Oh dear, I’ve neglected this blog over recent months; it has been a busy summer for me personally with only short windows of creative time, but as Autumn settles in there seems to be a little more breathing space so I’m picking up from my last post with a quick catch up.
Fiona Duthie’s Creative Sparks Challenge
My last post mentioned a ‘Creative Sparks’ challenge I was going to attempt which was via Fiona Duthie and the International Feltmakers Association. It basically involved a bit of colour theory and layering during felting to end up with 16 evenly sized felted squares which were all harmonious and could be presented all together in a grid form.
This was fun to do with much learnt and this is my end result:
Again I revisited basic felt making skills, particularly in relation to shrinkage rates and shaping, so it was a really worthwhile exercise to do. It’s always a good thing to occasionally go ‘back to basics’ - I’ve certainly been reminded of a thing or two!
Finished Pieces over the Summer
I consider myself very fortunate to have some of my work for sale in a local gallery. I’ve managed to just about keep enough pictures turning over to supply the gallery, and although I share what I make on social media here’s a round up of a few:
The ‘flowers in vases’ are always fun to do as they allow me the opportunity to go a little more abstracted in the backgrounds and a bit of experimenting can take place without worry of it not being realistic. The landscapes still make me feel a little ‘tight’ when working, as I nearly always start off with the thought of semi-abstracting the scene but then get caught up in trying to realistically capture an element of it. I am still working at trying to convey the ‘sense of a place’ rather than a realistic representation and sometimes I nearly have it…only to then go too far and get into too much detail!
Anyone else relate?!
Online Bag Making Course (Fiona Duthie)
So I signed up for another of Fiona’s online courses, this time on bag making. I haven’t fully immersed myself in the course content yet, but the good thing is is that I can revisit it at my own leisure which certainly works for me at present!
After a quick whizz through the content, I have had a go at making myself a bag…I did keep it very simple, just to concentrate on the felting rather than the design element, but I’m quite happy with the result. I’ve made a couple of bags before, but following the lead of Fiona I can now understand how to tackle the different layouts and resists required for different shaped bags…there is so much to learn! I will be coming back to this course for sure!
I made this to match a pair of burgundy shoes I had to wear to my son’s recent wedding, and it’s the perfect small bucket bag size to fit a phone, a packet of tissues and a lipstick in! As for how I now have a child old enough to get married…how did that happen?? I have to remind myself that I’ll be 50 in the New Year…still only around 25 in my head 🤪! We celebrated 25 years of marriage this year too…goodness, all these milestones…lots to be grateful for.
All caught up…
Right, well I think that’s us pretty much caught up to date from the last blog post…apologies if a lot of this is old news! If you’d like any new posts sent to you via email, then pop your email address in the subscription box at the top.
You can find me on Facebook and Instagram if you have an interest in felting and textiles, and it’s always lovely to have contact with people so feel free to leave a comment or a question.
So until next time, sending you best wishes
Xx Tanya xx
