Hey
All, it's been a while since I've posted here, a long while actually!
I've been busy teaching, and being taught... and computer time has
not been a great part of it.
It's
some years since I've had Internet at home (I still don't) but I'm
looking forward to making regular posts and connecting again with you
all.
I completed the UK Waldorf Handwork Training in Wynstones Steiner
School in Gloucestershire this past school year, lots to share around
that soon. In our studies,we covered several different craft disciplines, as indeed
we are called upon to teach in the curriculum. At times, as a
craftsperson the picture can become very big indeed and I think you
can end up feeling like you have some knowledge/experience in many
different areas, but to specialise in one has become a great
desire for me these past months, a need I suppose, both as a teacher
and an artist.
So
I have settled on Feltmaking... returning, having walked a wide
circle, home again to my first love : )
When
I'm Felting, I feel like the wool is working with me, and that
I know it somehow. I seem to have a deep connection to it as a
material and I strive to learn more.
I
jumped into Bag Making some months ago and have really found
something there, of the beauty and purpose model that so
resonates with me. With all the allure of spikes, craters and
other surface embellishments so popular in
contemporary Feltmaking, I seem to be a traditionalist in the end! I
love to make practical things of everyday use and value that are
beautiful to use and behold. And this is what I love to share with
others, in leading them on their own 'handmade' journey.
The
wish to travel teach has been simmering away in me too. That journey
begins this November! A wonderful painter, the lovely ElizabethPorritt Carrington has invited me to teach some Fibre Arts workshops in
Asheville, North Carolina where she now lives and works. I will be
delighted to share details of this upcoming trip shortly.
In
the meantime, here's some of what I've been up to...
Mixing
different fibres ( ie. wool from different species of sheep, wools
that have been processed differently) is generally not recommended in
the main body of a project like this. But I was on a mission to use
wools I've had stored for some time, four completely different
kinds... it all felted just fine.
Bit
of help from my favourite star in the sky,
which lasted at least two
minutes ; )
Love
the transformative process from fine wisps of soft wool to this
foolhardy bag... which, if I can keep the moths away will most likely
outlive me!
Thank
you for reading x Mia
