We would like to invite all members to take part in our exhibition for 2021.
The title is ” Colour our World”. This is a members exhibition, we ideally would like to show one piece from each member ( you can submit up to 3 pieces, if you like, with the guaranteed of acceptance of one piece and up to three).
This year, everything is different… and we are getting used to the idea of flexing, pivoting, changing and moving with everything that life throws at us.
The deadline is approaching- end of July- please submit a piece… we have over 70 members and would love ech and every one of you to take this opportunity to be part of a members exhibition- celebrate your craft… perhaps you haven’t had your work shown in an exhibition before? this is a great opportunity for exposure.
1) There is no fee for submitting your piece… the member is responsible for getting the piece to any venue- should we be able to secure a physical space.
2) This is a “members exhibition” with no adjudication or judging, we would like to show the range, breadth and depth of our talent as an organisation, with the primary purpose of promoting the craft of felt- be you a beginner or a professional.
3) This exhibition is primarily online- with a proposed date of showing in August 2021 as part of the DCCI 50th anniversary celebrations. COVID restrictions allowing and in conjunction with other organisations such as DCCI or other GANS groups we will strive to find a physical space to show all the members pieces together- in autumn of 21 or New year 22 as the situation allows.
4) Please read the application form carefully- for details of requirements, size, photograph etc…
SIZE REQUIREMENTS 30CM X30CM… THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR DIGITAL EXHIBITION AND THE IDEA IS TO HAVE A GIANT GRID OF ALL OUR MEMBERS WORK IN A PHYSICAL SPACE TOO!
5) Let the title “Colour our World” inspire you, don’t be afraid to push the boundaries, show your skills, experiment… 1 piece from each member is guaranteed accepted…
6) Feel free to contact the committee for any assistance, advice, question or help.
Have fun and we look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with!
Together this could be a wonderful collective art project of feltmakers responding to their world in the most unusual of times.
To all our members and followers… please share this message, support independent makers, artists and your craft community. If you are a member participating in the dcci made local campaign, contact us on hello@feltmakersireland.com
and send us images of your work by DM. We will endeavor to share and post to support you and your enterprise! Good luck all feltmakers who are working hard to promote the craft of feltmaking.
Back in feb my phone rang and it was a call from a fellow Felrmaker, who I have always enjoyed working with in CRAFTed over the years but we never actually worked together. She told me she had received funding as part of the Keep Well campaing and wanted to get a group of like minded felters together for a collaborative project .
I was feeling the post Christmas lockdown and told her that I felt I was creatively stuck in a rut And would be delighted to get on board and do a collaborative project .
Nikki put our dream team together. The idea was that we would each present an hour long workshop working on different stages of the felting process to create stained glass effect felt pieces which would be exhibited later in the year . Niki went about advertising the free workshops and they were oversubscribed in a day leading to further workshops.
Fox by Breda Fay
Caolfhionn got the tough job of hosting the first workshop which shows how to create prefelts and blending colours to create your fabric for your picture .Niki did the design layout for our work and I got the job to do the stained glass effect dry felting work.
Each class had 35 participants and we did three classes each to facilitate the large numbers in our groups . We also supported each other during the workshops which was fantastic and made it a lot easier .
I was delighted to find that Breda Fay who was a long time student of mine when I did workshops in Johnstown Craftspun yarns is now the treasurer of felt makers ireland and she was attending the three part workshop .It was great to see familiar faces on the screen. The best part about the project was the collaborative process and having the support of fellow felt makers and being able to bounce ideas off each other .
We have set up further classes in May and August this year which will be either online of face to face, depending on where we are .
We also have an exhibition to look forward to: online in August and physical in October and we look forward to inviting back participants to celebrate their feltmaking .
We would like to invite all members to take part in our exhibition for 2021.
The title is ” Colour our World”. This is a members exhibition, we ideally would like to show one piece from each member ( you can submit up to 3 pieces, if you like, with the guaranteed of acceptance of one piece and up to three).
This year, everything is different… and we are getting used to the idea of flexing, pivoting, changing and moving with everything that life throws at us.
So this is why, the committee has decided upon changes to our exhibition…
1) There is no fee for submitting your piece… the member is responsible for getting the piece to any venue- should we be able to secure a physical space.
2) This is a “members exhibition” with no adjudication or judging, we would like to show the range, breadth and depth of our talent as an organisation, with the primary purpose of promoting the craft of felt- be you a beginner or a professional.
3) This exhibition is primarily online- with a proposed date of showing in August 2021 as part of the DCCI 50th anniversary celebrations. COVID restrictions allowing and in conjunction with other organisations such as DCCI or other GANS groups we will strive to find a physical space to show all the members pieces together- in autumn of 21 or New year 22 as the situation allows.
4) Please read the application form carefully- for details of requirements, size, photograph etc…
5) Let the title “Colour our World” inspire you, don’t be afraid to push the boundaries, show your skills, experiment… 1 piece from each member is guaranteed accepted…
6) Feel free to contact the committee for any assistance, advice, question or help.
Have fun and we look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with!
Together this could be a wonderful collective art project of feltmakers responding to their world in the most unusual of times.
This month we asked our valued member Helene Dooley. Helene has extensive felt making skills she has been a member of FI since 2014. She enjoys nothing better than pushing the boundaries of her work and loves the creative freedom that working with wool fibre facilitates. Helene has frequently tutored and her work was recently featured in the international publication, “Felt Matters”( IFA). She is a regular contributor to the Felting and Fibre Studio, an international collective of Felt and Fibre artists. You will find her on instagram @feltzenas well as renowned dressmaking and other craft skills She is also the joint Irish Representative for International felt makers Association.
“Viscose is a wonderful material to work with! It is available in awide range of colours and is relatively inexpensive to buy. A little can go a long way! It can be used to add lustre and strength to felted wearables. It also enhances drape and discourages pilling in the fabric. I use viscose paper when I am seeking to achieve a more defined effect on my felted pieces. My video will take you through the four steps I use to make viscose paper. It is quick and very easy to do so I hope you will check out my video and give it a go”.Helene
You can subscribe to Feltmakers Ireland You Tube channel where we now publish online tutorials, demos and interviews regularly- these are sent directly to the membership first before being shared with the general public at a later date.
We promise you will learn a lot, Feltmakers ireland members online exclusive at a great price!!
Online workshop May 1st 10am with tutor Yaroslava Troynich.
Open to Feltmakers Ireland members only. Limited took 30 places. Your membership must be in place and paid before confirmation on the course. Special price €20, 4 hrs tuition.
interview first published in dec 2019… yara will be leading an exclusive feltmakers ireland members only finger puppet online workshop on may 1st… limited to 30 places on a first come first served basis- this is filling up quickly. please submit your interest to FIONA- ADDRESS fmrleech@gmail.com
Felt makers Ireland follows several felt makers on Instagram to get our regular fix of inspiration. A member put us in touch with Yaroslava Troynich, a 41yr old Russian textile artist, based in Helsinki, Finland. Her specialty is felted animal puppets. She says “this is fun textile way to worship wildlife” we decided to get in touch to find out more…
Tell us a little about you as a person? e.g. upbringing/ where you work/ work other than textiles…
My life seems to me like a huge pile of wool, which I could transform into endless forms.
I was born in USSR and had no artistic background in my family. As a child I was fond of sewing textile toys and dreamed about art school and industrial design. The next big dream was to become a policeman to fight for justice and make the world better. However, the world itself captured all my attention so in the end I graduated from university as a journalist! For several years I have been traveling the world and contributing to Cosmopolitan and National Geographic in Russia and continued to write for local media after moving to Finland in 2007.
Most of all I loved to make stories about remote places, where wildlife, traditional lifestyles and crafts remain. The best moments of my life have mostly connected to wildlife – snorkeling with manta rays in Galapagos, planting rainforest for orangutans of Borneo or searching for the sloths in the Amazon.
Humans and wild nature cohabiting and environmental issues were always on my top interest list.
YAROSLAVA TROYNICH
YAROSLAVA TROYNICH
YAROSLAVA TROYNICH
YAROSLAVA TROYNICH
How and when did you start your textile journey… what is your experience, tell us a little…
Once in 2009 I came across of artwork done by Stephanie Metz. Her meaningful sculptures made of white wool and some experimental textile pieces were shockingly modern, pure contemporary art.
In Russia felting is very traditional craft and to me it felt quite outdated. But this was the first moment I began to look at it differently. My inner artist woke up. I tried needle felting and was amazed of wool’s ability to take any shape. But I really fell in love with wool after my first wet felted piece. The feeling of soapy babbles on my hands and witnessing of wool fibers transformation into something totally new – this magic has forever bewitched me. Quite soon I realized that I want to work with 3D-felt. In my childhood I loved “bibabo”, traditional Russian hand puppets, with their history dated back to 17 century and originated in Italy and France. Ideas came fast and naturally. My first fox puppet was born, and it felt like a real gift from textile and craft gods. Surprisingly, combination of traditional felt with traditional toy turned in to very modern and unique art object. Suddenly everything came together: my love of puppets, of wildlife and of wool. That is the story of my own transformation into textile artist specialized in felted animal puppets.
My artwork is my small personal contribution to environmental awareness. These puppets are really great communication gadgets. They help to connect parents with children, create new stories and learn new things. They have strong social position – they support environmental education and promote love to animals. My special pride if they work with ecologists in the national parks and museums and with teachers and psychologists.
I have been learning a lot from great textile artists to develop my own skills, tried new areas of textile art but nothing makes me as happy as these animal puppets. Felting process itself has great art-therapeutic effect on me. So, I do share these benefits with others on my workshops around the world. I love to teach adults and transform them into artists and kids at least for a day. This transformation is no less amazing than wool metamorphoses. Sometimes I feel that it can be my real vocation to inspire people for creating via my puppets.
Tell us about your process from conception to creation and what is your motivation? e.g. for hobby/ creativity/ art/ fashion/ health/ money…
My strongest motivation is a game with the world, special quest. I want to explore its secrets and search for opportunities to create new, positive and inspiring things.
Almost all my ideas I draw from the nature. Weird animals, beautiful animals, endangered animals. While visiting national parks I have chance to encounter wildlife closer. Even though I don’t follow physiological accuracy in my work, I study animals a lot, examine pictures, watch nature documentaries and read about their habitats and personal lives. I am minded in spirit of minimalism, restrained Scandinavian design and naive art, so I try to create live animalistic images using as little details as possible. But I also like to add some humor or bright travel and cultural heritage inspired details to my work. Especially, I feel free with my finger puppet collection. Some animals can wear Russian felted boots at some occasions and use the laptops at their homes. This kind of art makes me play all the time. I draw very poorly, so my rare sketches look like ugly construction schemes. More often I just have an idea inside my head and then test it directly on the wool. Complicated shapes I break into many simple forms and play with it. I combine different felting technics but my main one is wet felting. There are wool, soap, water and hands only. I use a lot of different fibers for creating animal hair, especially I love hairy goat mohair. I try to make my felt durable and flexible in the same time to keep the most of mobility for the toys. Sometimes my projects involve dyeing of materials and even painting on top of the wool toys.
It is weird, but 3D objects at first are just flat and in the beginning of my journey I was too depending on the patterns and constructive solutions but nowadays I become increasingly aware of limitless sculptural opportunities of felt. You can always change, reshape, improve. Felt makes me feel braver as an artist because in this process even apparent mistake can turn in to genius idea. Besides, it is difficult to make mistake with animals – they always come out wonderful. Probably, because they are born twice – at first from the idea and wool and then again become alive on top of the hand while playing.
YAROSLAVA TROYNICH
What currently inspires you?
Lately I am passionate about the animation to give my puppets even more life and voice. It is inspiring to integrate and collaborate different types of art and creativity in to the one beautifully felted structure. Well, and sponsors of all my ideas and inspiration invariably remain wildlife and life itself, with all that everyday routine and new changes. The coolest ideas come to me when traveling or hang out in the mountains, through the forest or along the cold ocean. The Amazon jungle and Himalayan snowy peaks are my eternal favorites. But during my life in Finland, I fell in love with the north. Perhaps the northern animals are not the most vivid and expressive as objects for creativity, but the power of life in northern nature, with its short as a flash summer, is simply unique. This power nourishes me. In Finland, people are very respectful to their nature resources, and this gives me the feeling that I am in the right place. After all, partly my work is pure nature worship, and toys are a tribute to the nature.
Thank you Yaroslava for taking the time to answer our questions for supplying the wonderful images of your work and for providing the dose of Instagram inspiration that we need. If you want to see more follow Yaroslava at the below.
Online workshop May 1st 10am with tutor Yaroslava Troynich.
Open to Feltmakers Ireland members only. Limited took 30 places. Your membership must be in place and paid before confirmation on the course. Special price €20, 4 hrs tuition.
Breda Fay reports on her most recently undertaken on line course:
I have just completed an exciting online workshop with Molly Williams called “Contemporary Dancer”. Six weekly lesson included presentations, videos and downloadable worksheets, illustrating simply and clearly the step-by-step procedure. Weekly online meetings with tutor were timetabled as much as possible to suit participants. Any queries or difficulties could be discussed with Molly and it was great to see other participants’ progress. Over the six weeks we progressed from making a wire armature skeleton, to covering it with fabric before wet felting horizontal and vertical layers of fibre for the musculature. A large piece of embellished prefelt was then made for the colourful skin which was cut out and sewn onto the model before fulling and shrinkage. There was also an option to make the skin directly onto model. This was the one I chose. Finally a head dress is designed for the figure before it is finally glued into a plinth. I cannot believe the I’ve got through the six weeks and have a very viable and I think stunning sculpture!
The armature
Molly Williams’ bio
Molly is a textile artist specialising in figurative felt sculpture. Contemporary and Modern dance inform the shapes and movement of the felt sculptures, and figurative shapes are a feature of her textile art. Molly lives in the UK and works from her studio in the garden. She teaches felt sculpture workshops internationally. Molly’s research interest is in Ottoman textiles, costume and ceramics and she has studied Ottoman costume and design to create replica kaftans and pattern design to be used to print textiles, wall art and other products. BA Hons Embroidered Textiles – Middlesex University Qualified Design and Technology Teacher – Christ Church Canterbury University Memberships: Prism Textile Arts Society of Designer Craftsmen International Felt makers Association Websites: www.mollywilliams.co.ukwww.fruitfulyear.co.uk
To offer our members something for 2021 we are running a draw. The draw will take place on 5th March…. all membership renewals as well as new members will be entered into a hat ( all membership renewals up until 3rd march will be entered).
One lucky winner will be chosen at random- and offered a bursary up to the value of €200- paid for by Feltmakers Ireland… for use on an online workshop course- of their choice. Its a great prize, a lovely offer of hope and learning as we face into another year. We would hope that the lucky winner might write up a little blog article of their work or their workshop experience. Not giving away any valued techniques of course but more a “what I learnt and how I managed online” diary piece. Good luck everybody!
