felted wallhanging

with Karoliina Arvilommi from Finland

5-8 May, 2016

An absolute must-do in 2016, make a stunning wallhanging guided by the fantastic couple Karoliina Arvilommi and Roderick Welch! They make highly decorative, thick, durable felts with turned edges of any shape or form. A few times a year, and not every year, they do a few select workshops in various countries around the world. And we're so happpy they choose atelier Fiberfusing in the Netherlands!

this could be your own felted banner....

Make highly decorative felts with turned edges of any shape or form using carded wool fiber from their own farm and wet-felting techniques. Karoliina Arvilommi teaches her own technique and methods, which she has developed and uses — concentrating on the control of color, design and form, without any supplementary cutting, sewing, or needle felting. The felt works are strong in both structure and design, thick and firmly felted to create a highly decorative and durable felt.

The workshop is about taking your own personal ideas and designs and translating them into felt, as well as the importance of quality and control in the felting process. This method and technique can be applied to many other kinds of feltmaking.

“…from here you can go anywhere…”

Karoliina and Roderick can safely say that whatever inspiration a participant has, they can translate it into felt, be it highly defined, geometric patterns, (Celtic knotwork for example) to impressionistic "painted" images. Color blending and line control is their specialty.

They have a very "hands on" approach, with what has been called, "…a high degree of involvement." They believe felting is a technique that is learned uniquely by feel and touch, and developed by experience… not by formula and calculation.

Each participant must have prepared some ideas or designs before the workshop starts. This should include sketches and drawings, as well as other inspirational materials, photographs etc.

The workshop can be tiring; atelier Fiberfusing will provide snacks etc. to make yourself comfortable….

…most importantly, bring an empty mind…

Please note; participants can take notes and photographs as much as they wish, but no videos or on-line presentations please.

wallhangings made by Karoliina Arvilommi

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samples and work in progress by students

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about the artist

Karoliina Arvilommi and Roderick Welch live and work in a tiny village on the Finnish border with Russia. Karoliina has been a full time textile artist and a felt maker for 30 years. Roderick Welch has a background in arts, crafts, and three-dimensional design. Meticulously mentored by Karoliina, he very quickly developed his own, distinctive style, adapting designs and imagery from other mediums into felt.

Karoliina has been a full-time, independent felt maker and textile artist. Her first design using felt is the ryijy and felt hat ”Felting allowed the freedom of form and color that I was looking for" The hat is part of the public collection of the National Design Museum, Helsinki. For the most part Karoliina has focused on wall hangings. She is dedicated to the quality of her work and has developed her own methods and technique of felting. Each of her works is treated as a unique and individual piece, the emphasis being on handwork, taking time and care to ensure it meets her own high standards. Increasingly she has become involved in the processing of her wool to guarantee consistency of materials, including types of wool, self-dyeing with natural products, and carding without the addition of synthetic lubricants.

http://woolpack.villivilla.com/

http://liinalommi.com/

https://www.facebook.com/villi.villa

note

All workshops are being taught in English and are incl. coffee, tea, sweets all day, but exl. materials. The lunch is with homemade salades and dutch cheeses.

disclamer : Images are not exemplary of products that will be exactly made by participants