Pet Effigies & Other Fine Critters: Getting Started

Well I've finally taken the leap and started a blog so I can vent, er share my experiences and processes of my craft - fiber arts - with other like-minded souls. I take it that one can start a blog about one's art by giving a personal history of a evolutionary process in more detail than a mere quickie profile. It helps compose one's momentum too, I think. Not meaning to sound narcissistic, here it is then:

I've been a fiber artist of one sort or another for a long time - almost 30 years. Sure I did the Campfire Girl crochet project thing (which I just couldn't get the end of the rows to transition properly on that stupid poncho!) when I was a kid. I dabbled in sewing too. My mom is a great seamstress, so I learned from her. However, in my twenties, I taught myself how to knit. I didn't really start with a simple project; I launched straight into a sweater (I have a pattern of insanity when it comes to learning new skills). And not just any sweater but an asymmetric cabled cardigan called Blackberry (prophetic) out of Classic British Knits! I did the front sections well but the back turned out to be a different interpretation of the pattern than intended. No chart, just long lines of hieroglyphic text that I had to decipher and follow. *P2, cr3l, p7, cr3r, p4, k1, p4, k3, c6b, p2* rep from * to * until you lose your mind as you have no business tackling this pattern right out of the starting gate! From the picture, the back is supposed to look like the left sleeve. Not even close. I zigged when I should've zagged, I guess. Now I find that charts are easier. At least for me. The worst part of learning to knit was trying to hold the needles right while creating the knit and purl stitches. All thumbs, you see. Plus I had a sneaky feline supervisor assisting in making sure I had more ends than necessary. With much practice a perseverance, my knitting has greatly improved and at my last count, I have 25 pairs of hand knitted socks in my sock drawer and my sweaters are turning out much better.

After my divorce, I went back to college. As a single mom, I pursued a practical degree (Psychology), added Human Services (double practical major) but my heart was in the fiber room where I added a Studio Arts major in fiber to the list (another example of insanity). Fortunately, I had a zillion art credits from a previous stint in college (including oil painting and bronze sculpture), so I could concentrate on the impenetrable art history classes left to take and weaving. Weaving was a great meditation from all the stress of taking classes like statistics. I also learned to spin and joined SpinDrifters, the local guild in Bellingham. Fiber has been my hobby until recently, when I decided to become a part-time pro.

I discovered needle felting several years ago and just started making likenesses of friends' pets. I love the organic 3-dimensional qualities of needle felting. My sense of humor comes out in my work as I create more caricatures rather than realistic looking items. Pictured is Lewis, a very proper and showy flame point. Although here, he's a little less dignified looking.

I also create what I call 'Herchomers', needle felted gargoyles straight from my imagination. I've sold those in a gallery in Snohomish and now on my web site.

Artfelt is another discovered medium that I really love. It's a felting process that uses a special paper to lay out the design and a clothes dryer to do the felting process. The dog coats for sale on my web site are created using that process. In addition to dog coats, I create tea cozies and clothing for humans. This technique has many possibilities and the ideas just keep coming. You know you've found your medium when the work flows out naturally, not forced.