New work- home decor felt/silk flower series

These are in a series of pillows I made called my 'Felt/Silk Flower Line.' The flower are made from a collage of alpaca felt scraps and pieces of hand dyed silk fabric. The silk fabric was left over from my time at Penland School of Craft, where we studied natural dyes. The natural dyes really seems to work with the natural palette of the alpaca felt. 

These are still considered eco-friendly, all of the fabric is from natural sources, the felt is being recycled verse being thrown out, and the filling is from pillows obtained from thrift stores.
More to come

New work- home decor

I produce a large amount of felt scraps from my work and I had started bagging them and selling them in my rockymountainfibers etsy page. But I thought I should try and use some in my own work. The first pillow I made was the "rainbow in the breeze." I had had a rough day- one of those days when we artist feel like selling our equipment and getting a 'real' job. As I was laying on my couch celebrating my pity-party, I had this really strong urge to just go into my studio and make something just for me. Something totally new where it didn't matter if the buying public liked it or not, just creating something for the need to create something. And that pillow resulted. I'm am going to continue with the design rather and make curtains and a duvet cover. I think that would be pretty cool.

Sometime the feeling of disappear and a readiness to through the towel in feeling, is what we need occasionally to remind us why we do what we do. We need this to break though into new artist development.

Krista

'New' old work

This is a piece I also did for the Nudes show in Jackson earlier this year. I also showed it in the Art Associations 'Members Only' show- taking home a "People Choice Award" for it!

The top photo is the finished piece and the following photos are the work in progress
Krista

Figurative studies

These are some pieces I made for a local show in Jackson, all about nudes.  Below is my artist statement for the show. There was a third piece, but I'll show that next time.

Artist Statement

Ever since I was a young child, I have always been making art of some kind. As I grew and developed my artistic talents, I found a true love for both drawing, particularly the figure and textile art. I never thought the two would merge, but that is what my current line of work is trying to do. I have swapped out my charcoal for a needle and thread to execute the line work. Then I am using various natural fibers to help fill space. I am trying to incorporate traditional fiber and needlecraft techniques to new subject matters, the nude figure. 

Some work I have chosen to work with a natural, neutral based palette using the natural color of the wools and alpaca to give a more realistic look. Other times, I am using bright, bold colors to make a statement about something.

I plan to develop this work further and see where it chooses to go.

what I've been up to the past few months

One of the new projects of the year was me teaching my first felt making class. Here are some photos from the project I taught to the class. I don't have any photos from the class, as my camera was AWOL for the day.

The class covered the basics of wet-felt making and finished with the project of making a pair of either mittens or gauntlets using resist felt-making.
I love to see how much of a beast the piece started out as and how small it ended! YAY to felt making and all that lovely shrinkage!!!!!

See you around the craft table soon....

Handmade Do-It-Yourself Holiday Gift part 2

Last week I was up to my elbows in wool, soap and water and eventually felt, so I took a break from blogging, but I thought I do a couple of short post this week. I am in mad-high-production mode while trying to build up my inventory for my winter shows.
during my last couple of post, I showed some of the stuff I have done with my scraps and wool roving. But what I should have said was 'Here are some great ideas for handmade holiday gifts!'. So this week I thought I re-touch on the ideas and show the kits and supplies listed in my Etsy shop so you can made your own.

The first was the longest scarf in the world- not really, but sometimes it feels that way! The supply pack I would recommend are my 'handmade wool felt square bags':

They have pre-cut felt squares that all you have to do is sew together two of the edges together and proceed down the scarf til the desired length is reached. It really is a very easy, but dramatic and functional handmade gift for the holidays!

my Thursday mornings-Farewell

The farm is closed for the season and the workshares are done! The last day was one of the hardest we have had on the farm. We spread the 500, which I am not even going to get into here. If you would like more info, please search biodynamic farming! But I will tell you spreading the 500 is a strenuous job! We walk the entire length of the farm with liquid filled 5-gallon buckets and 'spread' all the hippy-dippy goodness. So we did that twice, then we worked to remove a green house that had been in one spot for 5 years. Trying to pull a tarp up that has 5-years of grass growth through it is not easy!

But, it is now done. We did get a few last crops that day: garlic, basil, kale, carrots, rutabagas. And as my sign-off from the farm until next year, yes I do plan on worksharing again, here is a photo of my favorite carrot of the season... careful it is a bit racy  

'What do I do with it?' week-ornaments

I also made these last winter for gifts. Hand-felted wool balls decorated into ornaments.

I started with some of my wool roving, formed a softball sized ball of roving, then dip in hot soapy water and felt into a small ball- not to tight, but enough for the ball to hold it's shape. Then let dry and hand decorate with thread, beads, dye, yarn- whatever else you can think of. Or try needle felting some decor on them. 
Please see my rockymountainfibers etsy store for wool roving!

'What do I do with it?' week-stockings

I made these last year for my husband and my two stepsons. I really liked how they came out.

I used a large felt scrap for the stocking, cut to shape. Then I used other smaller pieces to compose the decor, sew down. Then sew the two stocking pieces together and add a little piece around the top with a piece of bias tape for the hanger! Pretty easy and a great gift for the little and big boys and girls!

Totally customizable for whom every you want! This one is my favorite!

'What do I do with it?' week-scarf

I thought this week I'd focus on some of the other work I do and what others could do with some of the supplies I sell in my rockymountianfibers store. There I sell crafting supplies like wool roving, alpaca roving and other roving, felt sheets, felt scrap baggies and natural fiber fabrics, I have been listing more and more bags of felt.
This scarf is one of the projects I made with some of my scrap felt pieces. It is about 10 feet long, so it wraps many times around my head. It is warm, soft with a nice cheeky-ness about it.

If this is something you are interested in making for some this holiday season, I would suggest buying one of my felt sheet baggies- any size- for a more custom made look and cut and sew the pieces together end to end. It is pretty easy to make, but a great and functional gift for someone in our life.

Winter shows

After the long post earlier this week, I thought I'd keep this one short and sweet. Just a listing of my winter shows this year.

One-Day Craft Fair Wilson, WY Date: TBA Nora's (this will be the only local winter show I do!)
The One of a Kind Show: Chicago; Dec 2-5 Merchandise Mart.
Bust Holiday Craftacular 2009: Dec 12 The Metropolitan Pavilion 125 W 18th St.

The maybe list:
The Buyer's Market ( Trade only): Philadelphia Convention Center Feb 18-21
The American Craft Council Show: Baltimore; Baltimore Convention Center Feb 24-27


For those of you in the Chicago area, email your address for a free entry pass to the show!! kristagorrell@hotmail.com
Thanks for reading....

my Thursday mornings-week 16

 This is the 'sunny john' and yes, that is a composting toilet for those of you unaware.

Henry, an old Ford pick-up, which is now the storage site for tools, hoes, gloves, etc

 This is a pic of some of the fields, with my husband and oldest step-son.

 Our cute little piglets, bound to be sausage some day.

This week I thought I'd share some photos from the farm. These were taken during our work-share party on Oct 17. The weather was great, as it has been this long, warm fall we have been having here in  western Wyoming. No snow yet! but it is coming.

winding-up

Last week I talked about getting back into my studio to get work started for the winter shows I have coming up this year, but today I thought I'd touch on one of the things that was keeping me away from the studio, the e-course Marketing for Makers I have been taking. And while I don't want to turn this into an open-bitch-forum, I do want to address the class with a pretty honest eye.

First, I really like Megan. I feel she has a very strong and professional presents on the web with all that she does: jewelry, cozy/cuff, forums, classes, blogs. She seems to have a great passion for not only the handmade, but in seeing those who make handmade succeed. She has taught in the class room and that has helped and has shown presences in her e-course manner. Her work has been covered in national press and well-known blogs, and has been shown in high-end retail and wholesale shows. All of this success and achievement made me feel she had a thing or two to teach us up-and-comings. 

But, I have not been totally happy with the class and some of the ways it was run. I understand e-courses are different from in-person classes and that Megan has a lot going on. But, so do I and most of the others taking the class.  If I have set certain nights aside to be 'in school', then the teacher better show. More then once, the lessons were late to be posted, not just a day, but sometime not until the next 'class day' and with no acknowledgment of the late posting. Thing happen, events change, computers go down, yes but acknowledge the fact that the lesson was posted late. I and my fellow students are also paying customers, using a product bought from Megan. Would she treat her jewelry clients or a gallery owner in the same manner. I hope not, but if so perhaps I could teach Megan a thing or two about professionalism. 

Okay, so now that that is off my chest, all in all I am glad I signed up for the marketing class. It has taught me some valuable things about marketing and has change my perspective on marketing. And with that change, how to better use my marketing resources. Because this posting was not a stellar A+ for Megan, I am not linking her website, the class site, anything. If you want more info or are interested in the class yourself, I don't want to tarnish that. So you will have to find her yourself.
Thanks for reading....

cracking my own whip

Over the last week, by me dedicating my blogging to the launch of my new scarf/cowls it was such a good exercise to force me back into the studio. Which might sound odd, as a working studio artist, that lately I have not spent much time in my studio creating stuff.  I mean sure, I have been in there sewing the alterations that have been coming in, but to be activity creating work and new work, is something I have not been putting my time into. I have been so 'busy' putting work into my business instead of putting time into work for my business. It is such an easy thing to do too!
I saw a post awhile back on Crafting an MBA about just that; too much time on the business instead of in the business.
I did choose to take a break and focus on the e-class I am still taking, but the break turned into a few weeks and it can be hard to get the creative momentum back once it has been on hold for a while. So I decided to try and get that momentum back, to try and make 'something' everyday. My first something was to finish a dress for myself I have been working on for months. Though I spent more time that day on the dress than I originally wanted, it feels really good to be wearing that dress: sew, finished and dyed, while I was writing this post.

I figure if I only have an hour on some days to try and create something, that is better than nothing. It is also freeing when you can just 'make' for your own creative freedom instead of working on an order or someone's dress (which is never a good place to be free with yourself). I have steamer trunks full of fabric waiting to be sewn into something, so I figure that is a good place to release some creative energy and get the creative ball rolling.

my Thursday mornings-week 15

 Last week was the final share week for those who bought a share. We, as workshares, get an extra share called the winter storage share. But the farm owners decided to incorporate both, so we walked away with massive shares last week. I had to take the photos on my table because there was so much:

And the crop list is: tomatoes, peppers, greens, kale, cosmic salad mix, argulia, garlic, pumpkin, cucumbers, cabbage, basil, parsley,  kohl rabbi, onions, beets, carrots, carrots and more carrots... about 20lb. of carrots.