 60’s “Hi Diddle Day” 1967 to 1976. These puppets are in a glass display case with a couple more the puppet cast.  Not all the puppets are in display cases though.

 

Displayed on shelves with monitors showing bits of the program they were used for beneath them were the Puppets for “under the Umbrella tree” which ran on CBC, Disney and Canal Famille from 1987-1997.

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She explained about the studio being an old garage and having a lower ceiling than studios usually had.  So the puppeteers had to sit on rolling boxes since they could only raise the live actor up a certain height before the ceiling was a problem.  For most shows she said the puppeteers stood on the floor with the live actors raised on platforms so they could interact with the puppets.  The head bands the puppeteers are wearing holds their mikes.  This insures the mike is always the same distance from their mouth as they switch between looking up at the puppet and down at their scripts.

 

There were puppets from series I didn’t remember but am now sorry I missed. “Bats” from a 1987 Pilot.

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Also “Wacky Palms” from 1994 about a small boutique resort in the Bermuda triangle.  Run by a cow with a theatrical past and with an eclectic staff.  Strange things happen when a time portal opens and havoc is unleashed upon the hotel.

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She said that some of her most effective puppets had elements of movement such as the feathers for hair, parts that dangled or the way the fabric moved with the puppet.

 

Noreen was also known for her Caricatures of real peoples.  Her Prince Charles from 1975, created for “What’s new” a kids news show for CBC, is very recognizable.  She also made a copy of the mayor of Ottawa.

 

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She has made caricatures of may Almonte area people (about 50 on display) who have been used in various puppet shows in the area.  She was the artistic Director for “Puppets up!”; an annual international puppet show from 2005 to 2016. International puppet shows from across the planet performed in the tiny town of Almonte.

There are some puppets that can be interacted with.  It will take 2 people to run them one is the head and hands and a second person runs the feet.

She did puppets for and educational spot about food nutrition.

This is the Granny Bride puppet she made for a friend in 2000.

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I didn’t recognize this group of puppets but it looks like an interesting cast.

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Her last work was with a puppet opera called “sleeping rough” which was performed in Ottawa 2018 as part of the series music and beyond.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVQGUjLM-WU&feature=share )

 

Most of Her puppets are made by sculptor the head in plasticine then casting it.  She uses the cast to create the flexible, expressive rubber faces she uses in her puppets.

She has given 3 workshops on making puppets during the run of the exhibit and has another lecture to do before the exhibit closes. My husband was lucky enough to get a spot in one of her workshops.  She said he was very well prepared and had amazing focus making his puppet Blacksmith.  He said he had a blast and was very glad he had gone.

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Glenn Martin Blacksmith puppet

 

This exhibit made me smile!  I couldn’t help but feel happy looking at all the puppets many I recognized. I am sure you would enjoy seeing them too.  Keep an eye out for Noreen she says she drops by regularly to the exhibit.

 

The Exhibit runs to September 22 2018 so if you have a chance jumps in the car and ask the GPS to take you to the Mississippi Textile Museum https://mvtm.ca/?exhibition=noreen-young-retrospective

 

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TEXTILE MUSEUM
3 Rosamond Street East, Almonte, Ontario K0A 1A0

Phone: (613) 256-3754
Email: curator@mvtm.ca

Fall/Winter HOURS

  • Tuesday to Friday 10am – 4pm
  • Saturday noon – 4pm
  • Closed Sunday & Monday

Museum Admission: $7.00
Members admitted without charge. Children under 12 are always free.