Tissington

Here are just a few pics of my weekend in 'well dressing' country. Well dressing events are unique to Derbyshire.

Stanshope Hall and surrounding countryside.

....and the black cat who lives at the hall. ; who seems to manage just fine on 3 legs...ah bless.

 The craft fair was held in the village hall at Tissington. Too far away for me to travel home each day; so my friend Shirls and I made the most of a girlie weekend away. Very nice to. 

Craft Fair and Exhibition days

Two busy weekends. The first at Atherstone fun day and the second at Elmesthorpe Art and Craft Exhibition.

This event was enjoyed by everyone; crafters and revellers. The sun shone, bands played, dogs showed, and I do believe the local pubs did a roaring trade !
St. Mary's Church was filled with a large selection of crafts, including brass rubbing and local spinners.



The second one was held at Elmesthorpe Village Hall and St. Mary's Church. (where history tells us that King Richard's men stayed over night before the Battle of Bosworth)

 


  Within the church there was this wonderful display of beautiful quilts

And Lyn's tatting ...

Sadly, my phone / camera battery went flat before I had managed to take pics of the display in the village hall (next door to the church)., or my own needle felted sculptures on display.; but never mind; and I did sell a couple of pieces.

Sheep shearing down on the farm

Well, I don't really know what happened to the merry month of May ! whoosh and it had gone.

Thought you may like to see a few photos that were taken on the farm in Desford on sheep shearing day.  
   

 

And some of the other animals .....

Lastly I espied a real live Pinto !

Thank you all (you know who you are) xx,  for a truly enjoyable and interesting day.

Pinto

This, my latest needle felted sculpture has taken about twenty four hours over three days to complete.
'Pinto'  is made from the Hebredean and Texel fleeces.; and is ready now to gallop off to the gallery !

                                            

                      

                 The 'Our White Room' gallery, showing work by other artists

                  And last, but not least, a piece of work belonging to Jane.

From fleece to fibre and fabric and more...

I know that it's been weeks since I blogged anything, but hey...I've been busy.!

One of my daughters and her family are due to emigrate to Australia very soon now...so we all had one 'ell of an emigration party. Add a family 21st ; another party.
Exhibitions to visit, and friends to support in their ventures.
The craft show season looms, new fleeces and fibres to play with, the garden has suddenly burst forth; and yes indeedy doody, a busy time.

Inspired by the spring flowers, these are a combination of  BFL , Border and Cheviot .  Wet felt and needle felt.

Wet felting the flowers gave me a chance to experiment with how different fibres lock down. The handbag turned out really well.
I was invited along to a local 'spinners group', which developed into a very enjoyable morning. Apart from meeting other like minded folk; who spin, knit, weave etc,; there was also some 'Texel' fleece to share. Well...'nuff said !  The white daisy shape is made from this fibre.

...Rushed home to wash it..........Spooky !    Texel over Hebredean. 
Thank you to Maureen and girls.

My thanks also to Jane at the 'Our White Room', who has given me the opportunity to display my needle felted sculptures in her art gallery.
  

Friends and fleeces

My newly found passion for felting  has developed further since last post.

 Border Leicester / Cheviot blend


A friend who prepares and spins yarns ,. came for a coffee and brought these ( locally produced) fleeces with her.  
 
She also needed a good home for this Hebridean fleece..... 

Hebridean (in it's raw state)

Although I appreciate it may not be everyone's cup of tea to don rubber gloves and get stuck in to cleaning and preparing a mucky fleece, but it gave me the chance and experience of getting the feel of my raw materials.     After several gentle washes and rinses, followed by carding (using two grooming brushes/currycombs) ! It looked and felt ( no pun intended ! ) lovely. Quite coarse, but soft and springy. Visually, it resembled wire wool,  however this was very deceptive. This photo was taken after it had been layered and wet felted with some Border Leicester / cheviot blend. It didn't felt down well, however the different textures were interesting.

To have left it at this stage, I wondered how it would fare in the using; so took the plunge and machine washed the piece. The result was quite acceptable. Still retaining a degree of various textures.  

I also tried some needle felting with it.  The result here was: soft and spongy. Very tactile but would need a solid core for sculptural work.
Note to jewellery makers...( Tammy girl)...it makes a wonderful natural buffer !

 

Springtime

                                                      Ostara / Easter greetings everyone

Although I haven't posted any blogs for awhile; I've not been idle !
.....spurned by the brief spell of spring sunshine; I decided that it was time to do some spring cleaning  (on all three levels of being) mental, physical and spiritual.
Having got into the necessary mind-set, I set to work on my creative space; (you didn't really think I meant house-work, did you ?) !!.  Oh my gosh no, him indoors does that ! bless.
As any of us 'multi-media' artistic / creative folk appreciate...we collect a lot of 'stuff ' !
I consider myself very fortunate in having a fair sized utility room, where most of the work goes on. However, the garage is store for clay / glazes/ plaster molds etc., alongside plastic and glass containers of every size and shape imaginable. Saved for...just in case. Packaging material, pieces of driftwood, and oh, the list goes on !
The spare room is now home to all 'stuff' relating to art work / felting; and what was once my therapy / massage couch,  now serves as a flat working surface. Re-cycle / re-use !

Having had a good spring clean and tidy up...and retrieving the box labeled 'printing inks' , I did try out my lino cut, that my friend Tammy made for me. This image is one that I like best of all.
I must have twisted the lino cut slightly, and hence some interesting extra detail. ( no reflection on Tammy's craftsmanship, because I printed some absolutely perfect images.) Bit quirky. I like it.

Mad Hatter !....Day 1...well this photo was a 'work in progress'. The idea is to get it to this stage and then cut it into a spiral,. and reassemble it with whirls and swirls.  Ouch !  Feeling brave and sizzors in hand....I ended up with a strip of felt that resembled a spiraling mobile. Double ouch, ' cos I quite liked it as it was.

At this stage I forgot to take a photo, and lunch and tea !
No matter how I tried twisting, rolling, soft folding, pinning etc. etc.....It just wouldn't do what it showed on the picture.
Time to eat. Have a cuppa. Sleep on it !

 
  Day 2 ...Having stitched and needle felted the crown back together and cutting a flower shape (from what now was surplus to requirements) this was the final result.

And a note to end this post... Not having a  hat block at my disposal;,  it was back to the stash of plastic bowls, where I found just what I needed.
There is another hat in progress using some newly aquired Blue Faced Leicester carded with silk. Yummy. More on that next time. 

Animal Inspirations and sculpture

I finally got around to testing the grey alpaca fleece. It needle felted well. The texture being similar to that of the brown.

The main challenge with this, was to get him to stand !  His tail helps; although it can't be seen on the photo. 

I then got to thinking about it being March, and one of my favourite animal species...the magical Hare.  

These two have been needle felted using the brown alpaca fleece.
Talk about 'non - verbal communication' !  I think the eyes say it all !

The Art of Survival

Firstly, with thanks to my friend, blog land is now a happier place to be. Cheers T.

And so to this ... about the art of survival...an oldie but a goodie...
I like the moral

Once upon a time...(yeah...that's right)...there lived an aged (and poor sighted)  farmer. His one and only helper was his trusted donkey. One day, this donkey fell down an old shaft. The farmer, distraught at losing his animal, was also upset by not being able to give it a proper burial;  and so decided to bury the donkey where it lay, at the bottom of the shaft. Over the days that followed, as the farmer walked by the shaft, he shovelled some dirt into it.
The donkey,  (not being dead, or such a silly ass after all,)  merely shook off the dirt as it fell on him; and stood on top of it. !
One lateral thinking donkey eh !
 

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The art of patience

Life in blog land has not been without its stresses of late !

I have been known to spend hours upon hours getting a piece of silver to solder just right.  To make endless test pieces for testing glazes and firing times., and more recently...poked and rolled felt until it's the shape that I want. Practice. Practice. Practice.
However, when it comes to I. T. ..the word...blugger comes to mind !
Is that a word ?  It is now !

A dear friend is coming over to help me sort out my blog page. In the meantime....

When I was an  art / design student,  IT was part of the course. It was a module that I struggled with.
I can appreciate though,  the value of using the computer as aid to design (plus of course inspiration and networking)., but personally, I'd rather use images in clouds / shapes and colours in nature / the human form and non verbal communication in movement.

For those of you reading this in the UK, I really enjoyed a cultural evening in front of the television last week. David Dimbleby was talking about Robert. Hooke and his friendship with Sir Christopher Wren,.and how these two great men of science / architecture / art, worked together on the design for St. Pauls Cathedral.
I was fascinated by the patterns that were created under Hooke's microscope, of his frozen urine !...and his anatomical pen and ink drawings. (Hooke's life and works makes interesting reading.)

My memory went back to college days.... I.T and C.A.D.
These are two pictures that have been digitally manipulated. Originally created from a finger print. I appreciate them more now than I did in 2007.
. 

It's funny old world, isn't it.
We, as humans don't always appreciate the lessons we learn 'in the now'. Sometimes we need to let time pass, and no lesson is ever wasted.
We 'get there when we arrive'.
Shalom

teddy bear

Time to experiment with the brown Alpaca wool tops.

It's softer than the white, and felted well.

silversmithing

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                 Here's a simple project using silver wire. No soldering necessary.  Begin with winding the wire around finger three times and then using jewellery pliers, bend and make coil 'bezel', to fit around chosen bead/stone/crystal. nb.To avoid snagging skin or clothes, ensure that you've tucked in the end of the wire.

        

...And to the more complicated ....requiring multiple soldering technique.

 

Baby Alpaca

With the snow falling outside; I finally managed (took about 10hrs) to complete this baby Alpaca, standing only 6ins high..
Opening the nostrils and making the eyelids presented a new challenge.! and job requiring good daylight !
The white alpaca fleece felted down quite quickly, but I found it difficult to felt it fine enough for the detailed bits, so carded a merino / alpaca blend.

Today I began working with the brown fleece. Compared to the white; the brown has a softer feel to it. The colour hues are also interesting, as some of the tips have developed natural highlights.

Alpaca fleece

Today I sorted out some small amounts of fleece into their colours,. washed / dried and carded them. Apparently these processes are optional, but it was a personal choice to do them. Apart from getting rid of traces of undesirable debris !...it gave me a chance to feel the different textures. The white feels course, and the brown feels the softest. The black and grey are inbetween. All are l o v e l y though.
These 'tops', are literally just tops;. each measuring 2ins max. 'Seconds' really, but ideal for what I'm doing with them. 
Carrie showed me her spinning wheels on my visit., and demonstrated how to spin with the best quality prepared fleece. Alpaca knits beautifully. Very soft, and not itchy. I imagine that incorporating it into a piece of knitting  would give another dimension to texture. (You know where I am Tammy).

   I was comparing the beautiful natural colours of the fleece to those of Cookie and Max.
Umm..? ! Similarities !

I think the caption here could read ...'Do yer reckon we're next for 'the chop ? !! '  



Ah bless 'em...however at the next grooming session, I may be tempted to recycle the contents of the slicker brush.!  Max is 10yrs old now (rescued at 6wks old) and Cookie is a collie /shepherd about 3yrs old (rescued at 18months) Luv 'em both to bits.

Does anyone else remember the time when there used to be a funny phrase or saying on the backs of matchboxes?
I remembered the following whilst carding the fleece earlier...

Naughty little Willie Frazer,
Stole his dad's electric razor.
Rugs and mats that once were hairy..
Now are bald... and so's the canary !

Alpaca

I spent a wonderful couple of hours today in the company of Carrie, who owns Alpacas. As I  wanted fleece suitable for needle felting 3d sculpture, Carrie was able to offer her experience as to which type may work best. I love the natural colours of the undyed fleece.  The books and research that I've done so far suggest blending Alpaca with wool. I've only used Merino thus far, which is beautifully soft but takes ages to felt down. Merino seems more suited to wet felting.  Using Alpaca fleece will be experiential learning for me; so I'll be felting it down on its own first and make notes accordingly !  If any fellow felters have experience of using Alpaca / Alpaca blends, I'd love to hear. Having only been felting since January...I appreciate there is so much more to learn about this fascinating craft.

needle felting

Adding / joining limbs is very simple.

Sorry that I don't have a diagram to follow, but with reference to teddy...hope this helps... 
Set pieces out i.e....leg / body / leg.... placing and mark with pin or pen.
Use dental floss if possible. A long needle...a sharp doll needle if possible. (The teddies are so small that I managed with a long sewing needle )...YEP...I made another one today !
Start on inside of leg,( leaving a long spare of thread / flossing hanging, for knotting later) and pass needle to outside of leg; then go back to inside of leg, a 'milliwotsit' from where needle went in.
Push needle right thru body ( using your pin/ pen marks as a guide).
Continue thru inside of second leg...to outside... then the tiny 'milliwotsit' stitch back to inside of leg.
You should now be back to where the long spare thread/flossing is hanging.
Pull both threads /dental floss until limbs feel firm and then tie a firm knot. 

I find the most difficult aspect of making matching  twos of anything is the need to get them the same size ! So I worked the legs / arms /ears together.

teddy bear

I thought,( having got the needle felted hummingbird out of my system), that I'd return to the large ceramic sculptural works in progress...but I just couldn't resist the temptation to create this little fellow !.    He measures a mere 4 ins, with jointed limbs.  

Needle felted Hummingbird

 

Here's a project that I wanted to share; It took me hours and hours and hours !..but having never done 3d needle felting before; I was quite chuffed with the final outcome. Due to not having much green wool....I used a bit of 'artistic license'...colour pink !...and some blue...then some purple. I didn't have any brown wool, so blended some black with very dark maroon.  The exercise was good practice for shaping / layering and blending. The finished piece measures 6ins approx. 

 

sculpture study

One of the books I received at Christmas is about sculpting the human form; and the use of various techniques i.e. pinching / slabbing / coiling. This life size head has been created out of my imagination; using three techniques. Fired to bisk.
... and for ecomomy..painted with acyrilics.

 I sat in awe and wonder for nine / ten minutes yesterday, watching a video on youtube, featuring the sand artist Kseniya Simonova from Ukraine. Her annimation portrayed life during the USSR's Great Patriotic War against the Third Reich in World War 2.

Check out her video here

The Labyrinth...sacred imagination

At this time of the year, when, outwardly, mother nature appears to be standing still; 'stuff' is happening beneath the soil. It won't be long now before we start to see the new shoots bursting through; and spring will have sprung ; but until then, I'm trying to utilize 'this standing still' period.  
The labyrinth is a useful tool when my creative mind is doing overtime, but my physical body wants to remain in hibernation for a while longer !.
Doodling them into my sketch book, or allowing my fingers to do the walking on the one I made from paper pulp; has the effect of  calming the mind, soothing the soul, and refreshing the spirit.   
This labyrinth image is the one found in Chatres Cathedral, Nr Paris. Dating back to 1200.