Needle Felted: "Devotion"

Here's another quick update with pics of my latest. I've become fascinated with miniature, needle felted pictures. My latest is a two inch oval called "Devotion".

See my other tiny "paintings", as my friend Melanie calls them, in my EBay listings. There is so much love and passion in my work, lately. I just can't get enough wool! This will be a great art form to curl up with, this winter!

I'm also adding a pic of "Fishies".

I still haven't listed "Harvey and His Pooka". It's so hard to detach, sometimes.

Many blessings of creativity!!

Needle Felting: Harvey

Well, I was looking at my needle felted cat (seen in a previous blog) when it occurred to me that I had the perfect colors for a new experiment. Not too original, but I couldn't resist trying it. When I had finished (hours of poking and several, painful finger-sticks later) I placed my new creation next to Harvey and a new and everlasting friendship was born.



"Harvey and His Pooka" is a OOAK creation, inspired in part, by the movie with Jimmy Stewart and also by my love for sock monkeys. I had a sock monkey, when I was little, made by my grandmother. Her name was Luisa (the sock monkey, not my grandmother) and was named after an organ grinder's monkey in a Shirley Temple movie.


In case you didn't know, the Harvey in the story was Elwood P. Dowd's pooka. In Irish Folklore a pooka is a mischievous spirit, like a fairy or goblin, with the power to be seen as an animal. In my world, Harvey has his own pooka in the form of a sock monkey!



This work evolved, over time to become what it is...an artist's interpretation...a tribute to a classic movie...and a classic toy. In no way, have I intended to infringe on any copyrights, and I hope this will not be seen, as such.



If you haven't seen the movie...it's well worth the rental fee...and if you want to make a real sock monkey, you can still purchase Rockford Red Heel Socks on the net.


Happy Creating!

More on Needle Felting

Just a quick update. I've been so busy, I haven't had a lot of time for blogging.

I'm still very excited about needle felting and I have found some awesome links, in my recent wanderings around Cyberworld. They are added to my Fiber Links, on the right. Do check those out for some visual treats...and for good information.

I just received an order for new needles from WINDORWOOD FARM, on EBay. I bought in bulk, three different sizes. They were very reasonably priced and I am enjoying my experiments with the different sizes...and now I have extra needles, in case one should break (I broke one, last week) or should I want to show anyone else how this is done.

I'm starting to get bids on my needle felted work on EBay. This is delightful, as it will enable me to buy more supplies (feed my addiction...lol).

I'm including a pic of my latest character. It's my first, finished piece with a wire armature. I'm calling him "Harvey" for now, but that could change. He might be finished...or he might need clothes...or he might be a she. You just never know. In any case, I'm not ready to list him, yet.

It does take a little time to detach from these pieces. They are far more time-consuming then one might think and it's hard to let them go, sometimes. I will miss "Edward". His auction closes, tomorrow.

Many blessings...and fewer pokes (ouch).

Bettina

Needle felting: Nuts and bolts.

I've become so passionate about this art form, that some of my friends are starting to ask me questions...like I must know something. Well, I have a long way to go, before I am any kind of an expert, but I am happy to share what I have been learning, so far. If there are any felters out there who would like to add something, please feel free to comment.

Lately, I've been learning about the importance of a light touch. It's easy to get excited and keep jabbing away like Michael in "Halloween"...but that's also a good way to stab yourself, a lot. I'm more of a tapper, now, than a jabber, especially on the flat pieces.

Felting needles are extremely sharp. They are also fragile, in the sense that you should not use them to pull fiber from one place to another. I turn them around and use the handle for this, or I grab a stronger, tapestry needle for that job. The latter is better, so you don't poke yourself. In any event, felting needles can break if you bend them, so it's best to use them, only for poking straight into the fiber.

Another thing to think about is needle sterilization. Since sticking yourself is common, sharing needles is a bad idea. Be sure to have extra needles around, if you want to show friends how to do this, or you want to teach classes. Each person should have their own needles.

Fiber comes from lots of different animals and even plants. Some is great for felting, some is not. I'll post more about that, as I learn more about it. So far, I have found that fiber that is crinkly seems to work better than ultra smooth roving, though you can crinkle some of the smooth stuff in your fingers and it will work better.

Today's pics are of a cat that is a work-in-progress and some tiny, flat "paintings", so to speak. I just keep experimenting.

I hope you will check out some of the other blogs that are listed on the right of this page. Some of them will take you to some awesome needle felters...who know much more than I.

I'm off to poke some more stuff! :)

Bettina

"Grandfather Sun" is Evolving.

I am beginning to learn that, with needle felting, one needs to pace themselves. This is much more difficult for me, than creating a character.

Needle felting can be tedious. I mean, it's great fun to watch a character appear, but it's an awful lot of pokes, before things really start to shape up and get exciting. I still find it relaxing, but the only problem is, I tend to want to push myself to the finish line in one sitting...and if that means sitting for three days, so be it...sigh...

The other day, I sat down in the Satellite Lab, right after Lance went to work. I started jabbing this and that...just experiments...pieces and parts, many of which, were tossed in the "bone pile". Suddenly, I looked at the clock and it was time for Lance to come home from work!! I got up and my whole body felt crippled with muscle spasms and sleeping appendages! LOL...I had really zoned!!!

I just couldn't help it. New wool had arrived in the form of bag of end pieces. One pound, which turned out to be a lot of different colors, from bluegooseglen. It was very reasonably priced, and I laughed, maniacally, as I explored the bag and separated all the colors into little balls. It was like getting 20, or so, new paint colors (maybe more, I haven't counted)! Update: I counted...38 colors!!! No wonder I was excited!

I also had received some wool from my friend Noelle (trickystitchesprimitives on EBay), who had some extra and was kind enough to share some with me. Noelle is a gifted artist of primitive cloth dolls, which are just wonderful, BTW.

Another small batch of wool came in from EBay, as well, from woolpicker. I had to ask about the smell of eucalyptus...not a bad smell, but I wanted to know where it came from. She sent me a note that explained that her wool was stored with a moth-repellent potpourri; a special blend of herbs. It really smells just wonderful, while I work with it. She also sent me a picture of Erna, her beautiful ewe that crossed over in the spring. I feel blessed as I work this wool, to be honoring the Spirit of a beloved pet.

I realize, at this point, that life must go on and I must slow down, a bit, with the needle felting. I don't need to race to any finish lines...and I do have other things to do, like clean house, create ACEOs, books, shakers, dolls, music....sigh... So "Grandfather Sun" could be a work-in-progress for a long time.

I just know there must be more hours I can squeak out...somewhere.

Here Comes The Sun...maybe.

At least, I think that's where I'm going with this. Another intuitive sculpture with some cool, new fluff that came in the mail, today! It's so nice to be working in yellows.

This is a work in progress and I'm thinking about a sun...but these things have a way of running away with me, so who knows what it will really end up becoming. Whatever it becomes, you can be sure I will be back to post about it (Creator willing and the Ohio River don't rise).

I wanted to mention, here that my practice in sculpting in polymer and other clays has come in very handy in this art form. The parts and pieces come together in much the same way, as with clay, but instead of using my fingers and other tools, I am using a single needle.

If you are interested in this art form and have never sculpted anything, before, I highly recommend checking out some books on polymer character building. If you are already building in clay, then you shouldn't have any problem creating fun characters with wool...but a word of warning...If I had sculpted this head in polymer, it would have taken me about thirty minutes or less. I've spent the last FIVE HOURS working on this face....and there's still a long way to go!

I have a whole new appreciation for the time spent creating needle felted characters. No regrets, though. It's the most fun, relaxing thing I've done in a long time.

Well...I'm off to make dinner.

Bettina

Meet...Edward.

In my last blog, I had begun my exploration into the world of needle felting. You can read more about needle felting, there, but I wanted to pop in and tell you about "Edward".

"Edward" is my first, intuitive, needle felted sculpture. I couldn't wait for more roving to arrive, so I used the left-overs from my bear kit. I'm really champing at the bit to start playing with more colors, but I'm thankful there was enough purple left over to create "Edward". I used what I learned, but no patterns. He just poked, right out of my hands!

I've listed him, but it was hard. He's my first, original design, in this art form...but I need more roving. :)

Bettina