New "Blue" in town..

The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America...

New bird in town

I'm back in the studio working on my new "Bird" collection.  Flamingoes are flocking together and the old pelican needed some friends, so in flew a new neighbor!

"Sitting Pretty"

The "Sitting Pretty" flamingoes are multiplying and  enjoying each other's company.  These needle-felted beauties ~6" tall are semi posable and will help brighten your day.

 

The story behind the flamingoes....

Several members of the Bolton Artisans Guild chose to participate in a “color “ challenge in which we randomly chose a “not so popular” paint chip color.  We were challenged to take the color and create something based on the sample chip.   Luckily, I chose what I’d call “flamingo pink”.  Being a felt artist, I decided to create a flock of flamingoes as part of my new “Bird” sculpture collection.  Louie Girl’s other bird sculptures include - Pelicans (inspired by the poor gulf oil soaked pelicans),  Humming birds (as seen in my gardens), the new Flamingo collection and more birds will be flying in!

The color chip is below the flamingoes in this picture..

Flamingo and Pelicans @the Winery

I had so much fun making this flamingo and pelican - they are for sale at the Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton.

"Ningyo" Japanese Doll Notecards

Another of my "fiber" loves is working with origami paper. Here are a couple of my "Ningyo" note cards...

Pelican

Needle felted Pelican ~6" tall

Peace Felt 2010

I'm participating in the Peace Felt 2010 Initiative where felt artists "Create a work of art using handmade felt which symbolizes peace or unconditional love to give to & receive from your peace partners somewhere else in the world!"

Here's a peek at my first project...

Sea Turtles - "Will we survive?"

Wet felted background, needle felt dimensional sea turtle and plants
~10"x12" wall hanging

The Pelican

The images of the oil drenched pelicans from the BP disaster lead me to creating wall hangings of how these precious animals should look. This pelican is the first in my series.


(~11"x 12")

Nubble Light on Display at Nashoba Valley Winery

The Bolton Artisans Guild "Summer Dreams" exhibit showcases varied works inspired by the theme. I finished "Nubble Light" just in time for this months display at the Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton, MA

Nubble Light - York Beach, ME

Needlefelted Nubble detail and beginning of rock formation

Nubble background - wet felted

I took advantage of the perfect weather outdoors and wet felted the background for another dimensional landscape. I had some pictures from our visit last summer and am pretty happy with the felted background. This took a bit of work due to its larger size (~24" x 22"). I want to get as many backgrounds done while the weather is nice since I really don't have an area where I can wet felt indoors.

Back to the fruits and vegies (I think I'll take my husband's advice and add bread, cheese and wine!)

Fruit & Vegies - Finished

Day 3...

~13" x 12"

While waiting for the pod to dry and wondering what to fill it with, I worked on my fruit stand which has now turned into fruits & vegies and who knows what else (David just suggested loaves of bread a wheel of cheese, and of course a bottle of wine.. great idea!!)

Stay tuned for progress reports...

My first "pod"

I've been wanting to take a course in felting "pods" and didn't want to wait until the Fall, so I decided to experiment using a resist to create what I thought would be a pod form... Not bad for my first attempt - now I have to figure out what to put into the pod.. maybe a felted critter?

Dimensional Landscapes

River Rocks (not quite finished)

Back from a 2 day workshop by Andrea Graham, Felt Artist extraordinaire held at New England Felting Supply in Easthampton, MA - tons of fabulous felting supplies and only 1.5 hours away from Bolton.

I learned so many new tips and techniques. Here are a few photos from the session...

Laying out the wool


After wet felting


Adding the dimension


Almost finished







This will take a long time to add the fruits and vegies.. - soooo much fun!





Laura & Andrea in front of some yummy fibers..


Andrea(s) "rocks"!!!

Signs of Spring at the Bolton Library, Bolton, MA

I've neglected this blogsite for much too long, my apologies...

I'm happy to write that I've completed a needle felt wool rendering of our library in Bolton, MA. This library now has a massive addition which isn't part of this felted work since I started this piece 3 years ago.


More pieces to finish and will post them as they are completed...

Happy New Year

Wow - I can't believe that it's been so long since I've blogged. Holiday shows and sales along with the typical Christmas crazies kept me very busy. No new year resolutions for me - just want to wind down 2009 and ramp up 2010 in a more relaxed fashion.

Here are some pix of my end of 2009 works...

Here's "Maggie" one of my favoite Gossip Girls

A couple of roosters hanging around

...and Honey Boy - a special custom order