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| view from my classroom |
I’ve just arrived home from a very beautiful trip. As mentioned before, Texas was fantastic- such a great group of creative people. I had a few days before the beginning of the Felters Rendezvous and I had some writing to complete, so I created a little writer’s retreat for myself in lovely Estes Park, Colorado. I had four days of felting, writing, good coffee, beautiful views, and silence. It was delightful! The sunshine, snow, mountain vistas and crisp but not cold temperatures were invigorating.
Chapter 5 of the book complete, I headed further into the mountains to Rocky Mountain National Park and the Felters Rendezvous. After four days of silence I chatted (far too long and late) with felting friends, Heather and Tylar, as well as new friends, Cathy and Marsha. It was lovely to be with them all, and a highlight of my week to finally meet Heather in person!
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| before the classes, set up and ready….what a great space! |
My first class was in felt bags. It was a full house and a very creative and exploratory group. In construction we had a variety of shapes, inner pockets, inner divisions, and outer pockets, and delved into some surface design play. There was a range of experience from beginner to master, and everyone challenged themselves to stretch their boundaries. That’s a great thing in a class. No restraint was exercised and everyone made beautiful work.
Gorgeous and elaborate bags…it was such a fun class! For Dayle, in the top picture, this was her second felt project ever! Bags make such a perfect canvas for exploration of resists and surface design forms.
In days 3 and 4 we moved on to Surface Design. Another full room, with some students continuing after the bag making, and some new faces to join our group.
A few of the extraordinary surfaces created on Day 3. Over the two days, each student made two large felt tapestries, created as samplers to hold the multitude of techniques.
This whole event was extremely well co-ordinated by Deb Tewell of The Felting Source. Thank you Deb, for all your assistance, and the time and effort that goes into creating such an event! Next years dates and teachers are all set- It promises to be wonderful…and always a beautiful and inspiring location!
And now here I am…back again in my little studio on this little island…. gearing up for Surface Design Online-Spring and creating a new body of work for my exhibition this summer. Life does not get better than this, and I thank you all for being a part of it!
Warm wishes,
Fiona
Thank you for taking the time to teach, inspire (and entertain) us, Fiona!
Both workshops were spectacular and I came away with loads of new techniques and a creative fire in my belly! (I even dreamt of a new bag yesterday!!) XXO