Saturday, August 29, 2020

What's Inside Rabbit?

I'm often asked what I use to stuff my soft sculptures and why they are heavier than expected. Well, years ago I was gifted with a huge "marketing sample" of processed Pima cotton from a gin in Yuma, Arizona. While the fibers were too short for a novice spinner like me to spin, I saved this generous gift knowing that it would be useful some day. For the past few years, I've been able to use this lovely cotton to stuff all of my wool sculptures. To weight my Rabbit sculptures, so they sit up tall and have a nice heft, I use a hand-sewn silk bag of small river stones. After inserting the bag of stones inside the sculpture, I stitch the bottom closed with wool thread, and sew on a label. My hope is that buyers appreciate all the handwork and the natural materials used in each piece.

Friday, August 28, 2020

Audio Description of "Sacred Landscape" Series

I was delighted to have this work included in the Hunterdon Art Museum's show entitled, Explorations in Felt. After being extended due to the pandemic, the show has finally come to a close and my work is on its way home. The notice from the Museum reminded me that I forgot to post my audio description of the piece from the show.... so, I'm posting it now for posterity :) 

Sunday, August 23, 2020

Felting in the Studio



Making making in the studio this past week... felted rabbits and talismans. Thought it might be nice to share some work-in-progress pics. My plan is to create some online workshops in the near future, so photographing some step-by-step process pics helps me think more linearly too. (Photos, top to bottom: Felting rabbit head shaped around a resist; wetting down the loose fibers; dry fibers laid down and felted dreadlocks for talisman; checking rabbit ear to ensure strong enough to remove resist; final felted rabbits, stuffed with Pima cotton and weighted with a silk, hand-sewn bag of river stones.)

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Talismans :: Felted Wool Sculpture

More felted Talismans join the fold. Felted Sculptures (Untitled). Exterior: Wet-felted wool; interior: local Pima cotton, netting, and river stones or glass beads. ~21-23.5" (h) x ~7-7.5" (w).