IF A PICTURE PAINTS A THOUSAND WORDS...
Week 490! That means there's only 30 weeks until the big 10th Anniversary of WOYWW in week 520 - I'm already excited about the prospect of the CropTen get together in Shrewsbury, big thanks to Wipso and Twiglet for organising it. I may have already booked a holiday cottage for that week, lol!
I have a very different desk to show you this week - last Thursday I went on a wet felting picture workshop with my mate Janet from WI. It was up near the Cardigan coast and thankfully, the flood waters from the previous weekend had really gone down.
Our teacher was Ali Scott, a noted textile artist - not only does she exhibit all over Wales but she helps run events including the Wool and Willow Festival at the Minerva Arts Centre in Llanidloes, Wales. Her website is here, do have a look, her work is amazing! And she loves hares....my kinda gal :-D
This is a picture heavy post but I'm not apologising!
Ali's workshop was in her back garden:
It was a lovely place to spend the day!
...with amazing mosaics made by Ali - gorgeous!
I knew we were going to have a good day when we walked in and saw this wall of colour!
There was an instrument of torture....
the twin drum carding machine!
Boxes of silk bits (can't remember the technical term sorry!) and other textile embellishments, bags of yarn - ooh, it was paradise.
And a very lovely teacher!!
In the morning, we learned how to felt from the background fabric up - here's Janet starting
to lay down the white rovings....
..like making a woolly canvas!
...then we just played, getting the feel of how to use all the bits and pieces.
Me putting the finishing touches before we then laid a net over the whole piece, soaked it with water and a touch of olive oil soap and then fun part of the felting began. Rolling everything up in the bamboo mat and rolling back and fore - very good for bingo wings!
Then we got our pieces and slapped them down on the desk to matt the fibres even more - this was my favourite bit. I have a hard thwacking technique, apparently :-D
Then our pieces were hung up to dry while we had some lunch.
This was Ali's WiP....I loved the rolling 'clouds'...
...and her woolly equivalent of a scraps box!!
In the afternoon, we tried to remember what we'd learned in the morning (!!) and had free rein to create any picture. Ali had asked us to take a pic for inspiration - I took two and, true to form, didn't use either. Sound familiar??
We had a lovely couple of hours playing nicely (and remembering most of the techniques!). I'd chosen subdued yarns in the morning so went for something more colourful here and decided to do Savernake Forest with bluebells, near where I lived in Wiltshire...
Taken before felting....
Janet went for these beautiful bold colours - love it!
And after a long time of wetting, rolling and bashing about, we ended up with:
What a fab day it was - Janet and I loved it! I'm going to embellish mine further with embroidery floss and beads and then it shall hang with pride on the JanCave wall!
Hope you've enjoyed our lovely day - I'll try to make next week's post shorter!
28 comments:
what a fabulous class and great results! Ali's garden does look amazing too (and that wall of colour!) Helen #?
Hi Jan, Beautiful creations. Hope you show yours when you've finished with it.
Happy WOYWW
Sue #6
I would say you are a natural!! Amazing results - must remember to show Tilly - she will love it! Lovely photos. xx Jo
I love long posts when they are as interesting as this one was. What a fab day out you had and what fab pictures you both came home with. I love Savernake Forest with bluebells. Well done you!
Hugs, Neet 2 xx
Well who knew! I’d have needed rubber gloves with all that soaping and watering, but it looks a wonderful way to make art! I love the Savernake Forest piece, what a great idea..I want to know what photos you took and didnt use for inspiration! So like you to go with your flow. Oh those boxes of colours and sunshine and lovely stuff! Wonderful graduation pics too, a still enjoying the warm glow of seeing you two days in a row! Xxx
Wow...what amazing results you both achieved. I'm seriously impressed and cant wait to see the finished picture on your wall.....for real maybe one day?
I'd love a wall of colour like that but mine has to stay tucked up in boxes for the odd moment when I have time to dumf.
Hugs,
Annie x #10
Oh! What a super duper day!!! I had a felting lesson using the exact same method, only produced a flower but ..... what fun. Love your end pictures, definitely one for the Jancave.
Have a lovely smiley week
Christine #15
What a beautiful finished piece and, best of all, you had fun creating it with a good teacher. Maggie #18 xxx
Hiya Jan, OMG!!!! What a fab piece! Love the Savernake felting, absolutely gorgeous. As is Janets. Amazing to create something like this in one workshop.How inspiring it is having all that colour in the room, clearly. Love and hugs to you all,Shaz XxXxXx
Wow, I've never seen this process before - so cool! It certainly looks like you were having fun! I really like the textures before the felting took place - they look almost digital - something you would do in Photoshop manipulating the pixels! Have a lovey week Jan! Thanks so much for your visit earlier! zsuzsa #20
Lovely post, Jan. Such a lovely new process to learn and you obviously had a great time with Ali. I look forward to seeing your fab artwork hanging in the Jancave. Have a great week. Hugs, Elizabeth x #26
All i can say is wow, Jan. Beautiful work and it looked such fun too! Sarah #3
Holy Cow Jan, that looks like it was a fabulous day, I love all the art you made and the happy photos of the journey too. It totally boggles my mind that you did that in one class. WOW :) ~Stacy #25
Oh my God, thank you so much for this post!! So interesting! So lovely! So pretty colors! And the amazing products. You fed my soul. Lot of hugs,
Eva from Austria
Hi Jan, wow - what a fun day and amazing art works you and Janet made. Can't believe that was all done in one day! Thanks for stopping by earlier, and your kind offer. I am going to make some cards and stocking filler gifts in time for early December, so will take you up on your offer then, if that's ok. Have a lovely week Heather x #8
Wow Jan, it looks like you had a really lovely time and the felt piece you made is beautiful. I tried it a long time ago and I found my results were variable - possibly because I was wanting to short cut the hard graft and get more instant results! It looks like a gorgeous place and I love that wall of coloured felting wool - so appealing.
Have a lovely week
Hugs, Diana xx
Oh wow Jan, what a wonderful place, bet you had a brilliant day too. The finished pieces and great. I have always loved wet felting though I don't do as much as I would like to. Have a lovely creative week and happy woyww, Angela x11x
WOW!!!! Just, WOW!!!
Carol N #22
Oh Jan, I'm so jealous right now... what a lovely day and what a beautiful house/garden/studio to be in.... I never tried felting but seeing all this, my fingers itch! Your piece looks wonderful too... please show the end result when you're done with embroidery. Happy woyww and a big hug from Holland. Marit #19
What a fabulous day! Drooling over all of that gorgeous color and softness. Loved her garden, as well. Thank you for sharing your day with us. Thanks for the visit. Hugs & Creative Blessings! Kelly #27
Your creation is beautiful! I think I made something like that in school with yarn, it was supposed to be a raccoon but I don't think it was anywhere near as lovely as yours lol! Thanks for the visit. Angie #24
ooh love wet felting and what an amazing place too.
LOVE your picture you made, such texture and colours-fabulous.
kyla
What fabulous makes Jan, hope we get to see what the final piece looks like. The Jancave will house it very well.
Happy woyww Tracey #5
Oh my goodness! Wow! First of all I would never leave that studio. It looks so magnificent. I am so jealous! I wish I could have taken that class with you. I have never felted before. I feel like there are so many amazing crafts out there to explore. What a wonderful way to learn in a class. I will definitely at this to my list of things to try! Both of your art came out so beautiful. I love it! Thank you for sharing! Oh and thanks for stopping by my desk. Belinda #29
Hi Jan! That workshop looks like so much fun! Your results (and Janet's) are gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing it embellished! Thanks for your visit, have a great week, Lindart #28
I’m sorry I missed this last week, Jan - it was a real treat! It brought back happy memories of my felting evening classes a few years ago. I love the pieces you made! Felt is such an amazing medium, isn’t it - it can be really painterly. Thanks for sharing!
Shoshi
WOW...how fun. Love all these photos. So fun to see the process. I am a lover of felting, it's not a thing in this area. And as much as I love the final product, I've told myself "NO more NEW" I must use up my stash in the next few years !! My last weeks reorganizing shows I need to part with things. So glad you could join the workshop. I am playing catch up.
I am catching up with blog posts I have missed whilst sunning myself in Spain! I have always wanted to try wet felting (have done some needle felting and love it), but wasn't sure if I could cope with the physical side of it. I think, on a good day and with a chauffeur, I would really enjoy giving it a go. Fantastic photos as ever, and your final results are amazing. Ali x
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