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

30 Minute Felt Project: Brachyura

These 30 minute felt projects are an opportunity to come to the creative table with no expectations- just a short intensive, mind-wide-open exploration...It can be easy as a craftsperson to get stuck in a productions mindset, and this is an exercise to give ourselves permission to play within our medium. This is not about creating felt quickly;  it is about setting aside an amount of time that feels reasonable in our busy days to create freely.

  In my studio I have a whole collection of bones and shells, hairs, and glass....beach and forest collections of natural forms....Today's 30 minute felt project is inspired by one of these....a simple crab shell picked up on a beach walk one afternoon....

I've been working on a lot of white, very large pieces recently, and colour called for this little project. Funny how we need creative breaks even within our creative days....I felt that I really needed a 30 minute felt project today as a treat from making big, new, (exciting) other felt projects...I used some C1-Pelsul from New England Felting Supply. Absolutely a dream fibre; an all time favourite...so gorgeous to work with....

I cut a simple crab inspired resist from laminate flooring underlay foam, laid out an underlayer of the wool, and wetted out.

 Some natural black Finn wool for shadowing on the tips...

I rolled the wool into cords over the interior resist for the tips and then rolled on the bubble wrap surface to round the tips out to the points. 

And then I hit the question mark point as I often have in these 30 minute felts....I wanted to have a lime green shell interior, with a silk layer and silk resist pockets...but in my quick initial layout I wasn't certain about the placement so rather than spend time thinking about it, I decided to move on and add it later, at the prefelt stage....

Once at the prefelt stage however, this delay in design placement seemed very complicated...as things often get when I put things off! I carefully lifted my overlayers and resist and laid out the green wools, resists, and then the silks.  It would have been much easier to do at the beginning...and usually with a project- thought out and sketched and with no very short timelines, that is how it would have happened...but this 30 minute felt challenge is not about getting everything right...just doing something creative....it's all fine!

I completed the design for the outside, and started rolling....first gently over the top with a pipe....

...then rolling it up within the bubble wrap....

 Continuing with this rolling, rubbing and tossing on the table....along with working on the tips, until my 30 minutes ran out....

 In my usual work process I would continue to felt this for another 15-20 minutes....to stay in keeping with the 30 minute felt concept, I did stop, but did get that extra fulling time in during the rinsing process! A little cheat maybe, butI've never great at following rules...even when they are my own!

I steamed the finished felt, shaved some parts, clamped pleats into the surface to add shaping and rolled and pulled the felt into it's final form and left to dry.

And...taa daa.... the finished felt....

Quite different form the original crab shell..but that's just how inspiration goes...and I like that the shell still has so much to offer in ideas for future projects...

It takes me about 3 times longer to write about making this than it took to make it! How funny! But there is pleasure certainly in this process also and sharing these ideas!

Back out to the studio for me, and back to the great white silent project on my felting table....plus the creation of the Joomchi Felt workbook.....

Warm wishes,
Fiona

Family Visits....

 We have just had some precious visitors that we just do not see often enough. My sister in law and my lovely nieces and nephew came to stay for a few days....on their way to a wedding in Vancouver...Mostly we visited the beaches, and ate blackberries and bounced on the trampoline....and chatted endlessly...all good summerly things....and of course we had some creative time together....

Terri Bibby of Saori Salt Spring had organized a workshop on Bengala Dyes- a form of earth pigment dyes created in Japan. This, of course, was irresistible! My two nieces and I attended and had so much fun....The colour potential in these dyes are incredible.  They seem to produce more intense colour on cellulose fibres like cotton and hemp and linen. We dyed several lengths of a delicious hemp/organic cotton blend jersey that I have in the studio, planning on going home and sewing up some simple T-shirts with the fabric. We also dyed a selection of silks using itajame shibori techniques....My nieces are bringing these home to flutter in their forest home....

 The dye baths are created with cold water, and the pigments need to be kneaded into the cloth. As a long time plant dyer, I was interested in the process. I've dyed with earth pigments a few times in different parts of the world and understood the naturals tannins and oxides of the soil to act as the "mordant".  It is one point I have with the Bengala dye literature that it does not use mordants in the process- it feels like an unnecessary differentiation. Really, as with many plant dyes and natural pigments, the "mordants" are inherently part of the chemical makeup of the pigments, allowing it to act as a substantive dye. These dyes are very fun and easy to use...with beautiful results.

After the wonderful workshop we came home, stopping at a few of Salt Spring's roadside farm stalls to collect of bounty of freshness for our lunch. We played around with the fabrics in the studio and with some simple cutting and stitching created a dress, a skirt and a T-shirt....We were all amazed at the stunning range of colours the earth and these pigments provide.  A great day....and an interesting new dye process....

 Although my nephew did not come with us on our dyeing adventure, I can't miss including him here....

They are all so dear...and such sweet company....
Happy travels, happy dyeing and happy summer days...
Fiona

New Work Outside-Pollination

 This week the time was right to make a new outside feltwork for my display area down by the road.
  I wanted to play with shadows, layers of felt, and lace cutwork.  I imagined the types of flowers created in kirigami, while not trying to replicate that style...more beginning with that in mind and then allowing the openwork to develop....I'm quite fixated on traditional Chinese chrysanthemum designs right now.....those are working their way out into this felt openwork.

It is quite a different thing to work on a piece that you know will be living outdoors- it needs to be able to withstand the climate, and will only viewed from a distance. The felt needs to be dense and strong, but light enough in this case to allow light to permeate.  I would have been inclined to add more stitching and detail to the surfaces. Silk pieces were calling...but this piece is more about the impact made in the quick viewing as one drives or bikes by...less about the subtleties of surfaces...so a few rows of red stitches made it into the piece, but simplicity was the main domain here. An opening, flowering, dropping of seed....dispersal....Summer.....

 Every morning the light shines through creating beautiful, shifting shadow patterns.  It is quite lovely and uplifting. Delicate and feminine- a fine thing to balance this house of males I live in - and they can live with it more than the giant flowers I once wanted to paint over the house! (the boys/men have to live with a lot of wild ideas! I think it's good for them! Grin!)

  This piece has been a good prototype for a series I am working on for an outdoor installation this fall....One that will have multiple layers of shadowing effects....Very exciting!  Just waiting for my next batch of Finn wool to arrive so I can start on those pieces....

  In the meantime, a glorious box of silk charmeuse was delivered yesterday....oh, how sumptuous...and will soon become silk/felt gowns and coats....this week's work!

Happy weekending!
Warm wishes,
Fiona

From Vessel to Light

As I was working on yesterdays 30 Minute Felt Project, I kept thinking about about felt lighting and how interesting this piece might be turned into a lampshade.

I love felt in lighting. There is nothing so soft, warm and inviting as the way light travels through the wool fibres.  I have made many pieces , small and large, contemporary and whimsical, and once showed my felt lighting range at the Interior Design Show in Toronto. I have a whole new series designed...just need to time to make them...

This piece is more in keeping with the playful and experimental....I may hang it up in our living room for a little refreshing change of inside scenery.....

Lovely and light!

Warm wishes,
Fiona

30 Minute Felt Project- Stacked Vessels

These 30 minute felt projects are an opportunity to come to the creative table with no expectations- just a short intensive, mind-wide-open exploration...It can be easy as a craftsperson to get stuck in productions ruts, and this is an exercise to give ourselves permission to play within our medium. This is not about creating felt quickly;  it is about setting aside an amount of time that feels reasonable in our busy days to create freely.

This mornings inspiration came from a stack of handmade ceramic bowls that my sons made in a brilliant class with super talented Julie MacKinnon. They are so beautiful in their form. 

I knew this was going to be a bit of a challenge, but also an exciting pursuit!

I started off with my two wools- Norwegian and Finn, some pencil rovings, two round foam resists and my hot water/felting solution ready to go.

I started with the smaller resist and laid out the wool to cover both sides.

Hand-dyed silver pencil rovings wrapped around the form. I am using these almost everyday in the studio right now. I am so drawn to very simple white and grey shadings.  I was not entirely certain on how they would be positioned once I attached the two forms together and later shaped them, but that's part of this exercise- it doesn't matter too much how the end result will look...so I let go of that wondering and moved on...

 Covering the second resist with two layers of wool rovings.

And now I hit an A-ha kind of moment. If I laid my smaller vessel on top of the other, they would be joined to form a shape like an insect body or two bubbles attached together....not the intention...( although a fun one for another day!)...
What is the inside-out-backward way of thinking with resists to get them to create the form I wanted them too?  Ah yes.....A little cutting was necessary, but first I felted the vessels to the prefelt stage.

To create the correct form for this experiment, I needed to nest the one resist within the other, with only a small area of wool in direct contact.  I cut away an opening of wool, and also the underlying resist.

 ...then laid the second vessel form on top, wool now in contact, with some bubble wrap around the edges to keep them from joining completely.

Lots of rolling and rubbing and kneading....

I decided to make some openings in the larger form, so that the inner felt form would be revealed.

Time to get the resists out, and felt fast....

 Time is up and the double form is revealed.  Very fun....It's interesting like this. Reminds me of those dolls that can have their skirts turned to reveal a second figure. The two vessels are now felted together, one inside the other, in a seamless whole.

Rinsed, shaped, stuffed and drying.

Quite a fun experiment! In the next 30 minute felt project,  I think I'll scale back my scope...as these last two "small" projects have been a challenge to finish, and something a little less complex would make the whole exercise even more light and interesting! Definitely successful in achieving the goal though- I'd love to make another dozen of these, giving them more time to create more complex forms, layout the wool fibres more evenly, and full the felt more thoroughly. Most often when working off an image or object for inspiration, I don't want to have that around me when creating, so that it has inspired the piece but only as a notion. In this case I actually wish I'd kept the bowls in front of me, as I wanted to achieve those very simple, shallow forms and smooth surfaces. I got a little carried away! Next time..

Sharing these projects here has got me thinking about how great it would be to be able to share them in a video format...and that leads on to another topic for another day!
Happy fibre play!
Warm wishes,
Fiona

30 Minute Felt Project- The Mountain Vessel

Over the last few weeks I've been playing a new studio game.....15 minute felt projects.  Just once a week, as an opportunity to approach design work with a blank mental slate, no commitments to outcome and sense of fun experimentation.  This is actually the third of these projects.....the mountain vessel....

  It's so easy to head out the studio with the timer set at 15 minutes and just see what happens. It's allows a simple opening for some spontaneous creating.  This morning I had mountains in mind....and shadows....and laid out a circle of two layers of Norwegian wool.  Problem number 1 in meeting  the 15 minute felt deadline (Norwegian wool is not a quick felter!)! Problem number 2 was that I made my surface too large to complete in such a short time.....

Then I used some strips of resist material I had handy and started to alternate layers of resist, with triangles of merino prefelt. These were not pre-cut- just quickly cut randomly and added to the surface.

Wetted out and ready to felt...This is the point that I started to realize my folly in wool selection and size......

 I did get the piece designed, laid out, wetted out, rolled and hand rubbed....and then my timer went off! Okay...So a little ambitious...but it is an expansion activity not a limiting one,  so I gave myself another 15 minutes to finish up....since the purpose is to have a freeform felting session, but also to not let it take over the whole morning/day/week!

At 30 minutes I rinsed well and shaped the mountain spines....

 Then shaped into a vessel form using a steam iron.....and dried in the morning sun on a pedestal in my studio window....all morning it made me happy to look over at the finished form...

A great creative practise and one I plan to continue over the summer.....but with the expanded, but still limited timeframe of the 30 minute felt project!

Warm wishes,
Fiona