Denmark makes it's mark

As I  said previously I had the most incredible week in Denmark. It was a change of pace after teaching 4 workshops where I got to play student and play I did.

Can you believe this photo. I think they must have the best hollyhocks in the world there. These were outside the tiny house Hans Christian Anderson grew up in. His whole house would fit into my kitchen. Makes you think. After wandering around Odense I traveled out to Glamsbjerg and began one of the feltyest weeks a gal can have. Europe is seriously talented in felting terms and some of the best were all there. Felt in Focus has been going for a few years I think and seems to have grown in success each year. The food was great and the people even better. We had a fashion parade and unfortunately my camera didn't cope with the light or the speed of the models so here are the best.

My first workshop was with Lisa Klakulak.We worked on jewelry items and looked into how felted a partial felt can be. This was interesting and we pushed the boundaries on what can and can't be felted in to another felt surface. Even though we were making jewelry we all seemed to make some rather large pieces.

As you can see we used the sewing machine to help define areas of our work. Lisa is a great teacher with a depth of knowledge on wool fibre and how it behaves. I have some ideas on how to use this process as adornments to my work. Below are some examples of what I made.

We got to go into town on day three to wander the shops and see the felt exhibition. This was a collection of work from some of the teachers and other Dutch feltmakers. Great to see so much felt on display at once.

My second workshop was with Elina Saari She has developed some amazing needlefelt products, some of which we used to make scarves and jackets using her techniques. This was a whole lot of fun and she has such tremendous enthusiasm it was impossible not to be caught up in it all. She likes to felt in the sauna and standing above the work is her preferred viewpoint. So up onto the tables she would leap stretching and milking the felt.

It's a bit hard not to feel a little drab in comparison! Below are the samples of my work made with her. The scarf I prefer as a hat. We had a bit of fun dressing up for the final night with all our scarves on our heads.

I have made some great friends from this week and really enjoyed the camaraderie achieved with "my own kind" A special thanks to he Irish, Danish and Dutch feltmakers who befriended me and kept me up way too late!  Denmark is well worth the visit and so beautiful. Check out the blue of those flowers