I JUST FELT LIKE IT: Felting exhibit

While beadwork is my primary love, I also work in other fiber media including embroidery, both hand and machine, as well as knitting and felting.

The Felting Study Group #1 members of the Potomac Fiberarts Guild will have their own show at the
Allegheny’s Arts Council’s Saville Gallery in Cumberland Maryland.
The Opening Reception of the show, I JUST FELT LIKE IT, is at 6PM on
Saturday, 12 March. 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

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

While each of us will have individual works of art on display, including felted wall pieces, clothing, sculptures, scarves, hats, purses and jewelry, we are also creating a large installation piece specifically for this exhibition. It will consists of 4 floor to ceiling panels following the branches of a dogwood tree through the four seasons. Yesterday we met and laid out the final piece in the series: Spring. I thought that I would digress from beadwork and follow the creation of this major piece.

First, 6 tables are arranged and raised to working height on bed risers. The tables are covered by plastic and then bubble wrap. Jeanne Bohlen, Sharon Janda, Zita Simutis and Bev Thoms stretch out the plastic.

A piece of tulle predyed with ground, grass, and sky areas is places on the plastic. The tulle is 19-20 feet long and about 3-4 feet wide.

                              

Hand dyed wool roving to be used in the panel. Wool is a fiber with scales that can be made to open up and attach to each other producing a fiber mat called felt. Thin layers of wool may also be made to penetrate and attach to fine openweave fabrics such as the background tulle used here. This is referred to as nuno felt.

The roving is pulled into fine wisps and carefully placed onto the tulle. Bev Thoms and Jeanne Bohlen lay out the grass area:

Sharon Janda and Paige Garber lay out the ground and rocks:

Roz Houseknecht, Paige Garber, Zita Simutis, Renate Maile-Moskowitz, Jeanne Bohlen, and Dalis Davidson lay out the sky:

 Bev Thoms and Zita Simutis add shadows and highlights:

White wool has been slightly felted (called prefelt) from which the dogwood petals are cut and attached together by pricking with special barbed needles. This is called needle felting.

The needle felted flowers are placed on the background.

Checking the composition:

It's not all work!

Prefelt in various colors for leaves:

Dalis Davidson cuts leaves out of prefelt:

Roz Houseknecht and Dalis Davidson add leaves and flower details:

Lunch break. I will continue in the next posting. Joanne

We thank the Barnesville, MD Town Hall for allowing us this wonderful space to work in.

Beadwork teaching at Common Ground

I have been remiss in working on my blog and my beadwork in the past few months. I have had 4 eye surgeries since November and am just getting my vision straightened out so that I can bead again. I have made a new necklace teaching sample using peyote stitch to suspend a gold plated leaf. I will be teaching this necklace at Common Ground, a wonderful composite of traditional and non traditional arts and music held at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD the first 2 weeks of July. My class will be the first week July 4-8. Come live on the campus and fill your days with a selection of classes and your nights with concerts. Great for the whole family. Check out www.commongroundonthehill.org for more info.

Artbeads contest

Artbeads is holding a contest for their artist bloggers on "What Inspires You". there are 2 categories: jewelry and non jewelry.


I entered the contest by Artbeads on design inspiration for jewelry and non jewelry items. The voting is open to the public. Click on 


http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/61138/voteable_entries/11445293 to vote for my non jewelry item 


USA Duffel Bag Series I, II, and III




and http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/55615/voteable_entries/11447171 to vote for my jewelry item. 


Finding Nemo Necklace


Joanne

Potomac Fiberarts Gallery Holiday Show

Notice: I am a member of the Potomac Fiberarts Guild in The Washington DC area. We have a coop gallery in the Torpedo Factory at 105 N. Union Street, Alexandria, VA. The gallery has a blog and I am the designated blogger for the month of November. To view my blogs this month please go to the Gallery blog. I have posted a discussion of peyote stitched beadwork and will begin one on brick stitch later this week. In December, I will return to blog here as I pass the gallery baton on to another blogger member. The Potomac Fiberarts Gallery has just installed their Holiday Treasures Show that will run through the end of the year. Please visit if you can. I also have work in the Somethings Looming Gallery in Reading, PA, The Hanover Area Art Guild, Hanover, PA (where I won a second place award for 3-D work for my Clubbing the Night Away-6 of clubs beadwork piece) as well as participation in two studio tours: The Carroll County Studio Tour Dec 4-5 and The Countryside Artisans' Studio Tour Dec 3-5 and 10-12. Thanks, Joanne

Fall Work by Joanne

Fall has been an exciting time. First, a 3 week tour of the Peruvian Amazon, the Sacred Valley and Machu Pichu, followed by Ecuador and the Galapagos. I am full of new ideas and photos. Second, a wonderful Sewing by the Sea retreat in Ocean City, MD. I am preparing for an exhibit of my machine embroideries to be shown at the Delaplaine Visual Arts Center, Frederick, MD in September 2011 in conjunction with a national quilt show. I was able to do 4 of these embroideries in the retreat setting-a good way into the dozen I will need by next fall.

Summer Activities

I have been away a good bit this summer. First taking some awesome photoshop courses at Maine Media College in Rockport ME with Sue Bloom and Jean Miele. I can't wait until my new Photoshop CS5 arrives. The first shipment was windows instead of MAC and I really had to jump through hoops to get it refunded and replaced.

Second was a Bast family reunion at Lake Kezar in western Maine. It was a lot of fun seeing all the cousins and their new families. It was to celebrate the 90th birthday year of my in-laws. My parents are both 92 this year, in fact my mother will turn 93 in November. She is 9 months older than my father. He says he was made for her.

My other summer project is my new puppy, another Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He was born during the winter Olympics and is named Apolo. Note the little white "beard". He is "Langford Skate me to the Moon"- as an old Trekkie, I couldn't resist the Apollo Moon Mission reference.  I am hoping for another agility dog-but faster! Joanne

Chasing Butterflies

Off to see the Wizard.

Artbeads Discount Code

I have had a delightful short break on a Cruise to Key West and Nassau (was supposed to be Cozumel but the weather didn't cooperate). I returned home to find an offer by Artbeads for 10% off that I may share with all of you. So from now till July 31, 2010, enter the Savings Discount code SCF10P-ARTBEADS-0125 and save! Thank you Artbeads.  Keep cool! Joanne

Disclosure: I received this offer within the frames of Artbeads.com blogging program. The author of this blog has not received any payment from above-mentioned company. The post above represents only personal opinion of the blog author.