Felted Landscape Class at New England Felting Supply

I had a great class at NEFS this past weekend. I had only three students so I was able to relax a bit and really give extra time to each individual. I felt bad for the store since it was probably losing money with the class; which would normally be cancelled with less than four participants, but it was a boon to the participants with lots of room to work and extra attention. It was interesting that though there was a poor turnout for the class I received 3 inquiries that week from folks wanting to take my class. I am working up a cost for students to come here for private lessons to accommodate those who cannot get to the other classes. I think this will be really beneficial to the students as they will have my wools and embellishments to work with plus all that one-on-one time. I may even offer an overnight guest room....we will see.

I have realized that I need to write a better explanation of what I teach since my current class description is a  "just the facts Mam", bare bones blurb. So I thought I would do a write up here that can be pared down for advertising. 

The class is like a mini art class about landscape painting, we just happen to be working in wool creating felt. For me this hybrid felt is very much like the process I was doing when illustrating. The wet felting gives the look of the watercolor under-paintings that I started the illustrations with. I would then further develop and add detail to the piece with colored pencil which in this case is the needle felting. I start the class with a long (I try not to be too long winded) lecture about the basics of rendering a landscape; things that would apply to any colored medium. I teach how our use of color, value, line, and perspective can give a great sense of depth to a painting. I discuss how to look at the inspirational photo and break it down into simplified masses and how to truly see what is there. My greatest wish is for students to leave with a new way of seeing. I then talk about how the use of wool and various fibers and the felting techniques can be used to create something very unique in landscape rendering. The felt itself is more than just a flat canvas; the surface of the felt can be built up much more than if we were just using layers of paint. Students do the wet felting on the first day and then make changes and add details with the felting needle on the second day. Students may not leave with a finished piece but they have the basic knowledge of how to render a landscape.

Here are the pieces created this past weekend. Since there are only three pieces to show I will include shots of the layouts as well. First up is a fall scene done by James.

The layout

after wet felting

 at the end of class

Here is Melinda's. It is a scene of the Italian cliff city of Manarola....a difficult subject for a first landscape, I am hoping to see a photo of it after she does more needling to add straight lines to the buildings and cliffs.

the reference photo

the layout

after wet felting

at the end of class

And here is Marybeth's. A familiar scene for her as it is part of her property.

the layout

after wet felting

at the end of class

Though teaching always makes me want to create a piece of my own I felt I had too many other projects in the works to indulge that desire. However I did FINALLY finish the rug that I had started laying out way back during the end of November. We had a beautiful 70 degree day so I took it outside and danced on it to finish felting it. It is not really felted as hard as can be but it is not going to fall apart either and I want to move on. Here it is in the living room so you can get an idea of the size. I am not sure where it will live yet....maybe in my bedroom where I can get out of bed in the morning and sink my toes in the soft locks. :)