A great line up of International instructors in 2013 ... right here in West Michigan. Please plan to join us for one of these fantastic workshops with world renowned instructors.
FELT SO RIGHT: Fiber Art by Dawn Edwards
'Felt Hats: Ridges and Bumps'Instructor:
Elis Vermeulen
of the Netherlands
Dates:
April 19 and 20, 2013
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Cost: $295 for the 2-day workshop
(plus materials)
Location: Plainwell, Michigan
Hosted by: Dawn Edwards, Michigan
Please email:
dawn@feltsoright.com
for registration form & materials list
Skill Level: Advanced level workshop for experienced feltmakers. (This does not have to mean expert, but some felting experience is necessary given the complexity of the classes).
Class Description: Don't miss this fantastic opportunity to study with world-renowned feltmaker, visual and installation artist, Elis Vermeulen. You may know Elis as the co-founder of Felt United or through one of the many felting magazine cover features.
Come and join Elis in this unique workshop as she shares her methods of designing and making a head-turning, yet wearable hat. We’ll begin by designing our hats, which can be as simple or as complex as you’d like, learning wonderful techniques to create different shapes and forms, including humps, bumps, ridges and spikes, both hollow and solid. Whether you’re a hat person or not, you’ll be able to take this information and translate it into making vessels, bags, sculptures, wall hangings, etc.
Take a peek at this video for a glimpse into Elis' view of feltmaking.
'Wrapped in Nature .... Beautiful Felt Inspired by the Natural Landscape'
Instructor:
Nicola Brown of Ireland www.clasheen.wordpress.com
Dates:
May 10 and 11, 2013
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Cost: $295 for the 2-day workshop
(plus materials)
Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Hosted by: Dawn Edwards, Michigan
Please email:
dawn@feltsoright.com
for registration form & materials list
Skill Level: Basic felting skills an advantage, but total beginners are very welcome too!
Over the course of the two days there will be time to explore and discover techniques or materials that you may have never considered using in your felting before. Nicola will share with participants how she has been experimenting with natural printing on silk, felt and occasionally prefelt over the last year. This simple dyeing/printing process uses a selection of readily acquired onion skins, leaves (especially eucalyptus), tea leaves and rusty metal, wonderful patterns and colours may be achieved on fabric. Nicola has also been experimenting with using open topped resists for vessel making and some of her bags since participating in a masterclass with Dagmar Binder last summer. The finish is very smooth on the open edges and this method opens up the possibilities for creating different shapes much easily than with the more often used closed resist method. Another technique that may be relatively new to participants is the tumble dryer method of nuno felting. This technique is wonderful for difficult to felt fabrics and eliminates all the traditional rubbing and rolling, it's not for everyone but it is fantastic to speed up the process especially if you have a bad back or other health issues! We won't have access to a tumble dryer at the venue but if participants would like to try this technique they are free to lay out a large nuno wrap during day one and get it to the stage where they can bring it home with them and finish it using their own dryer that evening. Nicola will clearly explain the steps to take and it should be possible to full the pieces and have them finished to show off on day two.
Participants are encouraged to bring along treasured bits and bobs from their stash, buttons, beads, scraps of vintage fabric, shells, stones, glass nuggets etc., these all make wonderful inclusions in felt and help to personalize and create a truly unique work of art!
'Felted Dresses'
Instructor:
Charity Van der Meer
of the Netherlands
Dates:
August 29, 30 and 31, 2013
Cost: $425 for the 3-day workshop
(plus materials)
Location: Plainwell, Michigan
Hosted by: Dawn Edwards, Michigan
Please email:
dawn@feltsoright.com
for registration form/materials list
Skill Level: Advanced level workshop for experienced feltmakers. (This does not have to mean expert, but some felting experience is necessary given the complexity of the classes).
Class Description:
In this workshop, Charity will instruct in how to make garments in one piece using fine Merino on silk (the nuno-technique). This workshop is for making fashionable and creative dresses. It is for felters who enjoy playing with textures using different materials to create structure and layers.
We will work with silk fabrics, Merino, Wensleydale, knitted pieces, etc., and we will make use of different felting techniques to create surface textures.
You will be making pieces of art and unique garments that come into full expression when worn. These will be days full of surprises.
This is a great opportunity to create your new fashionable couture dress, and also to learn how to make garments using felt.
Here are just a few photos of some of Charity’s work/workshops. For more photos, please see her website: Sharit.net
