Releasing your creativity

I started on this new adventure through dabbling in paint. It was really a way to allow my brain to switch off the more rigid, scientific thinking of my previous life and give over to the innovative, creative side that I always loved. I had not painted before and so followed several acrylic artists on you tube and learned a great deal about color, texture, and perspective. Here are a few of my first attempts.

I then tried my hand at watercolor. This I found was very different from painting with acrylics. Again, I found teachers online and absorbed as much as I could. I soon found I loved watercolors and the challenges it presented. I think the colors and the way you had to apply them enticed me the most. I continue to learn and paint with watercolor every day for at least 10 minutes as I am learning to paint looser and use other techniques. I continue to use my watercolors to make cards and whimsical paintings.

At the same time I was trying my hand at painting, I began to learn to hand tuft small rugs and wall art using the punch needle technique. This is similar to rug hooking except that you work on the back of the piece rather than from the front as in hooking. I tried different yarns and threads but soon found I really liked working with merino wool and a smaller size Oxford punch. This soon opened up a whole new world of design and color. As the makers of the Oxford punch needle came out with a variety of fine size punches, I found I was able to obtain greater texture and depth in my creations. I keep a journal with all my original designs which I date and label although I never repeat any designs exactly the same, partly because I want each piece to be unique and partly because I tend to change elements of the design as I go along. Often a color I thought would be right just doesn't seem to be so I have no problem with being open to change. More and more I am trying to get movement and depth into each piece. Sometimes that takes on a very abstract nature and sometimes I find I am drawn to more realistic pieces. One of my favorite is my Richmond on the James wall hanging that depicts historic buildings in Richmond, Virginia and the James River that runs through it.

At other times I am drawn to expressions of nature like my flower and bird wall art and rugs.

But then I found felting! I found I could take the things I learned from painting and actually paint with wool. This added a level of texture that I couldn't achieve with paint. I know plenty artists create great depth and texture with paint but that didn't seem to be me. With wool I could feel it, manipulate it in a way I couldn't with paint alone. Even more than I can with yarn although I continue to find new ways of making and blending art yarn to use in wall art. The feel of different types of wool from soft Merino to more coarse breeds like Lincoln allow for changes in texture within an artistic piece. Like painting, you can also blend the wool for different colors and textures, even mixing in embellishments like silk, ribbon, yarn, angelica, and vicrose. I use both wet and needle felting and often combine the two to make interesting wall art. One of my favorites is my horned owl set in wood.

Another is drawn from my scientific past - my model of DNA in felt.

So this is how I started my journey into fiber art. I continue to learn every day and draw on my love of nature, travel, and whimsey to design innovative pieces of art using fiber. In another blog I will talk about my experience with dying wool and with using a blending board.