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

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

Celestial Jacket 1

 This coat made it's first appearance in my sketchbook early in the year. Once I had opneed up some creative time this week, it positioned itself determinedly in the forefront of my attentions, allowing for no distraction.
 It is a felt jacket, created all in one piece, with lots of surface texture in the form of nuno craters, and stitching both at the prefelt stage and after dyeing.

The craters are still sealed in this picture. The coat has been prefelted, then dried so I could add all the stitches, that will all later be overdyed and become more subtle shadings in the coat. I had never thought before about felting on one piece and the relationship this can have with knitting and steeking. The jacket is designed to have a zipper opening, but the opening will only be cut at the very end, after dyeing.

 Opening the craters.....

And the coat...ready for dyeing. I had always thought this coat would be deep reds and ochres, but something changed during the dyeing day and it became oceanic blues and greens.....finished images tomorrow....

Preparing for a modelling shoot with this and a couple of other new pieces....fun, fun....just waiting for the rain to clear up!

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

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

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

Catching up....

 Oh My! I've been in and out of town....preparing for gallery shows, preparing for fiber trade shows, preparing for studio visitors.....a summer whirlwind of wool and colour....
  But now I'm back....and not going to any more (far away) shows until late September, so I can settle in to an island summer, regular studio hours and some felt play....
  I'm starting work on a new interior design line this weekend (very exciting!) and need to get a few staples made for the studio shop before immersing in that direction...

I stayed up late last night, working in the studio, enjoying a margarita and a movie and catching up...three new topography scarves, and a Norwegian/Icelandic bucket purse....felted above....

  .....and now fulled completely and ready for dyeing....That's the bag resist below the bag.  I felted metal rings into the body as a closure and to attach the handles. I like this finish...it's very clean and simple and I like that it is integral to the felt.  What colours shall they become?  Better warm up the dyepots and let inspiration strike....I'm feeling a strong draw to vermillion and coral orange these days....I'll post the finished results tomorrow (when I'm also having a special studio visitor-and  maybe some dyeing together!)...


Happy Summer Days!
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?!

felt experiments

I have been  working, working, working in the studio recently, and will fill you in on all the details but in an effort to get back into the swing

of things here, a few playful pictures of one of today's projects:

Using different breeds of sheeps wool in balls and layers to create this awesome surface texure. Felt upholstery? Carpets? Art? Overdyed? So many possibilities. This illuminates in a most interesting way also.  This is one of a series of trials I am working on, expanding my repetoire of surface design elements in felt.  I didn't expect the mounds to stay quite so pronounced. 

This has East Friesian wool on the inside, and Blue Faced Leicester wool on the outside. Just a small sample for now....

But I'm looking forward to more... I'm quite taken by their perfect round and fluffy forms!

I'll be right back (at least in the next day or two!)!

Warm wishes,

Fiona

Indigo Shibori at Maiwa Symposium

  I 've just returned from my mystery trip! And what an adventure it was! I had two events to attend- The Green Festival in Los Angeles with Living Crafts magazine and then an Indigo Shibori Workshop at Maiwa in Vancouver.
  I don't have any pictures from my time in LA, unfortunately. We did set up a wonderful 20 x 20 foot community craft space, and taught many people how to felt, weave and embroider, all crafts we feature regularly in Living Crafts. It was wonderful to spend more time with Pardis, the editor of the magazine, and fellow contributors, Christine Schreier, and Elizabeth Seward. And of course to share our crafts with some existing readers, and some new ones.      
  What a buzz of excitement to be travelling to teach in California.  The change was exciting....the United States is different from Canada in so many ways. The warmth, sunshine and palm trees were like a balm....

And there were some darker moments...grounding moments....I got lost in LA without a map, and without an address to put into the GPS in the car I was using. Using the "force" to find your way around LA is a very tricky business! I found myself in an a darker side of LA, driving under an underpass, full of garbage and shopping carts and people's homes...brings one down to earth. I had to get out of the car and find a payphone (I don't have a cellphone) and feel extremely out of place, and aware of the value of my life in certain neighbourhoods.  And then, several days later, I found myself walking the length of Hastings Street, in Vancouver's lower east side, arguably the roughest area in the city....and it was like nothing I've ever seen in my life...humbling, unsettling, and terrifying...and invigorating. All this while also exploring and playing with the beauty of natural fibers in both places...such a luxury...I loved the contrast....I treasure these experiences..It was truly a perfect balance in dark and light...or the shadows in between...and the epitome of the travelling experience....

Then, of course there was the fibre play! A wonderful retreat time with Akemi Nakano Cohn in indigo shibori dyeing, part of the Maiwa Symposium. The techniques she shared with us deepened my knowledge of clamp and resist dyeing, and added to my textile toolbox the classic stitch resist patterns of shibori. I learnt that I need to add more indigo when making my baths, to reach the dark deep midnights potential in indigo.  I also learnt that I know more about indigo and shibori than I thought...and this creative confidence booster came at exactlya most needed time.  I left inspired, and I believe to have a student leave full of ideas is a great credit to a teacher! 

I see using these pieces as "canvases"; foundations to be added to or changed through other textile mediums...Fractal building blocks....windows...a frame, or set of frames for future additions...

 

 One of my favourites...a canvas waiting for something....ferrous imprinted leaves? stitches? nuno felting? Mmmm....unknown at this moment...still immersed in moon/indigo relationships...

 

 Traditional Ori Nui Shibori..stitched layers...so contemplative in process.....I know I will use the clamp resist techniques more often, but this I will enjoy using for special projects....this process has such a strong meditative quality for me, less physical process than mental, and will be used as such, when desired or required..

Twice resisted and dyed...6 dips total resulting in deep indigo colour. angel/moth/butterfly wings....

 

Arashi Shibori, wrapped and tied around a pole then folded and dipped. Love this!

 A re-creation of a piece I made during my last full moon indigo dyeing session...moons are clamped CD's....I experimented with some different patterning above them...clothespins and tight binding with string, but got very different results than I expected.  Still a great base for adding more- layers of dyeing maybe?

And my line full of Shibori banners!  The blues a lovely contrast against the greens and yellows of our Fall landscape here.  Most of these pieces are done on quilting weight cotton for sewing...I'm going to cut them and share them....and then dye some more in silk and wool for feltmaking on the coming full moon this Thursday. I enjoyed the setting aside of this time for creativity with such talented fibre artists, both in Los Angeles and again in Vancouver and came away with great new plans and ideas....and the feeling of being grounded in our real world with an appreciation for this beautiful little island and the home our family is creating.

Warm wishes,

Fiona