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Category: Mixed Media

Keeping out of mischief!

Keeping out of mischief!

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Between exhibitions and challenges, I have been busy for the past few months – at least it kept me out of trouble. I thought I might present some of the pieces to you here.

Just by way of background, I am a member of a small group of feltmakers. At any time, there are a maximum of 10 in the group and the group is called Unperfect 10. I recently learned the reason for the name.  It is in recognition that all members are very ambitious but far from perfect.  I like the name even more now that I know its history.  We meet online every six weeks and we agree a theme for a challenge, the result of which we present at our next get together. Although the theme changes each time, the weight stays the same. The piece we present should weigh 10 grams. It’s not always that easy to weigh in at exactly 10 grams (perhaps that is another reason why our group is called the Unperfect 10!)

So far, we have met three times this year. The theme for our January meeting was ‘Home’. Members’ interpretations were very personal. For me, home revolves around the kitchen. It is the place for gatherings, happiness and informality. This I represented in a cup of tea. Unfortunately I cannot find my original resist but I have drawn one here to give you an idea what it looked like. I laid out the orange fibre on the cup, the handle and just inside the rim and the laid the white and light brown fibre on the upper dome to represent the tea. I then added the circles on the cup as decorations. I felted and fulled the cup, cutting a hole in the base of the cup to remove the resist. I turned the dome top to the inside of the cup, shaped and finished it off. Here are photos of the result.

  • rough sketch of the concept
  • View of the cup
  • I’ll have a half cup!
  • View inside my cup of tea!

 

Our meeting in February required a little more planning. The theme was ‘Carnival’ and each member had to make a prefelt for another member and post it on to them. This prefelt then was used as the main fabric for our creations. Once finished, the piece was posted back to the person who made the prefelt. After a lot of research, I decided to make a colourful version of the Venetian Moretta mask. While in its day, the Moretta mask had other connotations (think Dangerous Liaisons) I was attracted to the button or ball which was attached to the back of the mask as it stopped women from talking, something I felt was pertinent in many societies today. I included curls on the mask – this was a ‘nod’ to the Romans who are believed to have invented carnival, although it was a different affair back then. I used part of the prefelt I received, added some extra fibre, margillan silk and, of course, a button.

  • Front view of the carnival themed moretta mask.
  • Side view of the mask. The Curls are a reference to Roman sculptures.
  • The back of the mask. I added margillan silk and, of course the button!

We had our third meeting in early April. The theme this time was a little more challenging as we worked from a number of words. M.C. Escher; Optical Illusion; Tessellations; Black and White fibre; 3D Sculpture; Resist; Template; Stencil. All of which had to be completed in a 10g presentation! M.C. Escher was a Dutch Graphic artist and if you like you can find out more about his work here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher

I found a section of an Escher piece that I liked and got to work. First, I made my pattern which comprised three identical diamond shapes that made up a cube. Then I made three different colour prefelts (Black/White/Grey) which I then cut out and made into 25 joined cubes (75 pieces). These were then felted together. Once dried and shaped, I stiffened the piece and mounted it on pins in a box frame. The optical illusion is the 3D effect, especially when it is viewed in the frame:

  • My inspiration: Portion of MC Escher’s artwork ‘Cycle’
  • Checking the diamond shapes
  • Checking the layout of the prefelts
  • prefelts are ready for felting!
  • Altogether Cubes weighed in at 9.65g
  • Another side view of the cubes. I removed the glass as it was causing too much shine!
  • Cubes front view. The shadowing can be seen here.
  • View 3: walking around the piece
  • Side view of the cubes. It is pinned into the backing

I also had two pieces in exhibitions during March. The first was a live exhibition which was run by my local felting guild, Feltmakers Ireland. The guild is very well run and there is always something happening in it. If you are based in Ireland, it is well worth joining. The theme of the exhibition was “Symbols of Ireland” and I chose the Irish dry stone wall which was recently formally recognized with its inclusion in UNESCO’s prestigious list of protected cultural heritage practices, and the native Galway breed sheep for my piece. Ireland’s dry stone walls have been around since the Neolithic period so I felt that it would fit the brief. The Galway sheep produce beautiful fleeces which are very versatile and can be used for spinning, weaving and of course felting.

I first had to design and build my wall on paper. Then I made lots of different shades of grey nuno prefelts which were cut to the shapes of the stone drawings. Once the wall was felted onto its background, I needle felted the sheep’s head so that it would add dimension to the piece. This was attached to the picture and then the main body was needle felted using Galway fibre. I made a variety of prefelts which I then cut into the shape of foliage and lichen. These were then needle felted onto the stones. Unfortunately I did not keep a record of my process but here is the result.

  • Irish dry stone wall with sheep
  • A close up of the 3D effect and nuno work
  • Another closeup showing 3D plants and lichen
  • The top of the wall with additions

My final piece was for the online exhibition of the International Feltmakers Association. The theme here was ‘Connections’ and I was not sure what I would do for this. One morning I woke up with the words ‘Chaos theory’ in my head. I knew I needed to investigate this. It led me to my chosen topic ‘The Butterfly Effect’. The butterfly effect suggests small actions can have massive, unpredictable consequences. In society, this idea highlights how individual decisions—like a single vote or a small act of kindness—can ripple through time, influencing social movements, global events, or personal lives, ultimately shaping broader cultural and political outcomes.

Lyn and Annie’s beautiful work with tree canopies provided me with the inspiration for the background of this piece. I have been looking up a lot more since reading their posts on the beauty of the tree canopy. My base was inspired by a photo I took in New Zealand some time ago. I then needle felted the butterfly and then wet felted it. I wanted to be able to manipulate its wings so I added a light wiring to the back of the wings. I then decided that the tree canopy deserved a different perspective – what did we do as kids when looking up at the sky? I remember spinning around. So my square picture became a circle. I attached the butterfly by needle felting it securely to the picture but I also secured it to the felt backing to give it added dimension:

  • My inspiration. Taken in Auckland NZ last year
  • The tree canopy is laid out
  • close up of the felted butterfly
  • Checking possibilities for butterfly placement
  • I decided to cut the background into a circle. This gave me freedom to hang at any angle!
  • Closeup of the 3D butterfly

I hope you enjoyed my little ‘retrospective’. I would love to hear about what you have been working on over the past few months.

Just a little reminder: Registration will open shortly for my wet felted hanging spiral workshop which will begin on 2nd May. Please feel free to click here if you would like to find out more.

pantomime cast lined up on stage
POLLY PUPPET or It’s Amazing What You Can Do With Empty Milk Bottles

POLLY PUPPET or It’s Amazing What You Can Do With Empty Milk Bottles

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Back in November last year, I was asked by Tanya, the author of our upcoming pantomime, if I would make a parrot puppet for the show.  I was a bit surprised since the show was Cinderella and I wasn’t aware that there was a parrot in that panto.  But then, when I read the script I found that it had a camel in it too, so what was a parrot between friends?

I agreed to make the puppet and, having found the appropriate place in the script, I set about working out how it was to operate.

The scene was nearing the end of the panto when the comedy duo, Stanley Wright and Ivor Watt (you can imagine the “he’s right and what’s what” dialogue), were returning from their holiday in South America and had arrived at Compton Abbas Airfield in Dorset.  Upon being so requested by a customs officer Mr Watt placed their suitcase on the customs desk to be checked.  The customs officer proceeded to pull out of the case what appeared to be a dead parrot.  This parrot would, after having been banged on the desk (à la Monty Python sketch) and thrown back into the case, climb back out of the case, hiccupping the while.

It would be necessary for the puppeteer to be inside the desk so as to manipulate the parrot whilst assisting the customs officer to pull odd things out of the case like the vodka bottle the parrot had emptied, a washing line  (for shopping on line) sporting all sorts of odd bits of clothing; an old fashioned phone with ears eyes and a mouth ( a head phone);  a basket (for the on line shopping); a bag of apples (Apple Pay); a fish and two tins (a perch for the parrot and toucan as company for him); a credit card, and a teddy dressed in a PayPal tee-shirt, just in case the Apple Pay and the credit card weren’t enough to pay for the shopping; and an email invitation to the wedding of Cinderella to Prince Lee.

The puppeteer had to manage this while at the same time holding the drunken parrot high above his/her head so that it could be seen to be watching the action and hiccupping loudly from time to time.

This needed some thinking about.  Obviously it was necessary for the base of the case to be removed and for a similar sized hole to be cut in the top of the desk so that the various items could be handed up to the customs officer – that seemed straight forward.

The puppet would need to be at least life-size, and reasonably strong to withstand being bashed about. The scene was not a long one, but nonetheless a sufficiently substantial puppet might be so heavy that holding it up in the air would be painful.  The answer of course was two parrots.  One which could take the abuse, and one which was light and manoeuvrable and the beak on which could open and close.  To be able to manipulate the beak the puppeteer’s hand would need to be inside the parrot’s head, but since it would be way above the case on the desk the puppeteer’s arm would have to be inside the parrot’s body as well.

My thought was that the parrot could stand on the rim of the case and this should help the puppeteer hold the parrot up for the length of the scene.  I discussed this with the director of the panto and it was agreed that this would be the best option.  I also offered to be the puppeteer, mainly because it would be easier to fit the parrot to my arm if I was to “wear” it than to have to keep checking the fit with another person.

Unfortunately the customs desk and the suitcase were not available for me to work with – the desk not yet having been constructed and the suitcase not chosen, but I was anxious to get on with making the puppet because the cast members who would be in this scene would need to be able to rehearse with both the parrots.

The puppet would need to have legs and feet so it could stand on the edge of the case.  I could also have it “walk” along the edge of the case by having one of the legs more moveable than the other and attaching an operating stick to the foot.  I would then be able to make it side step along the case and back again.  I might also be able to mimic the parrot scratching it’s head with that foot.

I’d decided on a red macaw so I did a trawl of our two charity shops to find some really bright red and blue fabrics.  On my first foray I found a large Christmas stocking in bright red foam-backed velour, some red lining material and a bright blue plastic mac.  Subsequently I came across a bright royal blue velour jogging suit – trousers and hooded top – and I used that instead of the mac.

As the puppet would have to be at least life-size, I did my usual trawl through Google for skeleton and size information as well as reference pictures. It was at this stage that I decided to go for a Red and Green Macaw because it’s a bit bigger than a Red Macaw and has green rather than yellow feathers on its wings.  (I can’t remember now why the colour was important).

Next I got out my stash of empty plastic milk bottles, wire coat hangers, some thinner wire and my masking tape.  Having consulted the skeleton for sizes and fashioned the legs from bits of the coat hangers, attaching feet made from the thinner wire, I wrapped the “thighs” with some of my non-woven cotton cloth and covered the lot with masking tape.

 

a pair of legs and feet for the parrot and the top part of a beak made from milk bottle.
7 pair of legs and milk bottle beak.

Then, using the skull images for size and shape, I made a rough shape of the head from bottle bits.

After first attempting the parts of the beak using curved bits from the life-size milk bottles, I decided that I’d be better off needle felting them, especially as I had been advised that the parrot’s head should be oversized for the body, to be more easily seen by the audience – the milk bottle beaks weren’t big enough.  The felt beak was a better idea anyway as it enabled me to stitch on the inside a piece of foam tubing just big enough to get a finger inside which would help with opening and closing the beak.  I stitched the beak parts to the head – one advantage of using milk bottle bits is that you can stitch through them quite easily.

I drew a line on the skull where the white skin of the face would meet the red head feathers and covered the face with masking tape.  Then, using black glass eyes, I constructed slightly protruding eyes surrounded by masking tape eyelids,  Next came the head “feathers” using part of the toe of the Christmas stocking, which was basically the right shape. This was stitched on following the line I had drawn and the top of the beak.

Finally I painted the face white and added the red lines which appear on a parrot’s face and I also added extra pieces of the red velour to the puppet’s neck.

Next the body, which needed to be hollow so that I could get my arm up through it with my hand protruding from the top so it would go inside the separate puppet-head.  This would dictate the size of the body – from my wrist to the crook of my elbow – as my elbow had to be outside the puppet.  I had already made a pattern for the body based on the skeleton image which I had downloaded and luckily it was the same length as my forearm.  The body “skeleton” was constructed from a couple of milk bottles stitched together and covered in masking tape.

The legs were then attached to the body with more wire and so that the right leg could be moved up and down and side to side using the stick which was attached to the foot for ease of manipulation.

The legs and the lower part of the body were painted red, rather than covered in fabric “feathers” .  The body front was covered with more of the red Christmas stocking fabric.

A tail was needed and this would have to cover up that part of my arm which wasn’t inside the puppet.  I made it from pieces cut from the foam sling which the hospital gave my husband last year after he tried to cut his thumb off with a circular saw.  I covered this (the foam, not the thumb) with blue velour from the jogging suit.  I also cut three foam feather shapes which I covered in some of the red lining material and these were stitched to the blue tail and  then onto the bottom end of the body front.  I also added some more blue velour to the front of the body between the legs.

Next some wings.  These I also made from the foam sling and covered with blue velour and red lining material and also some green fabric – painted calico.  When all was stitched down, Polly was finished.

Time was getting on by this stage, it was January and the desk and suitcase still hadn’t appeared so I couldn’t practice the moves Polly would have to make.  However I still had to make the other parrot – the “dead drunk” one.  With so little time available it would have to be a lot less detailed if more substantial than the puppet.

Out came the milk bottles again and the foam sling.  The body was just one bottle – a bit square-ish but it would have to do – covered in red lining material.  I made a pair of legs with feet with wire covered in masking tape.  These were attached to the body – stuck straight out in a “dead bird” position.  The shape of the wings and tail was cut out of the last of the foam sling and this was stitched to the body, then covered in red, green and blue fabric.  The head was made in a similar way to the puppet’s but with closed eyes.  The beak was actually the one previously made from bottle plastic covered in masking tape and painted.  The head was stitched – very firmly – to the body.  It stood up well to being bashed against the table, thank heavens.

I think it was barely 2 weeks before actual performance that the customs desk and the suit case turned up for us to rehearse with.  It transpired that, because of the size of both, I was only going to be able to get head and shoulders and body down as far as breast bone visible to the audience, so I needn’t have spent time with the legs and tail after all.  Had I known I might instead have made the wings so they could open.  After a few rehearsals I decided that, for operational reasons, I would actually fix the puppet’s head to its body permanently.

Here he is performing his little heart out!

Performing parrot with assistance from actors playing Mr Watt, Mr Wright and Customs Officer
25 Performing parrot with assistance from Mr Watt, Mr Wright and Customs Officer. Note Watt & Wright’s “sunburnt faces”

Performing parrot with assistance from actors playing Mr Watt, Mr Wright, Customs Officer and Security Officer
26 Performing parrot with assistance from Mr Watt, Mr Wright, Customs Officer and Security Officer

26 Performing parrot with assistance from actors playing Mr Watt, Mr Wright, Customs Officer and Security Officer
27  Performing parrot with assistance from Mr Watt, Mr Wright, Customs Officer and Security Officer

One paper mache bowl with outside covered with multicolored paper mache.
Paper Mache Bowls

Paper Mache Bowls

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Quite a while ago, my local art group made paper mache clay and then created some bowls. They sat drying in my studio for a long time but then I finally decided to decorate them.  If you’re interested in making paper clay, there are numerous videos on YouTube explaining the process. Here’s one that shows how to make it with supplies that most people will have in their own kitchen. 

This video is not actually the one we followed since we used matte medium as the glue. You can use your own homemade paste, wheat paste (that you can buy and doesn’t need to be cooked) or some type of acrylic medium such as PVA or matte medium as the glue. We used egg cartons for the paper but you can use whatever paper you have on hand.

You can shape the clay over a plastic or silicone surface. I used plastic bowls for my mold and covered them with plastic wrap (thin kitchen plastic) before applying the clay. The clay takes quite a while to dry but you can speed the process up by putting them outside in warm weather under the sun. You need to make the paper mache thick enough so that it won’t break easily if you are making a bowl.

Two paper mache bowls in natural egg carton color.

 

Here are the two bowls after drying. The color comes from the grey egg cartons. These don’t have any extra color added. You can then paint or add painted paper to the bowls to decorate. I decided I didn’t want the shiny surface of acrylic paint so “what to do”? I had some natural inks we had made (again a long time ago). Amazingly, they were still good and not moldy. I had stored them in the refrigerator and we had added a small piece of clove which keeps the mold away.

Two paper mache bowls coated with a dark brown/black ink and brown ink.

Here are the bowls after I painted them with the ink. The bowl on the right is walnut ink. As the ink soaks into the paper, the bowl gets a little mushy until it dries again. I used a heat gun to dry it out so that I could go on to the next step. The bowl on the left is one layer of walnut ink and then one layer of walnut gall with ferous sulfate ink. I really liked the darkness that resulted and I’m thinking about using that bowl to display some 3D felt objects that I made for my Level 4 Stitch class. Hopefully, you will see those in the future when we have our exhibition.

I was left with deciding what paper to add to the outside of the brown bowl. I searched through my huge box of painted papers and right at the very bottom, I found an old “drop cloth” that was originally brown paper but had multiple colors of paint and prints and whatever got on to the paper as I painted other things. I liked that the paper when torn up, would not give any distinguishable patterns. Some people use torn single layers of napkin to decorate bowls but that looked way too commercial for me.

I made up some wheat paste, tore my drop cloth paper into strips and did more paper mache on the outside of the bowl. The process reminded me of my childhood making pinatas over balloons – messy hands but fun!

One paper mache bowl with outside covered with multicolored paper mache.

And here’s the result. I left the inside with just walnut ink.

Paper mache bowl turned upside down showing multicolored outside.

And here’s the bottom view so that you can see more of the paper that I added to the outside. The randomness of the colors and the printing on the brown paper really worked to get the look I wanted.

Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch on dark gray background.
Grove of Trees – Part Five

Grove of Trees – Part Five

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My grove nunofelt landscape is finally complete. I added a bit of ‘grass’ in the foreground to balance all the lines at the top from the stitched branches.

Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch.

I didn’t think that it needed a lot, but just some suggestion of the higher grasses. I also stitched down the loose edges around the entire piece. Now to move forward on getting it ready to frame.

Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch on tan background.

I didn’t have a lot of fabric to audition to see how the background matte would look. This is on a piece of tan fabric. To my eye, it is too close in value to the piece itself and doesn’t match with the colors.

Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch on medium gray background.

Then trying on medium gray. This is slightly darker in value but still feels very similar to the values in the piece. It doesn’t do it for me.

Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch on dark gray background.

Next up is a dark grey background. The darker value is definitely better and brings out the light in the piece. I could use this color, it’s okay.

Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch on dark red background.

Then I found a piece of dark red maroon/burgundy colored silk fabric. I won’t use the silk for the background but it was in the color scheme so I thought I would try it. The value is good again, making the light from the back of the piece feel more prominent. The color seems to work pretty well.

What do you think? Would you use a different background fabric color? Or do you like one of the ones I tried?

I’m thinking of naming this one “Golden Grove”. Any other name ideas?

Alcohol ink on photo paper.
Playing with Alcohol Ink

Playing with Alcohol Ink

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My local art group got together last week and did some experimentation with alcohol ink. If you haven’t tried alcohol ink before, it is a bit different than standard ink. Alcohol inks are more fluid and are dye based. Alcohol inks dry faster and are reworkable by adding more alcohol after drying. Alcohol inks can be used on non-permeable surfaces such as plastic, resin, glass or ceramic.

Three artists sitting at table with alcohol inks, ready to play!

Here we are just getting started.

Packing tape on freezer paper colored with alcohol inks.

I had decided to use the alcohol ink on packing tape which ends up partially transparent and can be added to other artwork making layers. I started with the tape on freezer paper but then realized the tape wasn’t coming off the paper as I expected. I switched to parchment paper halfway through and that worked better. The photo is of the tape on freezer paper before I pulled it off. I am planning on using these on some of my book pages on the book that I recently started. 

 

Artist's hands placing washers on Kraftex and applying alcohol inks.

Here is Sally trying out alcohol ink on Kraftex (a man made fabric type material). The inks didn’t really work all that well on fabric or Kraftex as it was a very porous surface. You can definitely color the fabric but it really ends up with a very blobby look.

Variety of samples of alcohol ink on Kraftex and photo paper.

 

Here are more of Sally’s creations. The ones at the right and bottom are on photo paper. The photo paper works much better as it is non-porous. The chemicals in the photo paper also react with the ink and can cause some unusual and unexpected results.

Paula was trying applying plastic wrap and bubble wrap to the ink after it’s applied to photo paper. It takes much longer to dry with the plastic wrap and really needs more air or it doesn’t dry properly.

Next up, Paula tried adding sticks and salt to the photo paper first and then adding the inks afterwards. The salt has not been removed yet as these were still a bit wet.

Alcohol ink on photo paper printed with stamp.

I only got one photo of Louise’s pieces. Here she used a base of photo paper and then the bottom half is alcohol ink with some strings of plastic left to dry. Then the stamped motifs were added afterwards.

There are many ways that you can use the alcohol ink but it works best on shiny surfaces such as yupo paper, photo paper or tape. We had fun with our experiments. I will show you my tape on book pages once I get that far.

 

 

 

Nuno felt tree landscape with grey, peach and red and dark maroon threads couched down for branches.
Grove of Trees – Part Four

Grove of Trees – Part Four

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I have been working slowly on my grove of trees landscape. I finished stitching down all the trunks and foreground fabrics.

Nuno felt landscape of a grove of trees, all applique stitched down.

So here’s a photo with it all stitched in place. Next up was adding a bunch of branches and I wanted to see how I could do that.

I took a piece of clear plastic and used paint pens on the plastic to look at various color choices. The photo on the left shows white paint pen and the one on the right shows using grey, peach and brown paint pens. The white definitely felt too stark. So I thought I would use a mixture of colors.

Wool threads choices for branches.

I looked through my stash to see what colors I had that might work. I decided to use wool thread as I wanted the branches to not stand out too much. I thought adding “shiny” cotton thread wouldn’t work well.

Nuno felt tree landscape with grey thread couched down for branches.

So I started with grey thread and this photo doesn’t really show the true colors of the thread. I used the grey on the grey trunks in the background.

Nuno felt tree landscape with grey and peach threads couched down for branches.

Then on to adding peach branches to the peach tree trunks.  I couched the threads down using the same thread for the couching stitches.

Nuno felt tree landscape with grey and peach thread couched down for branches. Auditioning dark red and pink thread for further branches.

Then I needed to decide if I was going to keep going with light colored threads or add some darker branches. I tried a piece of pink thread by laying it down on the right and then a dark maroon thread in the center. I decided the darker branches would work the best. As the light in this piece is coming from the back right, the lighter branches give that feeling of light shining on them. The foreground branches would be darker with less light shining on them.

Nuno felt tree landscape with grey, peach and red threads couched down for branches.

So I added a medium value red thread for the three red trees to the right side. Again, all the branches were couched down.

Nuno felt tree landscape with grey, peach and red and dark maroon threads couched down for branches.

Then I added in the maroon threads for the darker trees on the left side.  I also turned the silk that was loose on the top under to the back. I will hand stitch all of the loose silk around the edge down to the back. The piece is now hanging on the design wall. I think I will add some peach “grass” in the foreground just as I have couched down the threads for the branches. But I am letting it sit for a bit so I can see if it needs anything else. What do you think?

Mark making on papers
Deconstructing a Book about Trees

Deconstructing a Book about Trees

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My art group has started a new project. We are taking old, unwanted books, deconstructing them and then reconstructing into a new creation. Paula has tons of old books, antique papers, photos and memorabilia that she has shared with us.

She found the perfect book for me. A reference book about trees that came out in 1950. It’s a great start on another tree book.

Hand made mark making tools

We had a session on mark making. These are tools I have made in the past for mark making mainly using turkey feathers. They give some random looking marks which was great for our project. We used different tools on different types of paper to create some random and some not so random marks. None of these are finished “works of art”, but will be used in different ways when creating the book.

These first sheets were a start using different tools and getting some lighter, thinner marks and then thicker, heavier marks.

I then started thinking more about trees, branches and leaves. The bottom right is a Japanese newspaper that my friend Louise gave us.

Then I started playing with spraying water on the pages and then adding ink to create pine trees. This is a bit tricky on figuring how much water to spray first and then draw your trunk through the water and watch the ink spread. You can add little dots of ink where you need more branches.

Mark making on papers

This was my favorite of the trees that I created.

Here’s some leaves with different tools used to create different types of marks and lines.

Mark making on papers

I have also been putting gesso on a lot of pages so that I can either draw or add painting to the pages.

Deconstructed screen print on paper with black background and yellow highlights.

I chose my color scheme from this deconstructed screen print on paper. The colors will be black, burnt siena and yellow ochre. Perhaps there will be touches of green but I haven’t gotten very far yet. This will be another long term project that will be a slow work in progress. I will update you periodically on how it’s going.

Nuno felt background with distant "shrubbery" and added tree trunk on left with silk organza.
Grove of Trees Nuno Felt Landscape Part 1

Grove of Trees Nuno Felt Landscape Part 1

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It’s the new year so it seems appropriate that I am starting a new “grove of trees” nuno felt landscape. I am trying to be a bit more abstract so I thought I would start with strips of silk instead of one piece of silk and see what happened.

Strips of yellow and red violet dyed silk laid out on white background.

I had a lovely dyed piece of silk in my stash from my friend Paula. So I tore it into strips and laid it out horizontally. I wanted to emphasize the lighter area at the top as sky.

Red orange, tan and yellow wool laid out in rectangle.

I laid out some short fiber merino batts with more yellow at the top.

Silk strips laid on top of wool layout.

Then I put my strips in place, ready to felt.

Silk strips nuno felted on to wool background.

Here is the felted result. The ends of the strips didn’t felt in well although the middle portions felted fine. I worked on the ends as much as the middle so I’m not sure of the difference. Oh well. Then I started trying to ‘see’ my landscape. I didn’t take photos but laid some fabrics on top to get started. I didn’t like it. I trimmed the visible wool edges and started looking from different directions.

Nuno felted background ready for applique with edges trimmed and oriented vertically.

After reorienting the piece, I “found” my landscape. This direction gave a feel of trees in the background and the sun shining from the right. This was much more exciting to me. Here comes that vertical landscape again.

Piece of nylon sheer scarf laid over bottom of nuno felt background to give horizon line.

Here’s a piece of sheer nylon scarf (dark blue) over the bottom portion to show the horizon. Yes, this should work.

Layers of nylon sheer scarf laid over nuno felted background to create horizon line and distant "shrubbery".

I cut and frayed four pieces of the nylon scarf to give a feeling of ground in the tree grove. I will work more on the foreground as I get there. But I need to get some trees defined.

Nuno felt background with distant "shrubbery" and added tree trunk on left with silk organza.

I used the strip of nuno felted fabric on the left as a guide and placed blue violet silk organza into a tree shape. I have loads more to do as I want to put a lot of applique texture and hand stitching into this piece. But I have the idea going which sometimes is the hardest part. What are you working on in the new year? We would love to see, submit a photo of your work here. 

Learning and Experimentation with Online Classes

Learning and Experimentation with Online Classes

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Have you wanted to be a little more experimental in your fiber art practice? Do you want to learn new techniques and add embellishments to felt or other fabric? Why not try an online class all about embellishing felt? Anyone from anywhere in the world can take these courses, no need to show up at a certain time (you can even wear your pajamas) and the classes are 6 weeks long so you have plenty of time to learn a new technique and try out an experimental approach. My online courses are 4 stand alone classes under the title Embellishing Felt with Surface Design Techniques – A Mixed Media Approach.  You can take just one or work through all of them. The classes are only $45 US which is a tremendous deal for 4 weeks of video and written PDF’s plus 2 weeks extra time on the class website with full instructor support. Registration is now open and the class begins on January 10, 2025.

The first module is called Nuno Felting with Paper Fabric Lamination. The bark I created above used this technique.

You will learn the technique of Paper Fabric Lamination and then how to use these pieces in nuno felting. As you can see from the examples above, there are many possibilities with this technique. Click here for more information and to register for the class.

The second module is Experimental Screen Printing on Felt.

You will also be able to use these techniques to screen print fabric such as silk to use in nuno felting. These same techniques can also be used on cotton fabric to use in fabric collage or quilting.

You will learn how to create thickened dye, make your own screens and many ways to use these screens in an experimental approach. Click here for more information about Screen Printing and to register for this class. 

The third module in Embellishing Felt with Surface Design Techniques – A Mixed Media Approach is Printing, Stenciling, and Playing with Thickened Dye on Felt.

This one is really fun and experimental. Learn to make stamps, stencils and how to use a variety of objects from around the house to create your own unique surface design on felt. Develop your own style with designs you have created.

The techniques you learn in this class can be used for felt, other fabric types and even paper. The stamps and stencils can be re-used over and over and applied in different ways to create exciting patterns. Click here for more information about Print, Stencil, and Play with Thickened Dye on Felt and to register for the class.

The last module in the series is Free Motion Machine Stitching on Felt.

In this course, you will learn the basics of free motion machine stitching and how to use this specifically on felted projects. Does the thought of machine stitching seem a bit scary? If so, you should take this course to get a handle on how to use your sewing machine to create wonderful embellishments on felt paintings or other felted items.

We’ll start with how to set up the machine and some great practice techniques that will build your skill level until you feel comfortable with your machine. Then you’ll learn about machine lace, thread sketching and how to incorporate machine stitching into felt paintings. Click here for more about Free Motion Machine Stitching on Felt and to register for the class.

I hope you want to expand your fiber art skills. If so, click on any of the links above to read more about the classes, see the supply lists and to register. I look forward to “seeing” you in class!

And don’t forget, if you are a beginner, our online class Wet Felting for Beginners is always available.

This class teaches you all about wet felting. You’ll learn how to make a piece of felt, how shrinkage works and how to calculate it and the basics of felting, fulling and creating felt from wool fiber. Click here for more information and to sign up. 

 

 

 

Making cards, Malta and Miniature Felts.

Making cards, Malta and Miniature Felts.

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Anyone who knows me knows I’m not big on Christmas and up until last year I rarely gave, let alone made, Xmas cards. Then Ann reintroduced the holiday card swap and after making Caterina’s “non Christmas” card I found myself sketching comic reindeer and having fun making a whole batch of stitched cards! This year I’ve resurrected the same designs but changed the colour schemes.
Appliqué fabric shapes laid on card prior to machine stitching.
I enjoy making these and using free motion stitch to attach appliqué fabric shapes on to a card base. Finer detail is then added using felt pens before stitching the coloured base on to a blank card using the machines zig zag stitch.

Three comical reindeer Christmas Cards.


For Helene’s card I wanted to incorporate some fibre so decided it should be a quirky Santa with a bushy Merino beard. This is how he started out but in my rush to meet our agreed deadline for posting I completely forgot to take any other photos so you’re just going to have to use your imagination to fill in the blanks!! 

Let’s just say that when I received my wonderful Christmas Box from Helene with her gorgeous felted card, red bells and those lovely papers I wished I had put more time and thought in to my contribution!! 

Close up photo of Christmas tree with home made baubles
Anyway, moving on…….There must have been something in the air the day I was making my cards as Mark wondered in to my workroom and asked if he could make one too. This is a man who rarely (and only at a push) sews his own buttons on and who has never ever used a sewing machine in his life. Here he was saying he wanted to sew a card!!! I suggested he draw out a basic shape and we’d take it from there. He drew a snowman (thankfully simple enough) and traced the shapes on to fabric before cutting them out. I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive at the thought of teaching him how to use a sewing machine. Turns out he’s a natural and I was amazed at how well he did, not only that but he looked to be enjoying it, just look at the concentration on his face! He doesn’t know I’m sharing these photos though so, if you’re reading this and you know him, please don’t let on!!

Did I mention I’m not big on Christmas? Once the cards were made and my tree was up and decorated I felt I’d peaked and got the urge to get away from it all! A quick search on Airbnb and I found a beautiful apartment just a twenty minute walk from Valetta so we flew out to Malta on the 14th December for a week.

The weather was changeable but very pleasant with temperatures ranging from 17 to 20 degrees. You could easily spot the tourists in their sandals, shorts and sleeveless tops because even on the warmest days most of the locals wore boots, sweaters, hats and coats!

View of Valetta taken from L-Isla
View of Valetta looking from the Lower Baracca Gardens along the water front.

Malta’s capital Valletta is a fortified city located on a hilly peninsula between two natural harbours. It’s built on a grid system with its narrow, steep streets fanning out from the main thoroughfare, Republic Street, and dropping down to the waters edge. Approximately one kilometre long and pedestrianised Republic Street runs from the City Gate to Fort St Elmo and houses buildings such as the Maltese Parliament, the Courts of Justice, the Royal Opera House, and many more. This is the area to be if you’re looking for lively bars, restaurants and shops but you only need to walk a few steps either side of Republic Street to feel like you’re in a different world!

Ornate balcony windows are a big feature of Maltese architecture and they are everywhere you look in Valetta.

One of the many narrow steep streets in Valetta with ornate overhanging balconies

Exploring these narrow streets you can find fabulous boutique hotels serving great coffee and home made pastries, tiny bars with wonderful atmosphere and good beer. I also came across these impressive window displays with outfits constructed from folded paper…..

Valetta shop window display of an angelic figure with cloths made entirely from folded paper
Valetta shop window display of a human female figure with a stags head. The costume and head are made entirely from folded paper.

Another window display that caught my attention was this one in Sliema with skull shaped vodka bottles.

Skull shaped vodka bottles

And instore was even better with these bottles of tequila encased in very elaborate beaded heads. Unfortunately my budget didn’t stretch to bringing one of these home!
Tequila bottles with beaded covers in the shape of a dragons head

Close up of Tequila bottle encased in an elaborate beaded head

Back in Valetta I came across a sign for the St Paul Shipwreck Church above a narrow entrance on the equally narrow pedestrianised St Lucia Street. When you see a huge impressive building you have a bit of an idea of what you are going to find inside but when I stepped through this open door I had no idea of the cavernous interior that would open up in front of me! I’ve since read of others who have struggled to find this church so I’m pleased I popped my head through that doorway!


Interior of the Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck
Interior of the Church of St Pauls Shipwreck
Interior of the Church of St Pauls Shipwreck
Silver head of St Paul

Obviously we didn’t escape Christmas altogether in Malta but it was nice experiencing it in such a scenic setting.

Valetta is the smallest capital city in Europe with a surface area of just 0.55 km² and approx 7,000 inhabitants and the city was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. It’s a beautiful city steeped in history with a wonderful climate and friendly inhabitants with the added bonus that at this time of year there are not too many tourists so it proved to be the perfect getaway.

I’ll leave you with a couple of small wet felted pieces I’ve made since we got back. The first is a little Nuno snake inspired by a free online wet felting tutorial from feltmaker Yaroslava Troynich (also known as Bibabo Puppets) If your not familiar with her work or online classes I recommend taking a look. Hissing Sid makes the perfect pet and now sits on his felted stone on my desk keeping his beady eyes on my every move.

The other make was this very tactile small spiral shell approx 7cm wide and made from 10gms of Bergschaf. 

I hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas, however you’ve chosen to spend it, and wishing all of you a Happy New Year and a very creative 2025!