Pam de Groot

Go and get merry!!!

2011-12-23T01:45:00.000-08:00

I just want to wish you all the best Christmas and New Year. Get Merry and make sure there are lots of warm fuzzies out there.
I have made my family a hamper each. Had fun making this lot and My son helped me with the labels. I have included a random sample.

Quiet?

2011-12-12T19:44:00.001-08:00

Those who have read this blog for a while will know that if it is quiet online then there is usually something brewing here or I am hard at it working. Apart from the usual madness this time of year making product for my 3 regular outlets, The Nook, The Rocks and the etsy shop, I have been working with the local preschool as Artist in residence.
We have been making prefelts with the children and the parents and staff helped me this past weekend put the whole lot together. The children love gardens and have been learning about suns, moons and stars and so these were of course included in the final work.
I had taken most things into account when preparing for working with this age group and it all went really well apart from one thing.

I forgot that 3 and 4 year olds are short!!!! My back was killing me! I don't know how those early childhood teachers do it.
Some pics of the work at early stages and then completed though there may be the odd bit of stitching to add I can't quite decide.

Some of my hard working team.

I think this section is my favorite

Not Spam but Pam!!!!

2011-11-21T17:30:00.001-08:00

Hey I may know what has happened to my lost comments on blogger. Seems that blogger has decided my lovely affirmations are indeed spam!!! Please have a look in your spam and mark me as not spam and we will see if that helps. I miss not chatting to you all. I can leave comments here on mine or on wordpress but not anyone else at present.
Thanks for your help.

How long is a piece of string?

2011-11-17T13:18:00.001-08:00

Not long enough!
We've had five glorious days here in the Mountains with the beautiful India Flint. We wandered and bundled and concocted potions and relaxed with women. We ate and drank and chatted till late. It was all over too quickly.
I learned how to make string and find that incredibly satisfying.

Another summer

2011-11-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

My husbands mother for decades declared she wouldn't "make it through another summer". She was of course eventually correct. We have a maidenhair fern on our front porch that we salvaged from her garden. It was in a pot that had almost completely fallen apart and had always been there. This plant has come to the brink of death on many a summer day, through some neglect in watering but still manages to survive. I cut a frond off to see if it would make a nice resist in some dyeing. I thought I had tried it long ago for colour with no luck. so was only going for the shape.
Look what happened on some optim and silk. Some more pretties follow.

You can see I got a bit carried away with the little star leaf of this weed. But it is kinda nice.

Too pretty

2011-10-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

I had someone buy a gift voucher from me for their teacher a while back and the teacher contacted me and asked if I could natural dye some cloth for her to make some clothes from.
I thought this was a great idea. I dyed some of the pongee I often use and she also provided a beautiful silk not sure what weave it is. The results on it were so beautiful I had to share.

I must appologise to all of you for being a bit silent on your sites. I am not able leave comments at the moment. Not sure how to fix it yet. Very annoying as I have been watching and loving what you are doing.

Keep up the good work.

left overs

2011-10-23T03:54:00.000-07:00

A friend gave me a bag of bits and bobs she had from felting. The fibre was a bit matted and there were lots of bits of colours. After putting them through the carder they have spun up a treat. Sometimes it is good to have the combinations thrust upon you .

workshops

2011-10-20T04:23:00.000-07:00

I have recently done some great workshops. One with ATASDA.
We had a great time creating wonderous cloth and I managed to not get any shots of the finished items!
I did a couple more classes up here in the mountains and I got some of a few of the pieces.They are still wet so a bit dull.
Yes we worked in the hall where the wall hanging is.

Geometry

2011-10-11T14:14:00.000-07:00

All better

2011-10-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

We are in School holidays here and the family went away bush walking with some friends. The South coast of Australia is beautiful. We did the Light to Light walk over 3 days. This is a perfect walk for a large group of different ages as it is fairly flat and not too far each day. The landscape and flora changes constantly. At one time you are walking out on the heath

then the next you are amongst the towering Casuarina with their branches chattering together in the breeze.

Then down to the beach to scour for shells and rocks.

This was by my 15 yo

We had an opportunity to dye and the children particularly loved the magic held within those tightly wrapped parcels. The pot was put on the morning and was unwrapped when we returned. A little early really but good results none the less. I was happy to see some lovely greens from what I can only describe as a native rosemary and the Warrigal greens, a native spinach, gave a really good print also.

Sick as a dog

2011-09-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

I have not had a cold or flu for at least 5 years I think till last week. I was completely miserable and pretty much stuck to the couch. But I can spin on the couch so spin I did and here are some hats I made with the yarn.

Everything old is new again

2011-09-18T01:43:00.000-07:00

In Ireland I was teaching this method for making wraps. I love the vibrancy of the surface you can achieve. These wraps are super soft from the layout method. The silk is collected from op shops and my old scarves and shirts and friends now give me their favourite things that cannot make through another wearing. I love the idea of revamping these items and they can begin anew.

Love it!!

2011-09-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of one of the Dingle participants work all finished. It is hard to believe that something this big

Can shrink into something as pretty as this. Go Mia!

The grass really is greener

2011-08-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

In Ireland!

I began my tour in Ireland, and so I end at the beginning. Such a beautiful country. I spent alot of my time wishing my family were with me as my boys would have loved the ruins and history this place is steeped in.

I flew into Dublin and was met by my wonderful host Holly I had such fun in Dublin and the workshop participants were such a great group, full of Irish humour.. We were working on wraps and closures and were very busy for the 2 days. I haven't got many photos of the finished items I'm afraid, but some along the way.

I had some time to travel a few days before heading to my next workshop so I went through Kilkenny, Kells, Cashel and Galway. I managed to have a coffee with Nicola Brown in Kilkenny. So much fun to chat and we were together again in Denmark. I have made so many new friends.

I love this last shot. No Parking!!!

From Galway I drove to Dingle. So picturesque. Here we had a 3 day workshop on mosaic wearables hosted by Sharon I have had some wonderful times with all my hosts on this trip and I want to say to all of them a huge thankyou for bringing me into their lives. Below are some shots of the workshop and Dingle.

largest stone wall I saw

This was a cheese I bought. Really delicious!!! Really!

This one is still being added to!!

The sleeping giant

This whole trip has been a wild ride for me. Thanks to all who were a part of it and I hope to be able to visit again soon ( the wheels are already in motion there)

Counting down "eins, zwei, drei"

2011-08-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

Germany

I flew into Germany and was met at the airport by the gorgeous Britta and her husband. I had such a great time with them and their family.

This was my first encounter with the language difference and we managed to do well most of the time and when we couldn't work something out there was always google to interpret the last.

Our workshop was in Xanten near Dusseldorf and I went for a wander in town and visited the historic church.

I of course had to visit a castle and the closest was Moyland. These shots were from the grounds. Just beautiful despite the rain. The last one is actually at another small castle we saw .

The workshop here was on big sculptural hats and though the class was small there was so much done. I really loved my time with these women. Britta has the most amazing studio and we could stop now and then for coffee and sustenance and sit and chat around the table in this funny triangle conversation of translation between German and English.

I was working with some seriously talented women for this workshop and the work they came out with was phenomenal. I am glad for my part I had in this.

Britta's hat

Maike' hat

Jana's Hat

I am sure you will agree these guys did an amazing job. I love to watch and help people's ideas develop and grow into these fantastic art works. It is my privilege.

I know you've been waiting for this!

2011-08-08T00:43:00.000-07:00

Ukraine!!!!

This mosaic was just on the side of building almost given no prominence!

I was based in Kiev for my stay and was able to wander the streets in the evening and marvel at the incredible architecture of this very old city.

It took me a couple of days to find my feet really. There was real culture shock but I really warmed to this place. I would have loved to stay longer. I've started making a cabbage salad I had there (recipe by taste alone) it takes me right back. I anyone has the true recipe I'd love it.

The view from my hotel balcony.

The workshops here were 1 day each and built on the skills acquired from the day before. We began with interpreting images in felt.

Just putting in some other shots

This was apparently a short escalator on the metro

Day 2 was hats. The women were so much fun and really began to discover that language is not such a large barrier to getting to know people. I had a lot of fun.

I just love this shot of Anna

Day three was small sculptures and my mind was stretched helping them to interpret their ideas into a template shape that would work for their plan. I did not manage to get photos of them all unfortunately but here are some.

I had such a memorable time in Kiev and my sincerest thanks goes to Oksana who started the whole European trip by just asking me to come!! All it takes is an idea.

Roads in Kiev

I was moved by this place. Immersed in this historic place you begin to wonder how events came to pass and how life was here not so long ago. It seems a lot of handcrafts have been lost as whole villages were moved and looms and spinning wheels left behind. There is a vibrancy here that will be making it's mark on the crafting world in the not too distant future.

Denmark makes it's mark

2011-08-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

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

Beginning at the end

2011-08-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

I've decided to blog from my last workshops and end at the beginning. Perhaps this way there can be a new beginning elsewhere?

Tulip in Amsterdam

There was 2 amazing workshops in the Netherlands with the workshops named Garden to Garment. It was a good title as the plants came from the participants gardens and the beautiful garden of my host Dorie
I am grateful to India for blessing me to work and teach in her methods and I have added to the immense respect I already have for her work, when working with plants from Gardens in the other hemisphere! So much to learn and I would love to have more time to explore all the potential of their colours.

We wrapped and printed wool and silk on day one . You can see the patented Pam method of wrapping tightly if you hands aren't strong enough, just tie the end to a door handle and use the weight of your body to pull against. We combined samples and stitched and felted garments in day 2

I managed a couple of days to get into Amsterdam. Those canals are so beautiful and the tall buildings on each side let this girl know she wasn't in Kansas anymore.

Netherlands, happy, tired and content

2011-07-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

Well I am drinking some amazing home made Grand Marnier at Dorie's and reflecting on 2 amazing Natural dye workshops. We have ooohed and aahhhed over unwrapped wool and silk samples and revelled in the colours of a Eurpoen garden. The Stokroose (hollyhock) was an amazing colour and Henni came with some real meekrepwortel (madder root) which coloured like some incredible red worms. The samples we felted together to create some wonderful walking art.
I go tomorrow to meet with Elis to wander the streets of Amsterdam before I head home to the land down under and my beautiful boys.
Then I will have to organise the zillion photos I have taken and select a few to document the trip better for you.
No mean feat I assure you
I will fly for about a day to get home so forgive me if it doesn't happen straight away.

Denmark

2011-07-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

I have just had one of the the most wonderously felty weeks ever in Denmark. I have been to Felt in focus No-one but another felter would understand such a gathering. Maybe Treckies would. I was able to meet some of the wonderful people who visit my pages and of course meet other teachers as well. It was like being amongst felting royalty.
I had one workshop with Lisa Klakulak. Wow I can see how she gets such a beautiful finish on her work. She has a really solid understanding of the material and brings it all to bear on the work. Wait for the photos!!
Next was Elina Saari She is a pocket rocket! Such enthusiasm and passion about feltmaking you could not beat. She and her parrot were very great fun. It was really amazing to use her products she has developed herself. You will love the photos from that one.
Tomorrow Amsterdam and the next chapter of an Aussie feltmaker abroad. Stay tuned

Kiev

2011-06-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

This has been the most different place I have ever been and yet again the feltmakers are such warm and thoughtful people. I must look different as people seem to stare at me. Perhaps it is my clothes. Very Blue Mountains. Kiev has so much history seeping from every drain hole and steeple tip. The cathedrals and palaces. my god there must have been a lot of money here at some point.
We have been felting 3 days now with wall hangings, hats and sculptures. I am exhautsed but the walking about 100km round town last night did not help. I thought I would just see a few things but I could always see another thing up ahead. It doesn't get dark till about 10pm so there is a lot of night life.
Tomorrow Demark! A new adventure and time to put the learners hat on. Till next time.

Update minus pics

2011-06-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have so much to tell and will go into more detail with pics when I return home. I am now in Germany for my last night before heading Ukraine. Wow I have found out I love to travel and felters are the most friendly and hospitable people you could wish to meet the world over.

Ireland is such a beautiful country!!! I passed so many amazing old ruins I began to get a bit picky about which ones I would get out the camera for!! So much history and such a story to go with it all. Dingle has certainly had the hand of some god upon it for it is certainly blessed with beauty.

The Irish students were both warm and giving and I hope to see some photos of the dry finished work soon.I had adventures on the return with my first time at driving 140kmhr to get the car back in time!!!!

In Germany I have had an asounding time with some great felmakers. I am honoured that these people felt they had something to learn from me. 3 days of some incredible hat making. I learn so much from teaching. They take me to places I may not take myself.

More from the next time I have time.
Pam

Bags are packed?

2011-06-07T16:35:00.000-07:00

Hmmm. Think I bought too small a bag. But what to leave behind? I'm on attempt 3 of packing. Today it must be done though as I fly off tonight for 6 weeks of excitement with all my new friends!!
I shall miss my beautiful boys, it will definitely be a testosterone zone while I am away. I'm sure the time will fly and I will be back bossing them to tidy rooms in no time.
Not sure when and where I will be able to blog when away or if I'' be able to upload pics. So be assured that when I can I will keep you posted.
If you are coming to Felt in Focus Denmark please seek me out and we can catch up.
Catcha soon!!!

Want one of these??

2011-06-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

I will be in Germany Xanten, very close to the Netherlands Border. soon and if you think you would like to join us for three days of wild and wooly fun making crazy hats then contact the beautiful Britta I will be there for 24th, to 26th June

J.R. style dress and wild beanie

2011-05-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get some photos of this one before it goes off to Sydney tomorrow. A late night stitching in the lining, but happy in the end. The beanie is a corespun a little overspun to get great long twisties. The final out fit has some long fingerless gloves in the same wool but they are still in concept phase. Had to get pix today as my model has a life!! and was unavailable tomorrow. I am hoping the gloves will add the elegance with the length and the grunge with the thickness of the yarn and fingers popping out.

At Last Artist in residence

2011-05-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

So I have promised pics of the whole thing and I have included some of the process as well. There are a lot of photos but it took a week and a lot happened.

As you can see we worked on 2 large 5x2.2m long hangings. The sheer scale of this thing blew me away every day. It was so exciting to see it coming together. The team spirit was palpable and it was such a thrill to see the excitement on the little faces as each new part of the process was revealed. This is a real community project as my parent helpers and the staff were quite instrumental in it's success. The sheer numbers meant we could move this sometimes 100kg beast around and finish it off.

And here are the shots of the finished article. It gets some words about where it is of and the year in the blank spaces at the bottom. The year 6 kids did the local wildflowers along the bottom edge. They will hang beside each other in the hall. Tomorrow they will be presented finished to the school. The local paper is even coming for such an auspicious event!!
The whole exercise has been great in thinking big and outside the square and anything is possible!!

sneak peek

2011-05-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of one of the panels before felting. The rest is felted now after a mammoth day of rolling two enormous felts with about 100 litres of water in them. You definitely need a school to produce this work. So many hands and arms needed to roll this thing. You can see why the Mongolians use horses.
I will post the pics of the whole thing when it is dry.

What has 360 legs?

2011-05-05T05:51:00.000-07:00

A School!!
I have been conspicuously quiet here as I have been working very hard on a really interesting project with a local school here. The P&C at the school have funded an artist in residence program and I have been invited to come and felt with the children. Wow what an undertaking and so far we a going great guns. They have all made prefelts and noodles and learned a whole lot about wool, felt and living as an artist. The next step is to put it all together.
We are making a huge wall hanging depicting a local waterfall area and the total size when finished will be approx 7m x 2m !!!!!!!! Just have a think about how big that is before shrinkage!!!
I will post some pics soon but I have to get back to the dyepots and create some more colour for the work to come.
Stay tuned!

Hunter Gatheress tribe

2011-04-24T05:41:00.000-07:00

These are two pieces I have been working on using some of the ideas from the Julian Roberts workshop. Working in felt is a completely different kettle of fish to plain fabric. There is the shrinkage to deal with, the drape is completely different and really it is a completely different beast altogether. The advantage though is that I can add on my offcuts to increase the length and it will look like one piece of fabric, no seams.

Can you believe this gorgeous setting is my friend's back yard!!!. She happened to have a couple of stunning models just lying around for me too!!

The head warmer is a corespun crocheted on my finger because I couldn't find the right sized knitting needles. There is always a way.

All in a tailspin

2011-04-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

Can there be too many tails in a tailspin yarn? I dyed some locks for an order and it was not the right colour, too bright so I thought I should try to tailspin them. I think I got a bit carried away but they are kinda cool.

I'm a comin

2011-04-05T23:04:00.000-07:00

So in June/July this year I will be off to visit some fantastic people I've met on this wonderful thing called the internet. I have put some contact details to the right for the countries I will be in but if there is none contact me on my email and I will put you in touch. The co-ordinators will fill you in on the details.I will be pretty much doing a different thing in each venue so why not do all of them???? HA!
Sorry UK it fell through this time but next time I will make sure we leave enough time to organise everything.

I am adding some shots of some handspun Yarns I did with Pluckyfluff last weekend. She is an inspirational teacher who took us along to produce some fantastic yarns.

Alien pod

2011-04-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

This pod shape has bee calling to me for a while. I like the positive and negative spaces in the holes. My dear nearly 18 yr old helped me photoshop as the background was a bit dodgy. I quite like it now.

A dress top and a top.

2011-03-30T01:33:00.000-07:00

My friend will hate these photos but I think she looks lovely. These were a couple of pieces I made for the Tamworth gig as I wanted to show some example and everything had sold recently

Mosaics from Tamworth

2011-03-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

It has been my recent privilege to teach a group of women from Tamworth, North NSW. With all the hospitality of country towns everywhere I was welcomed and looked after and steeped in the company of talented crafty women. Many of them had as much to teach me and this is the added bonus of teaching them.
I thought I got a photo of everyone's work but I seemed to have missed Jan's beautiful Autumnal throw, you'll just have to imagine.

Never say die

2011-03-16T04:14:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this recent jacket I made. Yuck!!!! It just sat strange and it did not matter who I put it on it wouldn't work.

Enter a pair of scissors stage left and put one arm over the head cut off the sleeves reattach one and rejoin all the bits, add a matching arm warmer and voila!!

felt 500

2011-03-03T03:37:00.000-08:00

Many many many months ago I sent of some images of my work to Lark Books. Apparently they wanted to publish a book as part of their 500 series, 500 felt objects. I poured over photos and picked five I thought might have some merit. Nearly 12 months later I get a letter. Curiouser and curiouser.
I am very excited to announce that there will be 3 of my images in the book!! It should be available from September. I think this is a must to add to the pile as I have heard from others there is some really amazing work in there .

Sub cut 101

2011-02-28T16:41:00.000-08:00

So here is Julian at the workshop in Canberra. It was a whirlwind day and a whirlwind tour for him. Here he is cutting live and modeling a garment he made insanely quickly.

Below is my dress which needs some work. I possibly should have saved my gorgeous silk till I had practiced it a bit, but oh well. I will tweak and tweak till I'm happy. I have some ideas of how to transpose this to felt. It will not have the same drape as a woven fabric but interesting nonetheless
The second dress is one I made once I got home. Sorry bit hard to model and take snaps at the same time. I probably should have moved the windex and the washing basket too!!

Passion for cloth

2011-02-19T15:36:00.000-08:00

I have pulled out the boilers again and dyeing 7m of twill silk for a workshop with Julian Roberts I am going to on Monday.

I am clearing a spot for my new veggie patch and have to get rid of some old root stock of passionfruit vine in the process. Remembering India said you can get green from passionfruit I stuffed a whole lot into the pot and cooked away. The dye was a subtle light green in just the copper and I dyed 1/2 the fabric for about 1/2 an hour first then I pulled it out and put some leaves in it. I put eucalypt leaves in the other half of the fabric and here are the results below. I really like the green with the other and I can't wait to see how this dress works out.

Home of the big Guitar

2011-02-17T03:21:00.000-08:00

Australia ( for the uninitiated) is fond of a big icon. We have the big banana, big pineapple, big prawn and the list goes on. I will be traveling soon to the land of the big Guitar. Yes TAMWORTH. Northern Tablelands NSW!

I will be conducting a workshop in mosaic wearables, wraps, jackets, skirts, whatever takes your fancy! We will be dyeing, making felt, cutting it up and making felt all over again!

There are only a couple of spots left so if you are going to be in Tamworth for 18th, 19th, 20th March and don't want to miss this get in contact from the email to the right.

So what have I been doing?

2011-02-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

Summer cleaning!!!!
I missed the spring clean as it was a busy time. For me the Christmas break is the only decent block of time I get to really effect some changes in the house. Something gets hold of me and the cleaning and de-cluttering begins. I get a ruthless glint in my eye and the expulsion of all deemed unnecessary is underway.

I did not quite need the truck pictured above but it felt good to bring some order to the chaos of the home. Sometimes with everyone working it never seems to be the right time to deal with things. I even did some gardening, though there is a long way to go there! For me this is also a cleaning out and preparation for the mind. Having the chaos around was effecting my work. Does anyone else suffer from this?? I need to be able to go down to my studio knowing that the house is not in greater need of my time.

In other words it is a load off.

A little balance is restored if only for a while. Now back to work!

Europe here I come!!!

2011-01-27T16:37:00.000-08:00

Just letting you know I have got enough groups to go ahead with the tour!!!!! I will post the details of where and when soon and give you some contacts if you would like to come. So far it looks like Ukraine, Germany, Netherlands, Uk and Ireland. Just need to plot the route and settle into the details. A big thanks to Elis and the wonder of facebook who helped get the info out there.
I am of course excruciatingly excited at the prospect and also not just a little daunted by the task ahead.

I subscribe to an online magazine called Handeye. It has wonderful articles on works done throughout the world. I just fell in love with this article and instantly bought the book so I could look even closer at these amazing sculptures. Some of you already know my passion for Andy Goldsworthy, well this guys work is similar in the way it becomes part of the environment and eventually returns to the earth from whence it came.

Deep sigh at the wonder that is peoples creativity.

Summer felt

2010-11-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

Once again I have the dilemma of selling wool in the hot heat of summer, so I have branched into the jewelry. The silk is hand dyed and hand spun crocheted stuff and the earrings are stirling silver wire. Some of the crochet was done on my Tunisian crochet hook I bought at Bendigo. They were fun to make and quite a difference working so small. Hope you like!!

Mad Hatters Tea Party?

2010-11-07T19:57:00.000-08:00

No they're not mad really, well no more than I am.
These are the hats from the last hat making workshop for the year.

Playing with hats

2010-10-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

Having a play with that front turn up idea.

On Hats and Snails

2010-10-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

"Felt United" is an online gallery of felt artists from around the world. This is the second year it has run. I missed it last year because I was too flat chat but I made an effort to get it together this year.
Last year the theme was red, orange, yellow. This year it is blue, green, yellow. The gallery for this year is not yet up but I've decided to give you a sneek peek of my work anyway.

Don't you think all snails should have a winter jacket?
Many thanks to my human model. He brings the hat some dignity I think.

Fibre Fish

2010-10-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

Been having some fun and playing with frivolity.
Trying out some ideas for cards.

What a Cracker!!

2010-10-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Check out this little number created by my student yesterday. It is still wet in the photo so the silk does not shine and of course the pins will go but I thought she did a marvelous job!

Road Trip

2010-10-08T22:55:00.000-07:00

I recently had a small holiday combined with the opening of the Tamworth exhibition. I drove up by myself so it was a bit Thelma and Louise though I guess I was only Thelma, no convertible and I didn't drive off a cliff at the end.

Glenys Mann was the officiator at the opening and really brought some enthusiasm to the event and the world of textiles generally. I had a good lot of sales which is always a good start. Klimt and Vincent were some of the first to go as well as the eco prints. Some hats went too so here's hoping the rest of the exhibition sells just as well.

I visited some friends from up north and had to share some pics. This one of Kerry with Nickolas. I had such a lovely break with her. Thanks Kerry!

She has quite a menagerie going with miniature horses, the goats, dogs, and chickens.

Aren't those the cutest chicks?
We had a day of felting and some other friends I've met at other workshops came. I'm in deepest love with Doro's bag.

I adore Kerry's clothes line. This shows what a true fibre artist she is.

I kinda get off on the amazing piece of machinery she has there too. Serious carding material. It is just fascinating to watch.

Masters at work

2010-10-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

These two wraps are more impressions of the greats. 1 Klimt and the other Vincent.

Nuno workshop

2010-09-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Finally got a cord for my new phone so I can get the pics from the nuno workshop up online.
Another amazing group of women who produced quite diffferent work. Some had come to the dyeing workshop and were able to use what they had made in their piece. Some went with the all over fibre look and some with leaving the gaps. Good Fun!!!

Precious prints

2010-09-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

I am including a couple of natural dyed wraps in the batch

Wraps with bling

2010-09-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of the latest wraps I've been working on for an exhibition at the Weswal Gallery in Tamworth this month.
(Nothing like leaving it up to the wire to get it all done.)
Please note the bling Stirling Silver, hand forged by moi!!!!!

Spun Neckies

2010-09-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

A bunch of spun Neckwear . I kinda like the whole lot together!

Summer's coming!!!

2010-08-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

So we are looking forward to spring here and I have been putting on the thinking cap for summer sales. Our Australian summers are so hot it is difficult to get people looking at wool but they will look at the silk.
I have eco printed these fabrics and sewn up some summer splendor!

This was sewn from a bought pattern and I've added the obi sash as an alternative look.

The second was a made up pattern using a small part of the "subtraction cutting" idea. As you can see I'm not sure yet which way I want those ties/extra bits to work.

Bag and bag

2010-08-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of bags I made as examples for the bag making workshop. There was another but it has gone to the Leura shop. I wanted to show 3 different ways to do handles. 1. has a handle included in the form, 2. has the handle included in the resist which must be detachable and the last (not present) had handles that you add on later.
The wooly one was made from some Border Leicester fleece I bought at the Bendigo Wool show. More than a little influenced by the lovely Elis

Think Big

2010-08-20T01:08:00.000-07:00

I thought the knitting needles we [wooldancer and I] used at the Sydney design workshop last weekend with Nikki Gabriel were big.

Clearly I have no idea about these things and was getting carried away because only today I came across this piece of footage

Green

2010-08-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

I love green. Tis a lovely colour, so much variation to be had.

Happy 200!

2010-08-02T00:23:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to all who read my blog and support my work in many ways. It is lovely to see the smiling faces or avatars of all those people from all over the world and I do love to read your comments.
So keep watching enjoying and commenting and I look forward to meeting the next 200 !!!!!!!!!

Bag making workshop

2010-07-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the bag making workshop and we had loads of fun.
Each participant made a fabulous bag to take home. it is a long day with all the aspects of a bag needing to come together in the design.
As an ex potter I kind of think of the bag as the "teapot" of the felted accessory. A teapot must be the right size and shape with proportionate handle, spout and lid. Angles must be just right so that it can be filled and of course it must function! Pour without dribbles. The last aspect is that it must also look beautiful and make people want to use it.
A bag must be all of these thing too. It has a body, a closure, a handle, it should function as a vessel with pockets. I guess a teapot doesn't have pockets and hopefully we won't be testing if a bag can pour without dribbles!
Below are the photos of some my clever students and their gorgeous bags. The bags are of course still wet so you cannot see the true colours or the shine of the other fibres added.

Canberra and Bendigo

2010-07-09T21:11:00.000-07:00

See anything you like? I will be trading at the Old Bus Depot Markets on Sunday 11th July and then down to Bendigo for the Australian Sheep and Wool Show. If your going too make sure you come up and say hello. I'll be in the Noble pavilion. Going to tempt them with the Moth in the Wearable art Section.

Deep sigh

2010-07-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

I never fail to wonder at this stuff.

Emergency, Emergency, paging Dr Fleece

2010-06-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

No, not surgery, though Steph in the foreground is a trained nurse. This was the dyeing workshop we had in my studio yesterday.
I had to do some major cleaning and tidying to get 8 people into my studio. DH put in a new little combustion heater so we were warm. We had loads of fun making variegated dyed top in the morning and shibori dyed silk in the arvo.

Drawn to the Light

2010-06-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in a previous post I had entered the Moth into the Katoomba Art street competition. Shops in the the main drag of Katoomba have an artist exhibit for 2 weeks and the public can vote on the people's choice but there is also a panel of artists who judge the works for other categories.
I shamelessly called in every favour I had in the local community to try to win the people's choice. This was unfortunately unsuccessful, but I did win the sculpture prize again and the overall prize as well. Very surprised but very happy.

Inspiration- Klimt

2010-06-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

This wrap was inspired by the work of Klimt, a personal favorite of mine. His work evokes such passion.
This wrap has indeed some passionate colours. The neckpiece is another wire core handspun.

New design

2010-06-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

I accidentally sold the Apron Top I had. Oh dear what a shame!
It was supposed to go to the Rocks gallery in Sydney for an exhibition! So I took the opportunity to remodel the shape and here's the outcome.

The neckpiece is a handspun number of mine.

It is corespun wool and beads onto a wire core. This means you can sculpt it to what ever you want.

Winter Magic

2010-06-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

As the earth on this half of the world closes in to the deepest part of the season the solstice is the time when the days are the shortest.This is Winter Magic season!
Yes this year I will be once again sharing my wares at a stall at the festival. This is the most unique festival I have ever been to. The community spirit is palpable and everyone dresses up to the nines, the more outlandish the better!!
I have entered the Moth in the Artstreet. This is where shops in the main drag allow artist to exhibit in their window for 2 weeks and the public can vote on their favorite. There are other prizes as well. My stall is almost opposite "Fine flowers" (the shop with the moth), just up a bit. Please don't forget to vote!!
The weather is supposed to be good so if your nearby do come up for a look. There is supposed to be an old train coming up from Sydney so that would be a great way to travel!!

Beautiful

2010-06-14T15:49:00.000-07:00

This work is by someone I've met on this Wild word web whom I like to call friend. Her work is so creative and as you can see just beautiful.
I love this work even more now I've seen a part of how it was created. The work is entitled "Do not watch the waves" BTW I should say that the piece is made from hand made felt.

Bits and pieces

2010-06-07T05:10:00.000-07:00

This scarf was made from the left overs of various prefelt dyeing activities. I love the subtle changes of colour over the piece. I like how the first pic looks like a landscape.
Ps. These are all natural dyed

NO BEIGE!

2010-05-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Many have said that the only colours they can get from natural dyeing are beige and brown. (I include my own comments from the early days in the field in this).
To dispel this I present the following. The colours are even more amazing in real life.

Hat Making Workshop

2010-05-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I gave a hat making workshop up here in the Blue Mountains. A day is actually quite a short amount of time to impart much knowledge of hats on. The more I discussed it the more I realised there is quite a lot to think about when planning a hat. I guess I often do a lot of this thinking beforehand and when it comes time to make the hat I know what I am to do.
I really love the part of teaching where everyone brings their own energy to the piece they are working on and creates the most amazing work all from the same lot of information!!
I want to congratulate everyone for the most beautiful job.
The photos aren't great because the lighting inside was a bit low, but you will get the idea.

Felted Apron top and a new hat

2010-05-15T03:25:00.000-07:00

UNsuccessful

2010-05-05T07:03:00.000-07:00

Moth sad.
Too Bad

On the upside I can now post photos with impunity.

Ps. Anyone need a moth outfit I know where you can hire one for a reasonable rate

Entry to WOW

2010-04-30T04:23:00.000-07:00

I have entered the piece I have been working on into the WOW Awards. This is huge for me and I would love to post the pics of the finished item but I don't think I'm allowed as the internet is probably classed as media.
Let me just describe the shoot and if I am able to show any images later I will.
We walked all the pieces down into the bush to get to a local waterfall. The hat is covered with stretched silk hankies and of course got stuck on any and everything. The wings and antennae were long and also got caught around many trees and bushes. Finally we arrive at the spot and my gorgeous model garbs up. I show her where I want her to be and deftly, managing not to get the gown and wings dirty, she clambers into position. I bring up the enormous hat and place it on her head. AHHHHH. She looks amazing.
There is some sort of magic with these pieces, this wearable art. It is like the work knows it is to be worn and does not reveal it's wonder till all the components come together. There is no other word to describe it but magic.
I hop down to the camera. I have one and also my 17 yr old (studying photography) has one and we begin to take photos. As I hold the camera up to my eye the magic is complete! The frame transports the work. The eco colours dyed from the bush and now photographed in the bush are perfect together. She just belongs there.
The wings move and change the look of the moth. She is the moth.

This piece has been the most all consuming this I have worked on yet. I can't bear to add up the hours, materials and toll on everyone I know, but here's hoping it's worth it.

What difference a couple of days make.

2010-04-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

So I have made some progress at last and yes I did watch the whole 2 DVDs of Pride and Prejudice and have had very little sleep.
I still have to make some more pieces for the dress.
I have 2 wings down 2 to go and I still have to make the cape and attachment mechanism for the wings.
The hat needs a bit more felting I'm afraid and then a stiffen and the aura of silk added.
Perhaps if I say it a bit more quickly it won't seem so daunting.
Photo shoot is Tuesday.
If I ever decide to a project with a lot of hand sewing, please remind me of this post!

HELP!

2010-04-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

I find myself in a state of frustration. I have been making the parts for this piece for forever and nothing to show for it yet. My last dress seemed to come together so easily. Perhaps I was less invested and able to give into the process more. This time I agonize over materials and sizing. It seems paralysing at times.Below is my collection of stuff that I need to piece together ,

I need to rapidly assemble them to something looking like this. Even though I still haven't resolved some major issues around attachment and support. I'm just going to have to make it up as I go.

All before the weekend. Methinks there will be little sleep involved, perhaps some cursing and I may have to watch my DVD of Pride and Prejudice a few times through whilst sewing a thousand bits together.

More spin

2010-04-04T03:25:00.000-07:00

I know I've got a lot to do but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do a workshop with Jacey Boggs of Insubordinknit This was last weekend but I've been to busy too take photos so here goes.
It was a great weekend and it is always great to get another's take on any craft. She was a hoot to listen to and there was a great bunch of women too.

Process

2010-03-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

So I need to stop making hats and focus on the dress. My issue has been how to represent the gorgeous texture of the moth body. They are furry little things as you can see.

I had thought that using rabbit fur would give a similar result. My samples showed that I can lift the pile of the rabbit fur but it would take a lot more rabbit fur than what I have to get a thick enough coating.

I then thought about the texture and thought about the fact that this will be seen from a distance on a stage and the audience needs to see the texture. So then went on the path of looking at an effect that would give the impression of texture. So follow the next samples.

Colour is becoming an issue too as they are really just a cream colour but there are some tones of brown and mustard in there too. Do I dye the fibre and then felt...... or felt and then dye? These last two samples show one with just white on white and one with a dyed under layer with white on top. Also construction. I can't decide whether to make it in one with a resist or make the pieces and sew it together.
I'll just keep thinking I guess as I seem to be getting closer

Cyber Fibre Hat

2010-03-23T15:36:00.000-07:00

I finally got round to making up the cyber fibre I spun a while ago. I did not go for the computer cosy but instead made a hat for the Hubby to wear at the winter magic festival in Katoomba in June. This festival is renowned for the hats everyone sports for the day. This is so not his style but I think he can manage it for one day.

Autumn Hat

2010-03-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

I'm in a bit of a hat making mood which is nice but I really need to move onto making the moth dress I need to have ready in a about 4 weeks. 2 of which I will be away on holiday. I can see some all nighters in my future. In the meantime here's some pics of my Autumn hat.

Front AND back

2010-03-16T16:48:00.000-07:00

Wow VV excited to receive my copies of the German Magazine "verFilzt und zugeNaht". I made front and Back cover! I feel very honored to have been asked to do a profile for the mag. It is beautifully put together and I only wish it came out in english as I would love to read all the articles. They look so interesting.

Getting there

2010-03-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

Still not finished. I'm knackered. After rolling till my arms nearly dropped off and my forearms were red raw yesterday I had to give up but went back to it this morning. The first photos show the wool and silk all laid out and wet down before the felting began. The next photo shows the hat pretty well shrunk with the template held up behind to show how much. I'm guessing it has shrunk by 40 to 50%. I think I had about 9 or 10 layers in this hat. I wanted it to have more integral strength than the last big hat I did which relies on stiffening product to keep it's shape.
The fibre I used for most of the layers is a mystery roving someone gave me in a clean out. It was not too coarse but had alot of loft so I thought it may be good for something sculptural. I used merino for the final 3 layers with silk top and fine spun wool.
Next step is to shape and dry it. I will still have to stiffen it but I hope it will mostly hold it's own shape. I will be putting more loose silk around the cocoon after it is dry.
Then onto the moth!

coming along

2010-03-12T21:47:00.000-08:00

I am always astounded at the size things have to be before they are felted. Here's the template and part way through laying out the hat. Looks interesting huh. No it's not a football hat.

Can you believe this?

2010-03-09T04:58:00.001-08:00

OMG this is astounding I was mesmerised. I hope you will be too

Double double toil and trouble fire burn and Cauldron bubble

2010-03-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

This is the Mystery pot for my next big project.

BTW thanks to William for the words.

This is the clue .

Picture Perfect

2010-03-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

Found this pic off another site. Don't know the origin but what a celebration of fibre!

Workshop Sweatshop

2010-02-28T19:22:00.000-08:00

I have been recently coaxed off my Mountain to the the beautiful Central Cost to conduct a nuno felting workshop with the very lovely and talented folk there.

We definitely worked up a sweat as the weather was warm and we couldn't have the fans on or the windows and doors open as the fibre would blow away!! This was a day packed with activity as all bent to the task of making a nuno wrap.

I always enjoy the way each work is so different to the next and the students each bring a little bit of their own soul to each creation..

The finished items are all photographed whilst they were still wet so you can't really see the true colours or beautiful lustre and drape, but I'm sure you'll agree they have done some gorgeous work.

Cyber Fibre

2010-02-24T16:31:00.000-08:00

The latest hand spun is supposed to be a bit techno. Lots of glitter, wire and glam. It was fun to really plan this one out. Not sure what I should do with it. Perhaps it should be a computer cosy!

More cobweb and handspun

2010-02-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

This piece has been felted with some beautiful mulberry silk top and is the softest thing.It is so fine it can be draped out as a wrap or scrunched up as a scarf.
One of the holes got a bit too large for my liking so I widened it even more and the added the handspun, crocheted piece as a feature and something to poke the end through. Of course then I had to add a few more bits to balance it out.

Spiral Paving

2010-02-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

I couldn't wait any more to take pics. We have had the most amazing weather here over the last two weeks. So much rain 400mm in just 8 days I think someone said.!!. I will apologise now to those in South Australia and Victoria, but really it is too much of a good thing. I have been unable to get any sort of stint of good weather to finish this job. We have had two days of no rain though it supposed to start again tonight. (*#@*) I just want to get the bricks dry enough to put in the jointing sand. Any way you can certainly see how the whole thing looks now so I took the pics anyway.!
I want you to all ooh and aahh over those steps cause they come up the exact right level!!!!! Mr Crowley (My high School Maths teacher ) would have been so proud.

spin-to-felt

2010-01-31T16:45:00.000-08:00

We ll I decided to do a cobweb felt in black to make the spin the feature of this scarf. I lost some of the bouncyness of this yarn. It did tend to flatten out a bit. I had hoped the mohair would be less prone to this. Perhaps adding at a prfelt stage would help, but I doubt it. Lets face it felting is rough treatment for a delicate yarn. Not an altogether amazing result, needs some tweaking to find the best way to incorporate yarn.

from spin to felt but what to do?

2010-01-28T23:48:00.000-08:00

This is the latest spin and I'm going to incorporate it into fleece. I will be hoping that the texture of the spin isn't too lost in the felting. A scarf will be a quick test option I think. Something light and filmy.

basket case

2010-01-20T21:36:00.000-08:00

I'm on a roll now and spun up this yarn last night and had to make it up into a basket today.

Like wow, Spin out.

2010-01-19T18:36:00.000-08:00

I went to an art yarn work shop with the most amazing spinner "Wooldancer" at the guild in Sydney on the weekend. It was jammed packed with frenetic fibre fantasticness. There were so many skills to learn and master all at once. Tell you what, it is a good one for the left brain right brain activity.
Here are some pictures of my hand spun beginner attempts. I even did some beehives Ginga.

Not dead, just busy.

2010-01-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

I know I have been a bit conspicuous by my absence from this world of cyberness, but at times I find I need to step away from the usual commitments and have some "time out". This does not necessarily mean I have been lying on the beach cocktail in hand, Though a bit of beach lying was involved and the odd glass of wine has passed my lips. I have put some creative energy into our extremely slow renovation. Some of you may remember the dry stone wall made in the last christmas holiday hiatus, well I have finally got to the paving of the flat part behind the wall and it is almost finished! Ignorance is bliss in these cases. "Paving can't be too hard she says". "They do it all in a half hour program on the telly". I have decided that every second brick in my design has been cut at least once. It is back breaking work. I shall show more pics once the whole lot is done but here are some of the process. Please excuse my rather large bum but it seems it was unavoidable.We also went for a lovely trip down the south coast camping to Dalmeny. Great range of things to do there. I can quite safely say that I was the only one spinning in the camp ground.There were some rather lovely rocks with the most amazing colours.Oh and we managed to catch some rather yummy fish, no thanks to the seals who kept stealing the best ones of our lines. They had this rather annoying habit of taking the fish and then popping up nearby with the said fish in flipper as if to taunt us. I guess it may be debatable as to who was stealing whos fish.

eco wonder

2009-11-27T20:31:00.000-08:00

I have been dyeing silk as a summer alternative for sales this season. Seems people don't want to even touch wool when its over 30 outside.
This process never ceases to amaze me. The colour variations from just one pot of onion skins with different metal additives is astounding.
I also soy mordanted some cotton and here are the results. The outlines have a wonderful smokeyness to them.

Allotment Garden.

2009-11-24T03:52:00.000-08:00

An allotment Garden is what I need
To lose myself whilst planting seed.
To plant each seed in row upon row
with care and wonder each seed I sow.
Then to work with daily toil
I'll tend and nurture this allotment soil.
The sun and rain sustain and feed,
yes an allotment garden is what I need.

This is a response to India's blogging bee. The photo is some of the beautiful work to be found on Phoenix's blog

Confessions of a Teacher.

2009-11-02T02:21:00.000-08:00

I must confess that in doing workshops it is often I who am the learner.
Isn't it amazing how the same set of instructions to all my students can provide so many different responses. Their answers coming from their own experiences, colour prefences, styles and personalities.
On Sunday I gave a nuno felting workshop. We all had a great time and the products were fantastic. Yummy examples of colour and drape. Thanks to everyone I learnt a lot!

Hats

2009-10-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

Two new hats for the shop. I'm promoting the fact that you can change what the tail does according to your mood! Curly, swoopy or frazled.

Finally

2009-10-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

Yes I have finally got my etsy site up. I don't know really why it took over two years but there you have it. It just couldn't make up on the list of to dos. So these school holidays I have spent time with my beautiful boys and done all the necessary things to get the shop underway. It is a pathetic offering I must grant, but baby steps are always tentative.
Please take a look if only to help the hit counter or whatever it is that helps you get up in the ratings. MYSHOP!

Ring ring

2009-09-30T15:52:00.000-07:00

These are a new whimsy of mine to try to capture some of the summer market. It gets very hard to sell wool here in the summer as people don't even want to touch it much. Too hot. I rely on those with forward thinking, or tourists heading home to cooler climbs. The colours of the first photo are not very accurate as I took it inside with a flash but you get the idea.