Art Felt Techniques Workshop & NY’s Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival

I’m moving forward in my blog catch up! 

I’m offering Art Felts workshop at my Luckystone Feltworks Studio in Glens Falls January 15 and 16, 2011.  Please check my web site for details. 

Here are images from the workshop when I first presented at Rhinebeck this year.  It was one of the most rewarding in terms of how the students took off with it. What they did seemed to so intuitively express their creativity.  Exactly the thing I’d hoped for.

As usual, it was cold and much windier than usual but we stayed warm!  Our workshop was placed in a tent between two others, so we were protected on two sides, and had flaps that kept undoing on the other two sides.  Luckily, I had a resourceful group with me who kept things retied, and the festival crew kept trying to keep things under wraps so to speak.  We’d hear crashing all about, us but not inside, and we managed to keep dry!  And June, one of our participants even brought home made soup (and amazing chocolate cake) for all!

June with soup!

The best things about Rhinebeck:

• People all around you “get” fiber.   When you walk the grounds, they ask to take photos of you in your felt coat (instead of wondering what planet you’re from).  It’s like you’re part of a club. 
• There is an enthusiasm in the air that begins in cyber space through blogs and social networking sites like Ravelry.  Sort of like a rock concert but everyone’s sober but pumped.
• The shopping.  (There are wayyyy too many fiber shopping opportunities).
• The location.  The bathrooms even have floral arrangements and are clean.  The trees are flush with fall color, there are pumpkins, children, horses pulling wagons and there’s great food every where.
• There are beautiful sheep.  The source of our obsession. .. what I used to long to find on every road trip, is there on display, all primped, primed and looking lovely.  (My favorite was a Shetland named “George Clooney”  See, they get us.)

I’m not the Shetland

sheep judging

The bad things about Rhinebeck:

• The shopping.  When you take a weekend workshop, that is when the vendors sell, while you are rolling and throwing your felt.  I try to adjust to this by taking a class vote: who wants to shop at lunch and when, for how long?  I remind them they’d be crazy to vote no, but promise to be there to teach.  I also remind them how far behind they could get, or not…

Johanna’s layout

detail of Johanna’s piece

This year I had a very dedicated student from Columbia, SA.  She was a graduate of a design program.  She’d felted, but explained that she only had “wool” available where she lives.  No breed identified, no choices, very coarse stuff.  She arrived late in the heavy traffic and was wrongly admonished not to interrupt our workshop.  I noticed her peeking into the tent several times, but she did not enter until our lunch break.  We all felt awful for her, but she took it in stride and flew through the workshop.  I gave her a crash course in all techniques I could think of.  This is her work.

Johanna and her art felt

Johanna doing hand work

Our Visitors Nicola Brown, (Robin), Heather Stump Karlheim

Nicola photographs Diane’s work

detail of Diane’s piece

I encourage special friends to drop in on us at Rhinebeck, those I know won’t disrupt things and might add a spark.  We had a visit from my friend Heather (also a blogger- woollove) whom I met in MI at The Creative Felt Gathering.  She brought along visiting feltmaker Nicola Brown, from Ireland. I was familiar with Nicola from cyber space- her blog Clasheen, and Facebook.  It was like we’d all known each other forever.  We shared dinner in a group and fitted in about a weeks worth of fiber talk in a couple of hours.  They visited our workshop through out the weekend to watch the progression of work.  I hope it was fun for all of us.

Diane’s art felt

June stitching

June’s art felt

Detail of Donna’s piece

Donna embellishing from her stash

Sherry working on her piece

Donna, Sherry, Diane, June

The Rhinebeck Scene

Robin Blakney-Carlson, art felt no.4

Robin Blakney-Carlson, art felt no.1

Robin Blakney-Carlson, art felt no.2

Robin Blakney-Carlson, art felt no.3