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 beginning of the year 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 with 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 counryside, 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.
In 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.
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 an huge need to 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 summer.
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 create!
The second module is containing all the information about the felting techniques, finishing touches and ideas to mount and hang you artwork. This part requires making samples and learning the techniques to be able to use them later in your work. I know many feltmakers dont 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 got an 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 the mistakes and wasting lots of time, energy and materials.
I have always loved the freedom to experiment and explore, but obviously 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 much quicker project to finish and it suitable for the beginners as well.
I have decided to make the first one in the Shibori felting technique and it is going to be similar to these ones created some time ago like on the picture below.
What do you think about this idea?
Is it something, which you would be interested in making?
IFA talk on the 29th of March
I have the pleasure of giving a live talk on the International Feltmakers Association`s AGM on the 29th of March, where I would be sharing my experience as a fibre farmer and textile artist. The recording will be available for all the members later on. Join me!
My next blog post is going to be about the inspiration, stay tuned!
Until then,
Reena
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