I am helping a friend/college mate/ wonderful artist and would like to call upon my blog readers.  You can actually in name or anonymously, be part of an exhibit in Portland Oregon, USA. Here is how:

“My name is Kristen and I am doing a glass bead installation project about time. I am interested in time’s mystery and our efforts to measure and define it. Can you think of a number or numbers, which represent a time that is meaningful in your life?

Some people have put the age when they got married, had children, year of their first car. One guy put the number 3 as that is how many days it took his dog Rosie to find a grape that he dropped on the floor. Another friend put his childhood telephone area code.. as it held great meaning for him. I put 27 as that was a great year and like Ground Hog day I live it over and over and over.

She just wants the number and its significance. She will collect the information and string glass beads to represent each response, RESULTING  in a wall of glass beads hanging freely.

1. you can leave a comment and I will see that she gets them
2. you can email her directly timeismeaning@gmail.com
3. or you can contact me with the information.

She will post them at the exhibit and if you want an announcement of the exhibit, also provide your name and email address or snail mail address.

I want to thank Dawn Edwards for her inspiring email yesterday. I have been in a terrible slump and somehow the magic of her words pulled me out of trouble waters and scudded  me to the studio.

My friend, Cindy had a quilting party the other night,where we were made blankets for the birthing center, when I noticed the Blue Willow tea set perched on the bureau.  So, as a little thank you for her friendship I made this cozy for her and this spurred me along to make the collars that I previously posted.

I constructed these using some alpaca that I purchased locally from  Yarn Barn, a delightfully rich resource for textile artist. Susan and her hubby have been supplying artist with dyes, and dying supplies, resists, thickening paste, pigments and just about any kind of natural dyeing ingredients, plus all the basic artist silks one could desire and not to forget oodles of yarns, exotic rovings,  fleece from buffalo, camel, llamas and all sort of wools, silks and even fiber made from soy.  Though their focus is on weavers, spinner and knitters, they have an ample supply to keep us, fiber-artist buying locally and wane the armchair shopping, though we do comparison shopping—- we are brought back home each time.

Therefore, thanks to Nicola Brown, who has been singing the praises of Nuno Felting for months, though I was skeptical, I publicly thank her for influence and inspiration. I began these collars with loosely woven cotton gauze, it was not really gauze but more of a thin mesh; then, gingerly placed tuffs of the wool on both sides.  I shed the bubble wrap technique for hand massaging the wool as it felted, then off to a bamboo shade to full it. I finished the fulling by hand agitation against itself.  It seems this process is more satisfying to me.

If I were to shorten the collar by several inches, it could be secured with a pin. (As some of you know, I spent two years experimenting and painting with melted glass on metal (copper enameling) making pins, which would look so smashing with these collars. I also made buttons that could be used in a pinch if I could be convinced that dividing a set was noteworthy for an extraordinary result. I would like to expand the color palate into more sophisticated subdued colors so if nothing distracts me I shall.

If I can not come up with 7  creative bloggers do should I give the award back? I know many creative people from  their website but not very many from blogging.  I especially like Marisa Ranalli work . The dress with the LED lights is fun and funky, Although the clothing LED lighting has been around for a long time, the way Marissa has implemented into felting is unique. She has many other items that are brilliant.

I have found that Nicola’s work is always fresh and inspiring.  She is tirelessly  inquisitive about any thing felting. I am especially impressed with Nicola’s talent to introduce and merge people together and her ability to communicate what she has uncovered.

Wood is warm and tender and attract like minded souls.  Roybn works with work from South African and her work is inspiring, speaks volumes about design, composition and looking beyond the surface.    I am sending her an award.

I love the fresh morning air with undisturbed snow and sparkling sunlight dancing across the surface.  My favorite is the early predawn bustling hours at the city market or sitting on my deck having that first coffee when the air is cool, the birds are happy and the worries of life has yet to hit me.  I am tantalized by textural things and especially those involving textiles.  After fifteen years working in with technology it still amazes me at the things memory chips and circuit boards can do.  I am tickled inside by people’s various approaches to creativity and how they express it.  I love chocolate covered espresso beans and my son surprises me every so often with a package of them from a local store. I love it when someone does something extra thoughtful to bring pleasure into my life.

When I come up with 5 more creative bloggers, I will certainly add them.

I have been digging through my old millinery books for the perfect pattern.  My favorite publication, which I have had for 26 years, by Denise Drecher (1) did not provide the pattern but leafing through the period and theater men’s and women’s hats  gave a nice millinery  visual vocabulary. The book provides resources for Millinery supplies though I am questioning  its relevance since the book is rather old, nonetheless I found it helpful.  I was not interested in slicing, stitching , shaping  my first wool felted hat.  I wanted only to employ the ease of felting without seams by using the resist method and make this hat one continuous piece of felt.  It was passable, and I will welcome this hat into my collection for winter warmth.  I intend to accessorize it with some interesting but understated items.

From the Neck Up, Denise Drecherl Madhatter Press, Minn, MN 0-941082-00-8

I found this hat online which would fun to duplicate or at least make a version of it.  It appears to me it is made from tightly knitted, single ply, cashmere and has a stretchy characteristic that hugs the head nicely.It can be very windy where I live, thus hats must fit with a certain amount of hug ability or I will be chasing the hat down the icy, snowy street.   I can easily design a forerunner from a recycled cashmere sweater. I intend to scrounge thrift stores for a discarded sweater pullover to use a prototype.  The hat just looks like an elongated stocking hat shape with pin tucks; it looks somewhat droopy in the back so I am excited to experiment with the draping. .I welcome any ideas.

I think a felted hat would have as much give but I am unsure if it would drape as nicely as this example.

Rita hat

It looks like my Fall family gathering for lawn and garden clean up is postponed but I am not crying the blues over the cancellation. It is a great outcome for me,  as I intend to work in the studio, after I take my border to the Farmer’s Market, providing he wants to go.  If you recall I made a posting in September about dark matter, which I since have removed, and unknowingly dark matter is exactly what this brilliant guy is researching.  How cool is that? I promised to reshoot the poorly posted photos plus any new work, tomorrow.

Rounded Rectangular

This was not an easy container to capture its shape in a  2D photograph nonetheless. the shape is  rectangular  with soft rounded corners.

The gang

A quick corporate snap shot of the group to date.  Yes, I used Procion dyes with an acid fixer.