Wool Over My Eyes!

About a year ago I was asked to work part time at the Sarafina Art House.

I had taken a few "in home" kitchen table classes with Sara Renzulli before the Art House opened, and after attending the 2014 Open House, then a workshop, she asked if I wanted to join their small group to help with orders, stock, and to learn more about working with wool.

Sara teaching me how to dye locks and fibers.

I have always been drawn to fibers - especially wool.

And to be able to work and learn in a place that is so positive and creative - it can only affect your direction of creativity.

 Sara has many tutorials on sculpting with wool over armatures which makes for great practice and getting to know the materials and push the limits...

 I used to want to be a Marine Biologist when I was younger, but I get motion sick standing up too fast. And so now I am choosing to go back to what calls to me (this is just trying out some forms).

I am really getting to understand more about sheep, goats, and other animals that we use their fur (wool, hair, etc) and the processes that it has to undergo in order for it to be usable in crafts such as needle felting, wet felting, spinning, sculpting, and at some point - wearable art.

These two guys above remind me of the dwarfs from the Hobbit and LOTR movies and are the first figurative creations I made in the style of "forrest folk" (Lee Charlton and Sara Renzulli video).

I may just have to make myself a little gathering of dwarfs for my studio to keep me company!!!

And I am trying to keep a bit up on getting to the gym and spend time with my family.

So my time in the clay studio has been put at the back burner - not completely, but it is definitely relatable to binging on Netflix then not for a while... 

I have a craft show this weekend and I have lots of earrings, my bracelet kits, and needle felting ornaments to take with me.

After that - I will hopefully get around to updating my Etsy shop with new items.

And you know - a lot of them will be wool!

Family Roots: Fiber Boot Camp

Carol Dekle-Foss

Hello everyone! I'm very excited to introduce you to my dear friend Sharareh, or Shery for short. I met her over a year ago in a metal smith class and instantly fell in love with her work. Her jewelry designs embrace her family traditions and culture yet have a unique modern feel. She incorporates different techniques in expressing her style and has created a niche for her designs. I thought of her immediately for our fiber boot camp because she utilizes a special Persian fabric in some of her work called Termeh.

For this boot camp I challenge you to look at your very own family traditions using textiles, see what inspires you and create something unique. Feel free to leave a comment here with a link to your design. I would love to see what you come up with!

I asked Shery to tell us a little more about herself and what inspires her. Shery's answer:

A beautiful hand woven Termeh bag with Zardozi embroidery,
passed down to Shery from her mom.

"All my life I have had a passion for making jewelry. Early in my life making jewelry for my friends became more than a hobby. I learned how things are made by repairing my friend's jewelry. It has been especially interesting growing up in Persia where history and culture intrigued me. How old things are, 200, 300 years in Persian antique shops. My grandmother had coins from an ancient empire. Since beginning my new life in the United States in 2007, my handcrafted jewelry has found a niche. I have been taking classes, most recently copper enameling, so we will see how I incorporate this with metal engraving that I've been experimenting with."

Thank you Shery for telling us more about yourself and revealing what inspires you!

Ready for a heavy dose of inspiration? Here are some more of Shery's beautiful designs.

Domed sterling silver charm with Termeh paisley

Sterling silver bracelet 

Etched paisleys with Termeh earrings

Shery made these earrings to represent her love for Iran.
The top pair are etched in Farsi, My love Iran

Beautiful sterling silver and rose quartz paisley necklace
with bezel set Australian pink opal

Gorgeous Sterling silver domed paisley ring

Etched brass domed earrings with intricate bead detail

Here is a You Tube video that Shery has provided for us so we can learn more about this amazing textile and it's origins. 

I've also pinned a few examples of Termeh, both machine and handwoven here on my Inspiring fibers Pinterest board.

Shery gave me this beautiful piece of Termeh a while back. I never used it for fear of not doing it justice. It measures about 4 inches square.

 With Shery's fabric, I took our fiber boot camp challenge and made this bracelet.

Brass, sterling silver and enameled flowers accent the intricately detailed Termeh fabric.

I hope this post has inspired and encouraged you to look at what textiles your family has held dear and create some unique designs that may someday become cherished family heirlooms.

Thank you Shery so much for sharing your beautiful creations and letting us know what inspires you! You can visit Shery's facebook page here to see more of her beautiful work.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial day! Let's honor all those who have sacrificed serving in the Armed Forces. 

Thank you for reading!

Needle Felting with Wool, Wire and Beads

My first class in needle felting was late 2013.

It was around my friends kitchen table with a talented artist Sara Renzulli of Sarafina Fiber Art.

We made ornaments for Christmas: a gnome, a snowman and a seal.

Fast forward to a year later, Sara has a brick and mortar store where she teaches workshops and sells her fibers (most of the business is online order fulfillment. Wow for technology!)

Insert me into a job helping with orders and inventory a year later in her shop, and you get a new person (me) that gets to put her experience to work, yet learn a ton of new stuff about wool.

At the shop, I have been shown how to use the carding machines to mix up special blends of fibers for projects. On my own time, I wanted to make up some custom colors for myself in larger batches (the smaller batch way is by using large wire bristle dog hair brushes - but meant for wool). And the photo above are some of my first color blends.

And right about the time when I am feeling comfortable with using the machines and wanting to take the next steps creatively, my friend Sasha told me about a cool "Fun a Day" project happening in Wilmington, DE where every day in February you create something small. Then on the First Friday in March, all the participants that signed up will show off their work, all 28 pieces, at the DCCA gallery.

You can check it out via Social Media with #defunaday.

Maybe there is a Fun A Day project in your area too?!

So for me - I finally have a reason to fiddle with needle felting with wire, wool, adding seed beads, and my using my ceramic work to pull it all together. 

Each day I am learning a bit about forms and color blending. 

And how to layer beads and secure them to the wool and wire forms in different ways.

Slowly I am feeling the pull of wanting to create again.

It's hard sometimes dealing with life and a bit of burnout.

I love having a job outside of my creative art business that allows me to tap into my creativity knowledge base without having the pressure on my creativity to pay the bills directly.

We'll see where this goes!

PS - I am also able to teach classes and workshops at Sarafina!

I've got a square stitch bracelet class coming up in March.

Super excited about teaching that one as I love the peace that comes from bead weaving.

Until next time...