17-September 22
I’m excited to share with you a recent new skill I learned -Felting! Something I have always admired but had never tried. That is until I received a beautiful gift. This gift was a felting starter kit, sold by the felt artist Niki Collier. The starter kit including wool fibres, felting needles, a wooden felting roller, felting sponge and information on online classes. It wasn’t long before I was happily felting away and completely hooked by the process which I’m going to share here with you.
The Inspirational touch!
I first came across Niki Collier’s work following her magnificent fibre art on Instagram. Her work is colourful, exuberant and full of energy. At the heart of it is her dedication to creating a community through the medium of felt making and classes. It is through this spirit that the International Stained Glass Felt Exhibition @ Pearse Museum manifested in April and took flight to Vienna, Austria where selected works can currently be seen @Gallery Kabllo. I quickly became involved in her felting community during Covid having linked in to Niki’s online classes along with classes by some of her artist friends Liadain Butler and Caóilfíonn Murphy O’ Hanlon.
One of the delights of working with felt is the interchange between knowledge, experience and unpredictability. Allowing the element of chance to happen is one of the main motivations for my creative process. The first process involves laying down the fibres. The wool fibres are pulled skillfully apart and layered both horizontally and vertically to create strength in the fabric. This is repeated for several layers. Experience in doing this will improve the consistency and weight of the fibres across the whole felt piece. This is a wonderful process and an opportunity to explore different colour mixes and textures. I feel I am only at the beginning of my journey in relation to this!
Letting the Magic Happen!
The next process is knitting the fibres together by repeatedly rubbing your hands over the fibres which are covered over by a layer of bubble wrap. Soapy water is poured on top to allow this repeated friction to occur. This is done for over 10 minutes, the longer the better as it strengthens the fabric. It’s very therapeutic, I love it! Once this is completed the felted piece is gently rinsed in clean water and left to dry. And that’s it!.
Finishing Touch!
You can see below my art work exhibited @ Gallery Kabllo, Vienna from 15 Sep - 6 Oct 22 and was exhibited @ Pearse Museum from 21 April- 26 June 22. This piece "The Oak Leaf" 25cm x 25cm was inspired by the oak tree as a symbol of strength. I felt this symbol was poignant to use with this material as each of these fibres are delicate on their own but once worked together into felt, make up a material which is strong. As this piece of art is part of a group exhibition where each piece becomes part of a much larger patchwork of felt, the idea of strength coming from individuals joining together as a community is central to the theme of the exhibition. I made the felted material inspired by autumnal colours by layered different mixes of red, yellow and green wool fibres together. I then used wool to segment the design to create the stained glass pattern.
I’m looking forward to continuing with this new skill and incorporating it into my studio work. It is a wonderful activity to share with family and friends, both children and adults. The repetitive and sensory nature of the process is very holistic, therapeutic and enjoyable over a social gathering so why not give it a go!