FELTMAKERS IRELAND

As part of the Material World Summer School the Ark (Cultural Centre for Kids in Temple Bar in Dublin) is offerings “a fantastic opportunity to young people to learn fun new skills working creatively together looking at the earth, playing with natural fibres and making a magical large scale felt piece.  They will be able to work sculpturally with the felts, to create rock formations, glaciers, animals, flowers, and creatures from their imagination.  This truly is felting beyond the boundaries!

Over four days from Tuesday 7 to Friday 10 July from 10am to 3pm each day, artist Brigid McClean will guide children aged 9-11 years through the process of creating their own handmade felt”.

It sounds really interesting – if you want to find out more check ut www.ark.ie

What a great Summer so far.  Our Drop In sessions have concluded until September but have a look at the Drop In page for the list of exciting topics we will be covering over the next year. We are also expanding to include a Drop In day in Bray once a month. Sharon Wells will be co-ordinating the sessions which will take place upstairs in the Fabric Gallery Dates are yet to be confirmed. We are getting ready for the Féile na Feilte in July(details below) and aslo for a series of Workshops in Dochas (the women’s prison in Dublin) in August.  We are also planning two exciting workshops with international turors for the Autumn - details to be confirmed before the middle of July. Quite a few members of Feltmakers Ireland entered felt pieces to the RDS National Craft Competition so we will be anxiously waiting to see the results.

Anne Kyyrö Quinn's felt panel

There is a wonderful felt exhibition in New York at the moment for anyone lucky enough to be there. For the rest of us we can feast our eyes on the website: http://www.cooperhewitt.org/EXHIBITIONS/Fashioning-Felt/ The exhibition is called “Fashioning Felt” and has brought together some of the most innovative felt artists around the world. If you click on “View the Blog” there are a few excellent videos about the exhibition. Get thinking about your piece for Feltmakers Ireland’s next ehibition!

Mary, Clodagh & Suzanne at Bloom 2009

Wow – what a week-end! The sunshine and smiles all around were a great help to all the hard working volunteers who looked after our colourful stand at Bloom this year. Over 55,000 people attended the event and most of them came into the craft tent to get out of the heat – or so it seemed. The Crafts Council, once again, did a great job bringing  together a wide selection of craftspeople to demonstrate their skills – as well as ourselves there were Patchworkers, Ceramics, Woodturners, Weavers & Spinners, Stone Carvers and Calligraphers. There were also retail crafts stands and outside there was a craft area with Basketweaving and workshops in various crafts. It was hard work and felt like a fortnight rather than a week-end but it was thoroughly enjoyable. Looking forward to next year.

Kathrina converted Eleanor from Ceramics Ireland to feltmaking

Members of Feltmakers Ireland took part in a fundraising event in Kilmainham to support efforts to raise money for Crumlin Children’s Hospital. We had a stand with a display of felt items and demonstrations of feltmaking on Sunday 24th May in the Hilton Hotel in Kilmainham and despite it being a fabulous sunny day there were lots of people curious about what we were up to and interested in seeing how felt is made. Well done to Eleanor, Susan, Sheila, Gina and Elizabeth Barry .

Cristina at our award winning stand at Bloom 2008

It’s hard to believe that the Bloom Festival has come around again so soon. It was such fun last year and if the long term weather forcast is to be believed it will be a good week-end to be out an about. We will be having felt making demonstrations on our stand for the entire duration of the festival and have had brilliant support from our members volunteering to help out. There are a couple of gaps in the schedule so if anyone is free on Friday 29th from 4-6, on Sunday 31st from 4-6 and on Monday 1st June from 12-4 please get in touch with Eleanor at ellieroche@gmail.com. Anyone coming to Bloom can bring their felt work for display on our stand. Don’t forget the sun cream! See you there!

If you are travelling to the west of Ireland on your Summer holidays make sure to note Thursday 30th July in your diary. For the third year in a row we are hosting a day of fun and feltmaking in the beautiful setting of the Museum of Country Life near Castlebar in Co Mayo.  There  will be an exhibition of felt work, ongoing feltmaking demonstrations and two workshops during the day. If you are interested in attending the workshops (which are free but pre booking is essential) please contact the Museum directly.http://www.museum.ie/en/list/booking-country-life.aspx

The planned workshops are:

Workshop 1

10.30 – 12.00  Introduction to Feltmaking. Participants will make their very   own 3D vessle in fine merino wool with tutors Eleanor Roche & Sheila Ahern (Suitabel for age 7+) 

Workshop 2

Funky Hair Accessories

14.30 -16.00 Funky Hair Accessories. Learn how to roll wool into colourful spikes to make fashionable hair scrunchies, dreadlocks and spiky hair slides.  Tutor: Suzie Sullivan (Suitable for age 10+)

No experience needed and all materials are provided. please bring along a small towel and a plastic bag to bring home your wet creations.

We are in the final stages of preparing the studio for use by our Members. We will be posting opening hours on this site on a regular/weekly basis so keep an eye out for dates that suit you. If you are interested in using the studio on a specific date please e mail sheila.ahern@ireland.com. The studio is located at the Knockmaroon gate of the Phoenix Park, the Knockmaroon gate is situated close to Mount Sackville School and beisde the Furry Glen in the Park. Below is a link to a map of the Park. Looking forward to seeing you there.

The Studio will be open on Friday 22nd May from 10.30 – 14.30 

We are planing an offical opening on Sunday afternoon 24th June. If the weather is good we can have a family picnic celebration of our new premises. Watch out for more details.

http://www.satellitesights.com/satelliteimage/Phoenix_Park_Dublin_Ireland

Attendance at AGM

Many thanks to everyone who came along last Sunday (May 17th) for our AGM and Felt Bazzar. It was great fun and wonderful to catch up with everyone and share news. Our newest member, five month old Amelie, was there with her mum Andre Cleary. Olive from the Wool Initiative gave an excellent presentation about the huge variety of sheep breeds in Ireland and the UK. Stephanie from the Yarn Room and Anne from the Fabric Gallery in Bray had stalls with an abundance of materials to tempt people. There was an exhibition of members work with some very striking pieces. It is wonderful to see how far feltmaking skills have developed since the foundation of Feltmakers Ireland just six years ago. Colleen Prendiville is standing down as Chairperson of the organisation after her three year stint, she did a magnificent job in her very calm, skillful and good humoured way. There was a presentation to Colleen of a tapestry cushion made by a member of the Fine Cell Work organisation in the UK. And as usual there were lots of delicious home made cakes and biscuits for everyone to enjoy.  

Clodagh, Amelie & Andre