Skip to main content

Felt Better

red felt carnelian wrap - close up 
 In May I had a wonderful opportunity to do a workshop with Sachiko Kotaka, renowned felt maker, origami and performance artist. www.sachkokotaka.com

Sachiko Kotaka workshop 
 I learnt a lot from Sachiko – her unique origami/kirigami and weaving felting techniques  as well as the virtue of patience in creating art and repeatedly practising techniques to develop competence. This last week I think the winter blues got the better of me, so I practised some of Sachiko’s techniques and “felt” a lot better. I was really happy with the wrap I made during the week – so happy,  I wore it to a function on Saturday night.
red felt carnelian wrap 
It is a nuno felted wrap, using beautiful merino wool, a scrap of sheer fabric ( I cannot remember  what it is or where it came from) and some disks of carnelian from my bead stash. I really like carnelian, not only for its colour but also for its properties which some sources claim are close to magical.
A stabilising stone, Carnelian restores vitality and motivation, and stimulates creativity.  It gives courage, promotes positive life choices, dispels apathy and motivates for success…It helps in trusting yourself and your perceptions.  It overcomes negative conditioning and encourages steadfastness.  Carnelian improves analytic abilities and clarifies perception.  It sharpens concentration and dispels mental lethargy…

One of the other works in progress from the workshop is a funky little bag. One of the pieces I made in the workshop included very bright almost fluoro green dyed wool, so I soaked it in tea to soften it and although I can’t say I ‘love’ it, it has become acceptable and I am making it into a little bag and am currently stitching into the surface.
workshop felt 
work in progress - bag - close up  
work in progress - bag
I do enjoy working with wool in winter and have been creating some smaller projects in the last month. I am not sure if it has been documented anywhere that the process of felting is restorative, but it certainly  makes me feel better. 
felt and clay brooches
felted bowls 2013

felt redhead - wool, silk, clay, beads 
Labels:

Comments

  1. CraftyleeJuly 11, 2013 at 6:01 PM

    I absolutely love your felting projects Wilma, look forward to seeing you at the Canberra retreat.
    cheers
    Lee

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Bilby Infatuation

  Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016  Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...
1 comment
Read more

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

 Background Information:  Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start  with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound  silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap.  2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...
8 comments
Read more

Non-Committal Collage Anything Goes

Have you heard of non-committal collage?   I hadn't until one of the other participants of the 100 Day Project started doing this each day and showing the results....  Here are  Peggy's  rules :  1. S elect 9 scraps of paper from  collage  box/stash  2. Make three  different compositions using each scrap at least once.  (some pieces can be used more than once)  3. Do not alter the scraps of paper in any way.  4.Do not use glue.  5.Take photo, disassemble and return scraps to box.   I thought this would be a fun and quick exercise to do for Tag Tuesday's theme , Anything Goes... so here are my "non-committal collage" tags....  Did you spot the nine pieces? Would  you like to suggest some titles?   And I repeated the exercise before putting back the 9 scraps of paper, so these are different items.  Hope you will try this exercise -  it is lots of...
1 comment
Read more