Only Time for Little Things

Sunday, Jone and I went to see ARTPRIZE in Grand Rapids, MI. Janice Arnold has the most exquisite felt instillation I've ever seen. I could use all of the adjectives in my vocabulary and still fall grossly short of how jaw-dropping it is. Stunned is how I am still, happily stunned!

We had the opportunity to talk with Janice for about a half hour. What a doll she is! She is strong, wise, a visionary. If anyone is questioning if they should come to see her work, the answer is YES, YES, YES!!!!! You'll not be disappointed at all! To be in it was amazing. If you want to take a peek at her work, check out:

http://www.artprize.org/artists/public-profile/49090

I am getting ready for Felt United 2010! Again this year we will be at Marr Haven in Allegan from 12-4 PM. You are all invited to come join us. Please, please do. It's going to be so much fun.

These two small pieces are made from pre-felt that Jone has dyed. The colors are perfect for Felt United, so I made these two small pins. Looks like I'd better get busy!

Happy Felting and Shalom,
Suzanne

Coffee Break

I'll be having coffee with my buddy Dawn of www.feltsoright.com tomorrow. I've not seen her in so long it will be a real treat. I've got some of the sari silks I want to share with her. I hope she likes them!

It's about all I have time for today.
I'll try to finish this entry tomorrow after coffee with Dawn .
Shalom,
Suzanne

Post coffee entry:
I think she liked the silks. We made a small flower together so I could show her how to ensure that it attaches. It went well, but we choose colors that didn't really go well together, so though the experiment went well, the end results could have been much prettier has we pad attention to the details of color combination. Nonetheless, I expect to see more silk fabrics showing up in Dawns works. Her hats are wonderful, if you not taken the chance to see them, do take a peek.

We took off for coffee and giggles and long talk. It was good to be with my friend, who also happens to be a felting friend!

A Long Time Ago, In A Place far Away ...

A long time ago, in a place far (well actually only three hours away) lived a much younger girl than I am, who had an eight acre hobby farm , where she raise milking goats, her favorite was named Peggy, rabbits, chicken and geese. The girl was supremely happy milking goats, feeding chicken and geese and rabbits. Each Spring, that girl would order the chicken catalog. When it arrived, she would sit down at her kitchen table with a full cup of coffee and begin the joyous task of selecting baby chicks. Now, this was no easy task, to be sure. Several cups of coffee might be needed before the final selection was made. This girl ordered only two chicken from about 50 different birds of the hundreds of breeds available in the catalog. Within two weeks after the selection was completed, 100 baby chicks, Sweet Peeps, as her daughter called them, arrived. All of them looking exactly alike, yellow puffs of peeps. They were looked after with loving eyes, a warming lamp, feed, grit, water and lots of snuggles. Slowly, the peeps grew into young chicks and were moved from the garage to the small barn. There they learned many new things, like bugs are fun to eat! Now, all of the chicks began to look very different from each other, different coloring, different feathering, different sizes, different temperaments...and they all lived very happily together.............. until the boy chickens decided to be cocky and attack the much loved daughter because she was wearing a bright pink jacket. Then, that very day, all of the boys all became food for the mother and daughter ...who indeed, did live happily ever after. (...even after another boy named Jim showed up to court the mother, who she loved very much, married and moved away from her much loved farm, but, that's another story.)
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These photos are not of that much loved farm. These photos are of Christee's farm where I picked up lamb for the freezer. I got to feed the lambs that required bottle feeding, shovel some manure , smell the barn, hang with Christee. The beautiful rooster prompted the hobby farm reminiscence . He was not cocky and did not attack anyone. I like him a lot!

Have a wonderful day!
Shalom,
Suzanne

Flim Flam Man

I was walking through the grocery store on Thursday just looking for stuff to eat, when a song I'd long loved, and had long forgotten about popped into my head. I began singing it to myself...because no one else would want to hear it, (and though I've never tried it, I think spontaneous singing in public is probably frowned on in Plainwell.) It stayed in my head for days, but I've enjoyed every minute of it. The song? "Flim Flam Man" by the very talented, singer- poet, song-writer, Laura Nyro. For those first brief moments of that song being played in my head, I was delightfully 20 years old again. It is wonderful that music is able to transform us, transport us, to bring joy, hope, tears, laughter, and memories. It is a true sweetness in living.

Then I began thinking about Laura Nyro and her wonderful lyrics. Her songs, sung by so many others, had literally cocooned a great span of my time on earth. Just some of her songs include: Wedding Bell Blue's, Blowin Away, Stoned Soul Picnic, Sweet Blindness by the 5th Dimension, Spanish Harlem by Ben E. King, Stoney End and Time and Love by Barbara Streisand , And When I Die by Blood Sweat and Tears, Eli's Comin' by Three Dog Night, La La Means I love You by the Delfonics, Up On The Roof, by the Drifters, and that's just some of her incredible song writing. Laura died in the late 90's from ovarian cancer I think. Of all the songs she wrote, Flim Flam Man remains a high favorite of mine and I am so glad that it spontaneously popped into my head.

I have been making felt. I've been working on some nuno / laminate felts. I am still amazed by the amount of shrinkage that occurs with these felts. The texture is simply yummy. The turquoise hat is made of a merino and angora 50/50 blend. It has a very soft halo of bunny on the surface. The scarf is felted with 100% merino.

It has been a day of resting, sleeping a lot, down time, and I've enjoyed it very much. Tomorrow will bring new joys, new energies, and it's own song. I'm so glad that Laura Nyro will be there, refreshed in my musical memories.

Learning, Learning, Always Learning

I made this hat with high hopes in mind. The first layer is angora, second layer is merino, third layer angora. The results were less than stellar. The shirking went fine until it reach a certain point when it would simply shrink no further...even after 20 minutes in a hot dryer! YIKES! That's something I never do! (ok, never say never!) It will soon be gifted to a dear friend who has a large head. While the colors are not 'her colors" I am sure that a tour in the dye pot will make it hers alone.
I enjoy felting with angora, but this trip around the felting table was a "bumpy bunny" ride.
Lessons learned

Blue Hares

I spent so much of my childhood in church behind women who dyed their hair blue, I just couldn't resist the title for this entry and the play on words since this hat is made from angora. Maybe that's only funny to me, but I just had to do it!

But, nonetheless, this felt hat is double hooded sculpted hat that was over dyed once it was completed. The reason I chose to over dye it is because it is made of a great deal of angora fiber along with merino wool and silk and mohair accents on the surface. If I had dyed the fibers prior to the felting process I was concerned that it would felt the dye pot, so I waited.

Enjoy the joys in this day!
Shalom,
Suzanne