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About My Work




 
 



 
 Can you believe this is how big a jacket starts out? 
   

Creating Felted Art to Wear


WE ARE EACH UNIQUE BEINGS, WE SHOW THAT IN A MYRIAD OF WAYS EACH AND EVERYDAY.

CLOTHING IS ONE IMPORTANT WAY WE DEMONSTRATE THAT. AS AN ARTIST I WANT TO HELP PEOPLE EXPRESS THEIR DISTINCTIVENESS THROUGH THEIR CHOICE OF CLOTHING. 

TO DO THIS, I DESIGN ONE -OF-A- KIND FELTED GARMENTS ALLOWING A PERSON TO ADORN THEMSELVES AND DEMONSTRATE THEIR INDIVIDUALITY AND CHARACTER. 



I was trained as a painter and worked in that medium for over 25 years and this experience has eased the transition into fiber.





My Design Process

The same elements and principles of design that I use as as a painter are employed in felting. My sense of playfulness, whimsy, and color use remain consistent across the media 

I am always sketching, thinking about what I want to make next.  I work out color schemes,  rhythm and balance, and what type of surface texture I want to employ. My notebook is filled with ideas that I can't wait to try. Once I  have a working sketch that I want to proceed with, I go into the studio and I develop the palette, dyeing many swatches to get the colors just right. When satisfied, I will dye the silks and fibers and make a pattern of the garment I am going to felt. This pattern or TEMPLATE needs to be 30%-50% larger than the item you are felting, because wool can shrink that much. The photo to the left is one of the templates I use for my jackets.  I will design a template for any project that needs to planned or carefully thought out.


WHAT I DO 

I hand felt using wet felting techniques.  (If you are unfamiliar with felting please refer to The Felting Process.)  What I like best in any of my projects is the dyeing of fibers , fabrics and embellishing.  

There are many techniques I employ in dyeing. I may use shibori techniques, (which is a cloth resist dyeing technique, that may include binding, stitching, folding, twisting, or clamping), multiple dye baths, or a combination of stamping, use of screens, thickened dyes, pastels, oil sticks or dye pens. A piece can really come to life by the addition of different yarns, silks, fabrics, luxury fiber, beads, or free-motion embroidery, as embellishments. Different types of fiber are another design choice. I  started felting using my own Shetland sheep's wool -- a beautiful blend of different grays and blacks. I get a great deal of satisfaction from being able to do that. I also use finer merino wools and some luxury fibers. The  silks I use vary depending on the type of result I am after.  


How It All Comes Together

Now it is time to begin the steps of making a nuno felted garment.  I will lay the silk and wool fibers onto the template. The number of layers of wool fiber you lay depends on the look and need of that particular garment. When all the fibers, silks and embellishments are laid onto the front and back of the template , it is time to wet everything and begin felting .

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS PHYSICAL

You roll up your template with all the wool and silk on it , secure it all in bubble wrap and begin to start to roll and roll. It can take an hour or more of constant rolling just to get the wool fibers to start to migrate through the silk .  When this is accomplished   the roll is unwrapped and gently rubbed all over to see if the wool is holding together. When it is you can begin working harder to get the wool fibers to shrink. You throw, knead, stretch and squish, rub, throw and throw, stretch and squish . This can go on for another couple of hours. Then the fibers are manually stretched to help them shrink  more. When satisfied with the quality and amount  of your shrinkage you may begin to shape specific parts of the garment .  Guess how this is done?  Yes, more rubbing. 

Eventually the  shaped, seamless, nuno felted garment is rinsed and pressed and laid to dry . What a workout!  I got tired just reading it.