Monday, December 4, 2017

Holiday Show 2017


What a fun and fabulous weekend at Chemers Gallery in Tustin, CA and what an awesome turnout for this two day holiday event with 19 extraordinary artisans and a whole host of employees and helpers to make it run so smoothly.

Thank you friends for coming out to help make this event such a success. And a big thank you to Karen Raab who made it all possible along with her ever friendly, hard working and super helpful staff and helpers. And a pizza party afterwards to top it off. 

This was my second year doing this event at Chemers and I am so grateful to have been invited back since Chemers in a big name and known as an innovator in the Orange County arts scene.

It was my dear friend Susan Steel who advised me to call Karen, the owner of Chemers Gallery after she had visited the gallery a few months prior to the 2016 holiday event and talked me up to Karen.  I am forever grateful to you dear Susan.  

I am grateful for my customers and so touched at how beautifully you wear my felted garments.  Thank you and HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL.



















Sunday, August 13, 2017

Scarves - shibori, indigo and eco printed



Similar but uniquely different - that's what these several OOAK scarves are about.  I dyed them in indigo using various shibori techniques.  After that, I eco printed them mainly using local eucalyptus which I foraged along with smoke bush which someone gave me.  I love the smoke bush because it adds little black lines and squiggles.



 Add soda ash and thiox to the warm indigo vat.  The PH should be about 10-11.

Here's an example of one of my shibori bundles ready for the indigo pot


Here are the scarves after they were shibori dyed in indigo but before they were eco-printed.  Hard decision to just leave them as is or proceed. 


I let the indigo pieces dry in the sun for several hours.  Then I dipped them in an iron/water solution for 10 seconds, placed the plant material on the scarves, wrapped each scarf in its own rusty iron pipe and tightly wrapped the pipes.

In to the roaster the pipes went to steam for 2.5 hours, turning them every half hour or so and wetting them with a vinegar/water solution.



And the biggest thrill of all is unwrapping the pipes to see what you got!  Like Christmas morning all over again!!!



Friday, August 11, 2017

Poof - It's a Felted Pouf!




Poufs have great utility. As chairs, they can be easily moved around a room to add an extra seat wherever needed. Placed in front of your favorite sofa or chair, they also make a great footrest. They are also used as tabletops, especially if you keep a flat wood surface handy.

My very talented, artist friend Suzanne Currie, owner of Maison42, which features one of a kind high-end unique furnishings, contacted me about creating felted textiles for two large poufs.  She wanted natural colors mainly white with some black, grays, etc. and lots of textures but still comfortable to sit on.  


I had to size up the felted pieces to allow for shrinkage for a finished cushion 27" in diameter plus 7" height around the sides. 


I created the textiles with a base of sheer silk to which I added a layer of merino, another layer of Navajo Churro, another layer of merino and then surface design including bamboo, mulberry bark, sumi ink silks, addition wool and silk fabric.


You can find Suzanne's amazing art HERE.

Suzanne and I are buried in the finished textiles - we are both so happy with the result. Next step was upholstery and voila, the finished poufs are fantastic.

Poof, the felted textiles are now poufs!

Thursday, July 6, 2017

United in Felt - Nuno Felted Seamless Scarf Collars

I love these new capelets or should I call them shawls or how about one piece scarf collars.  

These seamless nuno felted...OK, let's go with scarf collars, are made using a resist and various textiles and fibers that I have bought on my extensive travels such as the mulberry paper from Laos and the wool roving from DHG in Italy. Some of the items, I purchased on-line or bought locally like the recycled silk sari ribbon from India, the Habu stainless steel yarns from Japan, the silkworm cocoons from Thailand, wool from Ireland, and the new and up-cycled textiles sourced in the USA.  

With all the trouble in the world these days, it's a small bit of bliss to see items from around the world come together and meld as one through the felt making process, hence, I'm calling this grouping "United in Felt"

Work in progress using a resist to create a seamless garment.