About my online course..

I missed my last month`s blog post, but I do have a good reason for that. At the beginning of this year I had an extremely busy time finishing off my online course and the whole January felt like running a marathon. Just when you think that everything is coming together, then some new ideas came to my mind and the course grew much bigger than I anticipated at first.

As a feltmaker I have been working with surface design elements for many years and this is my biggest passion for felting - the endless opportunities for creating various textures by using the techniques I have learnt, worked and developed over the years.

When I was doing my textile art degree, I was looking into the subject of inspiration and creativity behind artworks. This theme is still very close to my heart and as I live and work in the countryside, the natural textures and surfaces surrounding me are the endless source for inspiration for my work. I started with machine knitting, but now felting and tapestry weaving are my main mediums for creating textile art.

For many years I was felting mainly accessories and it was finally in 2018, when I felt that the time was right to create something more artistic. As the accessories were made with extra fine merino wool, which is the best material for nunofelting, then at the beginning I also used this wool for my wall hangings. I had many work commitments and my three children were still quite young at the time, time was always an issue and it felt easier to work with the wool I knew the best at the time.

For this online course, I also made a presentation of selecting 30 of my best artworks with explanations and tips for my students to understand the techniques used for creating them.

Explaining the techniques used in my artworks.

So, in a way this course came like a lovely farewell to this period of my life, where I was experimenting with surface design elements and working with technical challenges for creating textures and surfaces in feltmaking.

I still work with the same theme, but my work has changed a lot during the last few years because as an artist I have a huge need to experiment, grow and develop all the time. Today I only use my own sheep wool for my wall hangings and therefore my work contains only natural colours of wool. I have done some natural dyeing as well, but I definitely want to explore more with this.

What can you learn in my online course?

My online course has three major modules. The first module is all about inspiration and hopefully it offers some helpful exercises to find motivation again when feeling stuck with your work. We all have these days, when you question your existence as an artist and it is very simple to forget that the best way out of it is to explore and create!

The second module contains all the information about the felting techniques, finishing touches and ideas to mount and hang your artwork. This part requires making samples and learning the techniques to be able to use them later in your work. I know many feltmakers don't like making samples, but I believe this is the best way to learn and develop your skills. When I make samples, my mind starts travelling and in these moments I find new ideas for my next work. Every feltmaker has a unique package of knowledge and skills and sample making helps you to mix these skills with new skills.

The final part is a comprehensive guide for helping you to sketch, design your ideas down and think about the outcome of your work - working with composition, proportions, colours, formats, sizes, materials, etc. This guide helps you to make the important decisions and helps you to succeed with your work without making mistakes and wasting lots of time, energy and materials.

I have always loved the freedom to experiment and explore, but we dont learn anything without making mistakes. I feel that the fear of failing is stopping lots of people to even start the new projects and I truly hope that my course offers the guidance to follow the simple steps and be amazed by the outcome. My job as an art teacher was to support my students to explore and enjoy the process and this is my goal with my in person workshops and online courses.

What`s next?

So, my next project is going to be creating fibre kits for making small wall hangings with step-by-step instructions and videos to follow. These kits will only include my own sheep wool and I plan to make them in different techniques. As my online course is a sample making course and hopefully gives my students plenty of new ideas for their own work, then the kits are going to be more structured, explaining only the chosen technique for making the artwork. So it's a much quicker project to finish and it's suitable for beginners as well.

I have decided to make the first one in the Shibori felting technique and it is going to be similar to this one I created some time ago (picture below).

One of my miniature wall hangings.

What do you think about this idea?

Is it something you would be interested in making?

IFA talk on the 29th of March

I have the pleasure of giving a live talk at the International Feltmakers Association`s AGM on the 29th of March, where I will be sharing my experience as a fibre farmer and textile artist. The recording will be available for all the members later on. I hope you can join me!

My next blog post is going to be about inspiration, stay tuned!

Until then,

Reena

Looking back and forward!

As December is a countdown to the end of the year, it is a great time to look back on the entire year and make new plans. The Christmas season is always a bit hectic, but I love the quiet time after Christmas to reflect, analyse and move forward. We have made it a tradition in our family that everyone including our children take time to reflect on the year and write down their highlights of the year and wishes for the new year. On New Year's Eve, we sit together and everyone shares their thoughts and feelings. If nothing else, it is so easy to forget all the wonderful memories throughout the year.

New Year's Eve around the fire with our family.

Full-time artist!

So, what a year it has been! The biggest change in the past year for me has been quitting my school job as an art teacher.  It still takes time and energy to make everything fall into the right place with my working routine, farm and family life. It has not been easy this year, but I had felt for a long time that I had to change my life and put my whole focus on our own businesses to create the life I have wanted to live. 

This is my biggest lesson learnt in 2024 - struggling with too many responsibilities will lead you to burn through and finally, you are learning to put yourself first one way or another. Of course, it is scary to give up some financial security and I am not advising anyone to change their working relationships without a deep and proper understanding, plans and thoughts. The change is always a bit scary because our brains are protecting us from anything new and unknown. But the true breakthrough only happens when being stuck in the moment or crisis, so never underestimate that. 

I am still transitioning to becoming a full-time artist but I am looking forward to my first whole year being able to concentrate on my artwork and farm!

Teaching workshops!

In June I had the honour of traveling to Finland to teach the members of Finnish Felt Association Filtti. It was one of my most memorable teaching workshops in 2024! I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge more in 2025! The traditional textile techniques and skills like felting and weaving need to be preserved for the next generations.

One of my student`s work in the Fillti workshop in June 2024.

Starting this blog!

It has been a long journey for me to finally open myself up and share my thoughts with you here on this blog. I am enjoying capturing these moments and saving them mainly for myself at the moment. Since my childhood, I have been the one with at least three different notebooks and diaries, but it is easy to move your focus to something else when getting busy. So these few blog posts have been a surprisingly fulfilling experience to look back to the last month and share my life as an artist with you. 

Thank you to everyone, who has been reading this, I do appreciate that!

Exhibitions!

2024 was quite a busy year for me with participating in 9 different exhibitions.

The last exhibition was organised by the Estonian Textile Association, which proud member I became in June.

The exhibition is called “The Colour of the Year is Diverse” and it is open in the Museum of New Art, in Pärnu, Estonia until the beginning of March 2025. 

As my recent work contains more natural fibre and natural colours, my work called “Diverse Silence” is also made of our own fibre in natural colours. 

I originally planned to enter my last wall hanging "Bronze III" into this exhibition, but I did not finish it in time due to some unexpected felting issues, so I decided to enter this work instead.

There are already a few great exhibitions coming up in 2025 and I hope I will manage to plan my time around to create new artworks. 

The "transformative" year!

I am grateful for the time spent in my studio creating, working with my vision & goals, looking deeply inside myself and questioning many patterns and beliefs..

This is the year of growing as an artist and human being, the year of learning many new lessons, and the year of stepping outside my comfort zone..

I will step into 2025 with a clearer vision and direction as a textile artist. My love for working with natural fibres from our flock continues through traditional and more modern textile techniques with a stronger focus on sharing my knowledge with others.

Looking forward to 2025!

We are here to create our own future and today I feel proud of myself for taking these steps this past year. There are still plenty of brave steps to be taken, but it is an ongoing journey and this will continue in 2025.  After a long period, I am looking forward to all the challenges and new chapters ahead of me. It feels great to be able to focus on my artwork and I have many exciting projects waiting for me in the new year. 

In January I will be finally launching my online course "Textures and Surfaces." Creating this course has been the most transformative experience. I just need to add a few finishing touches to it and then I am ready to share my knowledge and support with you. This course focuses on two main parts - firstly different felting techniques I have been using in my work over the last years. The second part focuses on being creative - finding inspiration and motivation for your work with different exercises, worksheets and guides to help you support your creativity to its fullest potential. Stay tuned for the news in the next few weeks!

And last, I wish you the best, the most creative and successful New Year!

Follow your dreams, and keep your cup full of simple moments for yourself. Go walk a walk, read a book, take time for your hobbies, learn new skills and create memories with your family and friends! 

Until next time my friends,

Reena

Sustainable wool

As November disappeared with its dark nights and wet weather conditions, I was faced with an experience of mainly looking after our farm and children while my husband was visiting his home island - the Isle of Man. Therefore I am sharing some of our ideas about sustainable wool written by both of us this time.

Our Swedish Finewool sheep relaxing in the summer on the field.

As many artists promote their art as sustainable these days, it raises the question, what is sustainable art in principle?

So, some definitions found on the internet are as follows:

Sustainable art is “artistic practices prioritising environmental responsibility, social equity, and economic viability. It often involves using eco-friendly materials, incorporating recycling or upcycling techniques, and addressing sustainability and ecological awareness themes.”

Sustainable textile art “focuses on creating artworks using eco-friendly materials and practices that minimise environmental impact.” 

My primary material for making art for the last 20 years has mainly been sheep wool. At the beginning we had a production flock of sheep and their wool was not the best quality. So for many years, I also used carded wool and merino wool purchased from different companies. So overall, I was using still a very natural material. The first finewool sheep arrived at our farm over 10 years ago and it has taken time to build up a flock since then. Quite often people ask me how long it takes to make a wall hanging. So to make a sustainable wall hanging, it has taken me all those years to get to the point that now I can proudly say that the main material for my artworks comes from our heritage breed Swedish Finewool sheep.

My last wall hanging is completely made of our own wool fibre.

Over the last few years, we have specialised in raising finulls and our wool locks have travelled to the neighbouring countries in Scandinavia, but also to Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, the United States and Canada. Last year we added a Gotland breed into our flock.

For wool to be truly sustainable, all parties involved must benefit. This means ensuring that animals are treated with respect and care, allowing them to exhibit their natural behaviours, and ensuring their health and welfare. It also involves preserving regional traditional breeds for genetic, fibre, and cultural diversity. Producers should be fairly compensated to secure their sustainable future, and consumers should receive the sustainable fibre they desire. Our goal is to give our sheep the best life and it would be wonderful to be in a position where these grand old ladies can retire gracefully on our farm and still give us wool without being mated for commercial purposes.

Some of the fibre locks from the finull fleeces.

Sheep breeds tend to be regional, with sheep exhibiting different characteristics worldwide, including various colours, horns, hair, fine wool, coarse wool, and milk production. In fact, on a global scale, more milk comes from sheep than cows for human consumption. Unfortunately, many agricultural animals and plants have been bred to the point that the vast majority of chickens, pigs, wheat, and corn are the same genetic breed worldwide.

Our farm is based in Estonia, but Matthew's heritage is from a small island called the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.  In a strange twist of fate, we only realised this year that the local breed named Manx Loaghtan on the Isle of Man is genetically linked to the Swedish Finewool Breed and the Gotland we breed here some 3000 km away. Around the year 800 AD, Vikings landed on the Isle of Man bringing their native sheep with them from Scandinavia. The Vikings of course didn’t only land on the Isle of Man but also inhabited the Scottish Islands, Iceland, and Greenland and were also believed to have travelled as far across the northern seas to North America.

Manx Loaghtan heritage breed from the Isle of Man.

Our sheep are part of a group of breeds called the Northern European Short-Tailed Sheep. There are still thirty-four breeds in existence, and most are classified as rare breeds. Many survived because of the harsh isolated environments they acclimatised to, and the inability of other animals to survive there.   

In Estonia, we also have two rare breeds called "Eesti maalammas" and "Kihnu maalammas". We would love to help maintain these genetics as well one day, but having a new breed means investments and changes in our management system.

Kihnu maalammas is one of the traditional heritage breeds in Estonia.

So, my journey towards more sustainable art has been a long one, but definitely worth taking! Wool is such an amazing material to work with and my wall hangings are moving towards a more simplistic look to showcase the wonderful variety of natural colours and textures of this wonderful fibre.

We are inspired to find out more about the heritage breeds and one day it will be great to get to know, feel, touch and work with all of these fibres from 34 breeds. It is part of our culture and heritage and it is important to preserve the cultural traditions, farming knowledge, and artisan skills together with the genetics of the sheep breeds.

Until the end of the year then,

Reena and Matthew