Thursday, July 30, 2009

Tyvek Magic

Tyvek is the tough-to-tear plastic used to make mailing envelopes and also is used in construction. It feels as delicate as paper, but is far more durable. Carol-lynn Swol creates jewelry by monipulating this material...she dyes, burns, tufts and stacks the tyvek to create various forms, colors, and textures. She says:"With each piece I strive to create something that will arrest the viewer’s mind. Once the mind is arrested, then the visual and tactile experience, formal qualities, and wearability can be recognized and appreciated."

Fiesta Bracelet: dyed tyvek, sterling silver

Gradation Brooch: dyed and cut tyvek, sterling silver


Wave Brooch: dyed and cut tyvek, sterling silver

Interruption Bracelet: dyed and cut tyvek, sterling silver


So, is your mind arrested yet ? Mine certainly is, I love that her pieces are so sculptural. The fact that she uses materials which are not really meant for is pretty amazing.

Friday, July 24, 2009

The Great Indoors by Aurora Robson

Aurora Robson used 15,000 of plastic bottles in her installation "The Great Indoors" at Rice Gallery here in Houston in 2008. Water based non toxic paints were used to achieve the desired colours. Solar pannels powered the entire piece. She really tried to be as invironmentally concious as possible. I was completely blown away by the colours, shapes and forms that she created.

Photoes by Mr.Kimberly.


Thursday, July 23, 2009

Felt on Runway Fall '08

Stella McCartney Fall '08 RTW




Fabric created by British feltmaker Liz Clay.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Call For Entries - Fiberart International 2010


Deadline August 29. Juried. An exhibit of contemporary fiber art, Fiberart International 2010 seeks to exhibit the best of contemporary art and invites submissions that reflect a wide range of works related to the fiber medium. The goal of the exhibition is to include innovative work rooted in traditional fiber materials, structure, processes and history, as well as art that explores unexpected relationships between fiber and other creative disciplines. The exhibit open to the public Aprol 16 - August 22, 2010, at Society for Contemporary Craft and Pittsburgh Cebter for the Arts, both in Pittsburgh, PA. For more info go here .

Monday, July 20, 2009

Acqua di Mare

One of recently made scarves from my new mini collection "Light and Airy 02" - turquoise and white . Nuno felted scarves dyed with shibori technique. It's very light and drapes beautifully. The colour came out with different shades of turquoise, it's lighter or darker here and there, reminds me of clean ocean water...
I love scarves....I love making them and I love wearing them. They're very functional. Scarf is not only there to make you warm, it's an accessory almost like jewelry that completes your outfit. Sometimes I wear something very basic like denim with a tank or a T and a scarf makes it look more interesting, makes your outfit stand out, especially when the scarf is one of a kind.





Etsy Front Page


Etsy front page that features my scarf was created by admins a few days ago. Speaking of being at the right time in the right place...It was around midnight I was already half asleep and was heading for my bed, just decided to take the last look for that day at Etsy...and here I was on the front page. Being on the front page is very exciting and important for every etsian. It'a a chance to be seen by a lot of people from around the world since everyone comes through the front page. Etsy admins rock !

Etsy Treasury


Etsy treasury that features my scarf created by Zhenia from JaneBoFelt .

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Mapping out Paradise



Mapping out Paradise is an installation made of felt, glass, fabric and photocollages made by Claudy Jongstra and Marc Mulders. Museum De Pont, Tilburg, the Netherlands.

Fashioning Felt

There's probably no need for me to introduce you to this wonderfull exhibit, there's been a lot of buzz about it. The best thing of course is to visit it in NYC, but if you aren't able to do that check out the videos below. If you haven't seen those yet after you watch it you'll probably want to jump on the first plane to NYC, it's that impressive...Enjoy the videos and links ! On view March 6–September 7, 2009 at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in NYC.

Claudy Jongstra speaks at the openning following Kathryn Walter.


To read more about this wonderful Dutch feltmaker go here .

Making Palace Yurt.


Read more here about how Janice Arnold created the Palace Yurt.

Fashioning Felt on Martha Stewart show.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Etsy Treasury

Etsy treasury that features my scarf created my Mary from vantidesigns . Visit it here .



Another treasury that features my earrings created by Sherri from slvilov .

Monday, July 13, 2009

Strawberries and cream anyone ???

One of my latest creations. A mini collection "Light and Airy 02" of nuno felted scarves dyed with shibori technique. My friends first impression was...."looks like strawberries and cream" (клубничка со сметанкой). Back home in Eastern Europe (I'm from Latvia but I've spent a lot of time with my grandparents in Russian and Ukraine) often we ate fresh picked from the garden strawberries with sour cream and a little sugar and it seemed like you didn't need anything else to be happy. Some sweet memories from my childhood.

I love colour and in this collection I just wanted a splash of colour here and there, so that the scarf won't be too powerful. The colour came out kind of dark pink, not too bright just what I wanted. Nuno felting (also known as laminated felt and is much preferred term by many feltmakers) lets me create really light fabrics that can drape well and be flowy.

Found this really cute charcoal bubble dress in the second hand store (Reduce Reuse Recycle !). I think charcoal goes well with pink.

Experimenting with posing here.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Etsy Treasury

Here's a lovely Etsy treasury created by Taylor from taylorseclectic . It expires in 3 days, so visit it while it's available. You can view it here.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Felt on Runway Fall '09

Fendi Fall '09 RTW


Calvin Klein Fall '09 RTW



Yohji Yamamoto Fall '09 RTW




Images via style.com

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Call For Entries - HATS 2009

HATS 2009 . Deadline August 15. A juried exhibition and sale. October 13th through November 30th at TLD Design Center & Gallery, Westmont, IL. Open to artists and designers doing original work. Only hats of your own design and individual effort are eligible. All entries must be wearable.


Speaking of hats, check out Russian feltmakers Jane Bo's photos, she does some really fun hats among other stuff. Also look at this absolutely amazing hat, Planetary tribal headdress by Australian feltmaker Pam de Groot.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Australian Felt Magazine

The independent Australian magazine for felting by felters, for felters everywhere!
Each edition will have projects and techniques to inspire you, a gallery, and a nice mix of articles, book reviews, profiles and stories to keep you thinking "outside the square".
Felt Magazine comes out twice a year, in June and December. June '09 is the 1st issue published.
It can be ordered as a subscription or as individual issues from their website. For USA it's around $11-12/issue or double that for 1 year subscription, mailing costs included.


Monday, July 6, 2009

"Melt" - Felted Rug/Wall Art Piece

My recent creation. What I was going for was - something wild, natural, definitely not perfect. So I went ahead into my stash and found some washed fleece, roving, bits of hand-spun yarn and silk fibre. I have no idea what kind of wool was it, but it felted so easily, it felt like corriedale or something similar. Didn't have a clear idea of what it was going to be, but I knew in the process it will become something that was deep inside me and wants to be expressed. I didn't think much on the colour, just knew it from the beginning it has to be blue and I also knew that it won't all be the same colour since wool and silk take dye differently so there will be some colour variegation. When the piece was all dried and ready I hung it on the wall and looked at it. The first thing that entered my mind was - melting ice, glacier. Climate change is a very hot topic recently and I've been thinking about it a lot, so I think that was the thought behind it all that my hands created listening to my inner voice. Size 22"x55" (55cmx137cm).


Thursday, July 2, 2009

The beginning...

Welcome to my blog ! Here you'll see my works in felt and also I would like to feature some great stuff in contemporary art, design, fashion and architecture that I find quite amazing and inspiring.