Can one fiber weekend be even better that the ones that went before? Can I survive yet another weekend of fibery goodness? Well, I would definitely put last week’s workshop at the Midwest Felting Symposium 2009 on a par with Camp Pluckyfluff…but I’m not sure I did survive all that fibery goodness!
Last weekend I drove up to Madison, WI, to attend the Midwest Felting Symposium, organized by the inimitable Susan MacFarland
of Susan’s Fiber Shop and her erstwhile assistant, Holly:
Once I had a glimpse of the goings-on, I was sorry that I hadn’t been able to attend for the whole conference (which began on Wednesday). The teachers were superb: there was Pat Spark, masterfully teaching color blending and patterned felts, and demonstrating felt inlay techniques; Chad Alice Hagan, rocking four different classes on resist dyeing and shaping;
Chad washing out dyepots
Annemie Koenen 
from the Netherlands, who amazed everyone with her felted house slippers 
and jewelry—both completely covered in elaborate embroidery—as well as her wet-felted goddess figures; Bonnie Ahrens, who made it through her seamless nuno tunic class before ending up in emergency surgery from diverticulitis (Annemie stepped in to take over her felted hat class); Pam MacGregor 
with her unusual felted watch cuffs; Marlene Gruetter 
and her lifelike felted flowers (which participants later donated to make a get-well bouquet for Bonnie):
Diane Bubolz taught her darling needle-felted animals; and SINCO from Japan had live dogs brought to each class to model for her Fleece Dogs. Even Suzanne Pufpaff was there with her yurt to host the weekend “Make It and Take It” events.
And then there was my own workshop instructor, Andrea Graham
who came down from Canada to teach needle-felted figures, painting with wool, and the workshop I took: Dimensional Landscapes.
If you had a look at the Landscapes page on Andrea’s website, you’ll have an idea of what we were trying to accomplish. Everyone had brought one or more photos or images that they decided to felt. The first day we laid out our images in colored wool on top of base wool, in an out-of-focus, general background sort of way. Here is a photo of mine when the first day finally ended:
Not having wet felted in about five years, I’d forgotten what incredibly hard upper body work it is. All that rolling back and forth, this way and that. And just when I thought I’d finished and my arms were going to fall off…Andrea looked at my piece and said, “Nope, it’s not felted yet! Do another 200 rolls in each direction!” Ooookay. Then, when it had finally reached a point where we could take the pool noodle and bubble wrap out of the roll, we then had to roll the piece by itself until it shrank and thickened sufficiently. (The next morning I noticed that I’d developed serious biceps from my workout!) Next we rinsed and spun our pieces dry in a cool spin-dryer and repeated this process. By then, it was the end of a very long day (and can you tell that I was the last one in the class to finish?)
That night there was a fashion show back at the hotel consisting of hand-felted garments:
Nuno silk top by Natasha Lehrer
accessories:
Annemie Koenen embroidered bag
and jewelry:
Innovative necklace centerpiece by Ruth Gross
Beaded bracelets by Ruth Gross
It was spectacular, including a wide range of pieces, most of which brought “oohs” and “aahs” from the audience. It was also a riot to watch, as many of the models (class teachers and students) really hammed it up in the modeling department. No performance anxiety here!
Sunday we began to needle felt our wall pieces. Andrea taught us how to make the bark and roots of trees, rocks and pebbles, grasses and leaves, the shadows and highlights of cliffs, running water and ripples on the waves, and many more details. All of this building up of layer upon layer was destined to make our flat background outlines into highly detailed three-dimensional pictures. I didn’t get very far with mine, but certainly intend to finish it, as the process of watching it grow is fascinating.
The symposium outdid itself with organization, especially since Susan MacFarland suffered a personal family tragedy during the week but still kept the whole affair going strong. The lunches that were provided at the Alliant Energy Center (where the whole symposium was held) were wonderful and the selection of vendors certainly tempting (I think I managed to buy something from each of them. Okay, maybe a little more than something from some!).
One end of vendor lineup
Dyed locks for sale
Oddly enough, one of the vendors was Carol Wagner of Hidden Valley Farm who had been my drum carding instructor two weeks earlier at The Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair!:
Carol Wagner sock knitting
Hidden Valley Farms & Woolen Mill
Susan's Fiber Shop
There was a wonderful exhibit of felted items also. Here are a few of my favorite pieces:
Bonnie Ahren's nuno felt outfit with beaded lizard
One of Chad Alice Hagen's Bark Scarves
Scarf by Louise Engelbrecht
Pam MacGregor's frog
An unusual vessel
Pat Spark's Inlay Cobweb Scarf
Beaded Fish on handmade felt by Ruth Gross
All in all, this was a magnificent experience. Perhaps not as mind-blowing as Camp Pluckyfluff had been the weekend before, but certainly a gathering of numerous creative minds. Every time I peeked into the other classrooms, there was a certain synergy going on, a heightened feeling of excitement. I can’t wait to see the lineup of instructors for 2010, as I certainly plan on attending this again…and next year I’m planning on the entire five days! Felt rocks!
