Breanne

I came home from camping in the Kootenay's today to find out that a friend of mine had died. Even though she was 20 and I am old enough to be her mother, we were friends. She was a beautiful young woman full of life and spirit and ready to conquer the world and skiing and art and whatever crossed her path. Even though there were years between us we talked like peers and I will miss her beautiful smile. R.I.P. Breanne

Wool Meets Steel and they Like Each Other

I learned how to weld last year. What a super medium to use. I thought it would be really interesting to combine metal and fibre,
My intention for this project was to find a way to combine two completely different materials,

Wool fleece is soft, pliable, colourful, fluffy and airy. Steel is hard, cold, rusty, and heavy. By transforming fleece into felt and steel into form I was able to find a relationship between the two elements that worked. The steel was welded into a vessel to contain the fleece and the wool balls give the steel colour and life and texture.
I also find it interesting that the wool fleece belongs more to the lower world of “crafts”, a predominately female domain, where steel and welding is more a man’s and fits better into respectability and the world of art. My interest lies in combining both worlds in order to find balance

Humpty Dumpty meets Waldorf

I did a sculpture installation called Humpty Dumpty meets Waldorf that was a interesting way to reconcile my past career as a Waldorf School Handwork Teacher and my present as fibre artist/sculpture/art student.
I did my Waldorf teaching training in Switzerland where I lived for many years and did my Diploma project on plant dyeing. My etsy store was a way to use up all the plant dyed yarn I had and no longer needed and pass it on to those that did. I loved plant dyeing. I did it for years and I had hundreds of different shades of everything. But when I left Waldorf, I discovered that there were other fibres out there, I am a passionate and compulsive knitter, and there was a whole new world to explore.
I would though, like to pass on my plant dyed creations to people that want it, need it and have small children who will benefit from it. My boys are older and no longer need those subtle, wonderful colours.
Gnomes are special in plant dyed, they come alive and tell their stories, especially to those that are ready to listen. This picture is not my installation, but a picture I took of the gnomes I made while on holiday last summer in the Kootenays. They really were cute.

Welcome to ColourSparks

Well, welcome to my Blog ColourSparks.
I've spent the summer dyeing my collection of fibres. My intention was to use up my fibre stash and transform it into something more useful. The problem is, or was, that I ran out of certain things and had to order more. I have so far dyed 15 different colours in a variety of fibres: silk, silk noil, mohair locks, alpaca, border Leicester fleece, and okanagan sheep fleece. I had alot of fun making all these different colours and and I am sharing them in my etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ColourSparks

I have also done quite a bit of felting with my new found colours