Sedona

The art and galleries in Sedona don't begin to compare with the caliber of art we feasted our eyes on in Santa Fe, but the scenery, oh the scenery is another story. The beauty of nature is alive and vibrant in Sedona. That rich orangey red is everywhere from the breathtaking natural monuments, to the earth along the edge of the road. We had a wonderful view of it all from our room. Passing through the door gave way to a dazzling vista of the red rock that Sedona is famous for.

Santa Fe Salvage

In Santa Fe we found the most incredible salvage outlet with doors, gates, columns, you name it. Imported bits of buildings from all over the world. Places like India, Morocco, and Asia were all represented with richly patinated pieces of iron, wood, pottery, marble, and more. We strolled through isle after isle of gates, windows and architectural adornments each with a story to tell. Santa Fe buildings and homes are so organic in nature, and all of these lovely details provide a perfect compliment to Southwest structures.

Santa Fe

I would have to say that one of my favorite towns that we visited on our road trip was Santa Fe. From paintings to sculpture, we found wonderful art in Santa Fe.

The weather obliged us with a beautiful fall day for our stroll along Canyon Road, home to one great gallery after the next. The soft lines and colors of the adobe architecture are pleasing to the eye and are the essence of the Southwest.

I also paid a visit to one of my favorite knit shops,Miriam's Well , where I bought yarn for a side to side knitted vest. Miriam's knit patterns consist of simple stitches using luscious yarn.

That's my kind of knitting!

The style I am knitting is as shown below, but the yarn I chose is a soft alpaca in my favorite earth tones with a touch of heathered purple. The pattern is free with the yarn purchase.

Wonderful Wool Festival

The Taos Wool Festival was such fun. No rain or soggy grass this year, the weather was perfect. I love the size of the event and the mix of producers who proudly present unique wool offerings. My husband snapped this shot of me with the first of my booty. Driving rather than flying gave me the luxury of buying as much as I wanted without concern for suitcase space. I'm inspired by all the lovely fibers I brought home, and have been busy in my studio putting them to use for the upcoming holiday sales. Below are a few of my finds.

A good start, don't you think?

Among the many treasures I found

are these soft and silky hand painted Wensleydale rovings.

Lots of ideas for how to use these beauties.

Ruth Walker offered up these richly dyed rovings of

merino blended with cashmere, or silk.

I got back to the hotel and decided

I didn't have enough of them,

so, went back for more, and a couple of her pre-felts as well!

Check back with me soon, for more photos of our scenic road trip.

Off to Taos!

Last year I went to the Taos Wool Festival, in Taos New Mexico, with my friend Zaynab from Anchorage. She had been there before but it was my first time and I loved it! This year I am taking my husband Burt, and we are going on a road trip. I'm so excited! Taos is wool heaven during the festival. The actual event is held on the grass at Kit Carson Park in the center of this charming Southwestern town. Here is a video from a past wool festival. There are workshops and the vendors are mostly small producers offering unique roving, yarn, and finished work as well. I must confess that the New Mexico food is as enticing to me as the wool offerings. It is delicious. Can't wait to have a big bowl of pezole!

On the way back home to San Diego we will wend our way through Gallup, New Mexico, Sedona, Prescott, and Jerome Arizona. Gallup is the best place to buy Native American art and handcrafts. The artists bring their work there to sell in the pawn shops. Being in Gallup is like going back in time to the 1950's. Jerome is an old mining town that clings to the edge of rocky hills. The big Jerome attraction for me is a store called Knit One Bead Two, where I have found great bead and fiber treasures on past visits. I will have lots to blog about when I return in mid October.

Marcia's Scarf

My friend Marcia is one talented girl. In addition to being a fabulous beader, published in fact, she is a knitter extraordinaire. I love to knit, but sweat and fret when it comes to sewing the thing together. So Marcia and I struck a deal. She agreed, bless her, to assemble the sweater I made for my daughter in exchange for a nuno felt scarf. You might notice by the date of the sweater post, the exchange was long overdue, so today Marcia came over to choose her scarf. As she perused my rack of scarves, she was, by her own admission, love struck by one of my "Chunky Monkeys" . Our 83 degree weather was no issue for Marcia who left with the scarf artistically arranged around her neck, pausing just long enough for me to snap this photo. And wouldn't you know the Gail Crossman Moore earrings she had on matched perfectly!

Felted Soap

I felted bars of soap for my husband and myself, using our favorite pachouli soap. They work so well in the shower because they are not slippery like regular bars of soap. I decided to make some to sell. I found it a good way to play with color combinations. Don't they look delicious drying in the sun?

Scented with Jasmine, Lavender, lemon and other delightful aromas, each soap has a jewel like quality and so needed a special presentation. After wrapping each one like a gift with yarn or ribbon I put it in it's own gift/trinket box. On the lid of the box I attached a piece of nuno felt to match the colors of the gift inside. The soap and box are two gifts in one. Well, three really. The wool wrapped soap is a wash cloth and soap in one, and the nuno topped gift/trinket box can be re-used and recycled.

Felted soaps drying in the sun

Felt Without Borders

There's not much of a nuno felt community where I live. Not like painting or pottery where you can check out local galleries that show and sell those pieces. But good fiber art galleries are hard to find locally, which is why I so appreciate Etsy and the opportunity it offers me, as a nuno felt artist, to see what others are doing with the medium, as well as building friendships and sharing ideas with like minded felters. For me, this all goes under the heading, "Can't get enough felt!"

So a couple of months ago on a visit to other "Etsyans", that is Felt making Etsyans, I came across Joni Cornell, and her Etsy shop. I love the way Joni blends the colors on her scarves, the simple details and spikey fringe. In particular I fell in love with an avocado green, brown and black number. I had already sent Joni an email telling her how much I liked her work and in the course of our back and forth art chat , we hit on the idea of an exchange, the scarf I had fallen in love with in her Etsy Shop for one from my Etsy shop .

Kirstin models the scarf that Joni chose.

I love holding Joni's piece in my hand and knowing it came all the way to me from Melbourne, Austrailia, where I have a friend in felt.

I have used Joni's scarf as a runner so I can spread it out and enjoy all the beautiful colors

From one end to the other.

The Beauty's In The Details

I finally got all of my new nuno felt pillows listed on My Etsy Site . The new pieces are nuno felt on the front and recycled knitting on the reverse. I've used details such as unique yarns to join the two sides and cutting fringe into the backings. I want my pillows to be as much soft sculpture as cozy accents for a sofa, chair or bed. The pictures below offer you a glimpse of these details that make each one, not just a pillow, but a one of a kind art piece. You can see them in their entirety by clicking on the link below, and under the individual detail images.

Arlene's Etsy Shop

Don't they look yummy all stacked together?

Spring Flowers Nuno Felt Pillow detail

Butterfly Nuno Felt Pillow (detail)

Northern Lights Collage Nuno Felt Pillow (detail)

Peppermint Creame Nuno Felt Pillow (detail)

August Nuno Felt Workshop

We spent a productive two days learning and having fun making nuno felt. Other exciting felt processes that were explored included making pieces of pre-felt and silk paper to add to our designs, plus embelished felt ropes and beads.

Love those beautiful colors!

Nuno Felt pillows are the best!

Best Tool For Wetting Felt

I must admit that I especially love the fact that I can felt anywhere, anytime, without needing special tools.  I tell my workshop students that the method of nuno felting that I teach can be done in hotel rooms which, coincidently, are equipped with everything you need.  I know, because I've done it!  Not only in a hotel room, but on a recent Scandinavian cruise I found some beautiful wool in Helsinki and that night in the tiny bathroom of our cabin I made felt. 

However........I have always, in the many art forms I have explored, gravitated towards the best tools I could find. So hotel rooms and shipboard cabins aside, I hereby offer up:

  The Rubber Sprayer Sprinkler Bulb   

With it I can wet down my work without disturbing the design, and use the hottest water possible without burning my hands.  I've shared this nifty tool with my students and it's always love at first squeeze.  You can find one of your very own at: 

The Fiber Studio's Shop on Etsy

New Nuno Felt Scarves

I guess my fabric dyeing adventures have been occupying a lot of my recent attention, and as a result I have been a bit lax in listing my new scarves on Etsy, but I more than made up for it this week by listing over a dozen new ones!  You can see them all here.  Now I can turn my efforts to making more nuno felt with the fabrics I have been dying.  

Learning to Dye Silk and Cotton

It seems like I am in constant pursuit of just the right color of silk and cotton fabric for my nuno felt pieces.  So, it was just a matter of time before I finally learned some easy ways to dye my own cloth, just the way I need and want it to be. Karen Dietz, a student of mine taught an intro to dying class this past week and I've been off and running ever since.  For practice I am dying and painting white flour sack cotton dish towels, and cotton napkins.  I'm excited, both with the fun pieces I am making and how much I am learning. 

A Burt Watson Original

My husband Burt makes the most beautiful  beaded leather handbags.  We went to an art show and he found these faux bakelite handles.  I couldn't wait to see what he was going to create with them.  The handles are so outstanding that he decided he didn't want to compete with them by adding beads, instead he put his creative efforts into the stitching.   

You can see more of this unique work in Burt's Etsy Shop.