Origins: Felt in the Natural World

7^th – 25^th August 2013

As part of its 10^th Anniversary celebrations Feltmakers Ireland will be holding an exhibition of members work in the National Botanic Gardens Origins : Felt in the Natural World. There are so many links between the natural world and the craft of feltmaking that we feel the Gardens are a perfect venue to inspire our members and to present our work to the public. The exhibition will present all the different techniques of feltmaking and include both sculptural and functional work. The pieces will represent the  makers response to the natural world and in particular to the plants in the National Botanic Gardens.  Wool is the primary material used in feltmaking but the botanical world provides such a rich resource of additional materials in the form of fibres ( such as bamboo, flax, hemp) and also  natural dyes (for example madder, indigo, marigold). We will be hosting adult and children’s workshops during the exhibition to encourage as many people as possible to share in the magic of feltmaking.

As part of the preparations fro the exhibition we will be holding a series of events including two guided tours of the Botanic Gardens, looking at plants that have a particular relevance to Feltmakers. The first tour will take place on Saturday 2^nd March, meeting at 2pm at the Visitors Centre in the Botanic Gardens.

Two other events are a workshop with photographer Joanna Thomashevska on how best to photograph your work  – date TBC and a workshop with Terry Dunne in April (date TBC) exploring natural dyeing.

Here is a copy of the rules for submissions to the exhibition. Origins Exhibition Rules

Application forms will be posted soon.