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Foundation

What-Remains

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Unseen Felt Knot

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2024 FELTING WORKSHOPS

ONLINE & ONPOINT! FELT STUDY & INDIVIDUAL PROJECT SUPPORT
Course 2, Edition 3, Sept 8-Nov 24, 2024

FACE TO FACE WORKSHOPS…
Exploring Surface Texture, New Hampshire
Sculpting Hollow Form, North Carolina

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An archive of newsletters can be sourced on the INTRIGUE blog of this site offering insights into Klakulak’s artistic practice over nearly two decades of making & teaching around the world.

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New works are in the STRONGFELT SHOP and the 2nd n

New works are in the STRONGFELT SHOP and the 2nd newsletter of 2024, Layered, should be in your inbox! If you want it to be, the sign up link is in my linktree in the bio 🔝

If you are interested in any works or studio tools consider placing the order this weekend before I head to New Hampshire to teach. Otherwise shipping will resume on August 7. Thank you, as always, for your interest in STRONGFELT!

#strongfelt #feltstrong #feltworks #lisaklakulak #felt #wool #fiber #fiberjewelry #feltjewelry #feltmetallicsilk #feltlayered #feltfabricfusion #felttexture #feltshapes #partialfeltascore #feltpendant #feltearrings #feltstitched #contemporaryjewelrydesign #jewellery #bodyadornment #wearableart #finefelt #finecraft #craftwoman #felter #feltnew

The piece of STRONGFELT that I wear most every day

Some notable surface textures of the County Mayo c

Some notable surface textures of the County Mayo countryside in the here and now. Red haired sheep overlooking Killary Fjord. Of course, to mark ownership, but the seemingly spray can painted fibers also really helped distinguish them from the rocky lands. Super coarse wool, but since it so easily caught on the bush, I collected a few bits to incorporate into something special with some finer wool for my travel companion and I.

Sighted my first sticky carnivorous Sundews, appropriately also red, while walking with these Scottish Black Face sheep on Roundstone Hill. Also delighted in the brilliance of the bog cotton quivering in the winds, which with all the wool tuffs around one might think…but no. Read that it was commonly used for wicks, dressing wounds and stuffing. And of course the peat fields we saw while biking along the 44km of the Great Western Greenway. In contrast to the protruding rock walls, there are the deep gashes from peat extraction that cut through the terrain and then piles of these cubed cylinders drying.

#strongfeltinspiration #irishlandscape #irelandwest #landscape #landtexture #depthofsurface #sheepofcountymayo #redsheep #scottishblackface #wool #stickysundews #bogcotton #peat #peatpiles

Before we came upon the west coast of Ireland and

Before we came upon the west coast of Ireland and before I start dropping pictures of rocks and coastlines…we spent hours in the only National Museum outside of Dublin, in Turlough Village by Castlebar. This Museum of Country Life presents such an incredible perspective on Irish perseverance, innovation and traditions and I am thankful it was along our path on day 2.

There was an entire room focused on plaiting straw. Enough said! But also, these incredible forms from heather and willow used for lobster traps. And this cow spancel made of cow hair. You know I have a thing for hair based jewelry.

As a craft artist primarily working with wool and fiber techniques, I recognize the value of humble materials and respect the knowledge of transforming them despite my and many of us not needing to make objects for utilitarian purposes as was the situation for many whose handworks are featured in this museum and my photos.

#strongfelt #fiber #fibertechniques #plaiting #plaitingstraw #museumofcountrylife #countymayo #irelanditinerarymusts

Here are the three hooped cords (inspired by my PV

Here are the three hooped cords (inspired by my PVC drainage project 😆) that I was working on just before departing for Ireland, now integrated in the composition, “Pathways and Chambers.” Just like travel, or rather the way I like to travel, I start with a plan, but allow the process to create divergences from that path. An idea, some framework, gets me in the studio as does it get me on a plane or in the streets. Once there, the magic of being present unfolds.

This neckpiece incorporates some of my favorite structural surface design techniques, which we’ll be exploring up @sanbornmillsfarm in just two weeks now! Those are stitching lines and areas of density into fabrics before fusion within a layout for wet felting and also embedding objects in chambers within that stratfied fiberscape. We’ll also explore high shrinkage partial felt for use in fine edging techniques reminiscent of dramatic shorelines. Cue images of the coastlines recently visited from Connemara to Sligo, Donegal and the Giants Causeway!

There is still space for you and a friend if you’re up for a creative adventure on a working farm in New Hampshire!

#strongfelt #felt #fabric #fiber #jewelry
#wearablelandscape #bodyscape
#fabricscape #strata #geologyinspired
#freemotionstitching #lines #waveringlines #coastlines #beachglass #forcesatplay #dramabiggerthanmyown

Let’s start at the beginning….about 3200 BC. T

Let’s start at the beginning….about 3200 BC. The first day of arrival, in great contrast to my last day in Dublin, was a step off the ✈️ into the Neolithic World at Brú na Boinne recognized as a Unesco World Heritage site of preserved Passage Tombs. Figured it was good not to drive too far with jet-lag and on the left side of the road the first day, so about 45 minutes north of the airport.

I was lucky to slide into a spot touring the Knowth site and taken by the enormity of the surface texture created by the multitude of earthen tombs. The mounds were surrounded by huge kerb stones with relief carvings… shallow given the tools available.

The visitor’s center presented and extraordinary view of what lay inside. As an artist who looks at the world through a geologic lense, that is the strata and forces at play and the correlation to human experience, I was particularly fascinated by the structure of passage ways, chambers, the circular corbelled roof and layers of sod, boulders, clay and shale.

If you’ve been following this feed, you know I’ve been excavating my yard during the weeks prior to this journey and re-layering to create the ideal flow of water around my home. I’m also way tuned into layering as I prepare for a week long course at Sanborn Mills Farm July 31 -Aug 4, Depth of Field/Depth of Surface, where we will explore layers of variable porosity in the wet felting process to direct the pathway of wool fibers to connect and distort the 2D plane to create dimensional pattern, better known as texture. This will be inclusive of entrapping found objects, my favorite being ocean tumbled glass and of course rocks! Spaces are still available in the course, but soon to be filled up with many, many techniques!

#strongfelt #strongfeltinspiration #layers #structure #compression #passagetombs #preservedspace #spacetomove #surfacetexture #rocks #cairns #brunaboinne #knowth #neolithic

A friend and I just spun clockwise around the isla

A friend and I just spun clockwise around the island of Ireland for 10 days to celebrate big birthdays (same date/different years) and friendship of nearly half our lives that started on a hill top in Tennessee as resident artists. On our last day, only day and a rainy day in Dublin, she captured this amazing little wall sculpture (maker unknown unfortunately) demonstrating the care instructions for the beautiful textiles made with animal fibers at Cleo’s on Kildare Street in Dublin. #donotmachinedry Though featuring primarily knits and wovens, there we also came across the wonderful wet felted creatures by Jamie Lewis @flockstudiodublin.

I love the unexpected finds that intertwine with itinerary musts, such as the National Museum of Archeology and its exhibition of people and objects preserved in the peat bogs which was our destination across the street. Next and the last of our plans was a walk along the River Liffey to the National Museum of Decorative Arts where we just happened to walk by the Flock Studio on Benburb Street and catch a glimpse of and a smile and wave from Jamie at work. At the museum we came upon and were educated and moved by an extraordinary multi-media exhibition by glass artist Alison Lowry: (A)dressing our Hidden Truths, a response to the Legacy of Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries. @alison_lowry_glass

Just home yesterday from this layered travel and grateful for the opportunity, the travel companionship @kimberly_winkle and the learnings, which I have no doubt will permeate deeper into my person, thoughts and work.

#strongfelt #strongfelttravels #strongfeltinspiration #sheepeverywhere #artistsontheroad #dublininaday #rainydayindublin #nationalmuseumsofireland

The outer ring are some of the most recent project

The outer ring are some of the most recent projects participants designed and made in the 8th edition of Course 1 Foundational Structure in STRONGFELT's Online & Onpoint! Felt Jewelry Series. Congrats to these makers for their livication to learning new skills and bringing their visions to fruition.

For larger and more detailed views of these pieces as well as the works created in prior editions (pictured in these inner rings) follow the link in my insta bio to the Online & Onpoint! web page at strongfelt.com.

There you will also see the dates for the next editions of both Course 1 & 2 as well as these being listed on the Teaching Schedule page. I am off for an adventure until July 11th and will then be sending out my second newsletter of 2024 along with online enrollment info. So, while you are navigating my linktree and website, sign up for my mailing list if you haven't previously.

Strongly Felt, Lisa K
#strongfelt #lisaklakulakteaches #handmade #wetfelting #contemporaryfelt #workshops #feltworkshops #feltclass #feltschool #materialstudy #feltstudy #feltjewelry #feltjewellery #feltdesign #finefelt #finecraft #felt #wool #fiber #hair #fiberarts #contemporaryfiberart #keepmaking

Thank you @shakeragworkshops for offering this opp

Thank you @shakeragworkshops for offering this opportunity for @graemepriddle and I to share our love of textures over the past week and to explore the commonalities of our processes with an incredible cohort of people.

@thanksfriendstudio @rivetedrabbitstudio @ev.kush78 @geriforkner @peytonpick @naturalfiberstudio @bankbarn3 @brookecassadyart @janicemaatman @feliciaszorad
& Nina Versnel, Karen Bills, Lauren Rudd, Vaughan Maatman ✨

#strongfelt #texture #wetfelting #feltfabricfusion #freemotionsewing #woodcarving #woodburning

Made some cords this past week with STRONGFELT’s

Made some cords this past week with STRONGFELT’s quintessential Hoop Foldback Clasp. Yes, it’s true, I spent a lot of my recent days staring at and digging around the white pipes that encircle my home. It makes sense; felt is extremely absorbent 😆

I am curious to see what the participants in the upcoming Wood & Wool Collab workshop @shakeragworkshops have been looking at and thinking about that may influence their colors, line work, patterns and textures!

#strongfelt #feltsecure #feltstrong #claspsandclosures #feltcords #feltingsolidform #feltworkshops

An addendum to my last post! I almost forgot the a

An addendum to my last post! I almost forgot the analogy between tamping the soil when building a drainage ditch and using the tensioning of the machine stitch to compress the airspace remaining in a piece of felt.

I just pulled out this bruiser of a machine for a test run before bringing her with me to @shakeragworkshops. My Bernina 830 was passed down to me by Betty and then had it’s motor rebuilt by Phillip when I burned it out. I drove this machine soooo hard after being inspired by the depth of carved plaster in Morocco during a travel back in 2006 through to presenting techniques of compressing felt surfaces at the SDA conference in 2009. Lucky it didn’t die during the filming for that conference demo! Filming this tiny little clip just now brought back memories of how challenging it was not to block the camera with my hands and still have a good grip.

#strongfelt #stitchingfelt #underpressure #aircompression #texturingfelt #felttextures #depthofsurface #surfacedesign #reliefcarving #relieffromcompression

Hey there 👋 Lisa Klakulak here after a fun coup

Hey there 👋 Lisa Klakulak here after a fun couple weeks in the trenches! Just a tiny bit of sarcasm there because really I don’t mind physical work and absolutely love the engineering….just wish the drainage wasn’t a threat to my castle. While digging through the strata in the moat that surrounds my cabin and studio, I was constantly aware and very entertained by correlations with wet felting. Imagine that?!

There is the variation of density: clay and hard fulled smooth felt, a mix up of prior drainage rock/loose dirt and a bumpily mix up of fiber breeds and staple lengths and also the airspace in the top soil interspersed with roots and fiber laid out and loosely felted. The flagstones are similar to the dense shapes of partial felt blocking the flow of water and the movement of fibers through the layers respectively. And of course, like fabric and wool fusion, there are the substrates of PVC pipe sleeve and trench wrap used for soil separation and to keep the pea gravel out of the pores created by the bigger rocks.

If you know, you know!
Or perhaps you will learn all about it next week @shakeragworkshops as we wet felt a myriad of textures through layering and composing density and fabric structures in the Wood & Wool Collab?! Or perhaps you decide to SECURE ONE OF THE LAST SEATS in the Depth of Surface/Depth of Field Workshop @sanbornmillsfarm in NH, July 30-August 4?!

It’s about designing flow, be that of water through a landscape terrain or wool filaments through layers of fiber.
#strongfelt #lisaklakulakteaches #wetfelting #feltedterrain #flow #airspace #porosity #fiberstrata #feltedtexture #differentialshrinkage #artistsmind

And the last feature, for now, of participants who

And the last feature, for now, of participants who’ve completed both courses in my Online & Onpoint Felt Jewelry Series is Lisa Hayes, one of the first to sign up when I initially launched back in 2021. As one can see, Lisa definitely makes a strongfelt, which is about sooo much more than the application of sheer force. Rather, a heightened awareness of touch from pulling thin layers, to the initial development of a skin and appropriate pressure related to the amount of airspace in the fiber mass.

Check the drape of her well-fulled solid form cord work for Project 1 in the Foundational Structure Course and her simultaneous felting of extremely high shrinkage alongside dense areas to sculpt a hollow form collar for Project 2 in the Applications of Partial Felt Course 💫

While there isn’t an entry edition of Course 1 to begin this Online Series until 2025 (dates TBA), there is an opportunity available to learn the differential sculpting techniques STRONGFELT with me a la carte in 2024.

Sculpting Hollow Form, Sept 4-8
at Double Island Studio, Green Mtn, NC
@doubleislandstudio

#feltnuance #strongfelt @riverfeltstudio #wetfelted #feltedwool #feltspace #shrinkageisreal #finefelt #feltjewellery #feltjewellerydesign #feltdesign #handmade #handmadefelt #onlinefeltingworkshops #feltonline #feltworkshops #felttechnique #feltfoundationalstructure #feltpartialfelt #feltcords #feltsolidformtechnique #felthollowform #felthollowform #sculptingwool #fibersculpting #fiberarts #fiberstructured

Another Jan who has completed both Course 1 Founda

Another Jan who has completed both Course 1 Foundational Structure & Course 2 Applications of Partial Felt making incredibly unique pieces of felted adornment from the same technical learnings that underpinned those in my last post. Jan Klaver participated in the Online & Onpoint! Coursework from Australia, perhaps not surprising from her use of brilliant saturated hues that are often correlated with that land. From Jan’s figurative second project of Course 1 incorporating objects encased in felt with 2D planes to her linked partial felt shapes and surface designs in the first project of Course 2, Jan uses geometry with a childlike playfulness while creating sharp sophisticated designs in felt.

The current cohort participating in Edition 8 of Course 1 Foundational Structure just wrapped up their final design reviews this past weekend. Excited to lay my eyes on the finished works in the coming weeks! Seeing new unique works develop from this technical knowledge base never gets old for me. I imagine neither does it for those who’ve taken the courses!

#strongfelt #feltstrong @jayemkai #strongfeltonlineandonpoint #feltmaking #feltmakingworkshop #feltonline #feltschool #feltclass #felteducation #feltworkshops #feltjewelry #feltjewellerydesign #feltdesign #feltstructure #feltfoundationalstructure #feltmaterial #felttechnique #feltimpact #materialstudy #craftanddesign #finecraft #feltsmalllearnbig #shrinkageisreal

I’ve been pretty tired at days end after digging

I’ve been pretty tired at days end after digging drainage most of the past 7 days. So, as one does when wearing most every hat in running a business, you shift to a different/doable task… while horizontal on the couch. 😂 Worked up a few social media posts featuring participants who have completed both courses in my Online & Onpoint! Felt Jewlery Series: Material, Technique & Impact.

After two, 10-week courses and four cumulative zoom design meetings, a person’s thinking and aesthetics begins to be revealed. Janice Maatman’s projects were inspired by her interaction with the natural world and the objects/systems used. For instance, the tubing and treatments that she installed amid a network of trees to mitigate the disease effecting their health. Also, a hollow formed neckpiece incorporating extreme differential shrinkage to create forms based on a collection of fishing weights and the intertwining of fishing nets.

There are certainly pros and cons to both, Online Courses and Face-to-Face workshops and I am grateful for the opportunity to teach both. However, after running 2 Online courses over the last 5 months, I am sooo psyched to be able to work in person with Janice next week at Shakerag Workshops in TN along with 13 other participants for the Wood & Wool Collab! And to get away from this drainage project for a week 😂

#strongfelt #lisaklakulakteaches #strongfeltonlineandonpoint #feltonline #feltcourseofstudy
#feltworkshops #feltsmalllearnbig #feltinspired
@janicemaatman

Instagram post 17970123032735768

Instagram post 17970123032735768

It was a drippy weekend here in Asheville. Aside f

It was a drippy weekend here in Asheville. Aside from mitigating water flow through my yard, I finished up wet felting some super fine solid form components for a neckpiece and studied the structures and behavior of the first bloom of my Magnolia tree. The cords are about 1/8 inch in diameter, about the size of the stamens and carpels on this cut bloom which continues to grace my house with its amazing fragrance.

#strongfelt #wetfelting #feltsolidform #feltcords #feltclaspsandclosures #strongfeltinspiration #lingerlonger #lookcloser #details #magnoliablossom #carpels #appalachianspring

Working up a sweet little commission here for a ne

Working up a sweet little commission here for a neighbor who had popped in my recent Open Studio and couldn’t put down one of my texture studies for/from this workshop. Got me blending colors and gradations, digging around in all my fabrics, cutting/composing and building up layers of all types of resists to hair permeation; the active filament ends that connect and contort to create texture.

There are a handful of seats (though we wont be sitting much!) still open for this workshop on a working farm in New Hampshire. Consider joining in for a week focused on Fabric Fusion, Object Inclusion & Stitching Intrusion to develop a unique palette of textures for your felt work while learning to assess shrinkage and use those numbers to layout specific projects. More details via strongfelt.com’s teaching schedule & info or @sanbornmillsfarm

#strongfelt #felt #wetfelting #feltdesign #texturedesign #surfacedesign #fiberart #feltfabricfusion #feltlayered #feltdepth #texture #mountainsandvalleys #foundfabric #foundobjects #feltconnected #feltfacetoface #feltworkshops2024 #sanbornmillsfarm

Starting the week off celebrating a handful of the

Starting the week off celebrating a handful of the first projects participants’ designed from the learning in the current edition of Course 1 Foundational Structure. Daniela’s draping movement and multitude of connections; Stefani’s cones that at once seem as though they could stack and also twirl like a pin wheel; Gina’s electrified lines and prominent pendant that compliments those angles…each piece a unique voice using a common language.
👏 👏 👏

STRONGFELT’s Online & Onpoint! Felt Jewelry Series focusing intensively on Material + Technique + Impact has resulted in a stunning collection of unique pieces that can be viewed on www.strongfelt.com under the TEACHING/ONLINE & ONPOINT! menu. “Impact” is not only related to the pressure and frequency of agitation applied in the wet felting process, but the making of a mark in the field of felting by skill building and supporting new/diverse visions. AND all these design reviews have also kept me on my toes stretching…

Ahead, is a summer with more in person workshops than I have presented in many years and I am excited to be present with participants and able to touch them and their wool to give a clearer sense of that impact and to feel the fervor of many working together. I am also committed to continuing to offer the longer intensive Online Courses so participants have extended time/flexibility to work through studies and develop original pieces of impact. I’ll soon be opening up enrollment for another edition of Course 2 Applications of Partial Felt for this fall for all those who’ve completed Course 1. Keep your 👀 on your inbox!

@ginaking2018 @stefaniandernach #strongfelt #strongfeltonlineandonpoint #feltonline #feltstudy #feltclass #feltschool #feltworkshops #feltstructured #feltintegrity #feltskilled #felt #wetfelting #fiber #fiberarts #fibereducation #materialeducation #finecraft #feltdesign #feltconcept #feltjewelry #feltjewellery #bodyadornment #feltart #wearableart #oftheskin #throughtheskin #fortheskin #secondskin

So excited to return for a 3rd time to teach and c

So excited to return for a 3rd time to teach and commune @shakeragworkshops this June! Though the felting focus of the Wood & Wool Collab I’ll be co-teaching with Graeme Priddle is surface texturing, I’ll have other pieces of felt work in the Instructor Exhibition to broaden perceptions of #whatisfelt.

Foundation is a star example (as in far out) of what can be achieved through the strategic combination of areas of high and low percentages of shrinkage in the wet felting process of hollow form. You can take a deep dive into this felt engineering later this fall @doubleislandstudio September 4-8. 💫

#strongfelt #workshops #feltinperson #feltpresent #felt #fiber #animalfiber #hairtransformation #oftheskin #foundation #throughtheskin #allthefeels #felttexture #feltform #sculptinghollowform #feltengineering #shrinkageisreal #shakeragworkshops #shakeragexhibition #doubleislandstudio #southeastcraft #southeastarts #craftschooled

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