Feltmakers of Western Australia

Volume 4 2007
Feltmakers of Western Australiawww.feltwest.org.au
content
editor
all wrapped up
2
toss n tell
4
events 2008
9
agm 2007
10
billboard19
contact details
20
calendar20
reports
president 2007
treasurer 2007
reviews
fiona wright
jorie johnson
trudi pollard
2
11
12
17
18
articles
where did it all begin? 14
geelong 2007
13
living fibre artists
16
FeltWEST inc
newsletter
ISSN 1834-9994
This newsletter is published quarterly. Deadline dates for material to be submitted are as
follows:
olume 1
V
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
15th February
15th May
15th August
15th November
We will endeavour to have it distributed by
the first week of the following month. Correspondence should be sent to the editor,
Virginia Campbell, 62 Goldsmith Rd, Dalkieth
WA 6009
vcam1917@bigpond.net.au
all wrapped up
regulars
As this year draws to a close I would like to wish you
all a wonderful Christmas and much joy and creativity
in the coming year. I would like to thank all those who
have very generously contributed to this newsletter
– Liz Odd, Heather Davis, Karen Wood, Lynda Palai,
Tanya Peters, Darriel Palfrey-Jones, Judith Shaw,
Pauline Franklin, and a very special thank you to our
publisher, Soosie Jobson, whose creative eye for
colour, design and layout is always so very much appreciated and contributes substantially to the quality
of the FeltWest Newsletter.
Virginia Campbell
new members
Susan Espie WEMBLEY
Toni Fisher FLOREAT
Deborah Foster-Gaitskell SUBIACO
Donna Glasson ALEXANDER HEIGHTS
Alison Gomes LEEMING
Julie Grono BRIDGETOWN
Marion Joy NOLLAMRA
Jennifer Limb BICTON
Subhadro Luhn HAMILTON HILL
Victoria Pearce EAST PERTH
Tanya Peters WILLETON
Anna Prestianni STIRLING
Emma Read JANE BROOK
Denise Read KALAMUNDA
Meg Smart-Firman AUGUSTA
Georgi Smith SHELLEY
Jannie Sprukkelhorst NOLLAMRA
Sarah Toohey BAYSWATER
Alt wool shop Tsagaan ULAANBAATAR Mongolia
Robin Williams CLAREMONT
Advertising rates for the Newsletter
Full Page $100
Quarter Page $25
Half Page $50
Eighth of Page $12.50
FeltWEST ABN 20395651770
Notice of exhibitions by members that involve
felt will be advertised free of charge (subject
to availability of space). Advertising inquiries
are welcome, contact editor for details.
FeltWEST Inc reserves the rights to accept,
alter, reserve for later use or decline any
advertisement or article.
The opinions expressed in this newsletter are
those of individual contributors and are not
necessarily those of FeltWEST Inc.
Content of this newsletter may not be reproduced with out permission.
www.feltwest.org.au
2
Above: Some of Judit Poc’s amazing work. See page 8.
cover photo Fiona Wright inspired jacket by Val Hornibrook
Photo by Virginia Campbell
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
report
president 2007
Felting in Western Australia has progressed significantly in the past decade since the inception of FeltWEST in 1997. I would like for a moment to remind us all about the contributions
of those who established the felting community in Western Australia.
My introduction to the world of feltmaking in Western Australia took place at the Bunbury
Cathedral Grammar School where the Bunbury group under the leadership of Val Gilmour
held the first Australian Southern Hemisphere Feltmaking Convergence in 1994.
Bunbury was a notable event in that it was the catalyst for establishing groups in Canberra
and Victoria and stimulated felt work throughout WA
Many who were part of that first group in Bunbury deserve a place on the honour board
for contributing to hand feltmaking in WA but of those Val Gilmour, Holly Nutley and Teresa
Lawrence deserve a special mention.
By this time feltmakers met several times a year in Perth and
produced a newsletter to share
feltmaking information, particularly
for regional members who worked
in isolation. Feltwest was incorporated in 1997 with Judith Shaw as
inaugural President.
This is my third and last year as
President. The association has
continued to forge ahead, with an
increased range of activities made
available to our members. This
has only been possible with the
wonderful support and enthusiasm
from all Committee members during this period.
Highlights of the past year have
included;
oBest Stall winner at Fremantle
Arts Centre
oThree International tutor workshops
oThe Felt The Water Art exhibition
I thank you all for your support and
I wish the incoming Committee all
the best for the forthcoming year.
Liz Odd
Left: Liz wearing a beautiful scarf
made by Jennifer Blair
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
3
toss n tell
members activity
There was a large roll up of members on 21 July and we welcomed seven new members at
our lunch gathering, who were taking a felting beginners class with Liz Odd in the smaller
room at Craft House.
Judith Shaw showed us some cosy slippers she had made from the pattern of her foot and
displayed her beautiful felted spiral hanging. We were pleased to see Chris Harnby and
Darriel Palfry-Jones who had driven up to Perth together to join us. Darriel, who has recently rejoined FeltWest and has long been a member of Bunbury Felters, was wearing an
attractive leather jacket with panels of decorative felt which she had machine stitched in.
She said she had bought the jacket at an op shop and found this was an easy and inexpensive way to introduce felt into a fitted garment.
Jo Saunt showed us an interesting scarf she had made comprising of separately felted
pieces of unwanted knitted jumpers sewn together. She also had brought a new felting
book by Gillian Harris, “Complete Feltmaking: Easy Techniques and 25 Great Projects“, (St
Martins Press) for members to view and which she pointed out included instructions for a
similar felted scarf. The latest Interweave Press magazine publication was also circulated
– it is a special issue devoted entirely to felt (see www.interweave.com).
Faith Hamilton brought along some very cute little slippers she had made at Judith Shaw’s
recent slipper workshop and two felt bowls she had made using a child’s blow up balloon
and the lid of a screw top jar to model the shape. The smaller one took 9 layers of wool
while the larger one took 12 layers.
Left” Judith Shaw shows her spiral
Above: Darriel Palfry-Jones wears her leather jacket
4
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
toss n tell continued
Above left: Jo Saunt’s scarf
Above right: Fath Hamilton’s slippers
Below: Heather Davis models her
bag & apron
Kate Weedon-Jones showed us a collection of samples she had attractively combined together and a scarf she had worked on at the
recent Retreat using Charlotte Buch’s method of laying circles of silk
fabric on a felt base and entrapping by nuno felting the entire piece
with a fine silk material overlay. Noreen Willcocks brought along a
lovely Charlotte Buch – inspired top which was modeled by Jo Saunt.
Judi Barkla displayed a very effective scarf she had made at the
Retreat where she had felted black silk strips and white silk onto a
needle felted batt with black mohair yarn stitched through the piece.
After Toss n Tell we were treated to a short talk and demonstration on
working with resists by Heather Davis. She based her demonstration
on a very exotic bag she has been working on which featured little
pockets, decorative flaps, belly buttons and a range of other treatments achieved by using resists made of bubble wrap.
20 October was another lively meeting. Heather Davis displayed her
blue silk nuno felted apron and a gorgeous shoulder bag fashioned
from felting a large jumper in the washing machine and stretching.
We admired Gabrielle Carati’s beautifully felted cushion complete
with tassels, buttons and decorative felted feature panel.
Karen Wood brought along an elegant nuno felted shawl she had
purchased while in Victoria to attend the Geelong Forum. She
showed us two sample pieces she had made at the Fiona Wright
workshop held in Geelong and a thick yellow and orange felted poncho/cape a friend had brought back from Finland.
Clare Adams modeled her latest felted hip belt, and Judith Shaw a
matching nuno felted jacket and cute felted hat. Sangit Tafelmaier
showed us a bright mulicoloured lattice felted shawl she had made
for a friend and which she said took her considerably longer than she
had anticipated. She also brought along some very cute lined felted
shoulder bags which she intends to sell at the Darlington Arts Festival
in November.
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
5
toss n tell continued
Above Right: Kate Weedon-Jones’ Charlotte Buch technique scarf
Above Centre: Heather Davis demonstrating bubblewrap resists
Above Left: Judi Barkla’s retreat made scarf
Below Left: Sangit Tafelmaier wears her lattice shawl
Below Right: Judith Shaw talks about chosing Alpaca Wool
6
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
toss n tell continued
Clockwise from above:
Marie Marshall at her son’s wedding, Dorothy
Hickey’s bag, Sanigt Tafelmaier’s bags, Gabrielle
Carati’s cushion and Sue Eslick with her hat
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
7
toss n tell continued
Marie Marshall shared photos of her son’s wedding showing the felted wedding banner Marie
had made at our Retreat for the ceremony and
the lovely felted collars she had made and attached to a red cardigan she had worn at the
wedding and to an orange woolen cape she
had been given.
Sue Eslick produced a little felted elfin hat – not
dissimilar from the gorgeous tea cosies she often makes and several of which were recently
displayed as part of the annual exhibition of
tea pots at the Old Bakery On Eight Gallery in
Maylands.
Dorothy Hickey shared with us some tips on
how to create a beautiful felted knitted bag
similar to those we admired in the recently published US Interweave Press magazine on Felt,
mentioned above. She used size 7.5 needles,
12 ply non wash wool, knitted the bag and then
felted it wet in the dryer, finally adding some embroidery to
complete the decorative flowers’ centres.
Toss n Tell was followed by a lively discussion of different
felting tools various members have found useful
and then Judith Shaw
very generously gave a
most informative illustrated talk to the group
about choosing, cleaning,
carding and felting alpaca
wool.
Left: Jo Saunt wears a
Charlotte Buch inspried
top by Noreen Willcocks.
Above: Heather Davis
models Karen Wood’s
cape. Right: Clare Adams
displays her latest hip belt
belt.
8
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
events
2008
We anticipate the programme planned for 2008 will be a stimulating and informative one with
lots of new ideas, methods and inspiration to extend your felting skills and experiences!
As always, Toss n Tell will be held on the third Saturday of each month February- November.
The only months we don’t meet are December and January. We plan to continue this year with
incorporating short practical demonstrations into our Toss n Tell days as these were well received this past year, many people finding them interesting and helpful.
Again we are delighted to welcome an international tutor to hold workshops for our members.
This year Judit Pocs from Hungary will be teaching a weekend workshop on Making Felt Jewellry (26 and 27 April) and a three day workshop on Miniature Sculptures in Felt (29, 30 April
and 1 May). More details will be available in the next newsletter but meantime you may like to
look at some of her work on the web. She doesn’t have a web site of her own but if you google
her name many beautiful photos of her work can be found so pencil in those workshop dates in
your new 2008 calendars!
Sat 2 Feb
Sat 16Feb
Beginners’ Workshop with Judith Shaw
Toss n Tell. Nancy Ballesteros to demonstrate “How to Lay Wool – 3 Different Techniques”. Judith Shaw to demonstrate “ Carding Wool”
Sat 1 March
Machine Embroidery Workshop - Tutor TBA
Sat 15 March
Toss n Tell. Hand Needle Felt Demonstration
Sat 5 April
“Nuno” Workshop - Tutor TBA
Sat 19 April
Toss n Tell. Judith Shaw to demonstrate “Moulding Felt”
Sat 26 & Sun 27 Apr Workshop with Judit Pocs : Felt Jewellery Making
Tues 29, Wed 30
Workshop with Judit Pocs: Miniature Sculptures in Felt
April & Thurs 1 May
Sat 3 May
Soosie Jobson’s Pattern Making Workshop
Sat 17 May
Toss n Tell including Show n Tell Work Done at Judit Pocs’ workshops
Thurs 29 May to Sun FeltWest Retreat at Woodman Point Recreation Camp, Munster
1 June
Sat 7 June
Beginners’ Workshop with Soosie Jobson
Sat 21 June
Toss n Tell including Show n Tell Work Done at Retreat
Sat 5 July
Workshop with Heather Davis to Explore the Techniques Taught by Judit
Pocs
Sat 19 July
Toss n Tell. Demonstration by Nancy Ballesteros “Silk Paper with Powdered Starch”
Sat 2 August
Structured Wraps Workshop with Sue Swain
Sat 16 August
Toss n Tell . Demonstration of Soluble Fabric by Soosie Jobson
Sat 6 September
“Colour and Surface Exploration” Workshop with Lee Anne Davis
Sat 20 September
Toss n Tell. Demonstration on Felt Jewellery
Sat 4 October
Floor Rug Workshop with Liz Odd
Sat 18 October
Toss n Tell. Demonstration on dry rolling pre felt (with Lee Anne Davis)
and using pre felts in different ways.
Sat1 November
Workshop with Jan Stroud to Explore the Techniques Taught by Fiona
Wright
Sat 15 November
FeltWest Christmas Party
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
9
events continued
We also have planned an exciting programme of regular but very varied workshops using the wonderful
felting talent and expertise we have closer to home. Further, we continue with the programme we developed this year aimed at sharing material learned at international/interstate tutors’ workshops organized
by FeltWest . These special workshops are charged at a considerably reduced rate and are a great opportunity for members who were unable to attend the original workshops to learn new techniques and explore
new ideas.
This year the Retreat will be held at Woodman Point, Munster ( just south of Coogee Beach) – a beautiful bush setting by the sea! We believe the accommodation is far more comfortable than our previous
venue and will very ably suit our special felting needs. Retreat 2008 will also feature lots of mini workshops
and demonstrations on diverse topics including Revamping your wardrobe with Felt, Creative Chronicles,
Machine Embellishing, Resist Techniques as well as another Dyeing workshop with Heather Davis. More
details will be published closer to the Retreat which will be held 29, 30, 31 May and 1 June 2008.
As usual all events take place at Craft House in Menora unless otherwise specified. Most workshops are
scheduled for the first Saturday of each month.
agm
Full details are also available on our website. www.feltwest.org.au
2007
The morning of the AGM on 4th August commenced with the setting up of the ever-popular
Trash and Treasure which was then followed by an informative presentation by Jo Pickup on
“Ethical Fashion”. Jo is a Perth based artist and fashion designer as well as the new Course
Coordinator at the Fremantle Arts Centre and she chose to illustrate her topic by focusing on
the cotton t shirt, outlining in detail the environmental, social and economic impact of creating
this simple garment
Jo urged us to shop with a conscience, become more environmentally and socially aware,
support organic clothing, organic farming, non exploitative manufacturing processes and follow the care labels on clothing since 80% energy costs of clothing is estimated to occur at the stage of looking after the clothing you
buy (hand felted goods
excepted!).
Following the AGM our
new President Heather
Davis presented to
outgoing President Liz
Odd a double sided door
hanging made from many
pieces of felt donated by
members for the special
purpose of creating this
collective gift to thank
Liz for her dedicated and
skilful leadership of FeltWest over the past three
years.
Minutes from the AGM
are included as an insert
to this newsletter
10
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
report
treasurer 2007
Feltwest has had a very interesting felting and financial year. We have had 3 wonderful
international tutors sharing their skills and ideas, another successful Freo Bazaar co-ordinated by Heather Davis and her team and not forgetting the highly regarded exhibition,
“Felt the Water”.
As some of you may remember from last years AGM, it was our goal this year to give back
to the members. This was to be achieved by providing opportunities to grow and learn
more skills. This was done by underwriting the exhibition and Freo Bazaar, subsidizing the
international tutors and lowering the cost of Toss n Tell days and inhouse workshops.
With all these undertakings, the net balance of our accounts was a loss of $772! I might
add that the interest that we received this year was $792! So we are actually out front by
$20. At the end of the financial year we have a cash balance of $18550.38 represented by
cheque account $3161.76, investment account $6796.51, gold cash account $8492.11 and
petty cash of $100.00. We also have assets of $600.00 as we purchased our own tables this year.
I submit the profit and loss and balance sheet reports for further scrutiny.
Lynda Palai
Left & right:
Heather Davis
teaching felting to the kids
of Darlington in
November
letter
thank you
I would like to show my appreciation to the Feltwest committee and members who so generously donated their time and effort to make such a lovely present for me on the occasion of the
end of my term as President.
At the recent AGM, I was overwhelmed to be presented with the most fantastic double sided
wall cum door hanging. So much giving and thought went into creating this piece. I will cherish
it as a reminder of that giving that makes things grow.
It has been an honour and pleasure to be President of this Association for the past 3 years. It
has been a wonderful group of Committee and fellow felters that has given me great support
and friendship during this time.
The Association has an excellent committee to lead you forwards into the ever changing felting world. I wish
the new President, Heather Davis, and her Committee all the best for the future and the ongoing success of
Feltwest and thank you all for your support and love.
Liz Odd
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
11
review
fiona wright
Sumptuous Surfaces with Fiona Wright
by Tanya Peters
August the 31st and September the 1st saw the Sumptuous Surfaces Workshop with textile
artist Fiona Wright. Participants had come from far and near with open minds and enthusiasm
to spare. Fiona predominantly creates art wall hangings, which she has exhibited in many galleries in Australia and internationally. We were lucky enough to have her bring a number of her
recent pieces, which have been inspired by her passion of India.
Fiona always starts her pieces by using a layer of voile, usually black. Onto the piece of voile
she uses very thin layers of wool tops, followed by either silk or other very fine fabrics. Most of
Fiona’s work is entirely covered with silk. She does not felt her work very much and elects to
let her washing machine do a fair amount of the work for her.
Heavy stitching, both hand and machine, has been applied to
the majority of Fiona’s work and reverse appliqué was also a
feature. We were shown how you are able to write or draw
with inks onto silk, which can then be applied to pieces. In
Fiona’s work, the areas where the ink had been applied, appeared to have a raised surface, which added to the different
textures. The back of Fiona’s work is as interesting as the
front. The black voile highlights the colours of the wool and
with the combination of the wool and heavy stitching, you
could be confused as to which side was for display.
We were given a quick and impromptu demonstration of
dyeing silk, which was very useful as many of us were able
to have our plain white silk turned into a myriad of colours.
Fiona is not shy with colour and most of her work is bold and
striking.
After some sample pieces, we took off on our individual
projects. People went in many different directions and some
wonderful pieces were created. Some very motivated individuals took work home the first night and completed some
beautiful stitching. The second day saw highly motivated
people (some who had trouble sleeping the night before with
ideas running through their heads) get down to work. Colours were abounding and the day flew to an end. Fiona was
exceptionally helpful with her artistic input and direction.
Most people would not have learnt any new felting techniques
from Fiona. But the point of the workshop was ‘Sumptuous
Surfaces’ and we were definitely shown how to create, use
and manipulate the surface of our felted work. The pieces
from the workshop will stand testimony to this. A highly enjoyable and enlightening workshop.
For more of these beautiful workshop samples please see the
web site. See examples of Fiona’s work on page 15.
12
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
geelong 2007
articles
Geelong Textile Forum - October 2007
By Karen Wood
I lived very close to Geelong way back in the distant 1960s. Very briefly. Then, in those heady
days of change, the town was considered something of a dump and an eyesore. There was
always trouble in Geelong. Nice people simply didn’t hang out there after dark or when the sky
clouded over, whichever came first. So, it was a surprise when the word “Geelong” elicited the
sort of ecstasy normally only associated with the words, say, “George Clooney” or “chocolate
gelato”. Better than either, I was told by those in the know. Geelong is just the best by a long
shot. You get a week away with textile arts and tarts and someone else does the cooking.
Well, that was enough for me to find a million excuses to go to Melbourne, a pleasure in itself,
with a week at the Geelong Textile Forum thrown in as extra.
I chose to spend the week felting with Fiona Wright, though there were several other workshops
which would have suited; maybe next time the shoe making? Or the dyeing? Or practically
anything on offer. The final exhibition, showcasing everyone’s work was truly amazing and
revealed the range of disciplines .that had been covered during the week. A close second or
third to the no cooking and felting all day (and into the night if you felt like it - no pun intended) were the
lectures and presentations, at least two every evening. These were given by tutors and other invited artists
and were of the very highest quality. It was fascinating to hear such a diverse range of “where the art came
from and the ideas that inspired it”. One artist’s textile pieces sprang from a residency in a Tuscan town,
another from the bush outside her back yard, and yet another from an ever changing, but always the same
view of the harbour near Auckland.
Also on offer were several exhibitions, some textile, some from
other areas. And the viewing had to be fitted in somehow between eating and drinking and working and exchanging ideas and
encouraging and being encouraged.
Very special mention, though, must be made of one of my very favourite pursuits, which could be fitted in whenever there was five
minutes to spare. Yes, good guess! Shopping.! Traders in textile
stuff came to Geelong from all over Australia and they were open
all hours. Eat your heart out George Clooney! There were four or
five rooms full of delicious temptations. I shopped with practically
every other person in my workshop group. That way you really
get to know people. A list of the things I just had to have would
have given even the best husband in the world heartburn, so the
full extent has never been revealed Enough to say I won’t ever
need to buy a Japanese washboard again. Some of the stuff I
don’t have a clue how I’ll use, but so what. Someone will know.
And the colours are wonderful.
Added to all this the week is run with great efficiency. Tea, coffee
and biscuits never seemed to run out and every night was great
fun with the staff dressing to a different theme. This created a
festive atmosphere led by the redoubtable Janet, whose patience was unflagging and who seemed about to break into song
or dance or both at any minute. The party night was great fun.
(Let’s do it at the Retreat!)
I can’t finish this article, without a gripe. CAN’T SOMETHING BE
Above: Workshop pieces by Karen
DONE ABOUT THE COLD? I wore every article of clothing in my
little case, all the time. Sisters, never go to Geelong without your
thermals! With that warning go, and have just as good a time as I did.
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
13
history
Where did it all begin?
By Judith Shaw
Our story belongs with the contemporary practice of hand felting in New Zealand and Australia
before formal Feltmaking associations were formed.
By the time feltmaking took hold in Australia, Mary Burkett in England and Beth Bede in the
USA were researching traditional feltmaking around the world ,experimenting with complex
techniques and encouraging others to share the excitement. Beverly Gordon’s book, Traditions, Techniques, and Contemporary Explorations FELTMAKING, 1980 N.Y gives comprehensive information about the craft and the feltmakers in the USA at that time. Although materials
and equipment have made the work easier it might surprise new feltmakers to discover the
level of expertise achieved before 1980.
In a letter to the Felt West editor
in 1996 Marion Valentine in New
Zealand refers to the increasing
interest and expansion of feltmaking since 1990. Val Gilmour of
Bunbury, now an Hon.Life Member of Felt West, travelled back
and forward to New Zealand and
saw what was happening there,
influencing the creation of the
first WA felting group in Bunbury.
Earlier still, Peggy Buckingham
co-ordinated TAFTA’s only WA
Convention at Muresk Agricultural
College near Northam in 1978.
Two feltmaking enthusiasts from
Queensland’s Toowoomba Spinners and Weavers calling themselves the “ Gundawindi Greys”,
demonstrated hand feltmaking
taught to them by “a migrant
lady”. Their technique was passed
on by participant Ellie Eaton (Royal Agricultural Society & Melanian
Society) and others, when they
met with woolcraft practitioners.
Ellie recalls that the felt was very
thick, which was usual in countries with colder winter climates.
All of this occurred in the midst
of the hand spinning craze which
resulted in an increased use
of natural fleece and increased
understanding of the properties of
different types of wool for knitting
and weaving.
14
So, felt making began as demonstrations showed the way for a
further and exciting use of wool
already on hand. At this time wool
crafters washed and carded raw
fleece. Demonstrations often
included advice on washing
wool. Some country people had
their own sheep, others bought
from emerging seller breeders or
from Elder Smith’s wool stores
where fleeces for hand spinners
were put to one side and sold by
a helpful character in the back of
the shed! Wool was also imported
from NZ.
West Australians who went to
NZ for the National Woolcrafts
Festival, Manawatu, in 1990 saw
prepared, dyed wool on sale for
the first time. New Zealand had
many wool processing outlets and
feltmakers there could choose
the type of wool batt they wanted
for specific felt works or purchase
sheets of machine made natural
wool felt. Wool batts were even
available in broadloom widths
which allowed for commercially
viable production of felt coats etc.
In a demonstration, well made felt
sufficient for a large car coat was
made from a large wool batt in
around 20 minutes using a cane
blind, soapy water and woman
power.
During the Woolcrafts Festival a
group of leading N.Z feltmakers
posted a notice inviting anyone
interested in becoming part of a
Southern Hemisphere Feltmakers register to come to a meeting.
Elaine Hutchinson and Judith
Shaw attended that meeting of
a group which went on to host
two NZ Conventions followed by
the Third Convention and first in
Australia organised by Val Gilmour and Bunbury Feltmakers,
at the Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School in 1994. It drew
an incredible group of talented
feltmakers nation wide plus representatives from NZ. Registrations from other States included
Polly Stirling, Molly Littlejohn,
Clare Carolan, Jan Clements,
Christine Sloan, Jenni Farrel,
Liz.Evans and others who went
home to form felting associations
and undertake teaching. Bunbury
inspired the formation of groups
in Canberra and Victoria and the
recognition of felting by existing
woolcraft organizations in other
States.
Undaunted by the huge joint effort
required for that first Australia
wide Convention, Bunbury hosted
a second live-in retreat for WA
feltmakers which offered a programme of demonstrations and
exhibition of work by all partici-
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
feltwest beginnings continued
pants. All shared their experience
on an honorary basis.
The first Felt West newsletter
was issued to approx. 50 members in July 1996 after the three
day retreat in Bunbury at which
participants agreed to work
towards a formally constituted
felters’ network. It was agreed
that this should now be based in
the Perth Metro.area with Judith
Shaw as co-ordinator. The first
newsletter was paid for with funds
carried over from the Bunbury
retreat. Our stated aims were
i) to send out two or more
Newsletters annually
ii) Plan a felters’retreat once
or twice a year at a suitable
live-in venue
The Bunbury Feltmakers with Val
Gilmour at the helm and Hon.
Treasurer Gloria Truman had
done a marvellous job of providing for felters’ interests over the
last few years and thanks from all
concerned were gratefully recorded.
The first Newsletter invited all
members to attend felting days
at Craft House on Friday 15th
November and Saturday 16th
1996 to give them an opportunity
to meet and share. Arrangements
were made to billet out of town
members. Thus began Felting
days & teaching sessions in Craft
House, Menora. Seven current
members have been part of Felt
West from that beginning.
The early newsletters contain
felting hints and ideas which
remain relevant. Copies could
be available at Craft House for
reference on Felting days. When
Felt West was formed (later to
be incorporated) we had already
began to take advantage of tutors
with world wide experience. Lene
Neilsen from Denmark was the
first international tutor. Most of
us had learned from each other
and from demonstrations at Felt
happenings. Lene went on to
produce FELT FILT, available in
English as well as Danish, setting
high standards for hand felting and undoubtedly influencing
many subsequent tutors.
E & O.E ( errors and omissions
excepted!), many names deserve
inclusion. In WA however, we cannot but remember the influence
of Susan Seaman, Holly Nutley,
Jenny House, Eileen Cresswell,
Teresa Lawrence, Val Gilmour
and others who set high standards and were inspirational by
example and thus contributed
individually and collectively to
encourage feltmaking in WA.
Above & Below: Examples of Fiona Wright’s work. Photos by Tanya Peters
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
15
living fibre artists
articles
Living Fibre Artists – 11- 13 October 2007, Melville
By Heather Davis
Artopia was an event that was run all over Perth. Part of it included the Living Fibre Artist exhibition which showcased textile artists in working environments. The Melville hall was full of
craft artists for three days surrounded by lots of beautiful work. Thursday was huge with free
talks held every hour. The hall was bursting with people all keen to pick up a new craft or learn
more about their current passion.
Feltwest members Lindy Frayne,
Soosie Jobson, Heather Davis, Val
Hornibrook, Jenny Tate and Helen
O’Neill all had beautiful work on
display, most of which included felt.
Some of their work also featured
in the Wearable Art fashion parade
amongst some way out and incredible pieces by local students.
It was a great three days of good
intentions to create volumes of work which were
never achieved and non-stop talking with some
like minded people.
Artopia and the Living Fibre Artists exhibition
run every second year, if you are interested in
being involved next time try contacting the City
Of Melville Community Development Officer for
the Arts which is currently our very own Feltwest
member, Hannah Katarski.
Above: Heather Davis
Left: Lindy Frayne
Below: Helen O’Neill
16
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
review
jorie johnson techniques
Workshop Exploring the Techniques of Jorie Johnson by
Heather Davies and Lindy Frayne – 6 October 2007
By Pauline Franklin
The day began with a wonderful display of samples done earlier in the year with Jorie Johnson,
which had us all asking,”How did you do that?”
Heather and Lindy proceeded to give a great demonstration of the various techniques.
.sushi rolls
.attaching tails and loops
.entrapments
.revealing surprises and pockets with resists
.layering prefelts using resists
.adding unusual fibres eg. hemp, flax
We were then asked to choose one technique that interested us and we were to produce 5 of these to then
disperse to other members of our group, hence we would all get to take home each other’s samples as a
reference.
I chose to do the pockets and revealing surprises and amazingly each person in the group wanted to do
something different so we were all set to begin.
The beauty of being able to do 5 of the one technique is that it enables you to develop ideas. I was very
interested in using this process to develop three dimensional flowers as I could see a way to use these in
future projects.
Heather’s example of this involved laying down a spiral of textured wool fibre, then putting a circle of bubble wrap over this and covering this with 2 layers of fleece, felting the piece and then cutting open the top
layer in a cross to reveal the lovely fibre underneath. I followed this process, also adding circular prefelts on
top of the spiral. After felting I cut the top layer into petal shapes and pulled them back. I also experimented
with putting down prefelt rather than wool fleece on top. The results were very pleasing.
We had time after lunch to try another technique or to continue on with our own developments. I really
wanted to work out how to add more layers - a second and third layer of petals. After discussions with
Heather and Lindy I made some more prefelts (with a great dry technique learnt from Leanne at previous
workshop) and began my large flower.
It was very thick to felt, and it was important to remember to wet every layer, but it did work and I was very
excited with the result.
At the end of the day we looked through everyone’s examples and discussed the different results. Wow,
everyone had done some very inspiring pieces. I particularly loved the trapped pearls and roses. I still find it
amazing that we can learn the same process and all come up with such different results. The technique of
using resists and making felt three dimensional certainly gives us all endless possibilities for further experimentation, the only obstacle being to find the time.
A very big thank you to Heather and Lindy for sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with us all and to all
the other women doing the workshop, thanks for a really great day.
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
17
review
trudi pollard
August 2007, Bunbury.
By Darriel Palfrey-Jones
Trudi’s two day Indigo Dyeing and Shibori workshop in Bunbury was well attended and a great
success. Indigo blue, though an ancient dye, is quite a modern colour that can be worn with
the most common blue jeans or be highly decorated with Asian themes like stitching and tied
strings in contrasting colours. We experimented with silks, cottons, synthetics, woven wool and
felted wool – wrapping, binding, stitching, twisting and clamping the day away to obtain some
quite stunning results.
I personally used only prefelted and felted merino, corridale, and Helen O’Neil’s merino/synthetic blend in my samples, some nuno with cotton gauze and silk. The results were varied.
Because of the different absorption rate in the thicker felt samples in comparison to woven wool
or silk, the shibori techniques applied made a huge difference to the definition of the design.
Techniques such as simply pleating and binding for semi circles, diagonals, and chevron patterns, marbling
and tie-dye stripes were not particularly successful with the felt because of the poor definition of patterns
achieved. However, stitching and gathering, pleating and then rolling and binding tightly and stitched
smocking techniques were very successful with some powerful designs generated.
Indigo is one of those dyes that is fixed by leaving it to oxidize in the open air. However, because of the
density of the pre felted and felted wool, this was not altogether satisfactory. After rinsing each item around
a dozen times, with still some residues bleeding out, I realized that perhaps for the wool samples it would
be worth using a mordant after the presoak stage before dyeing to make the samples more receptive to
the indigo dye. Generally, almost all fibres for natural dyeing need to be chemically treated first to make the
dyes fix and remain fast on the fibre. “The Fabric and Yarn Dyer’s Handbook” by Tracy Kendall has a mordant recipe that I am keen to try next time.
The workshop was quite a learning process and I personally had some great successes. I’ve made a few
of my larger samples into some great garments and I look forward to exploring Indigo blue further down the
track.
vale
barbara few
This is to honour the memory of Barbara Frew, long time member of Felt West. Barbara sponsored Prizes for Felt at the Perth Royal Show. When I first met her in the late 70’s she was introduced to me as “a remarkable knitter”. Barbara was also achieving a high standard in hand
spinning, beadwork, embroidery, and all forms of sewing. When she began feltmaking over 25
years ago she applied herself to achieving the excellence which was a hallmark of everything
she made.
Our first internationally recognised felting tutor was the renowned Lene Neilsen. Lene advocated rolling felts up to 5,000 times to achieve perfect suede like pieces. Barbara was possibly
one of the few who consistently followed that advice. On numerous occasions her felt waistcoats, hats
etc. were awarded First Place by Judges. She was one of the first local feltmakers to make a full garment
by applying fine merino to cotton fabric.
Barbara was in poor health for some time. She will be well remembered by those who knew her. Thanks to
Val Gilmour of Bunbury and other members of Felt West for remembering Barbara and our need to honour
her passing.
Judith Shaw.
18
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
billboard
Workshops
Fibres West 2008 will be held at the Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School from 5 – 11
October 2008. Held every 3 years under the
auspices of TAFTA, this fully residential program includes 5 day workshops and lectures
from outstanding international and Australian
tutors in a variety of fibre/textile disciplines.
To obtain a brochure towards the end of 2007
send a stamped addressed business size
envelope to Fibres West 2008, PO Box 648
North Perth WA 6906 or email your postal address to rum@fibreswest.com.au
Opportunities
2007 Annual Exhibition and Competition of
the Bead Guild of WA. The Guild aims to
promote all forms of bead work in WA, share
details see above)
22 – 24 February 2008, Royal
Canberra Show and Crafts Expo,
Exhibition park in Canberra,
Mitchell
29 May – 1June 2008, Rapt in
Felt, CRF Annual Exhibition and
Bazaar, CSIRO Discovery Centre, Black Mountain, Canberra
5 April 2008 10am – 5pm Medieval Fayre in the Supreme Court
Gardens, Perth Volunteer members from FeltWest are invited to
demonstrate the art of feltmaking and sell some of their felted
goods at the Fayre. Further information is available from Carolyn
Brede, Event Co ordinator, email
Carolyn_at_wama@yahoo.com.
au
expertise of members and promote new ideas
and products. Entry form for the competition
is able to be downloaded from their website
http://www.beadguildwa.com.au and posted
to the Guild c/- 11a Castleton Street Balcatta
WA 6021. Note entries close 1 December
2007. Judging takes place 8 December. Exhibition is open 8 -29 December 10am-4pm
Tuesday to Friday and 1pm-4pm Saturday
and Sunday.
18th Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial, 15 November 2008-11 January 2009. Artist enquiries welcome to Curator Valerie Kirk at valerie.
kirk@anu.edu.au
Exhibitions and Festivals
8 -29 December 2007 Annual Exhibition and
Competition of the Bead Guild of WA (for
ton Area (NZ) Felting Weekend
– residential mini convergence,
lectures and time to felt with
the Kapiti felting group. Contact
Margaret Wickens phone 04 902
3439 or email wicky@paradise.
net.au for more details
31 March- 4 April 2008, Fibres
Ballarat 2008, - an initiative of
Glenys Mann held at Ballarat
Grammar School. Includes several workshops of interest to felters,
including Judit Pocs’s workshop
on Felted Sculptural Hats. For
details and illustrations see www.
mannmaid.com.au
Conferences
28- 30 March 2008 World Alpaca
Conference, Australian Alpaca
Breeders Association, held at
Darling Harbour, Sydney. For
details see info@aaba.com.au,
www.aaba.com.au or phone 02
42275975
15 -17 February 2008 Welling-
August 2008 Creatov Felt symposium in Gotland Sweden. We
dont have exact dates, but will
have more info in the next newsletter. Current local contact is
Linda Riccio please phone 9524
2332
2- 6 January 2008, Sturt Summer
School, Range Road, Mittagong,
NSW – 30 great art/craft courses,
including felt. www.sturt.nsw.edu.
au or phone 02 4860 2080
FeltWEST 2007 Volume 4
Above &
Left: Some
of Judit Poc’s
amazing
work
19
calendar
for full details see this newsletter or www.feltwest.org.au
February
Sat 2 Feb
Sat 16Feb
March
Sat 1
Sat 15
April
Sat 5
Sat 19
Sat 26 & Sun 27
cont a c t s
Tues 29 Apr to
Thurs 1 May
Workshop
Toss n Tell
Beginners’ with Judith Shaw
Nancy Ballesteros to demonstrate “How to Lay
Wool – 3 Different Techniques”. Judith Shaw to
demonstrate “ Carding Wool”
Workshop
Toss n Tell
Machine Embroidery - tutor TBA
Hand Needle Felt Demonstration
Workshop
Toss n Tell
Workshop
Workshop
Nuno - tutor TBA
Judith Shaw to demonstrate “Moulding Felt”
Judit Pocs : Felt Jewellery Making
Judit Pocs: Miniature Sculptures in Felt
Heather Davis, President
265 Pickering Brook Rd,
PICKERING BROOK WA 6076
Ph: 9228 4034 email: colourfulheather@gmail.com
Nancy Ballesteros, Vice President
6 Benwee Road, Floreat 6014
ph: 9387 3007 fax: 9387 1747
email: nancy@treetopscolours.com.au
Lindy Frayne, Secretary
16 Long Street, Beaconsfield 6162
ph: 9337 4069 email: lindyfrayne@hotmail.com
Jo-Anne Saunt, Minutes Secretary
3 Tipperary Mews, Subiaco 6008
ph: 9381 8174 email: jo@medelect.com
Sangit Tafelmaier, Treasurer
19 Lucius Street, Hamilton Hill WA 6163
ph: 9336 5676 email: sangit@optusnet.com.au
Jan Stroud, Committee
3 Tecoma Street, Duncraig 6023
ph: 9447 4833 email: sjstroud@iprimus.com.au
Virginia Campbell, Editor
62 Goldsmith Road, Dalkieth 6009
ph: 0416 264 175 email: vcam1917@bigpond.net.au
Judith Shaw, Committee
30 Pascoe Street, Karrinyup 6018
ph: 9447 5659 email: jaymshaw@hotmail.com
Soosie Jobson, Publisher
2 Fisher Street, White Gum Valley 6162
ph: 0433 621154 email: Soosie@soosie.com.au
Lyn Lukic, Committee
190B Salisbury Street, Bedford WA 6052
ph: 9371 1562
Jennifer Blair, Committee
193 Labouchere Road, Como 6152
ph: 9474 1741 email: jenb@westnet.com.au
Louise Nidorf, Committee
32 Melrose Crescent, Menora WA 6050
ph: 9271 1235 email: lnidorf@gmail.com