When I first began this adventure of working with fibers and felting, I had to meet the learning curve. Â I had little knowledge of the different wool types and though I understood the process of felting I certainly was short in understanding the nuances of creating a sturdy piece of fabric.
Here is an example of an early work that I recently uncovered in my ‘dud box’.(Yes, I have a box of failed, half completed and never to be completed projects.)It was supposed to be a journal cover.
The blue fiber is corriedale. It is a very course wool that I came to learn does not wet felt easily. The other fibers are a mix of who knows but, it was what I had acquired at the time. I felted it, I thought, but ended up with an ugly, fuzzy, and poorly shaped piece of sub felted fibers. At the time, I did not understand what had gone wrong and into the box it went.
Sections of the felt were way too thin you could see straight through. Other sections were too thick. I have since learned the importance of laying out several thin and even layers of wool to reach the desired thickness.
As I was cleaning out the studio last week, I came across this blue piece again and thought it may make a good prefect for an art-felt piece. I laid it out on my table and began to embellish with colorful merino, locks, sari waste and other embellishment that I have now collected over the years.
Once the layout was complete, I wetted out and began to felt. This time I started out slowly with a light touch using my hands and a palm wash board,coaxing thenewfibers to enmesh. As the fibers began to lock I began rolling on a dowel and increased the pressure.Once the piece was firm I began the process of fulling the felt to further strengthen and shrink the felt.
The final piece turned out beautiful. Who would have ever known that old blue thing could result in a work rich in texture and color? I am so glad I pulled it out!
Redo of Blue measures -x- and is framed.
250.00 Available for purchase on the gallery page.