Needle felting recession session

Last Saturday 16^th of June, we met at the Feltmakers Ireland studio for a needle felting recession session. We were highly motivated and after a quick introduction about wool, needles and technical basics, we started jabbing our pieces.

After struggling with colour choice, tough decisions needed to be taken, Fabienne started a cute orange and purple teddy bear. Susan worked at the speed of the light to be able to finish her doll and collect her son at 4pm. Mary made a clever looking giraffe, she is still deciding if she keeps it for herself or give it to her granddaughter (I understand after so much hard work...). Yvonne made a doll with a bad hair day. And we were all impressed by Luke, 11 years old, who followed his own design, a sitting bunny with a carrot.

There were no major accidents, we only needed three plasters, that's very good!

Every body worked very hard. All the pieces were finished and looked fantastic, definitely it was not a beginner job.

I had a great time, thank you Yvonne, Luke, Mary, Fabienne and Susan for this fantastic day. I think that we all enjoyed it and I hope this is the beginning of many others needle felted creatures!

Full day needle felting workshop with Feltmakers Ireland: 3 places left!

The Needle felting class will take place the 16th of June from 10am to 4.30 pm at Feltmakers Ireland Studio, in Phoenix Park. We'll make a figure of about 15 cm. This class is suitable for beginners, I'll cover all the basics in Needle felting. The cost is 40 EUR, you pay the same day, and includes written instructions, 2 needles and wool for the day. If you have needles and wool, bring them with you and I can help you to understand how to use different needles and wool. You´ll need to bring a lunch box, too. I´ll provide tea and biscuits.

If you are interested, email me at tortuebcn@gmail.com

See you there!

Lichens: the idea behind

Last autumn I started a visual note book, I was looking for patterns and textures in Nature. During my research I came a cross with Lichens. I was fascinated from the beginning, they are not just beautiful to look, moreover they are a vital part in our environment. They can be used as environmental indicators, they don't damage the trees, and they are used in toothpaste and deodorants.


I love hill walking. Usually in our walks, we carry a camera to take picture of the landscapes. Since last autumn I started taking pictures of Lichens. "Lichens" installation has been inspired for those pictures from around Ireland.

Lichen found on a stone bridge in Wicklow mountains.

Lichen found on a stone wall in Aran Islands

Lichen found on a branch in Ardgillan Castle.

Lichen found on a tree bark in Wicklow mountains.

Lichen found on a stone wall in Wicklow Mountains

Lichen found on a tree bark in Dublin.

To achieve these effects I used shibori, nuno and others surface embellishment techniques. If you are interested in shibori techniques, I will sugest you Filz experiment from Anette Quentin-Stoll.

Natural Colours: The idea behind

"NATURAL COLOURS" is about CHEMISTRY, COLOUR and NATURAL SOURCES.

 

All the little creatures that form Natural colours installation has been needle felted...

...with white wool. Here a picture of an Irish sheep from Donegal.

And they have been dyed afterwards with common vegetables. Vegetables that can be found in your kitchen or back garden.

As a yellow dye, I used the skin from the onion. Because I am Spanish and my boyfriend is French, at home there is a lot of cooking that involve onion. For the last two month, I had a shoe box in my kitchen where I kept the skin of the onion. Then I just added them to a pot with hot water, I added my woolly creatures, and after 1 hour, all was yellow!

Red cabbage is my favorite dye. By changing the pH (adding acid or basic substances) you can change the colour.
Just chopped red cabbage and hot water gives a nice purple dye. The woolly pieces need top stay overnight.

By adding a basic substance as hand soap or soda, the purple dye will change to green!

But by adding an acid as lemon or vinegar, the purple dye change to pink. Almost magic!

Teas are great dyers, too. Raspberry and cranberry tea give a lovely red.

Natural colours can be used as water colours (if working with very concentrated and thick solutions); or as a dyers for yarn, felt, cotton, fabric... (just remember to rinse well at the end); or to colour your natural play dough!

Finally, Natural dyeing is about experimenting, transforming, creating and most important: about fun and excitement! 

"Meet the Lichens' world": the book

"Meet the Lichen's world" is the book that support "Lichen" installation. If you want to discover 19 funny and interesting facts about Lichens have a look to this beautifully illustrated book. (Click on Book Preview)

Meet the Liche...

They are everywher...

By Natzaret Sindreu B...

Book Preview

Text by Natzaret Sindreu Box
Designed and illustrated by Riccardo Cereser

Lichen

"Lichen" is the second installation commissioned by the ARK. It is an artsicence installation about texture, colour and environment. The installation include an illustrated book with information, facts and curiosities about Lichens; and three large handcrafted tactile wall placed around 3 columns, made from felted wool, silk and other textiles. The pieces are inspired by Lichen's colours and textures. Nature, Our Environment, Sciences and Art converge in "Lichen", blending the four elements in one and smoothing the borders between them. From an artistic perspective the installation focus on colour and texture, stimulating sight and touch. From a scientific perspective, the visitor is introduced to the fascinating world of Lichens. The installation aim to help the visitor to recognise and identify Lichens; to encourage the visitor to look for them in trunks and branches and use them as environmental indicators.

Enjoy the video!



Video Filmed and edited by Riccardo Cereser (www.rikishere.com)
Music:"Robot Anthem Part II" by Learning Music (http://www.learningmusicmonthly.com/)

Natural Colours

Natural colours is one of the installations that I made for The ARK.

It consists in a serie of colourful hanging pieces.

The pieces has been distributed between two wood walls at the entrance of The ARK.

They consist in cute creatures...

...created from the repetition of balls, different sizes and colours.

The installation is aimed to a young public, children from 2 and 12 years.

The pieces are needle felted with wool and dyed with natural colours from vegetables.

The installation focus on number, shape, size and colour for the youngest ones...

...and pattern and chemist for the eldest ones; as natural dyeing is a pure chemist process were acids and bases play an important role.