Earlier this year, the International Feltmakers Association commissioned me to make a video presentation for their members for the AGM. Here’s an introduction to the project: Creative Sparks.
At this time in feltmaking, we have so many bright, exciting techniques to choose from, but that choice can also be paralyzing, keeping us from engaging with making.
This project looks at working with simple techniques and familiar materials, but in a playful and exploratory way. Perfect for uplifting us out of a creative slump, or as a simple reminder to play with design and enjoy the process! Appropriate for both new and experienced feltmakers.
We start by making a large piece of light prefelt, in two colours. This prefelt piece gets cut into 9 or 16 small blocks. 16 creative prompts are demonstrated to be added to one or more of the blocks. We look lightly at the colour wheel and colour work, forms, and repetition, adding small touches with common materials that in the end create a beautiful, harmonious set of felt tiles. Each prompt can be taken beyond this project and used to add creative sparks to any felt project. The finished felt tiles can be kept in pattern, as they were made, or can be moved around, turned or exchanged, to create whole new patterns in the finished look of the piece. We finish by looking at mounting these tiny artworks as a collection.
Members really enjoyed the project and pieces started appearing all over social media as people engaged with the process. This prompted the idea of collecting as many of the finished works as possible to show them as they might be mounted in an exhibition. Perfect for this project where each tile is unique in each set, but the tiles all work together very well. And each individual’s work based on the same creative prompts is also unique, and together they create a beautiful tapestry of colour and abstract design. It has been a fabulous community-based project. We had 94 pieces submitted for inclusion in the collection, but many, many more have been made over the last 6 months. It is such a joy to see these! I’ve spent many hours carefully viewing each set submitted and posted online- they are all treasures!
Enjoy this video showing the individual works, and the slow building of the community-made collection- set by set.
This video was created by Struan Ashby, New Zealand. I thank him wholeheartedly for being able to jump on board with my vision, and for his skill, patience and tenacity in the creation of this video presentation.
This project will be available as a guided workshop in early 2022!
The tutorial is fabulous & this collaboration is just wonderful!
Such a range of colours, designs, textures….wonderful