I've been having some fun this last week/weekend doing some felt consultancy work for Pollika. Pollika are a fibre company based in Vancouver who are the North American distributors for many European brands, including De Witte Engel and Painters Threads. I've been working with them to develop felting kits for [...]
This coat made it's first appearance in my sketchbook early in the year. Once I had opneed up some creative time this week, it positioned itself determinedly in the forefront of my attentions, allowing for no distraction. It is a felt jacket, created all in one piece, with lots of [...]
As usual, it's been a very busy few weeks! I've rebranded my handyed yarn and fibre company, Kattikloo, all ready for FibresWest in Vancouver last week. I still have to make all the website changes and load up the shop, now that I'm back...but it still feels like a major [...]
On every walk, I fall behind the rest of my family, camera in hand taking pictures of grasses, barks, water, frost, colours....whatever catches my eye... The images live in my hard drives...my computer and my mind, until they are ready to come to life in a new form. This cowl, [...]
Nui Shibori Scarves- Creating Texture with Felting Yarns on Silk:Shibori is a Japanese textile art form that has come to mean cloth that has been bound or compressed. This is accomplished through stitching, clamping, knotting or folding, then processed through dyeing or heating to add a new "memory" to the [...]
This is my most recent in the series of scarves/wearables I've been making, inspired by the Korean art of Joomchi- a paper art form and process. The exploration has culminated in pieces that hold three aspects of surface design...all of which have a basis in geology.... a relationship between rock [...]
The last two weeks have been the most delicious, intense, creative times. My cousins/kindred spirits have been visiting from New Zealand. Family that I have only met a handful of times, often with a decade in between visits, but who travel with me always and close by! While Erica [...]
Felting with resists to create interesting surfaces....an exploration in materials...I'm enjoying tossing around in my head the language of another craft, Joomchi, while exploring this feltwork...the making of pockets.... Using different materials to create bubble and pockets....tyvek, high thread count quilting cottons, woven interfacing, non woven interfacings, cotton battings.....I [...]
I recently came across two books...images on the covers that stopped my steps and set my heart beating a little faster.... Yesterday's studio inspiration came from Joomchi and Beyond by Jiyoung Chung. It is an enticing craft form....similar to felting, but also different. I love finding a medium new [...]
Foxglove Farm, SaltSpring Island, British Columbia October 19/20/21st, 2012 10:00am-4:00pm + evenings The British Columbia retreat will be hosted at the very beautiful and charming Foxglove Farm. The farm is located on one of the original homesteads on the island, surrounded by hundreds of acres of protected forest [...]
It's been busy, busy in the studio the last few weeks....and maybe more busy in my head as I clear house and make way to fulfill my destiny (doesn't that sound grand! It just popped into my head.....You could also read.... solidify my Fall/Winter/Spring creative calendar....Shuffle the deck to [...]
So it's not quite tomorrow, as in when I said I was going to post the finished pictures of these.....but taking into account summer time, island time and Fiona time...I'm feeling pretty happy to be only a day out! The dye pot called for a bright poppy.....a blend of orange [...]
Oh My! I've been in and out of town....preparing for gallery shows, preparing for fiber trade shows, preparing for studio visitors.....a summer whirlwind of wool and colour.... But now I'm back....and not going to any more (far away) shows until late September, so I can settle in to an [...]
This summer I'm exploring ways to incorporate as much three dimensional texture as possible into my work. It such a fun experiment...I love that I can be making items to sell, while playing..... These experiments often involve trips to the hardware store...hardware and building materials seem a good combination with [...]
The Studio is now open! The retail studio space is now open and welcoming visitors....Most days from 11:00am- 5:00pm. 344 Fulford-Ganges Road-Salt Spring Island, BC. Do stop in-I'd love to see you! A little tour of the inside... Felt Purses, Scarves, Cowls, Lighting, Shibori Felt, Shibori Silk and Organic Cotton [...]
I really love this new dye pattern....I'm seeing it on one whole collection...purses, scarves, jackets...I so want to make the jacket! I'll be selling these all summer at the studio, and this winter at the shows.... These are all made with Blue Faced Leicester rovings...all in white then dyed after....Beautiful [...]
I need to order a large amount of wool for the studio this summer...mostly for getting ready for the One of A Kind show this November. I've been trying to decide exactly what wool to get, then came across a solution... a smaller order...a sampling of wool breeds to [...]
I'll be teaching three classes this Spring at Fibres West in Abbotsford BC. For more information and to register, visit the Fibres West website: www.fibreswest.com Friday March 16th, 10:00am -1:00pm Nuno Felted Scarves: During this hands on class, we’ll create a gossamer light, wool felt scarf in a luscious combination [...]
This is a project we worked on a while ago...another collaboration of wood and wool.... Felt flooring in our living room..... It was such a great, exciting experiment....The idea jumped into view while Graham and I were on the ferry from Vancouver island to Salt Spring one [...]
Luckily for me, I had a board meeting to go to yesterday which got me out of the house, into the great bright, white outdoors early in the morning. I needed that reminder to stop working and get outside.... So later in the day we went down to Fulford, [...]
Ahhhh...First Felt of 2012 is finished....I'm so happy with the results....It feels like a just the right starting point and direction to head in for this year. My peacock blue plans ventured into inky midnights... My red (to be purple) mini pocket disappeared into the depths-The purple becoming barely discernible [...]
First Felt...isn't that a glorious notion? The other night was movie night here, and I was not that into it, so I ventured outside into the darkness and illuminated my studio....What a refreshing time. I never think to go out there in the evenings......usually by then I'm pretty tired anyway. [...]
Mmmmm...I've been wanting to work more with wool locks and felting...I got to play a bit with this with some new pieces I've been making for WinterCraft. This is the layout for two scarves. I love laying out the layers of white. It's so serene amd perfect. There is an [...]
I have been working, working, working in the studio recently, and will fill you in on all the details but in an effort to get back into the swing of things here, a few playful pictures of one of today's projects: Using different breeds of sheeps wool in balls and [...]
I just received a package in the mail...a lovely package sent for no particular occasion...just to make me feel happy! What a great surprise and a truly uplifting package it is..both because of the potential of the materials inside and also because of the sweet intention of the sender... [...]
This is a project of time and meditation...an idea that sprang into being and had to be made..and although not in accordance to the timing anticipated, maybe the right timing in it's own way. This is my PeaceFelt project. I was completely set to start making this on September 23rd, [...]
I dyed this scarf using the traditional flag fold. I don't yet have pictures of how to make these folds, but I think I'll do some this week and add them here. I folded the scarves in half along the length and folded them up in triangular sections. [...]
