Piecing Silk

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One of the joys of a feltmaking practice is the many directions you can go and become absorbed for months, or much longer. As an artist, I have always been an assembler of imagery. This explains the large role fiber collage plays in my design work. I just love collage, and it is really fun to do it in felt. The way felt is made lends itself to building generations of pieces, like fragments. You can layer them, build a visual narrative, create movement and depth and a feast for the eye.

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Early on I learned different ways to piece silk, mostly to use every bit of this precious material. I soon realized I enjoyed both the process and the result. Wool is like the glue. I am now gathering smaller and smaller pieces, and more of them. I will always want to use even very small cut outs of my hand painted silk. It is becoming a thing.

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In beginning a project, I select the pieces of thin silk or cotton I want to work with. Working on a big table, I connect them with a dry, herringbone layout of superfine merino wool roving, 16-19 microns. Often I leave some of the silk bare. As I wet and compress and begin working with the layout, it is fiddly and fussy, as my surface is fragile. This is particularly true as I add elements, create visual connections, and surprise myself with color decisions. When I turn the work over to design on the back side, I am usually in for a surprise and new inspiration. This way of working is slow, but in fact, the deliberative effort at this stage is where I find my joy and lose track of time. Magic happens before my eyes.