Tamzen Lundy is hosting a wet feltmaking workshop on Sunday, February 18th, in Dublin. This workshop is suitable for beginners, intermediate-level felt makers, and those interested in making 3D felt or felting around a resist.
Together, we will make a sunglasses case… in the hope that we will soon see some springtime sun!
In this three-hour session, we will lay fibre around a resist, making a pocket sunglasses case. We will also look at different closure methods so the participants will learn extra tips and tricks to advance their projects.
All materials, plus tea/coffee and cake, are provided
There are limited spaces (4- meaning there is good attention and opportunity to ask for help).
With 25 years of experience in the textile and fashion industry, Tamzen brings a wealth of industry knowledge. Buy yourself an experience and enjoy a cosy craft-making session in the inspiring studio – Brookwood Pottery Shop and Studio in Marino, Dublin.
The cost is €75, 3.5 hours of tuition, materials, tea and coffee provided.
If you have any trouble booking, contact tamzenlundydesigns@gmail.com
(When clicking the link- select the date FEB 18th – which will then show availability as 12 noon– select and purchase online- many thanks).
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How could a BREDA not be excited by a Brigid ‘s festival, especially if it’s only 15 km over the road?
Former Feltmakers Ireland chair, Breda Fay, in Kildare town.
On Saturday, I attended the launch of Sult Arists‘ “Unravelling an Icon” in Kildare town, an exciting art exhibition that transformed a town square into an open-air art gallery. Twenty local businesses bought into the idea of exhibiting sixty works in a wide variety of mediums/media of national and international artists in their windows as part of Brigid 1500 celebrations.
A free map and catalogue were available, as well as hot chocolate, cake and savouries (donations to Medicins sans Frontieres). I’m attaching a map in case you are interested and they’re not available later.
Despite the cold weather, it was great to meet many friends and/or exhibitors and chat about arty stuff: Liadain Butler, who introduced me to felt many moons ago, Tamzen Lundy and Aisling Hassett from Feltmakers Ireland, muinteoirí (teachers) from Newbridge, and the singers from Kill.
Artwork from Feltmakers Ireland’s Guild Members
Piece by Liadain Butler.Piece by Tamzen LundyPiece by Aisling Hassett‘ ‘The Shepherdess’ by Theresa Carroll
The exhibition is on for a month…. well worth a visit. There are some lovely coffee shops and eateries in the town square. {It runs through Sunday, the 18th of February}.
Additionally, there is an online art gallery of each piece in the show, which includes the artists’ details, titles of each piece, medium, and social media/links - https://sultartists.com/brigid-1500
To see more of the Feltmakers Ireland members’ works, visit the following links:
Thank you ever so much, Breda, for visiting Kildare to see the Art Trail in Kildare town! We appreciate learning more about the exhibition.– the editors.To learn more about Breda, visit her blog – https://bredafay.com/
“So this happened! Thank you, @craft.ni and curator and guest judge Annie Cattrell, for the “emerging maker award”!! That’s my ‘are they serious, did I hear that right?’ face… and the picture secretly snapped by my mentor and friend @veramcevoy …
A gorgeous exhibition, Pathways, in the heart of Belfast… a wonderful shop too full of great goodies for Christmas and birthdays, supporting local makers… I wish every county in Ireland had a hub of support like this one!
Thanks again for the recognition; so proud and delighted… it’s not often a wee piece of textiles gets to share the platforms with ceramics, glass and jewellery … but there you go. Happy days.”
This year, applicants were invited to respond to the theme of ‘Pathways’, whether this was interpreted as a series of connections, reflections of travels or environment, experiences or actions, a personal journey or a journey in making.
Adam Frew, Adele Pound, Anne Butler, Elizabeth Johnston, Fiona Kerr, Heather McFadden, Irene McBride, Karen Hamilton, Karena Ryan, Lauren Scott, Maya Todd, Neil Marlow, Patricia Kelly, Patricia Millar, Patrick Colhoun, Pennie Metcalfe, Red Earth Designs, Sam Gleeson, Samantha Moore, Sandra Robinson, Sarah Cathers, Scott Benefield, Shauna McCann, Sue Cathcart, Tamzen Lundy Designs, and Tracey Johnston.
The exhibition runs from the 3rd of August to the 15th.
The Craft NI gallery on Royal Avenue, Belfast, launches a new exhibition this month as part of August Craft Month, an all-island promotion of craft and design.
Exhibition: Tamzen Lundy has art in ‘Pathways’
The Craft NI gallery on Royal Avenue, Belfast, launches a new exhibition this month as part of August Craft Month, an all-island promotion of craft and design.
The exhibition is entitled “Pathways” and runs from the 3rd of August through the 15th.
Tamzen Lundy (previous chairperson of Feltmakers Ireland and now full-time practising textile artist and teacher) has a very personal piece selected for this month-long exhibition.
Her piece is called “Extinguished”. This piece represents the number of children, minors and young people that were killed during “The Troubles “in Northern Ireland. Innocent lives quickly extinguished.
Each life is represented by a lit match, burned bright but short. The ground fabric is wet felted 100% wool, representing the earth and land. Then all is encased between this wool and a shroud of lightweight silk chiffon, representing the ethereal, precious and fragile life and beyond.
The matches are connected by a red linen thread, each knotted and linked together. “The Red Thread that Connects” is an Eastern concept of connectedness, pathway or destiny.
The piece is 85cm x 85cm (Wool, Silk Chiffon, Linen and Wooden Matchsticks).
The work is also supported by a video piece showing the lighting, burning, and the extinguished matches as they pile up over time.
Tamzen was born in Belfast in the late 70’s, and this sense of place often informs her work.
Previous pieces, such as “The Ballymurphy Precedent”, have been shown with Feltmakers Ireland as part of their international exhibition in Finland in 2018. More recently, her sculptural piece “Bridges not Bombs” was shown in Phoenix Park in 2022.
Tamzen is a textile professional with 25+ years’ of experience. She has worked on all sides of fashion retail, design and manufacturing. Since 2020 she has focused her time on her own arts practice, describing herself as a felt maker and textile artist.
Her commercial work is playful and inspired by stories and the Irish landscape; this is sold in several small independent retailers across our Island as well as direct.
More information about Tamzen, as well as workshop dates, can be found on her website – www.tamzenlundydesigns.ie
As part of August Craft Month, Feltmakers Ireland member Tamzen Lunday is teaching on Sunday, 20th August, from 1pm-4pm at the lovely studio and shop – Brookwood Pottery in Marino Mart, Fairview Dublin.
Only 4 places are available, at €60 each, all materials provided.
This half-day class will offer you an insight into wet feltmaking. You will learn some skills like making a bobble. Making a rope and trying out 3D feltmaking by making a small pod. She will also show and hopefully inspire you to try out these different techniques.
How might you apply these in your creative development? Are you a TY Student going on to study Art at Leaving? This would give you a new skill, textiles and sculpture combined!
Are you starting out on a PLC course in September? Perhaps putting together a portfolio?… This taster session might inspire you for projects to include that will set you apart.
Or are you just looking for something new, a new craft? Wet felting is very sensory; learn to explore your own creativity and try it out with this taster.
Dear members. Nationwide last night featured Feltmakers Ireland’s November Sunday Session and maker Leiko Uchiyama. We are sorry we could not tell you in advance as we had not been told it would be on last night.
The choice of what to include in the programme was entirely up to the RTE crew but we feel it gave a positive picture of felting and Feltmakers Ireland.
Congratulations to Leiko! That was a lovely segment about your work.
Sunday Session November 6th 2022 in the CIE Social Club Inchicore!
On Sunday 6th November Feltmakers Ireland Committee and 25 members took part in a `hands-on` practical Feltmaking session. There was great excitement, as a Nationwide film team was coming to film our efforts and interview some key members of our Feltmakers Ireland community.
The session was led by Tamzen Lundy, a former Committee member. She had designed a really charming Christmas project for us, a felted Nordic style Santa Claus in 3D. You can use the Santa Claus as a tree decoration, as a bottle topper, or as a stand alone ornament.
Feltmaking is a craft that allows you to easily produce items in 3D without any sewing at all. The committee had prepared a kit bag for each participant, containing all we required for this session.
Tamzen then took us all very clearly through the process, which involved laying merino wool in 3 alternate layers on a triangular shaped resist.
For Santa’s face, Tamzen showed us 2 ways of making and attaching a felt nose,(a felt bead, cut in two) by fluffing it up with a wire (or pet) brush, then had an ingenious method of using a small piece of prefelt (sometimes called Needlepunch) to create the face, and then cutting a teeny hole in the prefelt to reveal the nose. Later we would use needle felting to add eyes and beard.
The main learning points I took from Tamzen`s were:
To use no soap in your wetting down process, (and generally very little soap overall) a bit controversial for me as soap tends to be my `comfort blanket`.
No rolling, (not a roller in sight! ), use bubblewrap as a rubbing tool , and generally keep on rubbing, and massaging with your bare hands, or bubblewrap, on the surface of your piece until any sign of `cellulite` is gone! (Of course that meant that a big discussion on what cellulite was, ensued!)
At the end of the very happy and enjoyable session, it was really interesting how all the Santas looked very individual, taking on their own personalities!
While we participants were concentrating on our project, RTE`S Nationwide crew were filming a wonderful and varied display of members’ work at the end of the room. They interviewed Deirdre Crofts from our Committee, who spoke of the different pieces on display and explained the different felting skills.
Founding member of Feltmakers Ireland, Elizabeth Bonnar was interviewed about our Guild’s history in Ireland. Also interviewed was Astrid Tomrop-Hofman another important person who helped bring felt making to Ireland.
Our current research project on Irish breeds of sheep and their fleeces, was explained to Nationwide interviewer Zainab, by the leader of the research group, our Treasurer, Annika Berglund. The group hopes to publish a book in the near future with their findings.
Fiona Leech and Deirdre Croft told of our monthly Sunday Sessions, and of our Annual Art Felt Exhibition.
Zainab, interviewer, had her first go at Feltmaking!
For me, a member for many years, and formerly on committee, it was lovely to see old felting friends, like Helene Dooley, who has been working with the IFA , (the International Feltmakers Association, with which we are affiliated .)
Session leader, Tamzen, was interviewed, as she has turned her feltimaking into a successful business, and has an Etsy shop, Tamzenlundydesigns.
A very big thank you to Breda Fay, our Guild Chairperson, who was the person RTE contacted, and who made the film crew so welcome. Thanks to Lorna Cady, Committee member, who secured our venue, and to all our Committee members who baked tasty goodies, and made tea and coffee for us all, and made us all so welcome.
Clodagh Mac Donagh.
EXHIBITIONS
Our Feltmakers Ireland Annual Exhibition will open on Dec3rd in the Ashtown visitor Centre, in the Phoenix Park and will run for the whole of December
From 12th November until 23rd of December, Tamzen Lundy has an exhibition of her work at the Newbridge Arts Theatre Centre, Riverbank, Co. Kildare.
NEXT SUNDAY SESSION
venue: CIE sports hall, Inchicore
time : 10.15-12.30
Leader: Carmen Draghici, coming specially from Constanza in southern Romania for the weekend. Her work can be viewed online at FELT JOY and on Facebook & You Tube. She has an ETSY shop and she will bring some of her work to show us.
She will demonstrate some of her unique skills, making a small Christmas Cushion (as time is so limited )
It will be practical session. Some kits may be available to purchase (€4) for those who have materials (old towel, soap, bubble wrap etc) needed to felt with Carmen.
Materials needed: (exactly as last session)
Old towel, bubble wrap, resist, soap, and water bottle, needed.
70 grams red roving, embellishments (including, if you have any, old lace or finest crochet)
Feltmakers Ireland 