VIDEO | Mieke Werners' Felt Technique

It's been awhile since I've posted something. We've been sick a lot this past Winter. But Spring has finally arrived and the birds are singing. It's still cold outside, but the leaves are showing and the blossoms are about to pop.

Today I bumped into a video on my Facebook Timeline about the felting techniques of Dutch artist Mieke Werners. I love watching other artists at work and learning from them. This video is just a short one (I wish I could watch her work for a whole day!) but gives a good impression of the technique and material that I also work with.

Enjoy!

Depression and gobelin weaving

This morning this video of The Getty Center about The Art of Tapestry showed up on my Facebook news feed. It's a fabulous video about the immense and timeconsuming process of making a tapestry, from designing the image, coloring the wool, warping the loom to the actual weaving. Have a look, I guarantee you'll feel less stressful afterwards. Maybe that's why in the 1970s Amsterdam had a project of gobelin weaving for psychiatric patients...

In 1977 my mother was trying to recover from a severe and ongoing depression. She participated in the weaving project at Sociale Werkplaats De Blauwbrug. There is not much that I can find online and I doubt my mother kept any photos from that period, but I do remember the huge loom we had in our kitchen and my mother sitting behind it. To me it looked incredibly complicated what she was doing, but she seemed to be in her element.

Photo by Kors van Bennekom

Sometimes she took me to the studio, where more people like her were working. Young as I was, I was told there was something wrong with them, but all I remember is a group of very friendly and even happy people working together on huge tapestries.

Photo by Kors van Bennekom

My mother gave up weaving when my stepfather had a heart attack and he needed her to nurse him. She just didn't have the time to warp the loom and weave the wool anymore. It is such a shame that he didn't see she needed that time to heal herself. She never fully recovered from her depression the way she could have.

Anyway, that's all water under the bridge now. I am happy I bumped into the video today that made me search for the gobelin project and that allowed me to actually find my mother on the internet. My beautiful and talented mama...

A commission turned down and around

A while ago an anonymous lady contacted me through Etsy to request a custom order. She replied to this listing and asked if I could make a textile collage for her. 

At first I thought I had sold the collage and I was really happy about that. I thought I would never get rid of it ;-) But our conversation went like this:

Hi.
What information do you need for a custom order?

Also I don't need it attached to canvas. 
Would the price be the same? I also have a specific size.

Have a happy day.

T.

I answered :

Thank you for your inquiry!

What is it you're looking for exactly? 
Colors, size, topic?

Once I know this I could determine a prize. 

Lovely to hear from you :-)

This is what I got back:

Thank you for replying.  

I am looking for a teenage girl with shoulder length curly girl wearing a beanny hat walking with her dog (black dog that is larger then)..

Details: The girl wears worn blue jeans, a red tshirt with initials GG and black checkered sneakers. She has curly shoulder length hair and wears a purple beany. You can use a black pitt pen to indicate curly hair.

Our dog is almost bigger then her. Is black and has no tail. Like a Rottweiler. Has a blue bow around his neck. 

She walks in the forest. It could be one tree or three. Leaves are not important.

Oval size no bigger the an index card, 3 X 5. She enjoys distressed fabrics so an off white or
tea stain color fabric would work.  

I have provided details but the important thing is the colors.

Would this be too much?

I attached a drawing.

Regards

T.

At this point I freaked out. The description of the custom order was so incredibly specific, I knew for sure I would never be able to meet T.'s expectations. Nor my own. The way I work in any artistic discipline is that I never really know exactly where I am going. The whole point is to get out of my head and into my hands. Most of my work just happens. And I like it that way.

What I also like is to make money, so to turn down a job because it doesn't feel right is hard for me to do. Part of feeling justified to choose the path of the artist is that I sell some of my work. But I am not just an artist, I am also a financial manager and I am used to assess proposals and judge potential clients.  I always use my sixth sense when making quotes and I often get the job. In this case something was telling me I would probably put in a lot of time to make a collage  - with a topic not of my choosing - and not get paid in the end.

So this is what I replied:

Thank you for your reply, T.

I am afraid I won't be able to help you. Your request is too specific for me and when it comes to my textile collages, that is not the way I work unfortunately. 

I take a feeling, a color, and take my work from there. I kind of let the image come to me as I go.

You've helped me realize I should remove the custom option from my textile collages.

I am really sorry and hope you can find an artist that will meet your needs. 

A few days later T. replied - not too happy:

Your email mentioned you needed color size and topic.

I furnished that.

I furnished the details because I thought that is what you
wanted.

I did not know that you take a feeling, a color and go with it.

Hot dog, instead of removing the custom button just add, psychi fabric collage.

Yes, please remove the custom from your page.

Thank you for taking my joy.

A very, very sad girl.

A psychi fabric collage - Taking my joy - A very, very sad girl... Those words were screaming at me, and my first instinct was to scream right back. But I didn't. I just didn't want to feel like I failed to please a customer and I didn't want to give anyone the power to upset me. So after a day or so I wrote back:

I am very sorry you feel this way, T. 

Since you put so much of your heart into your idea, may I suggest you try to make the collage yourself?

I found much inspiration in the work of artists like Cathy Cullis and Viv Hens Teeth. I believe anyone can make art, it's just very difficult to make something that exists in someone else's head.

I wish you a joyful day and thank you again for stopping by in my Etsy store.

Of course I never got a reply and that's okay, I wasn't expecting one. Writing this answer did give me a sense of (self-)respect and relief though. I hope this sad girl is now working on her own collage and discovering a whole new skill.

It's a beginning

My most successful dolls were these. After I listed them on Etsy, they got sold pretty much right away and I had to send them all the way to Seattle. They only thing left are the - fuzzy - pictures I took.

Since then I thought I should make a new series of the same kind of cute dolls, but my hands were more inclined to make sad portraits or decapitated dolls...

Until last week when a pretty little head suddenly appeared. It's just a beginning, so we'll have to see if I can give her a matching body and maybe a few sisters.

Doing what I love most

Last week was Fall break. There were so many things I wanted to do with the kids, my husband and by myself. So many fun little chores that I saved up for this week. But I got bronchitis. With a fever. So I knew I had to pace myself immediately.

While lying on the couch under a blanket of self-pity I realized I had been pushing it a little bit too hard lately. After Summer break - especially the great one we had - I expected to have enough energy to last me at least until Christmas. What I didn't realize is that taking on my husband's management is a full-time job when I combine it with the office work I was already doing for him. Add full-time motherhood, guests and a new puppy to the mix and no wonder I got a little tired and stressed out. 

Worst of all was that I couldn't find the time to do what I love most. I got more and more frustrated about that. Then I got sick and was forced to think about my health. It's amazing that you actually need a crisis to make changes. Which I did. As of this week I am giving myself two studio days and three office days. And so today I started with my wool again.

Video | Needle felt and stop motion

It's Fall break in Amsterdam this week, and we're receiving guests from France today, so I'll be sharing work from someone else this time.

Needle felt and stop motion are a match made in heaven. I am really glad I bumped into this very sweet video early this morning.

Un mouton au pré

In our first week in France I took a tour around our campsite, and I bumped into these. Two discarded fleeces calling out my name. "Wash me, wash me. We are getting dirty here!"

She was a little shy without her coat, and kept hiding in to shadow - hence the bad lighting in this photo - but it was also very hot, so she must have been happy kind of naked.

Beautiful white wool that I didn't want to go to waste, so I asked the owners if they had any intention with it. They didn't. The sheerer said it's bad quality. Not fit for spinning. But what about needle felting? It's always worth giving it a try.

So I started washing wool again - on my holiday! Here I am washing by the outside shower.

It was harder to clean than I had imagined. Some parts were coated with straws. I decided to take a shortcut.

So this time I tried wet felting. But as usual that didn't go so well. The wool didn't want to felt. Look at all the holes!

So I enlisted the little ones at the campsite to help me with plucking the wool again! 

I had the pleasure to take two bags of soft white wool back to the Netherlands. I am now waiting for cool weather and early evenings to transfrom the wool into sculptures.

White wool

A couple of photos of the white wool cleaning process. It was pretty dirty, but I managed to get some nice white wool out of it.

Et voila! Another bag of beautiful clean wool. I couldn't wait to get started, but first we went on holiday to France.

Raw material

This Spring I was offered some raw wool. Friends of ours have some land in North Holland with sheep they were planning to sheer. They know I am working with wool so they thought of me this time as they are not using the fleeces themselves.

I usually buy my materials here, but there is something earthy about the idea to make something from absolute scratch. No clue how to wash the wool and get it to needlefelting quality, but I thought I'd give it a try. Thank you internet with all your information!

And thank you Patrick for doing the sheering!

Luckily I have a garden, and the weather was cooperative.

I used many buckets and lots of water.

The first rinse was extremely dirty.

I had to be very careful with the temperature of the water. It's the difference in temperature that starts felting the wool.

Soap is also tricky. You need it to clean the wool, but it also adds the process of felting.

Then I had to dry it, which went fairly quickly due to the lovely weather we had in June.

And last but not least, I had to pull it all apart again as it did lump together. 

Next I'll have to look into how to get it ready for needle felting. But that is another story...

Etsy update: Four clown busts

Just uploaded another bunch of my babies to Etsy.

I can't tell you where the inspiration came from to make these busts. They just happened.

After I made the first one, I thought he looked like a clown.

So I thought why not try to make another one.

So I did.

Rococo lady, part 2

So I made two Rococo ladies. Actually I had started with the little one back in August.

I wanted to make something quick to sell at a market.

But she didn't turn out nice at all. So I didn't sell her and took her back home where she stayed hidden in a drawer for about 6 months.

I don't remember why exactly, but at one point I pulled her out of her hiding place and decided to give her a make-over. Why not? She couldn't get any more hideous anyway.

The pearl eyes are still in there. I covered them with dark wool.

I thought it would be interesting to show the the process of reworking something that didn't turn out so well into something new. It's like recycling. And it feels good.

Rococo lady, part 1

Those of you who follow me on Instagram, have been able to see the development of my latest piece. A needle felted portrait of ... what exactly?... a snow queen, a drag queen perhaps? My first thought was Rococo when I saw her outlines taking shape, so I guess that's what she'll be. 

Prepping my 'canvas.' At this point I still have no idea what I am making other than a face.

The birth of a face. This is such a magical moment - always - when I see the features of a face emerge from the wool.

Mouth, nose, cheek bones and eye sockets are in place. Now the fun part starts.

This is where I go a little crazy. I know I'll cover it up with white wool again, so the initial colors can be as bold as I want them to be.

See? The colors are just shining through.

First time I am using eye lashes. What a dramatic effect!

The bow is added for maximum Rococo effect (I used one of my daughter's ballet shoe ribbons).

Two angels at my table

A few days before I had to take down my art show at Sugarfactory, I received a message on Facebook from someone I didn't know. Eli West, a fellow fiber artist from America found me on Instagram and wanted to interview me for the new blog he is writing together with his colleague Hannah Crawford. Eli and Hannah were coming to Amsterdam on their grand tour of Europe in search of fiber arts and artists. How very exciting!

We met at Sugarfactory where I showed them my work and they asked me a lot of questions that are still resonating inside of me. What an amazing honor to be asked about my work, ideas and process.  It gave a whole new dimension to my own idea of myself. Thank you guys!

After the interview we said goodbye and I thought that was that. But it felt weird not knowing anything about them, so I invited them to tea at my house a few days later. This time I got to ask questions, which I won't share here, except that it felt like I had always known them. 

The next day my husband Greg was having the premiere of his comedy show How to be Frisian at the Rozentheater and they - thank goodness - came along and laughed really loud - like Americans do - in a room full of Dutchmen who smile really hard, but don't make a whole lot of noise.

Within 7 days we had seen each other 3 times and now they were off to Paris. A part of me wished I could have sneeked off with them. I can't wait to hear more about their adventures in fiber Europe and about the community they are planning to gather through their blog, which you can read here.

Meeting Eli and Hannah was magical and I am so very very thankful.

Etsy update: Four historical busts

After having been home with me for a couple of weeks now, my dolls are ready to leave again!

I just uploaded my four historical busts to my Etsy shop.

I hope they will find a loving new home.

But if not, I don't mind keeping them.

It would be great though if they can stay together.

Opening party art show SCULPTURES IN WOOL

It's almost April, but I am still reminiscing about the opening of my art show on my 45th birthday early February. What a party! So many lovely people showed up. 

I was overwhelmed by all the love and attention I got. I am glad my husband took some photos so I have a better image to hold on to than the foggy one in my head.

This is the wall in the foyer. I printed four of my photos on black wallpaper. 

What a thrill to see the name of my website - finally ready - on the wall. 

Getting a big hug from one of my oldest friends.

So happy to finally show my work to everybody I love.

Here are a couple of pics from my guests.

I even gave a speech. Which is kind of against my nature, but I am so glad I did it. I just had to explain. At 40 I finally realized I had always wanted to be an artist. I started to take art classes here and there, and I discovered the art of needle felting. Some of my work might not be that easy to look at, because a lot of my dolls are pretty sad, but they are a part of who I am and I am willing to show that part now.

I concluded by thanking a bunch of lovely people; my husband Greg for his love and support, my children Ila and Imre for their patience, my friend Marieke from Woolwoofles for inspiring me to make needle felted dolls and my father Peter for letting me show my work at his club Sugarfactory.

I've been spoiled with flowers, books and other lovely things. Thanks to all who came to my opening party at Sugarfactory!