Okanagan School of the Arts Workshops 1

  I have been working in one version of my most perfect place... there are several variations on this... but this is definitely a good one. The Okanagan is beautiful. And home to Canada's best wines, including some amazing reds. I'm staying on the Naramata bench, right on the KVR walking trail, in a vineyard... overlooking the lake.... with fine sunrises and sunsets. It is heavenly...and that is just my mornings and evenings.

  All day I spend at the Shatford Centre, home of the Okanagan School of the Arts. Some days I am teaching... and then others I am there as Artist in Residence. I'm using this time to tidy up some old work, refine my plans and goals for 2015/2016 and then start to enter into the mindspace for my upcoming exhibition in February. It is a wonderful world! Even with a separate studio space at home, and older children now, who are pretty self-sufficient, it is still a unique experience to go to a different space and focus. I think that is the key....to have clear goals to work towards in this special time set aside....with some breathing spaces allowed for...of course...and a fine glass of local red wine.

  This weekend was a three day session on Joomchi Feltmaking. We had a small class, due to a few cancellations, so I had the opportunity to make my own piece as a demonstration. With experienced feltmakers in the class, we delved deeper into perfect fit in garment construction and with a focus on lots of surfaces and composition techniques. 
All of the pieces were beautiful and perfect for their individual wearer and creator...

 

  And my own, red study....working with a single colour to really highlight the textures in the piece.

   This is first class I have taught in years that was not full. It was a tiny ego hit...being honest with you... but not for long...this smaller class size opened up opportunity to go much farther with my students and create something alongside them. We had more time for discussion and even a short "felt clinic" looking at past projects and tips for improving each work. It was a great gift of space and time.... These were three calm, creative, wonderful days, in an incredible setting and facility. It was pure pleasure.

And there are still 4 more days to go....
Warm wishes, 
Fiona

Experimental Garment Construction Workshop

  I'm really looking forward to this workshop. We have a great space- very large, open airy and bright. Lots of room to move and work and think.  Plus it takes place at the same time as the opening of my upcoming exhibition at ArtCraft.  This exhibition is a collection of sculptural garments, accessories and small sculpture. The elements I am working with now in creating these pieces, will be those we'll view and explore in creating interesting shaping in our garments in the workshop. 

  Here's the workshop description:

  Sculpture for the Body explores the manipulation of the surface of a garment; building up organic shaping that alters the structural lines, beautifully, dynamically and unexpectedly.  We’ll create highly wearable art pieces exploring architectural and sculptural design in wool. Layers and shaping will be created with prefelts, cords and gathers, shibori, folding, cutting and stitching. We’ll cover seamless garment construction while making a garment design of the student’s choice-dress, jacket, vest or skirt.

  I am most excited about the range of possibilities in this class. You could come just for the basic garment construction and learn how to make a fit-to-you jacket, dress, skirt, vest, or....
  And then as much and deeply as you want to, we will cut and shape and manipulate to add new form and architecture to the garment. Clean, wild or elegant... 3 days of creative feltmaking.

  I'm so looking forward to sharing this time with some of you!
 
Dates: July 10, 11, 12
Location : ArtSpring, 100 Jackson Ave, Salt Spring Island
Fee:  $325.00 plus materials fee: $65.00

For more information and to register:
www.fionaduthie.com/experimental-garment-construction/

Warm wishes, 
Fiona

Felt Fashion-2013

This is a bit of a catch up post...Some work from 2013 I didn't share here.  Facebook friends will have seen these images, but I missed writing about them here in the midst of the busy-ness that was Fall.

 These pieces and the photographs were an important part of my creative evolution through 2013.  Moving into exploring more complex garment construction and the body as a canvas....lots of surfaces....and doing some photography with models. Rachel always looks fantastic in my work, and we are comfortable with one another and have fun doing the shoots. She gets to play model (stunningly) and I get to play photographer!

2014 holds lots more exploration of fashion...shibori work, origami in clothing, architectural shaping...sculpture for the body....lots of natural dye work as well...it's going to be fun!

The week of unfinished objects....

I did a quick tour of the studio today to compile a list of projects started in the last two weeks that are are waiting for finishing touches....It's quite a list!  
As of July 1st, I had absolutely not one piece of feltwork left in studio. I haven't been able to switch my sign to "open" as the studio is empty. Pieces are selling more quickly than I can keep up with making them.  A good problem to have, but still a little frustrating.  I've hired two part time assistants to help move things along-one to help in the dye studio and one to help with the feltmaking. All of the finished and partially finished projects are testament to the success of this decision! Now it's just up to me to add my final embellishments and add hangtags and move my studio sign to "open" each day!


The piece above is a wall piece, exploring sculpturally shaping felt. It is just waiting on it's frame.

Another wall piece....a bit of celestial drifting developing. This piece is now almost fully felted on the table...just waiting one more felting session this evening, then framing....

10 new pairs of earrings to keep my stock up....5 pairs almost done....5 more pairs to assemble...These are made of absolutely gorgeous ultrafine merino, with a thin layer of naturally black Finn wool felted in the middle for shadowing and firmness of structure. Nice to have some tiny projects to finish!

 
Three felt bags....The first two are both itajame shibori dyed...awaiting steaming, shaping and stitching...the last follows my recurring theme of striations and topography, awaiting overdyeing, shaping and then stitching? Maybe....

Oh my gosh...there's still more.....

Four nuno felted scarves....dyed and dried..only in need of a quick press with the iron..that's an easy task to check off the list!

Background layer is finally complete for the DEAR piece.....soft and ethereal blue tones with little seeds/bubbles of memory/thought planted between the sutures.....

A new adjustable tunic design. I want to do some silkscreening on this piece and I have my tools all out and ready...then some last stitch details in red.....mmmmm....red silk thread are already dyed and rinsed and waiting for me....This is a fun project- I'm looking forward to getting this piece completed and sharing the process here.

Oh...this is a sad, neglected project.....I still love the concept, but this piece drifted from my attentions. I think I will finish it...and come back to the original idea afresh another week....

And one more......

This is another large wall piece....felted to the prefelt stage and now dyeing...supersaturated reds....It is the next exploration in the sculptural felts series.....It feels unfinished enough at the moment that I can complete the other works and then move into this one with a fresh space...I was thinking of mental space...but the studio will also be fully refreshed with all of these finished pieces on the walls....

Back to work...lots to do!  What wonderful creative whirlwind this summer is!

Warm wishes,
Fiona

Upcoming Workshops at FibresWest

Nui Shibori Scarves- Creating Texture with Felting Yarns on Silk:

Shibori is a Japanese textile art form that has come to mean cloth that has been bound or compressed. This is accomplished through  stitching, clamping, knotting or folding, then processed through  dyeing or heating to add a new "memory" to the cloth and leave it  transformed in color or surface texture.
  For this beautiful scarf project, we are using the Nui Shibori method of stitching, but rather than pulling the yarns to create patterns with dyes, we are using a feltable wool yarn for our stitches,  then shrinking them to create new textural surfaces. We'll cover traditional stich patterns to create different shaping, yarn and fabric selections for effect, plus fulling your shibori scarf to  transform it from flat to dynamic!

Materials provided for supply fee of $15.00, payable at the beginning of the class.  No experience necessary, but a readiness to sit happily, chat and handsew-a must!   Please specify your main colour preference for your scarf at the time of registration.
9:30-2:30
Maximum Registration: 12
 

Nuno Felt Wrap Vest:
 
 Constructed all in one piece and completed all in one day, this is a unique and flattering wardrobe staple for all seasons. Perfect for layering, and customized to your own sizing and colour preferences. Using silk chiffon and habotai fabrics laminated through felting with merino wool  and accented with silk fibres, we will cover aspects of colour work, design, and nuno felting, while creating this fabulous piece of  wearable art.

Materials provided for supply fee of $25.00, payable at the beginning of the class.  No experience necessary.  Silk Fabrics will be custom dyed for this class- please specify your main colour preference at the  time of registration. We will use the wool to achieve patterns and  highlights in colour. Feltmaking is a physical craft- please wear  older clothing, and be prepared for some physical exertion.

9:30am-3:30pm
Maximum Registration:  10

FibresWest runs from March 22-23, 2013.  
For more information, pricing, and to register visit: www.fibreswest.com/

I'm so looking forward to heading to Cloverdale for FibresWest again this year. It's always so much fun- with classes full of creative people, and a show floor full of delicious fibre. In additon to teaching, I have a glorious 10 x 20 foot booth space that will be full of handdyed yarns and the best felting fibres.

See some of you there!
Warm wishes,
Fiona

Inspired by Joomchi

  I recently came across two books...images on the covers that stopped my steps and set my heart beating a little faster....
Yesterday's studio inspiration came from Joomchi and Beyond by Jiyoung Chung.

 It is an enticing craft form....similar to felting, but also different.   I love finding a medium new to me, and letting the inspiration trickle into my own work....sometimes it happens...sometimes it's time is not yet ripe....

  As of yesterday I have completed most of my "required" work.....gallery restocked....fibre shows done.....retreats planned and almost full.....and now I can just be creative.....and yesterday became about starting a relationship with Joomchi....
Spaces...openings....screens and obscurities....layers and layers...what can be seen and what can not....the idea of "pockets" and what they may hold....

Openings cut, and pulled and formed at prefelt stage.....

And felted.....I love the random relationship of the spaces....

  It will became a part of this dress (that may became a short sleeved cardigan/coat).....probably dyed in shimmery underwater hues.The bodice is knitted and fulled cashmere and silk, the felting of which was a once very unhappy accident- but that was two or three years ago now, and the knitwear just presented itself again last week, ready for transformation! Now it's just exciting!....an underlayer of handdyed silk, nuno felted into ripples....

  This dress is the piece I am working on primarily this week....It still has many layers to be added to it before it will be finished...and creating every layer is pure pleasure!  Such a luxury to be able to spend the time desired fully devoted to a single project! Oh! Happy fall studio time!

  Read more about joomchi, and the work of artist Jiyoung Chung at http://jiyoungchung.com/
  Warm wishes,
Fiona

Felt Armour

  Luckily for me, I had a board meeting to go to yesterday which got me out of the house, into the great bright, white outdoors early in the morning. I needed that reminder to stop working and get outside....

 So later in the day we went down to Fulford, to the beach....visited the petroglyph, and got blown away....

  It felt like emerging from a hibernation....and having all the cobwebs swept away....

   I wore my felt tunic for the first time yesterday...like an armour against the elements, both real and imagined... it's been billowly, blustery and snowy here....lots of it..and it's quite lovely....

  ...and a good day for some felt armour!  So here I am for those that wanted to see the tunic on....Not the best picture, but it does the job....the tunic felt is great to wear, soft, snug, warm, strong, and a little wild....
  I'm going to make some bags this week based on this design...linen nuno felted, racka locks, overdyed, stitches...I can hardly wait to show these this Fall.... 
Warm wishes,
Fiona

Bold and Dramatic...

Ahhhh...First Felt of 2012 is finished....I'm so happy with the results....It feels like a just the right starting point and direction to head in for this year.

My peacock blue plans ventured into inky midnights...

 My red (to be purple) mini pocket disappeared into the depths-The purple becoming barely discernible but the pocket is still there- perfectly unobtrusive and ready to hold secret messages....Paua shell bead at the pockets edge...blue and shiny...meeting the wild, now raven black racka locks...which reach out over the nuno linen to find the partially eclipsed shibori moon on the tunic side...

 Neck details adorned with dyes and red stitches and a paua shell bead...

 Shibori moons on the back and side...in honour of the moon under which this was made....(not indigo dyed...although I did fit in my full moon indigo dyeing day this past weekend....).

The finished tunic is simple and dramatic...artistic and bold....and I'm so ready wear it this year....

Warm wishes,

Fiona

First Felt 2012

  First Felt...isn't that a glorious notion?
The other night was movie night here, and I was not that into it, so I ventured outside into the darkness and illuminated my studio....What a refreshing time. I never think to go out there in the evenings......usually by then I'm pretty tired anyway. But it was delightful. To have the radio on, my warm lights, and just me...in my space.

   I started working on a tunic design I have in mind for Fall 2012. Working on a small fashion and accessory line, combining felt, raw locks, shibori dyeing and fabric inlays...

   When working on larger projects I try and do the layout and first felting in the afternoon/evening, then leave it overnight, and finish the felting in the morning. The rest for both me and the felt seem to make the felting go so quickly! This piece took quite a bit of planning. First the math to get to template sizing right to allow for shrinkage. Fabric inlays? Or Shibori? or the crazy Racka locks? Colours in relation to overdyeing? Stitching, to be felted in, or done after, and what colour? As a first sample in this line, I was more interested in experimentation, so it got a little of everything...

 These photos show the tunic at 2/3's felted, ready for shibori, stitching and first dyeing. This is the neck detail, with black linen, racka wool locks, and wensleydale locks.

The pocket detail. I decided to put on just a small pocket...maybe a place to hold a charm, intention or wish. I'm imagining a small stone or parchment hidden inside, to be noted as necessary while wearing. This tunic is destined to be first overdyed in blue, so the red will become purple. More Racka and Wensleydale....fun...fun....

  I'll be finishing it up today, and post the finished pictures! 

It's amazing how much energy you get from working in a place of pure experiment. Or from inspiration....This is one of the pieces I scrawled out in my sketchbook on New Years Eve...bringing it to life is so exciting....more evenings in the studio....must remember that all i have to do is take a few steps outside and flip the light switch....

Warm, wishes,

Fiona

PS- I can't belive my spell check has no sheep breed names in it....is there a special spell check language that felters can use?!