Spiky Curves Retro Nuno Scarf

A few New Scarves

I call this one "Cloudy Rainbow"

"Soft Celery" is the name of this fringy ruffle.

I listed four new scarves on Etsy today, each one with it's own unique character. You can see them at www.arlenewatson.etsy.com

I am so fascinated with Nuno Felt and have a flood of ideas in my head for future pieces.  

That could explain why no two of my nuno scarves are alike.  

I love to create Nuno Felt and find great joy in teaching others how to do it.  

Tomorrow I have five women coming to my studio for a two day Nuno Felt Workshop.  This process brings creativity alive, and I experience that all the time with the students in my classes.   Seeing people excited and happy with what they are learning is wonderful.  I find that felting offers elements of magic and metamorphous with delightful results.

Inside the "Fashioning Felt" exhibit

I was so excited to find this great video on the Martha Stewart web site.  She takes her viewers behind the scenes of the Cooper Hewitt exhibit, "Fashioning Felt", which I featured in my March 11 post.  The video shows lots of fascinating process and takes you inside the exhibit itself.  Click on the link below and have a look for yourself.

Martha Stewart on "Fashioning Felt"

Wearable Art

My sweet young friends came over the other day and I had a great time taking photos of them in all my felt pieces.  It was a perfect spring day, so I took the pictures  outside in every corner of our beautiful yard. I just uploaded the first batch to some of my Etsy Shop  listings, and I'm pleased with the results.  The pieces come to life when they are worn, which is the whole point to wearable art!  

I also took pictures of these and several other new pieces that I will be listing in the next week

Jinelle looks lovely in the Vintage Button Nuno Felt Collar

Kirstin strikes a dramatic pose in the Floral and Flame Nuno Felt Scarf

Vibrant Springtime ~ Start to Finish

This scarf is built around one of the old scarves I found at the rummage sale.  You can see it in the bottom center of the picture of all the silk in my last post.  I used merino roving, handspun Irish yarn, curly wool locs, and silk hankie in my design.  I love the softness of the work as it is laid out before felting.   I thought it would be fun to show the scarf in the making. 

And then show the finished piece.  To see more of what I call, "Vibrant Springtime", check out the listing for this piece at my etsy shop.

Felting Exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt

I posted this entry on the Felting Team Blog,but for those of you who don't read that blog, here it is on mine.

I live in California, but my cousin who lives in New York City sent me an article from the New York Times, dated March 5, about a felt exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum titled, "Fashioning Felt". It offers both traditional and contemporary felt. The exhibit is on until Sept 7 so I may get there yet!     

Be sure to explore the link "Process"for some wonderful pictures from Turkmenistan of women making a felt rug.  There is also a video on "Blog"

http://exhibitions.cooperhewitt.org/Fashioning-Felt/category/soren-ulrick-petersen/

Enjoy!

 Arlene

Sometimes Studio, Sometimes Dorm Room

My studio has become a pseudo college dorm for my grandson and his friend, who are visiting on spring break.  So the neatly lined up work tables that usually host my felt projects, have been replaced by a delightful composite of clothes, lap tops, various electronic chargers plugged in here and there, air beds, and two charming young men.  

Browsing through these pictures, of my studio in it's working mode, has reminded me of how truly versatile this space can be.  I feel so fortunate to have this wonderful studio to work in.

Sorry, no pictures of the dorm room...........you will just have to use your imagination.

Etsy, like Betsy without the "B"

Etsy has got to be one of the most wonderful web sites.   

I'm having such fun with My Etsy Shop. And of course shopping on Etsy is great.  I found some beautiful pieces of antique sari silk from India, offered by a friend and one of my best teachers.  Her shop is called Glitz And Pieces .  She lives in India and finds the most wonderful silk for nuno felting.  The place she lives in is called Pushkar, so I named the two scarves I listed this morning in My Etsy Shop , Pushkar Evening and Pushkar Sunset.  The next best thing would be to visit Pushkar myself...........Believe me, it's on my list!!

Studio Workshop

This week my studio became a classroom, for the first in a series of Nuno Felt Workshops.  The space is perfect for classes.

I posted some beautiful photos on Flicker, of the class , and the lovely work it produced.

Thanks to Jan, Pat, Jocelyn, and Kirstin for a great two days. 

Here are some photos from those two days

www.flickr.com

Felting Below Zero

I didn't have my blog when I was in Anchorage, Alaska in January.  But I do now so I'll talk about the wonderful Nuno Felt Workshop I taught at the Knitting Grounds .  Last year my dear friend Zaynab urged me to teach a workshop at her beautiful shop. This January was my second time teaching in Anchorage, and I love it.  Here I am with my terrific students who all had a wonderful time in our workshop which I dubbed, "Felting Below Zero"! The knit shop was a warm and cozy retreat from the below zero temps that persisted the whole time I was in Anchorage.  I lived in Anchorage for 15 years and can't remember a winter when we had below zero temps for weeks on end.

But summer in Anchorage is the best, and we are working on a Nuno Felt workshop/retreat in Hope , a charming old gold mining town just outside of Anchorage, this summer.  My daughter and son in law have a sweet cabin in Hope where they spend as much free time as they can, so I can combine my two loves, family and felting in one Alaskan weekend.    I'll keep you posted on those developments.

As for workshops in the immediate future:  I have two 2 day workshops planned to be held in my San Diego studio,  March 22 & 23, and April 2 & 3.  I will also be doing one in Phoenix the weekend of March 28 & 29.  For anyone interested, just email me hilltopbeader@cox.net  

Starting Out

So much is happening in my life around my felting and I would like to share these experiences. I have enjoyed reading other artists blogs, so.....I am starting one for myself. 

I am a fiber artist primarily creating  nuno felt.  Over the years I have enjoyed many avenues of artistic expression.  I was a potter for many years, a glass artist, and a beader.  But along the way I have always had a close kinship with fabric and fiber.  My mother was a seamstress and knitter extrodinaire and she taught me sewing and knitting when I was a little girl. Several years ago I discovered felt. Fabulous, freeing felt!  For me it combines the love I have for textiles and fiber, the stunning color I found in glass and beads, and the malleability of clay.  I am at home with felting, both in the pleasure of creating my own work and sharing my love of this exciting medium by teaching.