spring 2006 • issue no 17

www.feltwest.org.au

inc.

newsletter for feltmakers of western australia

This newsletter is published quarterly. Deadline dates for material to be submitted are as follows summer due 15th February autumn due 15th May winter due 15th August spring due 15th November We will endeavour to have it distributed by the first week of the following month. Correspondence should be sent to the editor, Virginia Campbell, 62 Goldsmith Road, Dalkieth 6009 vcam1917@bigpond.net.au

FeltWEST inc. ABN20395651770

Notice of exhibitions by members that involve felt will be advertised free of charge (subject to availability of space). Advertising inquiries are welcome, contact editor for details.

FeltWEST inc. reserves the right to

accept or refuse to place an advertisement.

The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of individual contributors and are not necessarily

those of FeltWEST inc.

Articles may not be reproduced without permission of the author.

all wrapped up 2

toss n tell 3

perth schedule of events

presidents report 4

felt the water exhibition 5

calendar 2007 7

articles

alice springs beanie fest 9

resist dyeing hand felted wool 10

dyeing safely 12

geelong forum 13

chad in geelong 14

people with disabilities 15

charlotte buch review 16

billboard 17

contact details 19

calendar 20

inc

This newsletter is so much more interesting and useful than it otherwise would have been thanks to the generous contributions of Liz Odd, Heather Davis, Karen Wood, Judith Shaw, Lee Anne Davis, Soosie Jobson, Judy Calderwood and Jo Anne Saunt.

FeltWEST

Cover photo - Participants’ work from Chad Alice Hagen’s workshops

Cover design - shibori water mark created by Nancy Ballesteros Layout by Soosie Jobson

As I write this many members are preparing to submit their work for inclusion on the FeltWest stall at the Fre-mantle Arts Bazaar in early December, and our last meet-ing of the year with the wind- up Christmas party is only a day away. What a stimulating and eventful year in felting it has been with visits and workshops from three inspiring and very different international tutors, exhibitions and fashion parades displaying our members’ work, a very successful and productive winter Retreat, and in Decem-ber the launch of our exciting new FeltWest website. We have accumulated so many photographs of members’ fabulous work that it has proved impossible to display everything in the newsletter because of lack of space. We are looking forward to sharing more of this pictorial record with you and the world on our website soon. We are indebted to Soosie Jobson for the considerable time and skill she has generously devoted to setting up our website www.feltwest.org.au. We anticipate it will be-come an invaluable tool that members will use for many reasons including to keep in touch with other members, see recent photos of other members’ work, check for new announcements of upcoming felting activities, renew their membership, as well as providing a handy reference point for members who tend to mislay paper (eg. it will display the calendar of upcoming FeltWest activities, the Felt-West supplier’s list, members’ contact details- in the members’ only section- etc)! 2007 promises to be another eventful year for FeltWest and we hope as many members as possible will take part in and enjoy the many activities planned….see the Schedule of Events and 2007 Calendar in this newsletter for dates and details. May Christmas be a time of peace and happiness for all of you and for your families. Virginia Campbell

2 FeltWEST newsletter

Virginia Campbell We have had some lively meetings this quarter. On 21st October we were very pleased to have Julie Williams back in our midst at Toss n Tell before she again departs – this time for Tokyo, US, UK, 2 months in India and then to China, before returning again to Perth in March 2007. It was also good to welcome our Treasurer, Lynda Palai, back after her travels and ad-ventures around South America, who brought some examples of South American textiles to show us including a fetching wool mask which Karen Wood kindly modeled for us Julie brought some examples of work she has done while felting her way around the US these past several months , which in-cluded some very fine scarves, beautiful rose adorned bags and a wool painting she completed after attending a workshop with Sharon Costello in Rensselaeville, NY, aptly entitled “Painting with Wool”. According to Julie, this work was dry needlefelted on a prefelted batt. She intends to finish the piece by wet felting it. We also admired a number of beautiful pieces of work recently completed by FeltWest mem-bers including Claire Adams’ exotic nuno felted scarf using glittery fringe from an old scarf, wool yarns and small pieces of patterned material on a fine wool batt, Shana Davies’ Monet inspired blue chiffon scarf with brilliant pink prefelted water lilies, and Beth Klokeid’s oh so fashionable flounced hipster cotton, tulle and wool felted skirt which a number of us wanted to buy but which she’d already sold! Jennifer Blair showed us her beautifully draping, very fine nuno felted silk chiffon wrap decorated with yellow and pink prefelted flowers, we were very interested to see Heather Davis’ delightful bright pink silk chiffon wrap nuno felted with brown and bright green prefelts, the latter highlighted by machine stitching, and we admired the light-ness, texture and shape of Dawn Nicholson’s summer felted hat (modeled by Judith Shaw).

Maureen Hill intrigued many with her pretty peach coloured cob-web creation inspired by her recent attendance at Chad Alice Hagen’s workshop. This was made from a $4 white batt she had purchased at the workshop but had found difficult to felt….possibly it contains some synthetic and is not 100% wool. Undeterred, she took the very lightly felted batt home, folded it into 4 (to reduce the amount of work), and secured marbles/glass beads with rubber bands evenly over its surface. She took the liquid left over from cooking 3-4 beetroot, added a slurp of white vinegar, brought this to the boil, added the batt and sim-mered this for about 40 minutes. She then let it sit overnight, al-lowed it to dry, before removing the marbles/beads and unfold-ing the piece to its original shape. While still not fully felted, the result is a lovely fine cobweb piece Maureen can carefully drape about her!

Also at this Toss n Tell Judith Shaw took the opportunity to kindly demonstrate carding meth-ods using different fleece and threads.

3 spring 2006

It has been and exciting and busy year for FeltWEST mem-bers, including visits by three international tutors who demon-strated a wide range of felting techniques and styles which ex-tended our own skills and capabilities. Our Toss’ n Tell felting days continue to be popular and it is always fascinating to see the very different types of garments and articles being produced. The monthly felting classes have been well attended throughout the year. We have finished planning the calendar for 2007 and the com-mittee has put together another exciting array of workshops, reviews in a schedule that includes another international tutor visit and a members’ Art Exhibition at Mundaring. I would like to thank the members and our hardworking com-mittee for making 2006 such a successful year. Enjoy the festive season break and I look forward to seeing you all in 2007. Liz Odd

president’s reportpresident’s reportpresident’s report new new new

membersmembersmembers

Robyn Beadle NOLLAMRA

Neroli Davey FLOREAT

Rosemarie Dufty RIDGEWOOD

Julie Farrington SAFETY BAY Maxine Franklin MORLEY

Jyah Gage BEACONSFIELD

Donna Glasson ALEXANDER HEIGHTS

Debbie Gugiatti SCARBOROUGH

Michelle Hay SHENTON PARK

Vicki Hearne MT CLAREMONT

Susan Hendroff QUINNS ROCKS Margaret Hetebry MARTIN

Sylvia Kennedy KALGOORLIE Colettle Lisoway CANADA

Carole Longden WINTHROP

Shelley Mason PALMYRA

Carolyn McCabe DOUBLEVIEW Malvina McKelvie MOSMAN PARK

Darriel Palfrey-Jones BUNBURY

Jaslyn Pearce CLAREMONT

Theresa Pitter THORNLIE

Johanna Pringle MT PLEASANT

Anne Salathiel DONNYBROOK Sangit Tafelmaier HAMILTON HILL One of the three visiting international tutors this year; Chad Alice

Hagen, second from right, speaking with Feltwest members

4 FeltWEST newsletter

felt the waterfelt the waterfelt the water——— Mundaring exhibition Mundaring exhibition Mundaring exhibition In the last newsletter we were delighted to announce that FeltWest had been invited from a large number of competing applicant groups and artists to exhibit at the Mundaring Arts Centre for a period of 4 weeks, including 5 weekends. All members are warmly invited to take up the challenge to submit as many marvelous quality pieces for exhibition and sale as they can. Please note the dates of the exhibition are a little later in the year than dates we were originally given, and should suit members better too, new dates are 30th March—29th April. The title of the exhibition is “Felt the Water”. The FeltWest Committee hopes members intend-ing to exhibit their work will find this theme relevant, topical, broad, inspiring and sufficiently ambiguous to give great scope to your imaginations! Think abundance of water, lack of water, vessels to hold water, vessels for pouring water. Think of range of water in size, shape, colour and movement –raindrop, puddle, ripple, bubble, cascade, sheet, sea, (and that’s just an initial stream of consciousness!) Then consider what’s under water, what’s on top of water, what’s shaped by water, what lies in water, the feeling water gives you, and life that depends on wa-ter. The possibilities are endless! Gallery-quality felted work submitted for exhibition can include rugs, sculpture, homewares, jewelry, wall hangings and wearable clothing –all which reflect the theme “Felt the Water”. The Gallery hire cost of $550 and the costs associated with the opening of the exhibition on Friday 30th March 2007 will be met by FeltWest and there will be no cost to individual exhibit-ers ( other than payment to the Arts Centre of commission on any work sold). The Committee is of the view this should encourage as many interested members as possible to submit suit-able pieces for exhibition, thereby promoting the making of quality felt in Western Australia and facilitating the sharing of feltmaking information and skills. Conditions of Entry set out by the Arts Centre are reproduced below for your information 1. There is limited display space. Artists may be limited to one artwork each. Preference may be given to smaller works with recommended size limitation being less than 2m.Three dimensional works will be displayed on plinths where suitable. 2. All artwork submitted will go before the Exhibitions Committee of the Mundaring Arts Centre to be approved before being exhibited. The Arts Centre reserves the right not to hang any art work. Artists will be notified before the exhibition opening if their work has not been selected. 3. All artwork must have been created within the last 12 months and must be the artist’s own original work. 4. All work submitted must be for sale. A Commission of 35% will apply to all work sold. 5. All work must be clearly identified on the back or base with your name, address, telephone number, title of the work and medium. Labels for the purpose will be supplied. 6. The Mundaring Arts Centre will allow artwork submitted to be reproduced in print and other media for the purpose of publicity unless advised otherwise by the artist. 7. The Mundaring Arts Centre will exercise reasonable care and will insure the artworks during the exhibition. Artists need to recognize that their artwork will be displayed in a public venue and are sub-ject to risk by unforeseen public action. Insurance only covers artworks from delivery date until pickup date. Insurance in transit is the artist’s responsibility. 8. All unsold artwork is to be collected from 10am-5pm Monday 30th April to continued next page

5 spring 2006

Thursday 3rd May. Mundaring Arts Centre will dispose of any work that is not collected within 12 months in any way it sees fit. Payment for works sold will be forwarded to artists after the exhibition has closed (usually mid month following the close). Please note an Exhibition Artist Information Sheet is included in this Newsletter and on the web site under the members only section. If you intend to exhibit any work, this form needs to be completed and submitted at the same time as your work is submitted for exhibition. Work for the exhibition is to be handed in at Toss n Tell on Saturday 17 March. Also accompanying your work should be an Artist’s Statement (a brief CV of past relevant study, work, past exhibitions of work, awards etc). Both the The Exhibition Artist Information Sheet and the Artist’s Statement can be prepared, if you wish, on 3 February at our ‘Preparation for Mundaring Arts Centre Exhibition” workday at Craft House (see FeltWest Schedule of Events for 2007 on page 8 of this Newsletter). Members are welcome to submit as many pieces as they wish. If pieces do not find a place in the gallery then they may find a place in the shop attached to the gallery. The Mundaring Arts Centre will determine which pieces will be exhibited and which will be displayed in the shop. We anticipate this FeltWest exhibition will be a very interesting experience for all our members and result in a marvelous amount of inspiring, diverse and beautiful work. To further encourage members to participate and to work on pieces for the exhibition we have formally allocated two Saturdays (the 3rd February and 3rd March 2007) as workdays for that very purpose. Please put all the above relevant dates in your 2007 diaries NOW (especially the date for submitting your work and the Exhibition’s opening date) and start felting the water!

felt the waterfelt the waterfelt the water——— continued continued continued

Left Jo Anne Saunt, models Beth Klokeid’s cotton, tule & wool felted skirt Right Judith Shaw demonstrates carding techniques at a Toss n Tell

6 FeltWEST newsletter

FeltWEST calendar 2007FeltWEST calendar 2007FeltWEST calendar 2007 We hope 2007 will be a year of new felting ideas and stimulation as well as a year to consoli-date and share some of the exciting felting techniques brought to us in 2006 by international tutors, Alexander Pilin, Chad Alice Hagen and Charlotte Buch. Because a large number of Felt-West members were not able to avail themselves of the opportunity to attend all workshops by each of these international tutors, we have devised a programme for 2007 whereby material learned in those workshops by participants can be shared with members in special workshops. There will be no charge for these special workshops. Apart from the above, we will also be holding workshops taught by a number of skilled and ex-perienced local tutors on a range of popular topics. Further information including workshop de-scriptions, fees, and enrolment forms will be advised in future newsletters and on our web-site.In addition, the Committee has developed a small programme of short talks/demonstrations/panel discussions to incorporate into Toss n Tell days on subjects which we hope will be useful and of interest to members. Finally, we are delighted to announce that in March-April 2007 internationally renowned feltmaker, Jorie Johnson, will be visiting us from Japan and will hold a two day and a three day workshop entitled “Seductive Surfaces/Shifting Shapes”- the exploration and development of the 3D possibilities of the felt surface and form through structural techniques and supplemental materials. Jorie’s most recent book, “Feltmaking and Wool Magic” (Quarry books, USA) was published in July this year. More about her and her work can be found on her website www.JoiRae.com . Further information including workshop descriptions, fees and enrolment forms will be sent out in the next Newsletter. As usual, all events take place at Craft House, Menora, unless otherwise stated. Most work-shops are scheduled for the first Saturday of each month, and workdays (Toss n Tell days) are scheduled for the 3rd Saturday of each month . Full details are also available on our website.

Left Karen Wood models a fantastic hat Lynda Palai brought back from South America Right Judith Shaw models Dawn Nicholson’s hat

7 spring 2006

calendar 2007 continuedcalendar 2007 continuedcalendar 2007 continued Sat 3 Feb Workday preparing work and artist’s statements for Mundaring Arts Centre

Exhibition (see FeltWest Newsletter #17 insert and Page 6) Sat 17th Feb Toss n Tell. Dolls for Africa Uthando Project (refer page 3 FeltWest News-

letter #16) Sat 3rd Mar Workday preparing for Mundaring Arts Centre Exhibition Sat 17th Mar Toss n Tell – hand in work for Mundaring Arts Centre Exhibition - Discus-

sion of Hanging Techniques by Liz Odd & Jan Stroud.

Sat 31st Mar- Sun 1st Apr

“Seductive Surfaces/Shifting Shapes” 2 day workshop with Jorie Johnson.

Tue 3rd Apr- Thu 5th Apr

”Seductive Surfaces/Shifting Shapes”, 3 day workshop with Jorie Johnson

Sat 7th Apr Easter Saturday – no workshop Sat 21st Apr Toss n Tell – Review of Jorie Johnson’s workshops and display of pieces

made there.

Sat 5th May “Surface Exploration” – Workshop with Lindy Frayne and Heather Davis to Explore the Techniques Taught by Charlotte Buch

Sat 19th May Toss n Tell – Panel Discussion of What is Good Felt Sat 2nd Jun Jacket Making – workshop with Soosie Jobson Thu 14th Jun – Sun 17th Jun

FeltWest Annual Retreat at Camp Simon, Rolleystone. Includes workshop on Fri 15th to explore the Techniques taught by Chad Alice Hagen

Sat 16th Jun Toss n Tell to be held at Camp Simon, Rolleystone (more details closer to the date)

Sat 7th Jul Slipper Making – workshop with Judith Shaw Sat 21st Jul Toss n Tell – Resists with Resists (short demonstration and talk by Heather

Davis) Sat 4th Aug FeltWest AGM Sat 18 Aug Toss n Tell – Fulled Knitting (short talk with samples by Louise Nidorf) Sat1st Sep “Exploring Colour and Surface Design” – workshop with Lee Anne Davis Sat 15th Sep Toss n Tell – Felt Jewelry (discussion with samples) Sat 6 Oct Workshop to Explore the Techniques taught by Jorie Johnson Sat 20th Oct Toss n Tell – Panel Discussion and Demonstration of Different Felting Ap-

proaches and Tools Sat 3 Nov Workshop with Jan Stroud to Explore the Techniques taught by Alexander

Pilin Sat 17 Nov FeltWest Christmas Party & Toss n Tell

Tue 27th Felt the Water Exhibition setup day

Fri 30th Apr Felt the Water Exhibition pack up day

Fri 30th Mar Felt the Water Exhibition Opening

8 FeltWEST newsletter

alice springs beanie fest alice springs beanie fest alice springs beanie fest www.beaniefest.org Soosie Jobson When people think of Alice Springs they usually think of temperatures in the 40’s, hot and dry, but during winter night temperatures plummet to below freezing! Hence a tradition of beanie wearing is part and parcel with desert living. The Alice Springs Beanie Fest celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. The festival is made up of Beanie Central, where beanies from around the world are on dis-play and for sale, free workshops, demonstrations, the Beanie Olympics, world record attempts and the Beanie Competition. The competition has 12 categories of which I was lucky enough to win one this year; Spirit of the Land, with a seamless resist beanie named “Mt Canyon”. As a dyed in the wool city girl, my then new partner (now some 20 years) dragged me out into the Australian bush. What, I couldn’t take my hairdryer and tongs? (It was the 80’s!) Yet what awaited me was truly astounding. I was completely enthralled by the break away country of the inland, the brilliance of the colours under the huge sky, the volume of space that surrounded us at every view. Endless miles on dirt roads then a “Mount” or “Canyon” would loom for us to explore at length, cool pools and shady trees await you in a hidden crev-ice. Surprise lizards on ledges, wild brumbies on the ridge and the ever red rocks, white trees, blues skies. We ended up living in various parts of the bush, remote, rural and town for 12 years.

Karen Wood has very kindly provided us with her elegant slipper pattern, with 3 variations, to share with members through the newsletter. You will find this reproduced as an insert to this Newsletter.

slippers patternslippers patternslippers pattern

website gallerywebsite gallerywebsite gallery Soosie Jobson A call for photos! We are creating a gallery to promote and demonstrate the quality and di-versity of felting in Western Australia. If you have a photo of your favourite piece of felt please submit it for the gallery. It can be any-thing as long as its made from felt and you are a member of FeltWEST. Be sure to include ♦ Your name ♦ The name of the piece (if any) ♦ Techniques or skills involved ♦ Materials you used ♦ Inspiration, story or criteria for the de-

sign and execution

♦ Competitions, parades or events that the item was included in

What got no photos!! It is a valuable tool to photograph the items you make and review them from time to time. Not just for the nos-talgia but as a visual record of your felting journey. So beg, borrow or steal a digital camera and get snapping. Email your blurb and photo to: photos@feltwest.org.au

9 spring 2006

Resist dyeing on hand felted woolResist dyeing on hand felted woolResist dyeing on hand felted wool Review of Chad Alice Hagen’s workshop by Judith Shaw Students dyed ready- made white felt with the aid of a variety of resist tools. Clips & Clamps included clothes pegs, office clamps, bobby pins, hair clips and a variety of paper clips. Ties to hold the resists in place were various: string, rubber bands, plastic tags & cable ties. Metal, wood and heat proof plastic was used to clamp wet felt with a flat piece either side of the work. Lightweight but well made felt was cut into small pieces to use as samples to create an exciting range of colour mixes, easy to fold and wrap. Felt was stitched while wet and gathered tightly to achieve a traditional “tree bark” look. Marbles, stones, beans and other objects were pushed into the felt and tied off tightly. When allowed to dry thoroughly, the felt assumed the shape of the insert. We used acid milling dyes, which were mixed and handled by the tutor, our Dye Master! Similar dyes are available here through Kraftkolour. Clear dye baths, with no dye, cooked and set the forms created in already dyed felt. We learned to transfer dyes to felt after first painting the dye on wood, paper and string. When clamped firmly on both sides, a mix of coloured shapes were produced, using two or three dye baths over previous colours and marks . As time ran out, students bursting with new ideas, made the most of the dye baths and continued to be newly excited with the opening of each piece. Tables were covered with eye catching pieces. Those fortunate enough to do these workshops have been urged to share their new found knowledge. . Resist methods creating colour, design & three dimensional embellishments to felt will influence and advantage Felt West members. Chad told us that she was pleased with our results which students were ready to agree was the product of her tightly structured class and the wide range of expertise and equipment she pro-vided.

Tips to remember. • Keep felt wet. Put felt into a plastic bag whilst waiting to dye it. • Use thin gloves when applying dye • Cover dye bench with thick layers of news-paper and add more as the papers become stained • Tightly applied clamps produce the clearest marks • Rubber bands, size 8 recommended, can be used instead of thread to make peaks or contain marbles. • Before using string or thread to bind or gather, wet it and test it for strength. • Sewing needles to stitch wet felt need to

Assortment of items used as resists or clamps

10 FeltWEST newsletter

have a large eye and a very sharp point. • White newsprint paper is absorbent and can be painted with dye to apply colour. • Pieces of plastic are used to separate colours within a folded length. Plastic is cut to approx. the same size as the flat resists which hold the folds in place once they are clamped to-gether. • It is easy to forget how a specific result was achieved, but close observation will reveal the way it was folded and marked. • Use dyes in a well ventilated place, preferably outside in the open air.

• Stainless steel dye pots are preferred • After removing dyed items from the bath they are rinsed in cool water. • Use heavy kitchen gloves to handle hot dyed wool and protective pot mitts to handle lids etc. • Dispose of used dye water sensibly. • If working with a group, make certain everyone applies a waterproof tag to their work which may not be recognizable when it comes from the dye bath. Try waterproof paper, used by the Post Office for some envelopes, and nylon string. Write with waterproof ink. Suitable pens are available from art suppliers. • Browse in hardware stores for plates and clamps. Buy two of any flat plates, one for each side of the work and clamps suitable for the thickness you choose. • When the felt is already dyed and mar-bles or stitch added, it is processed in a clear dye bath of water and citric acid at 175 Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, as for dye bath, in order to set the shapes. Strongest shapes are achieved by allowing work to dry thoroughly before undoing. • For a group, appoint a Dye Master to be responsible. Chemicals and dye baths are potentially dangerous Dye baths can be re-used, especially if mov-ing from light to darker colours.

11 spring 2006

geelong forumgeelong forumgeelong forum———TAFTA TAFTA TAFTA Soosie Jobson My first trip to the Geelong Forum was last year (2005) and what a year it was, I participated in resist felting with May Jacobson Hvistendahl from Norway and millinery with Waltraud Reiner from Torb & Reiner in Melbourne. I was completely hooked and immediately started planning for 2006, including how to get my Mum (who lives in South Australia) to come with me. This year I attended the Mask Making workshops with New Zealand tutor Annette Rose. We had a fantastic time creating some amazing pieces and then wondering how on earth I was going to get them home to Fremantle. There are so many aspects of this wonderful forum that it’s hard to know where to start. So let’s go through the list. Firstly the first thing that strikes you is the physical environment, the forum is held in Geelong Grammar School on Corio Bay. The school is 150 years old with the majority of the architecture being from that period. It even has its own Hogwarts dining room, I kept expecting to see “nearly headless Nick” at every meal! The grounds are sprawling with the accommodation facilities stretching around the immaculate cricket oval that overlooks the sailing facility on the bay. The next thing that impacts is the atmosphere; from the welcoming smiles at registration through to finding your room for the week it continues to build. If you don’t wish to eat, breathe and drink art then this isn’t the place for you! Many of these women only see each other once a year at the forum but it’s like you saw them yesterday. International tutors, well known Austra-lian artists, hobbyists and forum “virgins” all mingle together in an incredibly nourishing atmos-phere. The artists give talks in the lecture theatre most nights, for the first few nights everyone attends, but as the week and workshops develop, many opt to work “overtime” and burn the midnight oil. But it always culminates in supper in the great hall. The range of the workshops is astonishing, this year they ranged from some traditional crafts with a twist; Reverse Appliqué through to shoe making and kite construction. On the Saturday morning there is an exhibition of everyone’s work and an artist’s bazaar in the dining room, people from Melbourne flock to both for some pre Christmas shopping. Many things progress as the week unfolds, with impromptu performances on mobility scooters, fantastic costumes at dinner, the usual scuttlebutt and goss, not to mention the grand finale “La Party”. The party is an opportunity to wear your most outrageous attire and perhaps participate in your workshops contribution to the night’s entertainment. This year our group paraded our masks, whilst others showed off their wonderful creations. The kite making group fluttered in wearing their kites! The entire experience for me is one of inspiration, friendship, fun, networking and skill attain-ment, not just from the tutors but from the wonderfully giving and sharing participants. So far, my studio is a flurry of activating after each forum and I hope it continues that way. As I said to Mum when we left her in the Barossa Valley, only 50 weeks to go!

12 FeltWEST newsletter

chad in geelongchad in geelongchad in geelong Lee Anne Davis Why Geelong and not Perth? A question I was asked. Answer: Five days of felting, stitching/resisting, dying and more stitching…… what bliss. In truth, I was in awe of Chad’s felted works of art (her version of nomadic rugs), I just had to know how they were created. In viewing the slide show, doing the workshop, and listening to Chad, an insight into the im-mense undertaking required to create one of her works was gained. The workshop provided detailed info and technical know-how for dying the felt - a seemingly endless variety of techniques in an explosion of activity that went on for days - and then Chad applied the brakes, “STOP”. What now? What do we do with our beautiful stacks of dyed felt? Chad sat us down asked us to close our eyes and imagine our samples as something else, to be brave and pickup up those scissors and cut, cut, cut. So after the flurry came the meditative process of transforming our samples through cutting, arranging and stitching. The slide show took us through Chad’s journey in discovering felt; with the underlying point be-ing there are ‘no disasters’. Transform the disaster from the contrived to the sublime. During the slide show Chad quoted many little tales with her dry Midwest humour that had us all belly laughing, I will attempt to repeat one of her tales because it demonstrates her view on ‘no dis-asters’. Chad stopped at one of her slides and proceeded to tell us that it was created for an exhibition: “I thought this was it, a master piece, this piece will make me famous”. She then takes photos and sends them to the exhibition organisers. Days later it’s “Oh my God what was I thinking? It’s hideous. I can’t send this piece to an exhibition”. Chad proceeds to the next slide, and ex-plains how the piece is cut up rearranged and all sewn back together again; the piece looks completely different from the previous. Chad goes on to say that she receives a letter from the exhibition organisers announcing that they will be using the image of her piece to advertise the exhibition. What do you do? Sent the piece anyway! Of course the organisers ring to say ‘you’ve sent the wrong piece’. Chad explains it’s the same piece only better!

country members country members country members In the interest of fairness for all our members when workshop application forms are inclusions in the newsletter the postings are staggered. Country members’ newsletters are posted one to two days before city folks’, depending on their location. This ensures all members have equal access to all workshops run by Feltwest. This process has been in operation for the last 18 months or so. You can be assured that just because you are not in the metro area you are not forgotten nor hindered by postal delays. Any problems re your newsletter delivery please email me, Jo-Anne Saunt, medelect@bigpond.net.au, or phone me on 08 9381 8174. Happy reading!

13 spring 2006

charlotte buch reviewcharlotte buch reviewcharlotte buch review Heather Davis Charlotte Buch bowled us over with her amazing collection of felt samples and clothing. Each piece was stunning and there were just so many! Charlotte talked about how she felted, and then left us to explore the zillion ideas she had filled our heads with. I was totally overwhelmed with the possibilities. From laying up to finishing, she suggested small differences which would make life easier and felt better. Charlotte began by telling us to lay our wool like we would walk in the mountains. A more random up and down system, rather than in the typical lines we usually do. This was to ensure a more even felt. No soap! Merino is so lovely we don’t need soap! No rolling! No rolling at all! We couldn’t be-lieve it, our backs sighed with relief. We laid our wool like we walk in the mountains on a smooth lining fabric and wet it out with water. We rolled a wet towel into the centre and then rolled the wet wool fibre up in the lining fabric. Tied it up, popped it in the tumble dryer on hot, and made a cup of tea. The roll tumbled while we drank tea and chatted. Out it came 15 min-utes later as a pre-felt! We peeled it off the fabric with a bit of a tug. Great stuff! Already im-pressed with this method, I cheerfully popped my re-wetted pre-felt into a plastic bag and back into the hot tumble dryer. Time for more tea! Another 15 minutes with a couple of checks and stretching in between and I had felt. Beautiful well finished felt. A few of Charlotte’s samples that struck me as effective illustrated some interesting techniques she shared with us. These included the simple layering of lightweight fabrics, building up lay-ers of fabric to create different tones of the same colour, and cutting out sections from your pre-felt and covering with fabric to create colourful windows when felted. Other techniques dis-cussed were felting mohair yarns onto tissue silk without using any additional wool and using resists in areas of your nuno to create pockets. She also suggested simple design ideas, such

as avoiding straight lines and gently curving the edges of the fabrics you are including in your felt work. This means the fabric stops looking stuck on and seems considered and or-ganic. There was a lot to learn, and I still feel my brain turning over the inspiration. my fingers are restless and ready to felt, and of course my new best friend, the tumble dryer, is happy to oblige.

14 FeltWEST newsletter

dyeing safelydyeing safelydyeing safely Ruth Walker I have a stove and hood in my garage with good lighting all around. All the pots, measuring cups and spoons, and the space itself are dedi-cated to dyeing. Getting the dissolved dye on the skin is no-where near as bad as breathing in the dust – the dry dye powder. I got this information from the MSD sheets, which I requested from Prochemical, the company from which I buy the dyes. Dyepots are never brought to a full boil – it would felt the wool. Bring them to a very gentle simmer; thus, there is not a lot of ‘steamage’. Don’t open the lids of the pots until they are well cooled, which also reduces the amount of the fumes. But it is the dry dye dust that can be danger-ous. You must handle the dye powder as if it is dangerous. Don’t have fans blowing when you’re measuring out powder – you want the air to be very still. Chad Alice Hagen teaches the construction of a little dye measuring chamber into which your hands, your scale and your measuring instru-ments fit. (Construct this from a large enough box, cut out the walls and leave the edges and corners for the bare structure. Cover in clear plastic so you can see what you’re doing). A respirator is for fumes. Our vastly larger con-cern is for the powder, and that can be taken care of with a simple dust mask. Wear gloves, a dust mask, and a large shirt that you’ll leave in the dyeing area and not wear all over the house, carrying powder with you like ‘Typhoid Mary’ dispensing virus. Wear ‘dyeing shoes’ that you also don’t wear into the house. The big dyeing companies can’t control what we’re do-ing so we have to practice our art safety. (reprinted with kind permission from Echoes, issue 83, June 2006)

Top: Charlotte Buch in action Below: Lindy Frayne

charlotte buch charlotte buch charlotte buch workshop actionworkshop actionworkshop action

15 spring 2006

Judy Calderwood Since the Royal Show in 2005 I have been teaching people with disabili-ties at the Diversional Therapy Association of WA to felt. My first student was David, who I thought I would probably only teach for a few weeks but who I have been now teaching for over a year. He has many interesting and different projects and we have had some fun times doing them. Having worked out his strengths and weaknesses, I only help when he needs me to. Some members met David when he came with me to one of our Toss n Tell days earlier this year. After working with David I have worked out a few techniques for people with special needs so they can make felt from abstract to fine detailed work (and anything in between), making it possible for them to do craft work and not just sit there doing nothing. One method I have found suc-cessful is to use wool batts, prefelts or wool wadding usually found in quilts (as long as it has only 5% synthetic content) as a base for stu-dents to then add a layer of wool and any decoration they may choose. This works better than having students try to lay the base themselves using wool tops, which involves greater dexterity and concentration than many can manage. It also ensures the piece will be relatively even and of a similar size and shape to other students’ work – very important if they are making squares to combine into a group quilt! I also find that wetting the wool base before students add further wool or decoration tends to help them stick the pieces on more easily. Some students are able to roll their work themselves, others need help with rolling. I have also done a demonstration at the Little Sister of the Poor for the Diversional Therapy Association. There were 23 ladies from different nursing homes around Perth and lots of interest was shown. Some made felt squares decorated with flowers, patterns, scenes and even a Scottish tartan. I have also been to a Diversional Skills seminar at Bun-bury for therapists throughout the south west, teaching 12 ladies in the morning and 13 in the afternoon. Their response to art work was terrific and they were very enthusiastic about their achievements. I will be go-ing to Kalgoorlie at the end of November to teach 2 groups, one of Di-versional Skills and the other a group of ladies who saw me demonstrat-ing at the Perth Show recently. I would like to thank all the ladies who helped out at the Royal Show on my stall for the past 2 years. Your help was greatly appreciated. This year we were joined by machine knitters, hand knitters and people mak-ing crochet. Next year there will be 3 Dimensional Weaving and Wool Embroidery demonstrations.

people with disabilities & feltpeople with disabilities & feltpeople with disabilities & felt

Top: Sample from Charlotte Buch’s workshop Below: Beth Klokeid’s felted skirt

16 FeltWEST newsletter

Text-isle 07: 15th-20th January 2007 A Regional Forum co-ordinated by Adult Education, Tasmania and supported by TAFTA Venue: Launceston Church Grammar School. Residential and non residential options available. Tutors include Aukje Boonstra : The Essence of Na-ture and Beyond (Natural Dye-ing), Liz Evans : Pre Felt Colour Magic, and Waltraud Reiner : The Heart and Soul of Hats Contact: Adult Education 03 6336 2802 or email Nancy.Chilcott@education.tas.gov.au International Millinery Forum, February 4th -9th 2007 Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW: Offering a very wide range of workshops including Theatrical Millinery, Felt making, Hand-made Felt Hoods, Hot Blocking for Felt, Straw and Cloth Hats, Creating Blocks for Hats, Retro Hats from Flat Felt Skirting, French Flower Making, 3D Hand knitting, Unique Trims, Lost Techniques, Fantastic Feathers and Fur, Crinoline Techniques, Images in Fleece as well as tuition from leading milliners from London, USA, Austria, Germany, New Zealand and Australia. Budding and pro-fessional milliners welcome. There is a Trade expo and pro-gramme of extra curricular ac-tivities also .For details contact the Program Coordinator on 02 69332064 or email: com-med@csu.edu.au. Web: www.csu.edu.au/student/community-ed

Royal Canberra Show and Crafts Expo:. 23-25 February, 2007. Exhibition Park in Canberra, Flemington Road, Mitchell. Over the years the Crafts Expo has been a major opportunity for members of Canberra Re-gional Feltmakers Inc to show-case their considerable feltmak-ing expertise. The theme for the 2007 Craft Expo is Sun Surf and Sand. It is also possible to exhibit. Entries close 15th De-cember 2006, late entries close 8 January 2007 but attract a $10 late fee. Entry forms and schedule are available from the show website at www.rncas.org.au/showwebsite/mainhtml. Click ‘Competitions’ and scroll down to ‘craft’. Can-berra Region Feltmakers are now formally sponsoring the Felting Section. International Feltmakers Association Conference and AGM : 29th March – 1st April 2007 Venue – Swansea University, Wales, UK A full four day pro-gramme including a four hour workshop with each of the fol-lowing tutors- Clare Diprose (UK) “ Landscapes - Seeing is Believing” (see her work at www.somersetartweek.org.uk), Liz Clay (UK) “Bound to Please” – producing a small book of felt papers using Coptic binding, Brigitte Krag-Hansen (Denmark) “Little Needlefelted People” (see her work at www.feltmaking.dk) and May Jacobson Hvistendahl (Norway) “Felt Wearable” (see her work at www.filtmaker.no). For further details contact Kirsten Hill-Nixon, Conference Convenor, at swan-seafelt@tiscali.co.uk Telephone 01275 873568.

Textiles Horsham: 9th -13th April 2007 Longerenong College, Horsham. Victoria You have opportunity to work with international and national artists including Ilze Aviks (USA) masterclass: Mark Making, Kate Green (UK): Expressions in Paint and Stitch, Ruth Isset (UK): Surfaces to Dye for, Jorie Johnson (Japan): Seductive Sur-faces in Felt, Ruth Lee (UK): Big Knitting – Sculptural Forms. Fees $765 fully residential, ac-commodation, meals and work-shop, lectures or $510 non resi-dential. $100 Deposit required. Download further information and enrolment form from website www.mannmaid.com.au or phone Glenys Mann 02 6766 3596 April Forum – Orange. NSW: 15th- 21st April 2007 Orange is 3 hours drive west of Sydney. There has been a major international Forum in April each year since 1991.Tutors at the April 2007 Forum include those at Horsham (listed above) as well as Susan Holmes (NZ):Dyeing to Dress Up, Anita Larkin (AUST): Sculpture in Felt, Barbara Schey (AUST): Shibori with Attitude, Christine Yarker (AUST):Fantastic Foundation Hats, and many others. Venue is Kinross Wolaroi School in Orange, NSW, and incorpo-rates the PLC campus as well. Full Course Details and enrol-ment form available from TAFTA, PO Box 38, The Gap, Qld 4061, Janet De Boer 07 33006491 or email tafta@iinet.net.au , or see Tex-tile Fibre Forum No 83, 2006 page 14, or log onto www.ggcreations.com.au for more details.

participationparticipationparticipation

17 spring 2006

informationinformationinformation

opportunitiesopportunitiesopportunities

The 9th Southern Hemi-sphere Feltmakers Con-vergence 19-25 May 2007 Beechworth Victoria. This inter-national event welcomes feltmakers from around the globe, regardless of skill level. Details are at www.feltconvergence.com in-cluding a link to submit your email address and receive news updates. If you don’t have internet access, updates can be posted to you. Please contact Jan during business hours on 03) 9670 7631 or send your contact details to: 151 McKean Street, North Fitzroy VIC 3068 Australia Evolution in Threads – An Exhibition of Tradi-tional and Contempo-rary Embroidery and Lace: 23rd – 27th May 2007 Perth Convention Centre, part of the Craft and Quilt Fair 2007. Enquiries: Valerie Cavill 08 93862196.Web: www.embroidersguild.wa.org.au Rapt in Felt : 31st May-3rd June 2007 Canberra Region Feltmakers’ annual Exhibition and Bazaar, CSIRO Discovery Centre, Black Mountain, Canberra. Contact CRF PO Box 8024 Rivett, ACT 2611 Wagin Woolorama: Wool Agency - Designer of the Year Award : 9th – 10th March 2007 This award was started last year to promote wool and WA Designers. It is open to all de-signers, students and craftsper-

sons .Entrants are required to design and make a full outfit (shirt and trousers or dress etc) from a fabric containing wool in a standard size 10 or 12 (menswear must be a standard M or L). Other fabrics may be incorporated into your entry (eg .leather, fur, lace, beads etc). Proof of wool content of your garment together with a written portfolio which includes the story/inspiration behind your design and fabric used should also be submitted with the gar-ment. Points will be awarded for your portfolio which should be no more than 3 A4 pages.

Entry form, garment and fee of $15 per entry must be received at the Wagin Agricultural Society Office at Wagin Showgrounds (PO Box 241 Wagin, WA 6315) by Friday 9th February 2007.Judging will take place on Monday 12th February 2007. Garments will be paraded at the Wagin Woolarama, WA’s pre-mier rural show (230km SE of Perth) on 9th and 10th March 2007. First prize is $1000 and there are 2 further prizes of $200. Please contact for further details Robyn Blanchett, Ph 98616011. email: woolo-rama@westnet.com.au

The Australian Wool Fashion Awards for 2007 are inviting entries. There are many categories in the various sections plus a Supreme Award to the value of $5,000 judged across all sections. Entries close 16 February 2007. The Award ceremonies are held in Armidale in NSW March 2007 when 100 garments are chosen to be pa-raded. Entry forms are available from TAWFA, PO Box 120 Armi-dale. NSW 2350 or email liz@tawfa.com.au Web: www.tawfa.com.au phone:02 67712733

The 5th Melbourne Scarf Festival, “Spin Off”: 25 June-7 July 2007

For further information and to send expressions of interest email scarf2007@craftvic.asn.au

Members who are interested in Julie Williams’ example of paint-ing in wool (above) may like to look out for a new work book by Pat Sparks, “Watercolour Felt. A Guide to Making Pictorial Felts Using Wet and Dry Felting Meth-ods” The workbook is divided into 2 sections – the first section de-scribes basic felting techniques while the second section is a se-ries of samplers which takes you through various needle and wet felting methods you need. Meth-ods for working from photo-graphs to create images are also included. Echoes issue 84 Sep-tember 2006)

Jo-Anne Saunt wearing her nuno felted fitted vest.

18 FeltWEST newsletter

Membership fee: $25.00 per year ,$30 overseas members - includes receiving our quarterly newsletter Renewals due: 1st July each year Send to: Lynda Palai Treasurer 41 Rhonda Ave, Willetton, 6155 WA Name: Address: Suburb: State: Post Code: Phone: Fax: email:

I grant permission for FeltWEST to publish my contact details in our newsletter once a year (this will enable everyone to contact each other more easily).

yes no

Where do we meet?

Place: Craft House, Alexander Park, Clyde Street Menora 6050 Time: Toss n Tell Workday 3rd Saturday of each month 9:30am to 3:00pm

Contact: Lindy Frayne 9337 4069 or feltwest@hotmail.com

year receipt no.

Liz Odd, President 22 Hornsey Road, Floreat 6014 ph: 9383 7395 mobile: 0419 965 876 fax: 9383 7724 email: odds@bigpond.net.au

Judith Shaw, Vice President 30 Pascoe Street, Karrinyup 6018 ph: 9447 5659 email: jaymshaw@hotmail.com

Lindy Frayne, Secretary 16 Long Street, Beaconsfield 6162 ph: 9337 4069 email: lindyfrayne@hotmail.com

Lynda Palai, Treasurer 41 Rhonda Ave, Willetton 6155 mobile: 0411 664 105 email: lyndapalai@optusnet.com.au

Virginia Campbell, Editor 62 Goldsmith Road, Dalkieth 6009 ph: 0416 264 175 email: vcam1917@bigpond.net.au

Soosie Jobson, Sub-Editor 2 Fisher Street, White Gum Valley 6162 Mobile: 0433 621154 email: Soosie@soosie.com.au

Jennifer Blair, Committee 193 Labouchere Road, Como 6152 ph: 9474 1741 email: jenb@westnet.com.au

Nancy Ballesteros, Committee 6 Benwee Road, Floreat 6014 ph: 9387 3007 fax: 9387 1747 email: nancy@treetopscolours.com.au

Heather Davis, Committee PO Box 99, Northbridge 6865 Ph: 9228 4034 email: hairytreefairy@hotmail.com

Jo-Anne Saunt, Committee 3 Tipperary Mews, Subiaco 6008 Ph: 9381 8174 email: medelect@bigpond.net.au

Jan Stroud, Committee 3 Tecoma Street, Duncraig 6023 ph: 9447 4833 email: sjstroud@iprimus.com.au

FeltWESTinc Meet: Toss n Tell workdays - 3rd Saturday of each month (except January & December) Place: Craft House, Clyde Road, Menora, WA 6050 Time: 9:30 - 3.00 bring your lunch Charge:$1.00 members, tea/coffee provided

FeltWESTinc committee members

FeltWEST inc membership / renewal form

Bunbury Felters - meet 1st Friday of each month, for more details contact Val Hornibrook (08) 97271968

moving? make sure your FeltWEST newsletter follows you to your new address

19 spring 2006

toss n tell check list - sign in and pay $1 plastic for table Towels—at least 3 - to keep the floor dry bamboo mat and/or bubble wrap, pole netting wool, silk, yarns fabric scissors

name tag soap water container bucket (good for taking wet things home) lunch Show and tell items

needing two tables - remember to book

see schedule of events and billboard for further details

februaryfebruaryfebruary 3 sat Felt the Water Exhibition work day 17 sat Toss’n’Tell—Uthando Doll project

marchmarchmarch 3 sat Felt the Water Exhibition work day 17 sat Toss n Tell—Exhibition hand in day 27 tue Felt the Water Exhibition setup day 30 fri Felt the Water Exhibition opens 31 sat Jorie Johnson —Seductive Surfaces/Shifting Shapes

aprilaprilapril 1 sun Jorie Johnson —Seductive Surfaces/Shifting Shapes 3-4-5 tue, wed, thu Jorie Johnson —Seductive Surfaces/Shifting Shapes 21 sat Toss n Tell — Jorie workshop review 30 fri Felt the Water Exhibition packup

Full calendar details are available on our website in the Events Calendar section. www.feltwest.org.au