February 2016 - Jane Mercer Felt Artist

Rocks

I went to Australia last November and one of the things I became entranced by was the rocks. Of course the koalas, penguins and kangeroos were lovely , but nothing like the rocks. With moving house I have not had time to look back at all the rock photos I took until this week . They give me lots of ideas for felted , natural dyed pictures. Firstly at the coast , pounded by the South Pacific seas, I loved the strata and circular patterns, and the repeating nature of the marks . Moving inland to the Grampians I thought the scenery was stunning. And when you got up close so were the rocks I am inspired again. I hope I will have time soon for some drawing and felting based on these photos.

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28/02/2016

Textile art / Upcycling / Wet felting

Remnant

Remnant. I like this word. I like the sound and I like the meaning. A remnant is defined as a small part that is left over after the majority has been used. I have lots of remnants I have bought as bargains but most of my remnants are true left overs. Having made these felt squares from a long abandoned felt jacket , as you can imagine , I had lots of remnants. I thought perhaps they could be become part of another felt piece. Maybe combining then with some natural white Shetland would be an interesting experiment. I choose a selection of remnants , looking here a bit like tombstones. I laid out Shetland fibres. And a felted the two together. After drying the piece needed to be stitched. A choose to use the same collection of stitches I had used in my felt squares ,…

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21/02/2016

From The Earth Textiles / Natural dyeing / Wet felting

Exciting News

I learned early this week that my piece "After the ice " has been accepted into the From the Earth exhibition in June. The exhibition is to celebrate natural and ethical textile practices and will take place in PA Arts Centre Datchworth, Herts. I am thrilled. I even get invited to the private viewing ! Here is the piece that will be on display. Other artists that I know are taking part at this moment are Jenny Leslie and Caroline Bell. This great news has made me revisit some of my other favorite naturally dyed felt pieces and I thought it was worth bringing them all together here. Autumn Storm I love the subtle shade changes in these pieces I hope you do too.

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14/02/2016

machine stitching / Natural dyeing / Wet felting

Side by side

Multicolored steenwol and Blue Faced Leicester. Two vessels in the making. One destined for the dye pot. The other just for fun. Exactly the same amount of fibre and exactly the same resist. If I make two vessels at the same time I find it saves a lot of time. I don't normally make such a contrasting pair. I am trying to get ahead and have lots of prepared felt for dyeing when the weather warms up, and I wanted to test out the Steenwol, as I love it's bouncy texture but I have not much experience in using it. I did wonder if I would get fibres from the Steenwol migrating into the natural vessel , but this did not happen. Once the resists have been removed the vessels need to be treated as individuals. The BFL vessel has been hand stitched in silk and cotton which should give a lovely…

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07/02/2016