Monday, February 16, 2015

AZ 2015 GIRLFRIEND ART CAMP

A couple of years ago a friend invited me to visit her 'winter' home in AZ.  That short girlfriend visit has evolved into an annual Jan. or Feb. event.  We now call it 'art camp' and a few more friends have been added to the mix.

This year we decided to make felted bowls.  Now, I'm certainly NOT an expert, having made only 2 before, but we dug in and had such an enjoyable time.
 Sue has sandwiched a thin circular plastic resist between layers of wool roving and is beginning the felting process.
 Nan is at the same stage.....netting covering the wet wool as soapy water and friction from bubble wrap slowing mats the fibers together.
 Here's my piece.
 When sufficiently felted, a hole is cut through one side and the resist is removed.

 A LOT more shaping and rubbing is required to obtain a smooth, firm finished vessel.  When satisfied with the look, the bowls are left in the sun to dry.  You may be able to see I have a long way to go to perfect this process.  The inside of this bowl is still more wrinkled than I'd like.  I'm pretty sure I can wet it again and work some more to remove them.  Any felters out there that care to guide me with their thoughts???  It'd be appreciated.
 Nan achieved a really great 'first bowl'!
 Here's the result of our first day.  Each of these bowls were made using identical resist circles.....what a surprising difference in their shapes.
.....and a closer look.  I will probably add further embellishments to mine......perhaps beads and/or decorative threads/yarns.

4 comments:

Windy Hill Happenings said...

They are wonderful! A lot accomplished in one day! PS - Welcome home!

Nancy said...

You sure know how to have fun. And in AZ- what a wonderful place. The bowls turned out well. I'd like to see yours once you embellish.

Robbie said...

These look really nice!!! I'm surprised because at times they don't turn out this nice!!! But I should have known your group would do well!!!

Sherrie Spangler said...

These are lovely -- like glowing gems!