Improving Creativity in the Education Sector
Felting:
This craft has two main techniques, wet-felting and needle felting. The prior would be
practical for people aged 5 upwards (with support), whilst the later would be more suited to individuals aged 16+ due to the use of sharp needles (safety hazard).
Felt is the oldest form of fabric created. It predates weaving and knitting and in other countries, felt remains have been found and backdated to as early as 6,500 BC. Later on, during the industrial revolution, the first felting machine was created by J.R. Williams in 1825. This involved pressing a huge pile wool between two rollers.
Previous Experience:
I first became interested in needle felting after being drawn to a craft kit which was based on a rugged but cute sheep. Everything was included in the kit including the wool, needles, sponge and a clear instruction sheet. Although there was a certain amount of variation between the picture and my finished piece, I found the process to be extremely therapeutic and enjoyed the hands on approach to this craft. This new love led onto a countryside 2D creation, also based on sheep which was then given as a gift to a loved one.
Experimenting:
As the roving wool used is beautiful but expensive, I tried to use polystyrene balls as a center base and then pushed the fibres in using a suitable needle. This ensured less wool was used other than making a full fibre ball. As the colours were vivid, I decided a selection of these would make a fabulous hanging garland. Ideal to display in schools and relatively cheap to make with only four different resources needed (wool, needles and polystyrene balls, and string for hanging).
Next I attended a workshop at 36 Workshop, Gorleston with Genevieve Rudd. Set within a small group environment, Genevieve was able to discuss a variety of wool textures and usages as well as showing techniques including bonding, etc... On this occasion I decided to make some flowers but without a picture or the object in front of me, I found it difficult to imagine. When the wool was placed on in shapes, I liked the soft textured but once the wet-felting process occurred, securing it in place the softness had disappeared. It formed a solid base which could then be used for further adaptation by using the needle-felting techniques or even adding embroidery.
Contemplating how I could incorporate wet-felting into schools, I decided that a theme would be a good basis to start and on this occasion chose patterns in nature. I printed off a selection of images from the internet (secondary research) and also took some close up photographs (primary research) to use as inspiration and then created my versions of the patterns on show. Once again with the green leaf, I preferred the soft version before it was compressed. The garlands took approximately 4 hours to complete from beginning to end, whilst the middle piece was created in a hour and hour with Genevieve.
Finished Pieces:
These 20cm x 20cm frames were filled with felted creations based on the theme 'natural patterns'. Each wet-felted piece was devised within 2 hours, therefore 10 hours in total. I tried to consider the ages and abilities of participants and varied the detail from absolute beginner to slightly more advanced.
Needle Felting:
Percy Peacock was a labor of love! Mainly needle felted, the body consisted of a polystryrene sphere covered in felt, then the other shapes built around this to form the main structure. Each feather was formed by using a cookie cutter and varying shades of blues, greens and purples felting wool. Individually they looked reasonable but when placed together in a large group, it looked effective and eye catching. Problems occurred trying to attach them to the body so wire was used to ensure the shape would be solid and perfectly formed. This project took approximately twenty hours to complete, fifteen for the feathers and five for the body/head. It was time consuming but deeply satisfying.
This week's arts & craft session was only delivered to one care home. This was great as I could trial a new project. As the Chinese New Year would be celebrated soon, I decided to facilitate a session based on a Chinese Dragon. This took some preparation at home with shapes being cut and specific colours and templates being selected to represent scales. The results were very impressive and residents were very proud of their creation.
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