Art in Felted Wool with Pamela Blotner
Friday, April 27, 4:30 – 7 pm
$65 plus a $30 materials fee
Workshop participants will get a 10% discount on any purchase made in the gallery on the day of the workshop.
Sign up for the workshop here
Fundamentals & Techniques
This class will introduce students to felted wool and felt -making as a delightfully versatile material and processes for making art. For centuries clothing, armor, housing, crafts and adornments have been made from felted sheep, camel, alpaca and llama wool. Students in this workshop series will explore eastern and western techniques for turning this unique and evocative material into 2 and 3D art.
We will learn two processes in our exploration: 1.Hot felting, in which “fabric” is created by applying hot water and agitation to layers of brushed wool. 2.Needle felting, a method of compressing and matting down fibers to form them into desired shapes and volumes using special barbed needles.
Overview:
Beginning with an introductory PowerPoint presentation and basic demonstration of both techniques, each student will experiment with commercial wool, scraps, pre-made felt sheets, and needle felting with dry fiber. In the next class, we will learn “wet” felting techniques to create our own sheets, incorporating color and pattern. As the class progresses, we will experiment with numerous ideas – such as combining our felted forms with found objects and other materials -and techniques and each student will make one or more innovative and original artworks in felt and or mixed media.
About Pamela:
Pa
mela Blotner s an artist/educator/curator living in Berkeley, CA. Her mixed media sculptures and drawings explore humanity’s relationship with nature, belief, tradition ad calamity and have been been exhibited nationally and internationally. She founded the Sculpture Program at the University of San Francisco , CCA, SFAI and throughout the country.