Continuing my report of girlfriend art camp......
The more I looked at my felted bowls the more critical I became. We are in the midst of another snow storm....as good an excuse as any to hunker down in the studio and see if I can improve them.
Though this photo doesn't really show just how wrinkled and thin the bottom of this bowl was......trust me....it was not good.
There may be other ways to accomplish a do-over.....however, since I'm a beginner I chose needle felting to slowly add small strands of wool roving....building up the layers inside the bowl as I worked.
Those fibers migrate through the layers so occasionally I had to needle felt from the bottom side to even it out.
The piece was now better but rather fuzzy and still not as firm as I believed it could/should be. So I wet it with hot water, lots of soap and rubbed/scrubbed until it felt and looked better.
That was followed by a good rinse in hot water, then shocking it in cold. It's now reshaped and better....though as you may notice....some of the fibers haven't flowed up the sides of the inside. Without a camera flash, it isn't noticeable. So, now it's drying....
This bowl was also reworked by wet felting. It is now much firmer and stronger....the shape is better too...... Both will most likely be beaded.
Next came the flat landscape piece which was reworked by needle felting.
The edges still need some reshaping......which I'll do with a bit more wet felting. Though I had planned to bead it, instead it may just be mounted on a canvas covered frame.
So I guess my 'happy dance' time hasn't quite arrived yet, stay tuned.....
7 comments:
I like the shape of the green bowl. It looks as if it just feels good in your hands. There's a lot of tweaking to these, but you are getting there. Beading fun ahead.
I give you SO much credit for sticking with this felting business!!! I would not have known any different but we, as artists, are critical of our work...as it should be. I think your bowls are great!!!!
These are looking good. Getting the layout even is one of the hardest things to learn in felting. It takes practice to avoid those thin areas. And fulling again is good since many times the felt just hasn't gotten hard enough. I hope you'll show everyone on the forum your efforts :)
Maybe not dancing yet but soon it looks. Now I see what you meant by rescuing that one - it does look much better now. Good explanation of what the bowls needed to be better. Nice shapes and am looking forward to the addition of beads.
They are looking good. I really like the photo in one of the previous posts that has all the bowls together.
I'm new to felting. Love the bowls. What type of wool roving did you use? Thanks...
Rena
Rena asked what type of roving I used.....again, I'm a newbie and haven't explored a lot of different fibers. The bulk of the wool I used was purchased from livingfelt.com (merino wool). BTW - they have free helpful instructional videos too.
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