It had been just a few weeks since the first STRONGFELT STUDIO class in early April, but this crew got to see all the terraced beds blooming with color and texture. From the left: Karin Fish, myself, Susan Kaplow and Nina Denninger.
Nina’s hands are in action below, exploring the raising of a form from a 2-D plane by fulling the differential shrinkage into the third dimension. The ladies then employed the same concept of placing partial felt density into the layout, but this time while wrapping a resist. The increased area from both sides of the resist provides more height for the form’s walls as well as an ability to close the mouth of the form. Karin and Susan are refining their fiber layout around the resist, so to not bulk up the area at the edge, which would impede the raising of the form once the resist is removed.
My demonstration piece showing the art of less, is more! Negative space, or areas of thinner layout, result in more dramatic forming as these high shrinkage areas can undercut the low shrinkage partial felt leading to concave and highly protuberating form.
Nina’s form below and to the left, in the process of being fulled by using the STRONGFELT tool to not only agitate the concave areas but also to block and stretch the protuberations. Of course, this level of muscling the felt is in response to the strength of the fulled felt and shouldn’t be applied when the felt has less integrity or it will tear up or pill the surface. It’s all about intent…you have to prepare the form you are wanting by how you lay out the weight of fiber and on what shape resist and then think about how you agitate the wool from the beginning of the process to the end! Lastly, a little refining by way of steaming, shaving, stitching and applying shellac. Great class ladies!! Next course on Sculpting Hollow Form, Sept 17-20, in the STRONGFELT STUDIO, Asheville, NC!
I am officially on vacation this week, from making at least, but of course I have many things in the works…on the mind! I am very excited to get back in the Asheville Schools this April for a week long residency at Vance Elementary School in West Asheville. I have received a 
I have just completed uploading the most recent photography of the work I had created this past winter. This neck piece is one of my favorites from the new series. It incorporates a stainless steel wire form skinned with very thin felt and threaded onto an undulating cord. The cord has been free-motion machine embroidered to compress the remaining air from the felt creating an embossed surface and a stiffer felt. I have found that by allowing my stitching to be guided by the random incorporation of novelty thread on the felt’s surface, a visual and energetic balance is created with the controlled parallel lines of stitched thread. Please have a look at the new images in the 
After driving back 9 hours from Baltimore on Wednesday night, I arrived to a quiet landscape in the process of being carpeted in snow . With my body craving to be moved and my mind soothed after such an expedition, I began walking the streets of Asheville and did so, unknowingly, for three hours. I captured many images that night finding visual inspiration in the way the white snow patterned the dark ground and sky and I was reminded of my most recent body of work…high contrast and defined structure created with a soft white medium.
This past friday, February 20th, I was incredibly honored to receive the 
I am excited about these new 
It’s LIVE!!! With this first blog from my newly launched website at