Bluff Country Art Tour

The wind howled all night, and I woke up to see a bit of snow on the ground. I don't want to be one of those people who complain about the weather, but it's almost MAY! Even the children look out at the snow, and their shoulders slump so you know it's been a long winter. A gentle warm breeze would be just delightful. I'll take two of those, please, with some extra sunshine.


But the day shaped up very nicely. I arrived at the Bluff Country Artists' Gallery at 10am, and it was already buzzing. My felted and fulled pieces were displayed in a cozy area with other fiber art, including some hand dyed (painted?) silk scarves and men's ties, some handbags, and some nuno scarves.


I had brought some additional pieces with me, so I set those out as well, and made myself comfortable adding some beads to one of my pieces and needlefelting a small bowl as a means of demonstrating one aspect of felting.


The BCAG board took very good care of the artists who were there. They provided us with sandwiches, coffee, cookies, cheese and crackers, fruit, and punch, and, of course, homemade bars.


I sold only one thing, but I left feeling very good. I think I'm a compliment junky. I received many good comments, and by the end of the day, felt very encouraged and affirmed.

Felting Books

I went to visit my "wish list" on Amazon today. It is quite extensive.
Of special interest, there is a new book called Creative Felting by Lizzie Houghton that I'd like to have. A felting acquaintance recommended it.
Also, I am especially looking forward to Nancy Hoerner's Felt Inlays book that is due to be published sometime this year.
Another book that will probably find it's way to my shelf is The Art of Felt by Francoise Teller-Loumagne.
I already own several of the newer books published, including How We Felt by Carol Huber Cypher. I really like this one. She has projects from several well respected artists who describe their process. Uniquely Felt, by Chris White, is another favorite, because she explains several different types of felt making.
Fabulous Felted Scarves is a must have. Authors Alice Hagen and Jorie Johnson are two of the most respected felt makers out there.
I have not done any sculptural needle felting so I can't comment on any of the books on that topic.
It is fun to look though all these books, even if I don't make some of the projects. There are so many talented artists out there, each with their own vision and style. That is something I aspire to become: an artist with some depth and uniqueness, rather than someone who just dabbles in a variety of things. Time will tell.

Embellisher landscape collage

Friday night I finished punching out the basic landscape. There are a few spots I'll need to fill in so that it will be a full 11" x 14". Next step: layer on some details. I've looked at many people's work, and there are quite a few who add details using free motion embroidery, but I've never done that, and I'm not sure I want to try it with my old basic Singer sewing machine. Maybe I'll use some yarn and roving to add details, and then beads and other embellishments.
Obviously this isn't felting, but it is an interesting way to use my needle felting machine. "Punching" fabric is being done by a number of people. Start by looking at work by Christopher Nejman, author of Pillows. There are some Yahoo groups addressing this technique as well.