He Sent Irises and Yellow Roses

I made a felt piece for a local art show.

"He sent irises and yellow roses" felted merino and silk on pro fusion with machine embroidery embellishment.

The show was called "About Face" and was the annual open for the Plymouth Community Arts Council.

I like drawing and painting faces but I have generally avoided them in a felted pieces for a couple of reasons...

1) Achieving detail in wet felting can be tough as the rolling process can create a lot of movement. I don't mind this as it adds an element of chance to the piece, I kind of like the idea that a bit of the work has made itself. Unfortunately when you are working on something like a face a bit of slipping and sliding can make a big difference and not always in a good way.

2) The best way to achieve detail in a wet felted piece is to use pre felt....and that requires some forward thinking, and I'm not always that organised. (Who am I kidding, I'm NEVER that organised....however for you my little felt lovers I make an exception and I am as a blog working on a wall hanging that uses a lot of pre felt, just for your delight.)

However, I wanted a piece in this art show, and it had to deal with the human face, so I bit the bullet.

As you know I like to keep it simple with my work. I still follow the advice of my art teacher Phil Nolle 'Paint what you know", so rather than over complicate things, I decided to create something based on real life.

That week, Hubble sent me flowers for no particular reason other than it was a Tuesday, and smart cookie that he is, he sent me my favourites, yellow roses and irises. I had already planned to make some small pieces based on these flowers, so I figured I would make a piece based on how lovely and special that made me feel.

My composition was laid out on a square of Pro-Fusion.

So working with Pro-Fusion is a dream, it's super thin and you just lay out your design directly on to it. It felts super quick and because its so thin, you end up with a felt that is easy to machine embroider, without compromising on strength and durability. I bought mine from here.

I was pretty brave laying out the design, I didn't use any pre felt (part felted merino that has been cut into specific shapes). I was taking a big chance as I was not compromising on detail.

I added roses and irises in the background, working fromm life. And of course my girl had red hair.

Ready to roll, with a whimsical smile.

She rolled really well, and with the pro-fusion, rolling time is cut down.

The machine embroidery enabled me to add more detail to eyes and flowers and I think give a sculptural feel to the piece over all.

I was thrilled with the way this went.

I even liked the back!

Although I was initially against doing it, Hubble and I made a shallow glass-less box frame for the piece to sit in. I attached the felt to the mounting board at the back by using velcro - one side is sticky which I stuck to the card and the other side I stitched to the back of the felt, that way, I can roll the piece up and store it when the exhibition is over. I think this a great compromise to framing the work, as I'm still not super keen on putting it behind glass.

If you live in the Plymouth area, you can see this piece throughout April in the "About Face" exhibition at Plymouth Community Arts Council.

Love Jan xxxxxx