New Felt Scarf

CRAFTed - the making of a felt wall hanging in the classroom

For this years  CRAFTed I had 4th class from Scoil Bhride,  Paulstown, a country school about 20 km from Kilkenny city.

In order to get used to felt making   each child was to make their own felt picture  of their own design ,  only condition   to use as much colour as possible . The children enjoyed  the colours and what  happy amazement  when their laid out wool fibres turned into a piece of felt . They made tractors and lions, sunsets and rainbows, golden beaches and  the sea, and some wrote their name in colourful felt.

On my second visit I was overwhelmed by the happy welcome I received on my return and from then on every time I came back was greeted by children from the class welcoming me  the minute I got out of the car  offering their help to carry in the felting equipment.

The plan was to create a large wall hanging in time for the opening of the new school extension.

Now it was time to make some prefelt in preparation for our wall hanging. Children were divided into groups in order to make prefelts in shades of the dominant colours of the large piece.

For our 3^rd workshop with  the help of their  teacher  the children  prepared cut out handprints  of their own hand  and also of the hands of pupils from other classes , involving the whole school  in our project.

These were then traced on a multicoloured  prefelt  and cut out, acting as the blossoms for our “welcoming tree”. We recreated features of the local landscape  and natural environment and at the bottom added the name of the school by laying out fibre and adding the coloured  prefelts prepared beforehand.  Everybody took part in wetting and rolling the large piece which is now happily displayed in the school hall.

It was a great experience and a real pleasure to work with the children of 4^th class Scoil Bhride, and while their teacher was very good at maintaining a healthy level of discipline the children   never lost their natural enthusiasm and spontaneity  and I hope the wall hanging  resembles  just  a bit the bright , joyful  and vivid children I worked with .

Spring is in the air

Spring is in the air and only 2 more days to St.Patrick's Day. I got distracted today by this beautiful Hellebore  that grows in my driveway. Just had to take a picture. 
Yesterday we went to the launch of the Open Studio by the Arts Office here in Kilkenny
‘Open Studio’ is the culmination of the current artists in residence programme. Deirdre Gallagher (Limerick), Caroline Schofield (Kilkenny), Vicky Cody (Kilkenny) and Maeve Coulter (Kilkenny) who have been sharing studio space  at no. 76 John Street since October 2011.  Textile Art, Printing, Drawing and more, delicate smocking on printed textiles by Maeve Coulter, large wallpaper project collage printing by Vicky Cody, etchings and Prints by Deirdre Gallagher and brilliant drawings and dramatic free machine embroidered portraits large scale of passers by, by Caroline Schofield. Worth a visit if you are in Kilkenny on until 22nd of March. For more info :  www.kilkennycoco.ie/eng/Services/Arts/
Artist’s residency blog: www.no72artistsresidency.com

                                                                Kilkenny, 16.30 25/12/2011
Wishing  you All a peaceful Christmas and all things wonderful for the New Year, Nollaig Shone Duit, Frohe Weihnachten,Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, Kellemes Karacsonyi Unnepeket, God Jul, Wesolych Swiat Bozega Narodzenia .........................

Seascape Exhibition

 The Craft Council of Ireland again  co-ordinated  an  exhibition of textiles at this years Knitting and Stitching Show, which ran Thursday 10th Nov. to Sunday 13th Nov. 2011, at the RDS, Dublin. The title was 'Seascapes'. It was a beautifully varied exhibition. The piece of work I was happy to exhibit was called 'Tidal Play'. It was inspired by the much loved habit of picking up stones and shells, laying them out in names or patterns on the beach, but only to have them reclaimed by the sea once the tide comes in and the water starts to play with them. If you are interested in viewing more images of the varies pieces in the exhibition try out the link below.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.280777708608860.78729.176954548991177&l=574407d96d&type=1

Here is the link    http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1121715  to RTE's Nationwide News programm which ran a feature on the 'Knitting and Stitching show' also, worth watching, you might have to paste the link. Program was shown on the 14th Nov.

Teasels

Found these in my garden and thought they were beautiful. I was told that teasels were used long ago for teasing or combing wool. What a coincidence!

Felting Workshop Nuno Silk Scarf

	Saturday, November 26 · 10:00am - 5:00pm
Location	'The Studio', Ballyreddin, Bennettsbridge, Co.Kilkenny
More Info	Create your own Nuno scarf using fine silk chiffon, merino wool and silk fibres. We will start with a sample piece to get accustomed to the technique, so you can confidently create your own unique Nuno silk chiffon scarf at the workshop. The workshop fee is 75 Euros this includes all materials, 55cm x 180cm silk chiffon scarf, a sample piece of silk chiffon, a selection of coloured merino wool and silk fibres. Limited spaces, 20 euros deposit Please bring your own Lunch, Bubble wrap and Towels For bookings or queries please contact me @ 086 063 80 18 or miklosi@eircom.net Make a present for someone special or treat yourself to something special