Rabbit, Rabbit!

Happy October 1st! Here it is, the first day of a new month and I have already forgotten to say the magic words to open the gates to good fortune. Yes, I jumped out of bed without saying "rabbit, rabbit," before my feet hit the floor. One reader wrote me a while back saying, in a lighthearted way, that she was doomed because she forgot. 

No worries. There is a redeeming word we can say tomorrow to bring the possibilities of continued good fortune back. 

With it being New Moon yesterday, there is still time to make a list of wishes or intentions you'd like to see manifest before the next new moon. I jot them down in my calendar book so I can keep track of things that show up for me as they occur. 

Here's to good things coming your way during the coming month.

Enjoying the little things : A Spring Rain

It's been raining more than usual here on the east coast. The grey clouds roll in and the droplets fall, slowly at first, then steadily increasing, sometimes coming in sheets. I find myself later tip-toeing around all the worms that have come out to escape the waterlogged earth. Robins are everywhere. The landscape becomes green, more lush, as everything fills in.

Sitting inside, watching the rain fall, a real treat.

How do you enjoy the rain?

Enjoying the little things : Someone to lean on

A few people have told me recently about some ongoing challenges they'd been having. These were in the areas of relationships, finances, health, and family. The one thing that got them through the tricky patches was having some kind of support system in place. Often it was one person they could truly count on to be there. Sometimes, all we need is that certain someone who will really listen and be totally present. 

Today, consider and appreciate the people who have been there for you when you needed someone to lean on.

 

Enjoying the little things : The Magic of Bubble wrap

The magic of bubble wrap

As I was tidying up my art supplies area this week, I came across a stash of bubble wrap. I've been collecting the stuff for months, yanking it out of every package that's been delivered to our house. My family has come to look at me a bit like a turkey buzzard, hovering and circling over them as they open their parcels, waiting me for me to grab the bubble wrap before it hits the recycling bin.

This stuff is great! It has an infinite number of uses and every time I see it, I roll it up and add it to the collection, knowing that some new way of using it will pop into my head.

One artist I know uses it to print patterns onto her paintings. She rolls paint over the bubbles, pressing the stuff onto the canvases and papers. The wrap leaves great textures. Plus, it can be rinsed off for reusing.

One of my favorite ways to use this stuff is to squeeze it. Grabbing a sheet of it, I work my way across the surface, bursting one bubble after another. The wrap with the larger bubbles creates a very loud and satisfying sound. It has also been fun to stomp on the stuff. The cats don't much care for the noise and scatter in all directions.

Last year, Pee Wee Herman mentioned in an article that someone had come up with an awesome stress reliever...virtual bubble wrap. A free phone app, it allows the user to touch and pop wrap while on the bus, in the cubicle or any other place where that kind of fun is needed. An excellent resource if you do not have the actual stuff in your hands.

Next time you come across a piece of bubble wrap, pop it and see what kind of enjoyment comes from it.

Enjoying the little things. Blooming Marvels

It's a tad past the daffodil explosion, but all kinds of other blossoms are on the way in. There are hundreds of paperwhites in my front garden, put in place by the previous owners. Giant iris are starting to blossom and although the flowers that arrive each spring are of the same variety, I still marvel at the intricacy and beauty of the individual flower. The tiny shoot that grows taller each day, evolving into a lighter color at the tip where the blossom lies in wait, folded up like an umbrella. With the bit of sun that popped out after weeks of rain, the flowers slowly open, revealing gently serrated edges, soft shades of purple and white, and rounded, curved petals. Nature's gift. 

Take note of any blossoms you encounter in your travels this week and stop to take a minute and really look at the color, detail and beauty of something, that while giving so much pleasure, is here for so short a time.

Enjoying the little things. Animal Time

Animal Time

Animals. Many of us have had the good fortune to share living spaces with animals of all kinds, anything from tiny goldfish to horses and everything in between. They come to us in different ways, sometimes planned, occasionally not, but in any case, we end up learning quite a bit from them. How many times have you arrived home on an especially challenging day to be greeted by a creature who is especially glad to see you? They listen, quietly gazing at us with soulful eyes, giving us the feeling we are truly appreciated.

An artist friend has ducks that visit her pool on a regular basis. Watching them traipse around her garden and take dips in the pool allow her many moments of relaxation and enjoyment. Humming birds also zip around her place and she has managed on a few occasions to snap some quick photos before they vanished.

Sitting with pets or watching creatures out in the garden can be a great way to get in touch with all that's good. Which animals will touch your world this week?

Enjoying the little things. A comfy place to read

A comfy place to read

Switching gears. This blog initially began as a place where I took note of all the little things I find which make life enjoyable and more fun on a daily basis. It's easy to get caught up in focusing on areas where things are not running very smoothly. One thought leads to another and pretty soon, the belief of "bad things come in 3s," can pop up. Not fun.

I prefer the idea of  "good things come in 3s." Noticing what works and makes us feel good can create a mindset where we are more open to noticing the good that surrounds us. One thing leads to another. 

Recently, I noticed a book at a friend's house. She had set it aside, meaning to read it, but found she was pulled away by too many other things. Seeing it on the table drove her nuts as it was a daily visual reminder that she STILL had not gotten around to it. Sometimes, it takes only a very small step to feel better. She picked it up one day and spent 10 minutes reading. Her day was swamped, but doing that got her into what the book had to say and also made her feel better. 

Today, consider sinking into a favorite chair (or beanbag if you  have one) for a few minutes and really enjoy some time with a good book. 

 Where do you like to enjoy a book?

For anyone who has been following my felting work...I will be setting up a separate blog just for felting and tutorials. Thank you for stopping by.

May 2016. Rabbit, Rabbit!

Rabbit, Rabbit!

It's May Day! And, did everyone remember to say, "Rabbit, Rabbit," before getting out of bed this morning? I do this every month after hearing about how saying this phrase brings good fortune all month long. A seventh grade math teacher told our class this little tidbit and I figured anything I could do to bring more good luck my way would be great.

Artist Dotty Seiter sent me this just recently regarding how she ran across the "rabbit, rabbit," phrase.

I’m reading a novel by Lee Smith called Guests on Earth. Chapter 9 begins:

The first day of November dawned unseasonably warm and sunny. Somehow, the moment I woke up, I remembered to say “Rabbit, Rabbit” out loud, a superstitious practice taught to me by Mrs. Hodges years before, these words to be spoken first thing in the morning on the first day of each month to ensure good luck for all the days of the month ahead.

Thank you, Dotty, for forwarding this. 

 Have a great day and ask yourself what kinds of good things are coming your way.

Rabbits are from previous posts and are made of wet and needle felted wool with assorted beads.

April 2016. Felts. Day 30. Tiny Trails

Tiny Trails

Today, I'm taking a cue from artist Dotty Seiter who makes large works and chops them into pieces, allowing each one to take its own direction. Love this idea...so, went to a bag of pieces I'd done previously and got busy with the scissors. This was originally a long strip of black alpaca wool onto which I wet felted an assortment of maroon, red and citrusy colored wool bits. I separated the band into differently shaped pieces and waited until something came to mind. With an assortment of embroidery cotton and beads available, I grabbed one piece and played with it to see what would happen. No visualized outcome, and without any sort of plan. Simply playing. I find this process to be the most fun and enjoyable and how it turns out is how it turns out. Having a good time with the journey. Thank you, Dotty!

Tiny Trails (2" x 3") is made of wet felted alpaca and assorted sheep wool, cotton, and a variety of beads.

April 2016. Felts. day 29. Red and white

Red and White

Experimenting again with process. There are a lot of tutorials out there that show how to make a flower all in one piece and still have the look of separate petals. Here, I made each petal individually with layers of cherry red and thin wisps of white for veining and color variation.  The whole piece is then assembled with needle felting and a few stitches added in to hold the tiny beads in place. A big piece, it measures about 7" (about 18 cm). Theme for the day...think big! 

Happy Friday and how many red things will you see today that surprise and delight you?

 

April 2016. Felts. Day 28. Orange Oyster Shell

 

Can't have too much orange .....orange everywhere!

I keep feeling drawn to orange. Maybe because of its brightness, luminosity, or vibrancy. It seems to show up everywhere, but isn't that how it works? If we focus on something, it seems to appear every which way we turn. I had an orange shirt as a kid that I wore until it disintegrated. It had a zipper down the front, with a big, round metal pull which made the most satisfying sound as I zipped it up. If no one was around, I'd unzip it and re-zip it just to feel that vibration. Hehehe, what we do as kids.

Orange was the dreamsickle I'd pick at the swimming pool snack shop, with its tangy outside and creamy white vanilla inside. It was also the color of Tang, that kicky citrus powder to mix into water for an instant zippy drink. Orange was the color of flowers I'd see, with the sun hitting them at just the right angle, that they seemed to glow from within. It seems like a happy color with a high frequency that cannot help but delight.

Maybe that's another reason why I am drawn to art that has orange. Take a PEEK HERE at Laurie Mueller's paintings, whose many shades of orange make the scenes she paints glow. This page shows a collection of paintings all in one place so it is fun to spot the gorgeous orange that is in many of her works.
You can also find her work HERE.

Today's piece reminds me a bit of all the seashells (mostly oyster shells) I've seen this week. I love their craggy outsides and the smooth insides. This would be an orange version of oyster shells.

Orange oyster shell is made of wet felted wool and assorted glass and seed beads.

April 2016. Felts. Day 27. Ode to a starfish

Ode to a starfish

Went to the Eastern Shore for a few days. Stayed in the village of Easton, a beautiful place with colorful shops, restaurants and B & B's with interesting histories. One of the galleries had a mobile made from a delicate, white starfish with silver-wrapped sea glass of luminous shades of green, aqua and white. I love how it moved in the breeze, the bits of wire sparkling in the sun. However, I felt a bit sad to see it was a real starfish, its stiff arms outstretched in a permanent, perfectly even radial design. Think I'd rather have a fake starfish, or better yet, a piece of driftwood to hold all the sea glass strands. Anyway, it got me thinking about these little creatures and marveling at the way they move. This piece is in honor of the amazing starfish.

Ode to a starfish is made of wet and needle felted wool, cotton, gold thread and assorted beads.

April 2016. Felts. Day 24. Hon

A Hon

I recently learned about Hon Fest, a big annual event in Baltimore that celebrates the warmth and affection the people of Baltimore have for their neighbors and others. At our recent art show, I set up a mini needle felting activity within the Studio Intrepid set up by local artist, Dan Grogan.
Dan is a painter, providing drawing material for show visitors and encouraging them to have fun making art.

Artist Lora Collins joined us and needle felted a "hon," a face with a giant bee hive hairdo (photo above). Incredible! It was an instant hit among the group at the art table and others who had stopped to watch all the activity. She added a pin back to the Hon and headed out to the show. Being newer to this area, I was not familiar with Hons or the big festival held each year to celebrate them. Take a peek here to see what this huge festival is all about. Don't you just love the color, style, and playfulness of this event? Something to enjoy for sure.

This photo from official HonFest site

 

April 2016. Felts. Day 23. Batch of Blossoms

Batch of Blossoms

Did not get to making a new blossom, so I've set out some of the recent ones and made them into a batch. Still working on the photographic process, which still needs a bit of tweaking.

Looking to the outdoors for inspiration on color, shape, form. We have a bleeding heart bush, the blossoms of which always surprise me with their tiny delicate bits. Makes me think I will be doing some micro felting in the next few days. May need to rig a magnifying glass to my head in some way.

Batch of Blossoms made of wet and needle felted wool with assorted beads.

April 2016. Felts. Day 22. Purpley Things

Purpley Things

Yesterday, I noticed our azaleas are coming into bloom. The house we're in is surrounded by azalea and rhodo bushes so when it gets to be late April, the place explodes with color. I combined the colors I saw in two bushes to do these little guys and added a little sparkle with glass beads in the center. Shot in my new cardboard/tissue paper/taped up light box. 

Purpley Things are made of wet and needle felted Merino wool with glass beads.

Artist Dotty Seiter has a most amazing way with words...I bet she can come up with a better name for these flowers than the name I picked. Hey Dotty, any ideas??? 

Check out Dotty's post today with the brain imaging. I'm now picturing fireworks-type images when I am doing creative work....

April 2016. Felts. Day 21...Pink Sea Star

Pink Sea Star

Have been thinking of starfish lately, so this one is a take off of something that is a starfish/flower hybrid, with a touch of silver tossed in. 
After having seen a short video on how to build a quick light box for shooting art work, I gathered the materials and assembled one this afternoon, in the hopes of getting better photos of the work. Still have quite a way to go, but I did get someone's ok on the fine quality of the finished box.

Cooper checks the dimensions of the light box

 My personal assistant hopped right in when I went off to gather my lighting and let me know he thought the box was A-ok. 

Pink Sea Star is made of wet felted wool with cotton, silver thread and vintage pin.

April 2016. Felts. Day 19. Flower Tutorial

Today, I'd thought I'd post pics of the process I used to make these little flowers yesterday. Working with felt is, for me, a very soothing and relaxing process. I love the feel of the wool, the range of colors and knowing there are infinite possibilities in simply playing with the materials and enjoying the unfolding. I will always be grateful to my dear friend Cynthia in New Zealand, who introduced a very hesitant me to working with this magical and delightful process.
 

Step 1

Step One
I set an old towel out on the kitchen bench. Next, I placed a large piece of bubble wrap on top. Gently pulling the wool apart, I made small circular shaped puffs, laying the wool layers on top of each other in a perpendicular manner so the fibers will mesh and grab a hold of each other during the felting process. I did them in different sizes as they will be nestled inside each other to make a realistic looking blossom. I used Merino wool, putting a golden yellow down for 4 layers and then adding wisps of red and magenta on top for subtle shading.

Close up of Step 1

 

Step 2

Step Two
I used an old chocolate syrup bottle, filling it with hot water and a few squirts of washing up soap. Next, I made all the puffs wet and mashed them down with my hands.

Step 3

 Step Three
Next, I put a piece of plastic on top of the wet felt pieces. I then put soapy water ON TOP of the plastic. This made it easier to rub my hands over the plastic to felt the wool.

Close up of step 3

 

Step 4

Step Four
After putting water on top of the plastic wrap, I rubbed and pressed down hard on the felt, using circular motions. The combination of hot water, soap and friction causes the fibers to intermingle. I rubbed for about 5 minutes. Felt nice to have my hands sliding around on the slippery, soapy surface. Some people prefer not to get their hands wet during this step (wrinkly, pruney-looking fingers) so if you prefer, you can put rubber gloves on. Just be sure to keep the surface wet so your hands glide over the plastic smoothly.

Step 5  Testing the felt

 Step Five
Here's where you want to test the felt to see if the fibers are felting together properly. I pull up gently in the middle and see if the layers are all intermingled. If you can pull way up on it, give it a few more minutes of rubbing. When I see that it looks like a small tent, I feel it is ready to go to the next step.

Step 6  Getting Ready to Roll

 Step Six
Now remove the thin plastic you had on the wool pieces. Replace it with another piece of bubble wrap, bubble-side DOWN. I always have tons of this around as it comes in packages people send me. It can be used practically forever, until all the bubbles have popped. 

Step 7  Roll it up

  Step Seven
In this step, I used a swimming pool noodle and cut off a piece the size of a rolling pin. It makes a great, waterproof roller for doing the felting. Setting the noodle piece at the end of the plastic, I rolled it, pulling the bubble wrapped flowers tightly around it. I have seen people use pieces of PVC pipe, old wooden rolling pins or even dowel rods.

Rolled and ready to go

Step Eight
Next, wrap the towel around the whole bubble wrapped roll.
 

Step 8   Exercise those arms

Roll the whole thing back and forth. I do it for about 100 rolls. It's mostly a quick wrist action, rolling the roll just a few inches away from me. Then, unroll the towel and the bubble wrap. Turn the noodle 90 degrees,  and reroll the whole thing, bubble wrap first, then the old towel. Roll again for 100 short, quick rolls. Unroll the whole thing, remove the noodle and rotate 90 degrees again. Here, we want to roll the wool in different directions to felt it evenly.

Picture this....you are rolling out some pastry dough on the bench top. You'd roll it out away from you, then you'd rotate the dough 90 degrees and re-roll to get a nice, big even piece (rectangular or circular). Same idea with the wool.

Smoothing the edges

 Step Nine
Unroll the whole thing and pick up one of the shapes. Pull at it to see if it is all felted together. If not, do some additional rolling. If the pieces do seem solid, remove the top bubble wrap. Squirt some warm, soapy water on the plastic and start rubbing the individual pieces across the bubble wrap. I place my hand over one of the little circles and rub away from myself. Next, I rotate the piece and continue rubbing it back and forth until the edges are solid and nicely rounded. If you have a snaggly bit, rub and it will meld into itself.

After rubbing edges on bubble wrap

All circles have edges smoothed, rubbed out

 

Close up of all rubbed into circles

Step Eleven
Next, I cut small snips (about 5 or 6) at the edges of the circles, cutting toward the center to indicate separate petals. Each cut made was about 1/4" (a bit more than 1/2 cm).

Small snips to create petal shapes

 Step Twelve
Next, add more soapy water to the bubble wrap. I used one finger to rub where I had made a cut, sliding the flower away from myself about 10 or 15 times. This creates a wider space between the petals and rounds the cut edges.

Rubbing petal edges

 

All petal edges rubbed and smoothed out

Next, after all pieces are rubbed and smoothed out, put all the wool pieces into a bowl and add boiling water. Stir with a spoon, then lift out and put into a bowl with cold water.  Stir and keep alternating a few times between the two water temps. This shocks the wool and helps with the felting process. 

After that, put all wool pieces into a bowl with cool water and add a splash of vinegar. Stir well. The vinegar will help remove all traces of soap from the fibers. Next, remove wool from water and rinse with plain water.

Grab the handful of wool pieces and slam them into the sink or on a bench top. This is the Fulling process which helps strengthen the wool. Do this several times.

Next, I put all the pieces of wool onto a clean towel and rolled up, to remove the water. I used a hint I saw somewhere recently and that was to place the wool circles into muffin tins (regular sized and super-mini muffin tins) and set them in the sun to dry. They will take on the shape of the tin and be nice and rounded.

Allow to dry fully.

Final touches with needle felting

 The last step I did was to use a bit of needle felting to assemble the flowers. Putting the largest wool piece down first, add the next sized one and stab until the two are joined. Stabbing will also pop the edges of the flower up for added appeal. Keep adding however many pieces you'd like for each blossom. I used 4 for these medium sized flowers. Really large ones would have many layers.

Finally, sew on a brooch backing. Add beads to the center for more sparkle.

Final pieces

 I believe it actually took me longer to do this tutorial than doing all the steps of the actual felting process! All in all, a lot of fun. 

Anyone have ideas on steps you'd add to this process or things you've done differently that have yielded good results? Please leave a comment.....

April 2016. Felts. Day 18. Red n White

Red n White

Today, an experiment of sorts. A felting buddy recently told me she uses a CD as a template to make flowers. The floral brooches she creates are simply amazing...delicate, rich in color with lovely, overlapping petals and glittering beads in the center. Without wanting to know all her special techniques, I asked for a few tips so I could play with a different approach to making the flower petals. 

I used the CD as a template, wrapping the wool around it and rubbing the whole thing gently against the bubble wrap to mingle all the fibers. After that, had to trim around the edges and go from there.  I found it cumbersome to use the template so went back to just creating small circles separately. Nice to be able to experiment and play with new techniques. Never know where it will lead or how it will all turn out. One big fun adventure, anyway.

Sometimes deviating from the regular path yields surprising new results. 

This piece, Red n White, is a commissioned piece made of wet felted Merino with stone beads.

April 2016. Felts. Day 17. Sea Rose

Sea Rose

Yesterday, got out all the blues, greens, and some purples in the Merino and started layering them. It doesn't show in this daylight photo that the base color of this piece is actually teal. I took several photos, but it still looks like a predominantly blue blossom. Pulling out thin tufts of several colors and layering them before wet felting resulted in a blend of subtle shading, almost like putting a watercolor wash over a painting. Popped a few deep red beads in the center for decoration. Looking at it reminds me of the colors you'd see in an ocean painting, with the various shades of blue and green hinting at the water's depth and the amount of sun reflecting off the surface.

Sea Rose is made of wet felted Merino with stone beads.

April 2016. Felts. Day 16. Another Big Orange Flower

Big Orange Flower

Everywhere I look on the web, I see lots of tiny art. Paintings the size of thumbnails, sculptures on the ends of pencils and posable teddy bears, the size of a sugar cube. Honestly, I like working small but I'm not sure how some of these artists can pull this off! I have great respect for their ability (and their incredible eyesight) to work on such a small scale.  And after seeing so much little stuff, I started leaning in that direction. 

This week, though, two people asked me why I haven't considered working on a larger scale. Not sure, but I like the idea of working on bigger projects. I guess my only hesitation is about where to store any finished pieces.  I saw a photo last week of a life sized whale made of felt. I couldn't believe it. An incredible work to be sure, but it was stored in a warehouse. And that is a lot of wool! Think of the moth protection you'd need for something that magnificent in scale.

My version of working larger is today's Another Big Orange Flower, which measures 10" across (25.4 cm) and is made of wet felted wool and glass beads. One of my biggest brooches to date.

What scale do you enjoy working on most? What scale poses the biggest challenges?

April 2016. Felts. Day 15. A Rose

Roses will be coming soon. Right now, all the daffodils are out, swaying in the breeze. When I was in the supermarket the other day, I stopped by the floral shop which was right by the entrance. Dozens of bouquets were wrapped in colorful papers ready to be scooped up and taken home. Roses in every color and scent....I often stand there for several minutes taking in the color and scent...a blissful encounter for the senses.

A Rose is made of wet and needle felted Corriedale and Merino silk with glass bead.

April 2016. Felts. Day 14. Punchy Sunflower

With all the warm sunshine and blue skies, it won't be long before all the giant sunflowers appear. I'm always amazed that putting something so small as a sunflower seed in the ground yields something so monstrously large and incredibly beautiful. Truly a wonder. 

Last summer while driving through the surrounding areas, I went past many properties out in the country that had sunflowers near the road. As tall as a man, and often bigger, these flowers seemed to gaze out over the road, taking in the views of the changing skies, passing cars, and cows grazing across the road in the next field. 

Last year, I planted sunflowers in a small stretch of garden right in front of our house. Definitely not enough space as they soon grew taller than the garage and got so heavy, they tipped over and started growing horizontally across the footpath, much to the irritation of my family who had to step over this feral batch of flora as it reached for sunlight. The giant blossoms turned and looked a bit like sunshine heads on big green snake bodies. Would make for a good hallucinatory scene in a movie....flower faces biting at ankles walking by. Oh, back to felted flowers.

Punchy Sunflower, an alternatively colored sunflower, is made of wet and needle felted wool with silk throwsters and glass beads.

What's your take on sunflowers?
 

April 2016. Felts. Day 13. Succulent Blossom

Succulent Blossom

Sold this little one over the weekend at our art exhibition. Most of the flowers I've seen lately have several colors throughout the petals. This one reminds me a bit of a blossom you'd find on a succulent plant, mostly one color with subtle tones of a second color.  I really like succulents for their exotic flair, unusual shapes and the ease of low maintenance. 

Growing plants indoors, for me, has always been an bit of a challenge. My mother's green thumb did not end up in my genetics. I was fortunate to grow up in a house filled with luscious green things of various varieties in every room. I'd watch my mom mist, water and dust her plants with loving care and they flourished. My plants didn't survive very long, so I decided succulents might be the way to go. I left mine in the care of a friend when I went on a long trip one summer, and came home to a tray of dead things. I didn't even know it was possible to kill succulent plants. 

These days, I stick to growing things outdoors and have had much better luck than having plants in the house. 

Succulent Blossom is made of wet felted wool with needle felted wool added. Brooch pin on back.

What are your favorite kinds of plants and why?

April 2016. Felts. Day 12. Big Orange Flower

A big flower brooch I made for the show we had this last week. I love the bright orange in the center of some of the daffodils I've seen in people's gardens the last couple of weeks. Started with the bright orange and tossed in some magenta silk bits and purple beads. Not a very realistic looking blossom, but bright and a bit of a preview of all the luscious colors on their way in the next few weeks as it warms up even more.

Big Orange Flower is made of wet felted wool with needle felted silk throwsters and purple glass beads.  Flower tutorial coming soon.

April 2016. Felts. Day 11. Big Red Flower

Big Red Flower

Our big four day art exhibition just ended yesterday. A lot of people ventured out and came to see the show, despite all kinds of crazy, all-over-the-map weather. In one corner of our show area, a studio intrepid was set up to invite visitors to make art. Dan offered drawing, Anita and David had a torn paper collage station set up and I added a needle felting activity. Show visitors grabbed a barbed needle, a piece of foam, some fluffy wool, and proceeded to make things like brooches and small animals. It was great fun offering a variety of materials and having a place where adults and kids could sit and create something special.

Today's piece is a Big Red Flower, made of wet and needle felted wool.

April 2016. Felted Creatures. Day 10. Purple Rabbit Guy

Purple Rabbit Guy

The artist guild I'm in is having its Spring show right now with close to 60 artists exhibiting over the weekend. Works in all media are included and its been fun watching visitors mingle with show participants and discovering new works. One painter created Studio Intrepid, setting up a work station where visitors could sit and make art while at the show. Part of my show duties include being at this studio set up and inviting people to experiment with art materials and create a mini work to take home. 

In addition to the drawing materials that were available, I brought in my needle felting supplies and worked on some new pieces. Several visitors had questions about the process and pretty soon, I had them take needle in hand to create their own little felted pieces. They found it very relaxing and in a short time, were able to walk away with some tiny souvenirs of the new process they'd just learned. 

Purple Rabbit Guy is a collaborative work of needle felted wool, legs courtesy of Tina and other bits felted by various visitors. He's wearing an orange Merino scarf as the temps have dropped once again and to help keep him warm during the 5 minute snowfall we had yesterday.

 

April 2016. Felted Creatures. Day 8. Tweaking Once Again

Tweaked buddies

Back to tweaking works previously done. Ever work on something, put it aside and later take it out, realizing it looks very different than you remember? Sometimes the work is tucked away for so long, I'd almost forgotten I'd done it in the first place.

Pulled these kitties out that I'd done recently and added more texture. Might do an experiment by making something over a long period of time, working on it weekly over several months. I've followed the work of painters who continuously modify their work and I'm fascinated by observing the transformations. The works become more complex, richer in color, texture and composition. Watching the unfolding is something to see.

Retweaked Kitties are made of needle felted wool.

April 2016. Felted Creatures. Day 7. Mini Orange guy

Mini Orange Guy

Have been doing what Dotty Seiter and Sheila Delgado do with some of their works...put the pieces away for a while and then bring them back out for some additional modification. Good to look at things with a fresh eye. New ideas show up and the works begin the transformation process once again. 

Tweaked this new little kitty and he's in better shape now. 

Mini Orange Guy is made of needle felted wool.