Pods Pods Pods!

I have so many things to post, I need to catch up with myself!  I'm still lagging behind from the 12th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence that I went to last August!  The tutor that travelled the furthest to be there was Anna Gunnarsdóttir from Iceland, so it was a real honour to be able to learn her unique pod technique.  She makes exquisite magical organic forms, often lighting them up inside to give the felt a gentle glow.  Below is one of her pieces that was in the 'Feltportation' exhibition that accompanied the convergence.

Below is my effort, the photo was taken while it was still wet and it seemed better to dry it up on end.  I used a gorgeous rare-breed wool batt (not corriedale, but similar), pictured behind, that was hand-dyed using natural Eucalyptus leaves!  It smelt divine, like a forest in summer. I bought it at the convergence from a lovely lady called Tabitha of Tabandy Textiles, who has a smallholding on the wilderness coast (near Bega) and dyed the wool herself.  It was the first time I had worked with a batt, it was a revelation, so much better for 3D work than laying out the wool, the edges bound together seamlessly and the texture is amazing.  I added some raw mohair fleece for extra texture and shine.  I hope to make another one of these if I can remember how to do it next Tuesday at my local Felting group (QSWFA).  

In the photo below you can see the colours and the mohair texture better in the light.  It is next to a little pot I made in a short workshop with Anita Larkin at the convergence, who is a great feltmaker from the Illawarra and was the chief organizer for the convergence.  She has a wonderful technique for making 3D objects without a resist.

Countdown to convergence!

I'm really excited to be going to the 12th Southern Hemisphere Feltmakers Convergence, it starts on Sunday!  It is a biannual event and a big thing for Felters across Australia.  I can't wait to meet some Australian artists that I've long admired like Anita Larkin who has curated an exhibition at the Woollong University art gallery 'Feltportation' to coincide with this event, and Martien van Zuilen. Two well-known international artists will also be tutoring at convergence, Anna Gunnarsdottir from Iceland and Leiko Uchiyama from Japan.

All of these artists do some great sculptural work, and the sculptural potential of felt is something that really fascinates me and what first got me really excited about feltmaking, so I hope to learn a lot. Already I get the feeling the convergence will have a sculptural bias!  To help fund the next convergence we were asked to take part in a fundraising 'swap' of a 3D piece that will be displayed through the week.  Recently Ive come across the work of Dutch Feltmaker Annemie Koenen, who adds amazing 3D surface texture to many of the items she makes.  I still have some way to go before I really suss out her technique, but in the process maybe I will develop a technique of my own!  Here is the item I have made to 'give away' at the convergence, I have called it 'Strange Fruit', I'd love to hear from you if you take it home :)