Hybrid Felting

 I just returned from a wonderful workshop on Hybrid Felting given by Anne Vickery Evans as part of the SDA (surface Design Association)/SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) conference in Philadelphia, PA. Hybrid Felt also sometimes known as Nuno Felt is the bonding together of wool fibers with other fibers and/or fabrics. This is me using a thin layer of wool roving to attach small squares of colored silk charmeuse to a background fabric of hand dyed silk gauze.

I Just Felt Like It Exhibit

The I Just Felt Like It Exhibit is now open at the Saville Gallery, Cumberland, MD. Since I posted photo sequences of the creation of the "Spring" nuno felted-wool on tulle-banner, I thought that I would post a few photos provided to me by Roz Houseknecht of the finished banners.

Summer, Fall and Winter: Felted and fulled

Allegheny’s Arts Council’s Saville Gallery in Cumberland Maryland.


The show runs from 10 March until 2 April 2011.

Saville Gallery is located at 9 North Centre Street, Cumberland, MD 21502; 301-777-ARTS; www.alleganyartscouncil.org

Gallert hours: Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM; Sat 11AM-4PM

Banners in place: Fall and Winter

 Summer

 Spring

Members of the Study Group participating in the exhibit include:

Joanne Bast, Bev Thoms, Roz Houseknecht, Zita Simutis, Dalis Davidson, Sharon Janda, Kathy Korin, Grace Mahanes, Paige Garber, Renate Maile-Moskowitz, Francine Stefancic, Terri Fisher, and Jeanne Bohlen

Here we are at the opening:

Sorry, but I happen to be missing from the opening as I had already left on my trip up the coast of Norway--more about that later. Joanne

I JUST FELT LIKE IT: Felting exhibit #3

Now the work begins. Roz Houseknecht and Dalis Davidson carry the rolled and tied wool on tulle piece outside and drain off the excess water.

Roz, along with Paige Garber, Bev Thoms and Sharon Janda begin rolling the wrapped log back and forth with their feet.

 The roll is reversed and rolled in the opposite direction.

 After a spate of rolling, the log is carried back inside and unrolled on the set of tables. The design is checked for shifting and tweaked back into position. Dry spots are rewetted.

 It is recovered with the plastic sheeting and rerolled into a log starting from the opposite end and retied.

 More rolling to continue the felting process. This will be repeated several times.

 The roll containing the Spring panel is wrapped in black plastic garbage bags for transportation home where rolling will be continued until the wool is totally adhered to the tulle backing and to itself. At this point the process of fulling will begin where the panel is beaten and thrown to encourage the wool to draw up and shrink. The 19-20 foot long original size will end up 15 feet or less. Come see the finished 4 seasons panels at the Saville Gallery in Cumberland, MD March 10- April 2 along with many individual examples of felted work.

Again, many thanks to the Barnsville, MD Town Hall for the use of this wonderful space. Joanne

                                

I JUST FELT LIKE IT: Felting exhibit #2

Continuing on with the creation of the last panel "Spring" in the 4 piece installation artwork to be exhibited at Saville Gallery, Cumberland, MD in March:

Dalis Davidson rolls brown wool roving into tree branches:

The rolled roving is placed onto the panel, tucking edges under the dogwood flowers:

Roz Houseknecht, Paige Garber and Bev Thoms assist Dalis in placing the branches.

When the placement of branches is complete, Dalis and Roz pat down the layers of wool while Bev adds color to the clouds.

Sharon Janda, Roz Houseknecht and Bev Thoms begins spraying cool, lightly soapy water onto the panel. When felting wool onto a finely woven background that is not wool, beginning with cool water slows the felting process so that the wool fibers have time to migrate into the brackground before felting to each other.

When the wool is thoroughly wetted, the panel is patted down again using plastic to prevent the wet wool from sticking to hands.

The wetted panel is covered by a large single piece of plastic.

                              

The plastic is smoothed down eliminating air bubbles.

Bev, Dalis and Zita Simutis check the panel for last minute adjustments.

 Dalis and Jeanne Bohlen cut off the excess plastic sheeting.

Using a swim pool noodle for a core, Zita and Dalis begin rolling the panel up into a log.

It takes a lot of hands to smooth the panel so that the rolling is consistent.

Excess water is squeezed out and mopped up along the way.

Draining the excess water.

The roll is tied with nylon stockings.

Whew! Time for a break! Joanne