It was great to read about the Fashioning Felt exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York – both Elaine and Iare so tempted to fly over there just to see it.
Although Israel is close geographically to Turkey where felting has a very old tradition, felting isn’t a well-known craft in Israel. The first reaction we often get to our work is “but HOW do you do it?” “Do you really make the fabric yourselves?”
Actually I enjoy it when visitors to the FELT 4U studio or those who see our wearable art want an explanation of the exciting nuno felting creative process. Yes, there’s a lot of water and soap to slosh around, each item we make is rolled more than 2000 times and at the end of it all we throw it forcefully down on the table about a dozen or so times. The reaction is usually wide eyed but with a little bit more understanding for this wonderful and versatile craft that was used by nomadic people 8000 years ago as a way to make their shelters and clothing.
Getting back to musing about the NY exhibition…it would be wonderful to be exposed to an exhibition that shows how felting is utilized in so many different mediums (architecture, fashion, industrial design, jewelry, soft furnishing etc)
At present I still feel passionate about using nuno felting for making scarves, wraps and tunics. There is enough to learn, evolve and experiment with in this small sphere… and Elaine and I come up with new ideas weekly. Such as the kimono wrap we devised. Different body shapes, heights, and the fact that many people feel intimidated to tie a scarf, caused us to look for alternatives to the traditional scarf. Summer is also round the corner and we wanted to make a garment that can be thrown over a bathing suit.
The exhibition is on at the Cooper Hewitt until September. Hold thumbs for us that we will make it there somehow!!!!
