Sunday 9 September 2012

My colours

We all have a favourite colour (mine is purple).  Colours can reflect moods and feelings, or remind us of places and seasons.  There are some colours that suit us better than others.  When I open my box of wool and start a project I don't tend to know what colour combinations I will use, I just let the colours speak to me.  


I made both these pieces at least a year apart, and when I made the second piece, the chicken tea cosy, I didn't have in mind the bag that I had made earlier.  So, these colours are simply a combination that I seem to be drawn to time and again, 'my' colours!  I suppose they are quite autumnal with the rich oranges and reds, autumn is my favourite season, whilst the greens are quite fresh and vibrant.  I've experimented a little with texture here, adding some fancy wool and bit of silk, also mixing up the fleece microns.  Both are made using the resist technique: where I lay out the wool on either side of a piece of thin plastic (the resist) and then remove this plastic once the item is felted.  It is possible to do some really amazing things using resists, including multiple resists, for example see these pieces by artist Martien van Zuilen.