felted bowl

felt bowl

felted vessel

felt bowl white Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on felt and colour with me. Here are my two pennies..

  • It seems to me that working monochrome may be a little more challenging, because it’s texture, shape or structure which need/s to make a piece stand out/interesting.
  • I am not sure if my assumption is right, but I have noticed people who like/wear/buy felt often like colour very much. Also, felt which is with a lot of pattern and colour seems to be very popular. As I gravitate more towards simple and less colourful look I sometimes wonder if there is a market for such felt.
  • I work with felt because it’s a natural material, if it was eg. acrylic I wouldn’t. To me natural materials, fibres, wood, stone etc. have inherent beauty, they are beautiful even in their pre-processing form.

I have made the two felted bowls as samples for a felting class. I didn’t expect I would enjoy teaching so much, plus it is helping me to look at felt from a different angle and most of all get back to felt making after my detours to other techniques.

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10 Comments

  1. My humble pennies… I especially love your approach and taste. I do share your preference for natural materials and completely agree with you when saying they have beauty within, long before being handled by human hands. Also I’m with you when noticing all that (for me excessive) profusion of colors in most popular and widespread felting items, but it seems to me that works which really make a difference always come from artists who really know how to be in balance with colors, even if not working in monochrome. Wish you loads of customers and students, you do deserve it!

    1. Thank you, Sheila, for your comment. I agree very much that both monochrome or colourful can be successful. At the moment I feel it comes with observing but most of all with practice. I feel one has to make many pieces and possibly many mistakes to get the overall design right.

  2. Uh, I would like to answer too, what a wonderful question ๐Ÿ™‚
    I’m definitely on the natural side, when it comes to felt. Or, perhaps – a bit of natural dyed fibres too, but no strong colours. When you get to know different kinds of wool, and notice their subtle differences in colour, texture and the way they react to what you do to them, it seems to me, that messing too much around with (synthetic) dyes, is a downright shame.
    I’ve been wondering too, about the strong coloured felt being the most popular. It seems to me it is, over here too. In the 60’ies and 70’ies wool had a revival with the hippies, natural, greasy, homespun and also primitive felting, and perhaps that’s what some people associate with felted, undyed wool, still. I think you’re right about working with natural coloured fibres must be a bit more challenging. Not because it should be ‘perfect’ (which can be boring), but more because the beauty lies in simplicity, and – like you said – the balance between texture, shape and structure. I think the japanese are on to something, apparently they prefer undyed wool and simplicity.
    I hope you go for what you like best yourself, I’m sure you’ll be able to sell it!
    Btw, there is something on the way to the mailbox ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Thank you, Mona, also for a hint re mailbox ๐Ÿ™‚

      I wonder if – the more the felter works with the fibres the more s/he can appreciate them as they are without adding too much colour. whereas a buyer who sees only the end result sees it from a different perspective – whether it will suit her/his skin type, outfit, interior, whether it’s practical to wear/wash… in which case colour plays much more important role. ?

  3. I love the simplicity of your works pictured here; natural materials, colours and textures and their inherent qualities shining through. I enjoy the contrast of the bright and brash as well, variety being the spice of life, but still prefer the brilliance and harmony of different natural colours.

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