Detail of 913
913 6″ x 26″
One definition of obsession is consuming passion and it takes that kind of passion to hand needle felt large sections of felt “cloth”. I find the process meditative and enjoyable.
All three new pieces featured here have large hand felted backgrounds with hand embroidery, beading and iron on transfers.
Detail of Star Halo The round dark circle at the lower right is my camera lens which unfotunatley shows up on the mirrored surface.
Star Halo has a needle felted background with an iron on transfer. I used Lesley Riley’s Transfer Artist Papers (TAP) which worked beautifully to make the transfer onto the wool felt. Beads and hematite stars make up the halo. The base, an old beat up tin tile, came from a salvage building material supply place. The tile has thick silver paint which is rubbed off in areas and it inspired the idea of the rubbed and scratched mirror. The blue vintage hand pull was colored with Swellegant, which is a dye oxide for making a patina on metal.
Star Halo 9″ x 14″
915 15″ x 23″ 915 has a bit of a starry night swirl thing going on.
Detail of 915 The iron on transfer on the wool felt leaves some areas looking rubbed away, which gives the photo a feeling of being gently time worn.
The needle felting is done with a large Clover Mat brush and a five needle pen style tool. Here is a short video to show the process of needle felting which will you give you an idea of the “obsession” needed to make these larger pieces.
What is your obsession? What do you find meditative and enjoyable?
July 10, 2015 at 7:34 pm
Wow, T! These are so beautiful. I love the layered look you achieved on Star Halo. The needle felting is so delicious. I also love how successfully you’ve blended fibers into your mixed media pieces.
July 10, 2015 at 8:56 pm
Thank you Gale. It took awhile for both worlds to meld, but I got there in the end. Thanks for noticing!
July 10, 2015 at 8:23 pm
Theresa, I have to say that everything u make is just amaaaaazing! Just love this felt piece, tx for always sharing and inspiring us, I have to admit one of my obsessions is checking out the blogs with beautiful artwork, I know I spend too much time doing this, I also just love hand finishing and polishing when I metalsmith, I do it all by hand and find myself really going in to that zone, it is not time efficient, I keep thinking I should get a tumbler but I really do enjoy polishing, aloha, angi in hana
July 10, 2015 at 8:52 pm
Aloha Angi. Going into the zone may not be time efficient but it is a wonderful feeling. Thanks for writing.
July 10, 2015 at 8:29 pm
These pueces are amazing, Theresa. Apart from all the work they all have a beautiful feeling of melancholy about them that speaks to me. I specially love 913.
July 10, 2015 at 8:55 pm
Frieda,
Thank you. I do love to put that feeling of melancholy into my work, thanks for ‘getting it’.
July 10, 2015 at 10:44 pm
These are wonderful!
July 11, 2015 at 12:17 am
Thanks Chris!
July 11, 2015 at 12:45 am
Theresa, these are too cool!! I love your art- and how you keep it fresh and exciting!! “)
July 13, 2015 at 10:27 am
Theresa – These are stunning! I love the look of the mesh over everything, as if what’s underneath has been captured in some way. Sending this link on to a friend who has recently begun felt work.
July 13, 2015 at 8:17 pm
wow Theresa-these pieces are all amazing!! I love that I have to look over each piece several times so as not to miss all those meticulous details. I haven’t done any needle felting in quite awhile-but I know where my supplies are:):)