On Being a Student....

 To close off my teaching season, I decided to give myself a creative gift, and become a student for a weekend. It was such a refreshing and informative time.  Even outside of learning new skills under the extremely talented ceramicist, Julie MacKinnon. 

 The workshop was held on the my first weekend back after teaching at the Okanagan School of the Arts, and many weeks of both online teaching and on location workshops around the province.  On the first morning of the workshop I was acutely aware of how I was thinking about that day, in contrast to the first day of a workshop when teaching.

 

 I have no experience with ceramics.  Although I had some projects ideas in mind,  I had no expectation for my own output during the class. I did not expect to make anything close to the quality of Julie's work, whose hands have put in their hours to develop an intimate knowledge of the material. I didn't expect any notes. I expected that any information I needed to retain I would be responsible for noting myself, in images, sketches or words. I loved that I just had to show up with enthusiasm; that all the materials and tools needed were supplied.  I started the morning just looking forward to having a great creative time, with a group of other women, guided through the processes by Julie's knowledge, experience and good humour.

 

 I was really excited when I saw that Julie was offering this workshop. In one of those exuberant sparks of inspiration I saw how ceramics could provide the perfect base for a line of felt table lamps I have in process. The white felt lighting has a sense of ceramics when unlit...the surface design potential is very similar. I see simple clear glazed white ceramic bases, in perfect relationship with a the matte white felt work.  Julie is wonderful in allowing her students room to experiment and design. The lamp base above will have red linen stitching through the holes in the sides...we can't escape our own material languages! 

 

 This base is designed to have felted spikes coming through the openings, that have a relationship in balance with spikes on the felt shade. It really is so exciting. 

 I found as a student, with much teaching experience and a lifelong craft practise, I really wanted to understand the materiality of the clay. My hands understand every aspect of the wool fibres as they change as I work. It is intuitive and immediate, and requires no thinking....This is where the 10 000 hours of working as a craftperson brings your understanding of a material. But my hands don't understand clay, like Julie's do. I wanted to know what my fingers should be feeling, and how this would change how I would work with the clay.  The tactile experience and understanding was more important to me than the end product.  Julie was wonderful in answering my questions and explaining the different "hands" when working with clay.

 

 I became aware that there are two definite approaches to workshops. Really the difference between master/process based classes and interest classes. It benefits everyone to clearly differentiate between these when people sign up for a workshop.  Ceramics will (probably...almost certainly) never be my main material to work with, so my mindset in attending the class was entirely interest based. A little side trip into a new world...I know many people that come to my classes work in felt, and fully expect to take every nuance of what we do home, to integrate into their own work.  This sets a very different tone for both student and teacher.  Both are good and wonderful...but quite different in expectations and delivery.

 I loved having the opportunity to work on the other side of the table, to work with a material that felt familiar and yet very foreign, to talk with all the interesting and creative participants, and learn from such an exceptional teacher.....so much so I'm going back for more in June...The last chance I'll have to play outside my medium before intensive studio time kicks in for the summer. I can't wait, and my sketchbook is filling up with projects that combine felt and clay.  

  If Julie and I could work out the logistics around the firing and glazing of the ceramics, we could create a great collaborative workshop!

You can see more of Julie's work here:
Julie MacKinnon Ceramics
Warm wishes, 
Fiona

Hegira: A SHIFT dress

 
Hegira

He·gi·ra

hiˈjīrə,ˈhejərə/ : any flight or journey to a more desirable or congenial place. 

Usually an exodus or migration.  C16: from Medieval Latin, from Arabic hijrah: emigration or flight

This is the sisterdress to Migration.  I wanted to take the wishbone sculptural elements and use them in larger, more transparent forms.  An individual path compared to that of the many in Migration.

  Hegira was a watery dress from the very beginning. The large sheer panel in the middle of the dress, both front and back, illustrates a journey, broken at times, and coming from or starting with a fork or confluence...Rivers with portages, canals with locks, seas with storms...this was created with layers of silk gauze, with resists to prevent the one superfine merino wool layer from obscuring the path.  This dress is lighter than light.

 

  Different materials mirror the motif; resists, 3-D sculptural elements and silk organza.  The journey can look different but we can arrive in the same place....some are more obvious than others...The forms are like tracks...not continuous...they would take great observation and patience to find and follow.

  This dress was dyed on a full moon dyeing day this summer, which makes it feel just right to tell it's story on another full moon indigo dyeing day today. It is always a wonder-filled to experience to pull the textiles from the indigo vats...

  Hegira had many dips into the indigo vat....developing an intense deep blue...
I added pathways of stitches...but I think there are still more to come ....

  This dress looked wonderful exhibited as a scuplture, but it's story feels even more complete when shown worn on our beautiful island....reflecting the journey by water we all take to get here...

  How can I resist adding more pictures...so beautiful....shades of indigo captured by Amy Melious...(and the model's name is Indigo also)...created and engaged with water...and the moon and some ocean stars....

  Hegira....the lightest definition of this word sums up this process...a journey to a more congenial place....
Warm wishes, 
Fiona

felt::feutre artwork

  As many of you will know, felt::feutre has been my big undertaking for this year....It is a fabulous and awesome project....and mammoth!  I work on the felt::feutre project at least 2-3 hours a day most days...there are so many components...and all of these components are what will come together in the last week of September to create a fantastic event....

For my part, the lists are getting more detailed, so that I can have every little thing attended to when the time comes so I can relax into teaching my classes and spending the evenings with the other feltmakers.  The exhibition is all set, today I'm meeting with someone who will be able to help organize the FELT fashion show, the community sculpture invitation is out, and I just need to get the approval of the local Arts Council to approve the site for the installation. Check.Check. Check.

 

And all of this work, in service, is amping up my personal creative world too....while all the organizational work is keeping me from my felting table more than I would like, I do have some amazing projects in the works that should be making their way to the felting table this week...so very exciting! 

I have not been writing much about felt::feutre here- and I only just realized this, this week. I think it is because I write about it so much in other places- emails, the website, facebook....It sometimes feels like I am always writing about it...but not here, and you may be interested too!

I've got a big morning today- a large order to ship, an exhibition proposal to finish and send in, and then my FELTfashion show meeting at lunch....

More felt tomorrow- I have a new feltwork outside to show you!

Warm wishes,

Fiona

Red Textures

 I am having a delicious stretch into new work....making pieces for the felt::feutre exhibition....It is so delightful to work out ideas without too much time pressure; just exploring pure creativity.

This is a technique that I teach in my Surface Design class....using slow felting wools to create nodules....and in this case, worked on a foam resist to make the finished piece take on a three dimensional form......

  I'm quite enjoying having these displayed in the studio, just as they are...I love their redness...it's powerful, and especially in combination with the charred wood piece underneath. The wood is part of a collaboration I am working on with my eldest son, Finn McGuffin....an interior design line in charred wood and felt...more to come on that....

  These red pieces are part of a sculptural piece that is another exploration of Joomchi felt.  They will be turned inside out and become the inner layers of a snowy white multipocketed piece...reflecting on what we show on the outside and all the layers that exist behind that social facade....the life experiences that inform our every movement and word, in multiple ways, but that those we interact with cannot always fully know....

Finishing up the white outer shell today...will show you some pics when complete!

This week is bringing on so many creative ideas...it's been a big week for communication, imagination and manifestation....a "yes" kind of week. 
I've got to go out and get another sketch book....most of the new ideas are for collections of pieces, and I just can't start on those until....until.....maybe December? The calender is very full....so I'll just  fill up the notebooks, and let those collections come to realization when the time is right!

Warm wishes,
Fiona

Bark Cowl

On every walk, I fall behind the rest of my family, camera in hand taking pictures of grasses, barks, water, frost, colours....whatever catches my eye... The images live in my hard drives...my computer and my mind, until they are ready to come to life in a new form.

 This cowl, and surfacing pattern is derived from just such a walk...I've been holding this one up front in my imagination for a while...These barks are from a beautiful walk we took down in Burgoyne Bay early in December...what amazing surfaces....I love the random patterning....

 And the maker of these inspirational surfaces...caught! 

 

I hadn't looked at my bark images before making this cowl...and now on reviewing them I'm looking forward to working more with this pattern...more opening, more shadowings, more depth and dimension...and a new collection for this Fall....

This piece was made seamless with resists in white, with some black to create shadowing...then dyed after felting...Such a pleasure to be making! And then a fun photo shoot with my beautiful and talented friend Rachel in downtown Ganges! I love the way the cowl can be worn in many ways to show different expresssions of colour. Designed to be worn over a sweater or coat, with the option of pulling up over the ears as a hood when the weather requires...

I have an unexpected afternoon free, and I'm heading for the studio to work with this surface pattern some more....
Warm wishes,
Fiona

A November Dye Walk

Foxglove Farm was the location of the Salt Spring Fall Felting retreat; one with a an abundance of wonderful plant materials to chose from for the eco-dyeing segment of the dyeing day of the retreat. 
The participants made some absolutely gorgeous eco-prints on silk. I didn't have a chance to make one during the retreat time, so on a perfectly sunny crisp Fall day this week, I returned to farm to make my own bundle for my November print.

 

The artichokes are just at the end of their life cycle. They were a new plant to try in eco-dyeing for me, and the participants got some very clear, yellow/green results from the leaves, even when opened after only 2 days.  I collected some extra to bring to Nelson with me for the dyeing day there.

 
How dramatic is that?! All the more so because it is not all new and fresh and shiny....perfectly imperfect...attractively aged by the elements, by choosing to arrive late in the season....What gorgeous surfaces...so easy to imagine translating into felt....

 And some oh-so-beautiful cotinus (purple smoke bush).....in fiery fall colours.....When I have dyed with this before I got amazing blue prints...the participants at the retreat saw some stunning bright pinks....different soil? different time of year? Perhaps the ph, as in my past experiments with this, I was not using vinegar as a dip, as we did at the retreat. An acid should bring out the more pink/red tones in a plant dye, while a more basic bath will enhance the blue tones....Ah...the wonders of plant dyeing!

And this little lovely, Chickweed (Stellaria Media) is a dear friend to me- one I love to have growing in between intentionals in my garden, and delightfully found growing in abundance up at the farm. Not for dyeing...but just for munching on as I walk through the garden....I immediately feel all the more healthful just for doing so....

Back in the studio, laying out the plants on a length of organic cotton, previously printed.....

 This piece has many layers already...over many months...an exploration.....This section started with dahlia flowers and a little iron, then rerolled and dipped in an indigo bath...now being printed again with purple smoke bush (cotinus), as well as walnuts, artichoke leaves, rose and maple leaves, some dipped in an iron solution....

And, at the same time, a length of silk habotai, with all the plants above plus some poplar leaves...there is something so sensual about the plants materials, veiled in wet silk.....love observing this....

My November dye walk bundles, ready for steaming....wrapped around pear tree windfalls also from the farm....It always feels so good, just to take some time to enjoy the sunlight, go to a beautiful place, and be with the plants! To bring the lightness and pure pleasure of this activity into being....

Thanks to Foxglove Farm, for allowing me to wander!
Warm wishes,
Fiona

Joomchi Felt Reflections

This is my most recent in the series of scarves/wearables I've been making, inspired by the Korean art of Joomchi- a paper art form and process.  The exploration has culminated in pieces that hold three aspects of surface

design...all of which have a basis in geology.... a relationship between rock and water....Erosion and the forms it leaves behind....and leads into thoughts of the land and how it shapes us....

 In the midst of this felting exploration, we spent an afternoon on a local beach at low tide...and these beautiful rock formations were exposed. I'd never seen them at this location before....and what an amazing mirror they are to the joomchi/felting process...plus the symbolism inherent in the eroding of rock....

 

And in the same place...the simple layering of shales....

 Worn edges in the stone....layers....and like a topographic map of our well earned experiences.....and in felt, still reflecting the ideas of pockets...long sinuous veins of space....

And then the conglomerates...composites of materials bound together by pressure and time....how perfect! In another beautiful island spot, there are amazing examples of conglomerate rocks...when I get back from the retreats, I'm going to take some pictures....and explore these ideas some more....

So very much enjoying this thought/felt play.....a perfect lead in to the upcoming retreat sessions!

Warm wishes,
Fiona

Sea Constellations

  The last two weeks have been the most delicious, intense, creative times...My cousins/kindred spirits have been visiting from New Zealand. Family that I have only met a handful of times, often with a decade in between visits, but who travel with me always and close by!  While Erica was creating at the Global Mural Conference in Chemainus, I had the delight of spending more time with my young cousin, Isla, visiting our favourite island spots, and making some felt for her to bring back to loved ones at home.

 

Felting together.....Isla is working on her bag....Finnish wool, felted on a resist; a starfish souvenir of our sharing of this special place and time....

  

Isla with her finished Starfish Bag. Plus some of our other makings/inspirations in the background. The studio/classroom was transformed this week...the display units came off the walls to open up mural spaces....the big table and surrounding floor was full of felting and the small tables were in full use for painting/drawing/writing and the making of shimmery mermaids....

  A bag for Tarn in NZ with one of Isla's Starfish felt charms. Felted in white Finnish, then immersion dyed.....The charm ring is felted directly into the bag, as are the handle rings....I love the colours and potential for adding changeable tokens by using the rings....

  Happy, happy felting....and chatting, and laughing and tears.....big ideas imagined, and resolve well planted.....A stillpoint of a visit in which we grounded ourselves, gathered our momentums and energies and now propel forward....with hopes of connecting our spaces across oceans before too long....

Warm wishes,
Fiona

Joomchi Felting 2

  Felting with resists to create interesting surfaces....an exploration in materials...I'm enjoying tossing around in my head the language of another craft, Joomchi,  while exploring this feltwork...the making of pockets....

 Using different materials to create bubble and pockets....tyvek, high thread count quilting cottons, woven interfacing, non woven interfacings, cotton battings.....I stretched a layer of silk habotai over the wool and resists.....

  Fully felted ....the resists are all light and flexible, and the piece is very wearable....and very beautiful when held up the the light. The cotton batting resists did get caught in the nuno felting process and compressed a little, but less than then surrounding felted surfaces....all still very oceanic somehow....

 In relationship with the last surface of openings....a different kind of pocket......I love the patterning of the two together....seperate in sections and overlaid....

  These will become part of the dress (coat)......that plan has been revised a bit, and I'm going to be making a new bodice section this week....I will tell you all about it.....but for today....heading out to the studio right now to make the Joomchi scarf.....a combination of these textures combined in one piece....
Happy creative fall energies flowing.....I hope yours are too!

Warm wishes,
Fiona