As I sit down to begin this post the sky has darkened and the rain (fingers crossed) is about to fall, heaven knows we need it, but what a fabulous summer it’s been so far here in sunny Lincolnshire! I tend to not do too much in the way of creative stuff through July and August as there are too many distractions and this year the intense heat has made me feel very lazy so lots of time spent relaxing, reading and watching creative videos. Consequently I’ve now got a table full of projects I need to finish and a head full of others I want to start. 

A couple of projects I did do this summer are two wet felted vessels. The first one, inspired by a shrivelled seed pod, was made at the İFA Region 8’s Summer School in Arnesby near Leicester. Our region encompasses several counties and is so spread out we struggle to get our İFA members to attend. On the other hand we have a regular group of creative ‘non members’ in the locality who are more than welcome to come along to our events, and thankfully they do! It was a busy and fun two days…..

My seed pod began life as five leaf book resist measuring 27cm x 36cm and various colours of Merino and Corriedale fibres. After removing the resist and fulling the felt I pushed and pulled the pod and attached strong clips to create the shape I wanted. I didn’t want a visible hole so the one I cut was so tiny so meant the resist ended up being pulled to pieces in order to get it out! Now it’s finished I feel like it needs a bit of something adding so I’m wondering about embroidering circles in a dull gold thread?

The second vessel was started last Friday when I was working at the Usher Gallery in Lincoln. I’d seen a post somewhere mentioning they were having their second Artist Studio Day and inviting local artists to apply. If successful it meant I would get the use of a table in their ground floor workspace and get to spend the day with four other artists. It sounded like a great opportunity and I’m so glad I applied! Only four artists turned up on the day and unfortunately one of those had to leave early. My other two companions were both painters and it was nice to get to know a bit about them and watch them work. We had a few members of the public come in to see what we were doing but for most of the time it was very quiet which allowed us to focus on our projects.

The day before I went I made a textured prefelt using threads, silks, fabrics, etc which I could cut up to create the undulating surface decoration. It was necessary to do this beforehand as I knew my vessel was unlikely to be finished on the day but would need to be at a stable stage in order to be able to fold it to carry back to the car. I got the obvious comments from one or two folk of how my work “looked like a pizza”. The following day after removing the resist and fulling it my 41cm dia pizza had become an 18cm x 24cm 3D vessel weighing 120gms. I’m loving the textures and colours it has!

One of the Summer pieces on my table which I’ve yet to finish is an Iris which I started at the end of July. This is going to be for the Lincolnshire Textile Groups Bountiful Botanicals competition taking place in October. I’m creating it from hand painted Tyvek fabric and wire and the flower will be approximately 30cm dia by 115cm tall. I’ve just got the leaves to do now and then I’ve got the perfect spot for it in my lounge when it’s finished. I don’t want to reveal too much before the competition so this is a sneak preview for now…..

Another work in progress on my table right now is this insect brooch, at approx 14cm long I’ve definitely developed a thing for hand made oversized textile brooches! I’ve just got the legs and antennae to finish, more colour to add and the pin to attach.

My final work in progress is a mixed media project and something else I’m keeping under wraps until October as it’s also for the Lincolnshire Textile Group. Depending on how it turns out, it might replace the Iris as my competition piece. This started life as an oversized wet felted Banksia Nut which I made last year. I’ve never been happy with it but a few months ago I had the idea of giving it a new lease of life with a new identity. I’ve still got lots to do to it yet. It’s by far the strangest thing I’ve ever made and it won’t be for everyone, let’s just say it’s a hybrid of Banksia meets Venus Fly Trap and yes numerous insects will appear to be harmed in the making of this piece! I can’t wait to reveal it!