Feltmaking

  • Feeling a moistened bundle of fine wool slipping over the surface of my skin,

    gently tickling it with my fingertips and coaxing the fibers to tangle more closely-to form their own skin-This is the magic of feltmaking.

  • Simply Felt

    When I create felt, my initial gesture of laying out wisps of wool fiber is as delicate as protecting a seeding dandelion from the warm summer wind. Then I wet the fibers and the felting begins. But just minutes into the process, as the fibers begin to tangle from my touching and the bundle begins to gain strength, I rub with much greater force, working deeply into the mass of the fibers. I work harder, with more soap and hotter water, squeezing and pressing the fibers into each other to finally entwine them into a firm, dense formation of felt.
  • The possibilities of working with this reactive material are endless. Tufts of wool can be worked into limitless sculptural forms;...

    The possibilities of working with this reactive material are endless.

    Tufts of wool can be worked into limitless sculptural forms; longer fibers spread into thin overlapping layers can be felted as textile sheets. Beyond techniques like creating dense forms and fabrics solely from wool, I can also coax the fibers through the weave of lightweight and sheer fabrics, creating new felted versions of woven structures. These novel structures retain their translucence, yet are reinforced with new textural strength and can be shaped and draped with more intention.

  • Planning and Layout

    Although the concept of creating felt is quite simple and requires very little equipment, it involves a great deal of patience, physical control, and strength from the artist. When dry wool is assembled into a layout, it must be designed for the shrinkage that occurs from the tight locking of the wool (this is called fulling). Shrinkage is anywhere from 15% to 50% depending on the specific wool and how the wet process is executed.

    Planning and Layout Although the concept of creating felt is quite simple and requires very little equipment, it involves a...
  • Wet Felting The more I explore larger and increasingly complex the pieces, the more physically exhausting the work of felting...

    Wet Felting

    The more I explore larger and increasingly complex the pieces, the more physically exhausting the work of felting becomes. Layouts of heavy, wool ribs demand I adapt both my studio and my physical process. Large pools of water are constructed to float the complex wool layouts, adding buoyancy and relieving the weight and stress of the heavy, water-logged wool while I agitate the fibers, tangling them into dense FELT.

  • Finishing Skills I developed in the thirteen years building furniture in my twenties and beyond, inform the meticuliously finished surfaces...

    Finishing

    Skills I developed in the thirteen years building furniture in my twenties and beyond, inform the meticuliously finished surfaces of my textiles, as well as the mounting and framing. Archival practices are adhered to as much as possible in all aspects of the final production of a work. Frames and mounting structures are created in house using a variety of suitable methods.