It’s taken me since early November when I last posted to get these pieces felted. I cut the silk painted sample I had made in two, and added a thin layer of white fleece – around the circles only, in one piece, and on the circles only, in the other.
This lay for a month on my table. Then we needed the table for Christmas so I rolled the not-yet-felt up in the bubblewrap and put it on the shelf where it lay till last weekend, when I got it out and felted it.
This image is of the side that wasn’t visible in my ‘before felting’ photo. I think that side is much more interesting but I will take some pics of the other side tomorrow, if there’s light enough, and put them on my Flickr.
I haven’t quite decided where to take this for my assessment piece. I like the effect around the felted circles very much, both the gathering and the distortion of the resist outlines; and I like the way the circles are connected; but I also like the textured background on the other piece, and the contrast between that and the billowing circles. I’m leaning towards using elements of both; and I think it will be a cushion cover, not a scarf. I may use one of my photos of the summer sea around the island to inspire the colours. Maybe this one.
I just wanted to thank you all for your encouraging comments about this process, and especially Trisha for taking the time to email me as well. I’m sorry I haven’t replied to you all. I struggled a bit through the period leading up to Christmas when Alan was away for three months but I’m feeling more positive now. And I’m really looking forward to the next module, which is ‘textile structures’, and focuses on yarn and tapestry weaving. (I’m just a little obsessed with yarn at the moment after all.) Alongside that, I must choose a personal theme around which to collect visual information into a book, to use in the final design project of the course. Like Emily Dickinson, I “dwell in possibility”…
