Wednesday, June 23, 2010

What is Needle-Felting?

I have been talking for most of the year about making wool sculptures using a technique called needle-felting.  What is needle-felting?  It is a process of felting (fusing the fibers of wool together) using a special needle that has tiny barbs on it.  By repeatedly poking the wool with the needle, the fibers of the wool compress and lock together.  With the needle, I am able to shape the wool into just about anything I like.  I can fuse different colors or pieces of wool together without the use of glue or sewing. 

Needle-felting began as a craft form in the mid-eighties, starting primarily as a way to create flat applique on fabric.  Since then, it has grown into making three dimensional sculptures and even wall art.  Stephanie Metz has been one artist who has turned needle-felting into a fine art.  Her work is large, highly detailed pieces that are developed from a theme and are shown in gallery shows. Her work really pushes the boundaries of how needle-felted sculpture can is viewed.

I am interested in similarly pushing the boundaries of needle-felting.  Right now I am exploring the natural world by creating sculptures of birds and animals, some with little micro-settings.  My work will soon be shown publicly at several shows I have lined up this summer, later to be made available for purchase online through my website and my Etsy shop. As I develop the sculptures, experimenting with complexity and technique, I plan to create more pieces with a theme, perhaps considering gallery shows of the sculptures as well.

In the meantime, I will show some sneak peeks of my sculpture.  Today, I will share a little overview of my needle-felting process:

Step 1: I take wool roving, which I purchase from Beth Marcellus of Warm n' Woolie Farm, a local wool farmer, who raises the sheep, processes the wool and dyes the wool by hand.  (I also buy my free-range eggs from her.  If you haven't had free-range eggs, you don't know what REAL eggs taste like!)





Step 2: Using the special barbed felting-needle, I felt the wool roving into various shapes, which will eventually be fused together to make the whole sculpture.  Each pieces can take several hours to felt into shape.  That's thousands of individual pokes of the needle!





Step 3: Once the separate pieces are made, I fuse them together using the needle.  (No glue or sewing involved)  Then I begin the shape the overall piece.  In this case, I am smoothing the line between the wing of the cardinal and where it meets its body. Then I will add the beak, felting more wool onto the head to smooth the transition between the beak and the head.  That's several more thousands of pokes of the needle.


Step 4: Now I begin to add the fine details.  Here I add the black mask on the face of the cardinal. I add some black details on the wing and tail feathers.  More shaping of the head, adding cheeks, and body, adding a puffy chest, takes place as this stage.  Yet more thousands of pokes of the needle.




Finished Piece: Once the final details are added. I sew the glass eyes on and the sculpture is finished.  In this case, the sculpture is an ornament, so I sew a string on as well.  This is a small sculpture (about three inches high) and takes between six and eight hours to make.  Sculptures larger than four inches, and those that have legs or other more complex features can take from 15 to 35 hours to complete.  I don't even want to imagine how many thousands of needle pokes that is!

DoAn
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DoAn Art is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of DoAn Art may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
 
 
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All artwork, photos and text © Copyright 2005-2010 DoAn Art (Antony Galbraith) unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Antony Galbraith.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Progress

It may have been quiet on the blog, but rest assured, I have been very busy creating sculptures for three different shows I will be setting up at this summer.  The next show I will showing at will be Summer Fest in Oneida, NY on July 10th.  After that will be Vernon Center Old Home Days on August 7th in Vernon Center, NY.  I finish up the summer with a two day show at the Oneida Historical Society Craft Days on September 11th and 12th.

I am working very hard to create quality one-of-a-kind sculptures as well as learn how to best display my work within the confines of a 10 x 10 booth space.  There are a lot of learning curves to navigate, but it keeps me motivated. I like these kinds of challenges!

And, yes, I am still working on painting.  Currently, I am working on the next piece in the goddess series.  I am focusing on the goddess Etain exploring the notion of rebirth and the element of Air.  The progress of this painting, as well as other paintings I am working on will be shared on the Patron-only blog.  This is part of my commitment to focus my paintings on a spiritual exploration.  In doing so, I am limited exposure of these pieces for the time being to patrons who support this side of my creative work through regular monetary or in-kind donations.

Patrons get access to the patron-only site DoAn Art Studio where works in progress are shared and newly completed paintings are revealed before being shown to the public.  Patrons also get all the behind the scenes access to my creative work, news and occasional special gifts. 

If you are interested in becoming a patron you can contact me for details or go to my Fractured Atlas page to make an online donation: https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/contribute/donate/1343

Your donations will help me cover the cost of materials and other expenses involved in creating these pieces.  If you are interested in setting up a lay-away payment plan, contact me about setting this up.  You will still get access the DoAn Art Studio, but your monthly contributions go toward the purchase of a piece that exists or for one that has yet to be made.  

Over the next couple of years most of my paintings will be held behind the scenes as I focus on the spiritual path the pieces are taking me on.  My plan is to assemble the body of work that accumulates in the next few years and have a show examining the spiritual journey, both as a personal and archetypal path.  Many paintings I complete will not be ready to show until I see the other works develop in relation to each other.  Some paintings may not ever be shown outside the Patron-only site.   By becoming a Patron, you not only get to view these sacred works being created, but you actively participate in the creation of these works. 

I hope you enjoy continuing to follow my exploration into the world of needle felted sculptures, but appreciate your consideration in supporting my deeply heart felt exploration of myth and spirit in paint as well.

DoAn

Help in the creation of art, please consider donating!  Just click on the icon below:
Donate now!  
DoAn Art is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of DoAn Art may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.  

Subscribe in a reader
 
All artwork, photos and text © Copyright 2005-2010 DoAn Art (Antony Galbraith) unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Antony Galbraith.

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