Felt as Art

Meet the 9 Artists

Jo & Lis Bisset

Collaborative works by
Jo Bisset and Lis Bisset

Our textiles are the product of traveling together. In this exhibition our works are about China and Morocco. As practicing artists we work in a variety of media. We work as individual artists and also in collaboration with each other.

Our textile works bring to you the layers of intrigue, rich culture diversity and ancient history.  Felt has been the perfect medium to portray the intricate layers of China and Morocco.  We began to collaborate with discussion, enjoying our photographs and drawings and collection of a variety of fibres, fabrics and yarns

. The “Medina Maze – Fes” was inspired by the magnificent medinas of Morocco with their narrow, twisting laneways and the visual feast at every turn. The “Kashgar Market” and the three “No.1 Carpet Factory” pieces were inspired by our journey along the Silk Road, China, with busy colourful markets and the beautiful patterned and textured carpets.

Pam Booth & Leonie Thomas

Inspiration for: Reclining Nude in Blue.The image of the human body is a powerful influence on our work. We continue the exploration of the human figure through contemporary felt making and use felt as a painting medium. We are inspired by artists such as Brett Whitely who uses hard and soft line work to develop compositions. Colour is a major component in our work.

Inspiration for: Nude with Fowers (shown) Decorative work seen in many Japanese art pieces – particularly the use of pattern.  The use of Japanese textiles and oriental vintage patterns, printmaking amd textile prints.

Inspiration for: The Dancer Within The use of the fluid line used by Japanese artists and interpreted through embroideryArtists such as Henri Matisse and Geoffrey Todd and the use of pattern, in relation to the human form

Inspiration for: Woman in Headdress 1 & 2 The human face and the influence of indigenous cultures through travel. The use of colour and pattern used by indigenous cultures.

Liz Evans – Feltmaker

Liz has worked in the textile arts since the eighties, chiefly in hand and machine embroidery, custom design fashion and traditional millinery. Felt has been her principal art medium since 1990 when she discovered this ancient technique and was fascinated by the versatility and excited by the possibilities it offered.
Continuing to explore the medium, Liz has always enjoyed the challenge offered by the creation of three-dimensional felt works. This led her naturally back millinery, making hats both as fashion items and as wearable sculptured art. In recent years her fascination has been for more abstract vessel forms and baskets.
Liz has exhibited widely and regularly tutors, passing on her knowledge and love of felting as an expressive medium.

Brigitte Haldemann

My latest experimental sculptural work is made from Australian wool, hand felted, fused together using resist techniques. It creates works of originality with unique textural elements and inspiringly joyful colours. The feel is sumptuous and soft with silk and wool of fine quality worked into decorative and functional art. Some are whimsical pieces Textures of wool add wonderful warmth and enhance a room with soft ambiance.

I see my creations evolving continually in surprising directions.

Mollie Littlejohn

About my pieces:

Poppy Dress
This coat dress is one of a garden series called ‘Blossoms’
This series is marked by piecing fragments of felted silk to create the garment. Ultrafine fibres of wool, unspun silk and silk fragments are multi layered and wetfelted onto the silk fabric base to create a richly textured surface.
This dress has been constructed by piecing 25 ‘poppy flavoured’ fragments! At each stage of the construction the fragments are dyed and overdyed using acid dyes. Once constructed the completed dress is re-washed, re-felted and shaped.

I’d Rather Have Tulips
This Theatre Jacket is from the ‘Blossoms’ series.
Wetfelted and Constructed in a similar way from the Poppy dress this jacket has been pieced with 8 ‘garden flavoured’ fragments using re-cycled garments, re-cycled felt fragments, silk and unspun silk with tiny fibres of merino wool to felt and combine the layers and create a finely textured and multi patterned surface. At each stage the layers are dyed and re-dyed using acid dyes.

Silk Theatre Wrap
Wet felted with merino wool, silk and  fabric fragments and beads, this wrap is one of a group of wraps which follow the story of Titania the Fairy Queen. The style is delicate and whimsical and is inspired by the delicacy of moth and butterfly wings.

Catherine O’Leary

The versatile, sculptural qualities of felt inspire me to create three dimensional forms  which can be functional, ornamental or wearable. I am also interested in the play of colours and patterns and how they react and blend when placed together in a composition.

Maggie Osinga

Full descriptions of my work:

Sleeveless jacket with hood.
The fabric for this has been hand made using pure wool felbi bats with tissue silk.
It has been layered to give it a textured finish and the hood has been shibori to give a circle design on the wool.  The fabric has been hand dyed with landscape dye Currawong.  The finish has been hand stitched with silk thread.
Maggie Osinga made fabric and finishing on jacket.
Fern Bant made pattern and tailored jacket.

Sleeveless jacket with hood:
The fabric for this jacket has been hand made using pure wool felbi bats with tissue silk. It has been layered to give it a textured finish and the hood has been shibori to give a circle design on the wool.  The fabric has been hand dyed with landscape dye Currawong.  The finish has been hand stitched with silk thread.
Maggie Osinga made fabric and finishing on jacket.
Fern Bant made pattern and tailored jacket.

Shawl with shibori circles
The fabric for this shawl has been
Hand made using pure wool felbi bats with tissue silk.  The design
shibori circles  has been part of my theme for this winter.
The fabric has been hand dyed with Landscape dye Quarry
The garment is very light and warm and beautiful to wear.

Red and grey shawl:
Pure wool felbi bats has been used to hand
Make the fabric for this shawl.  It has been dyed with landscape
Dye – Dessert Pea – Quarry then shibori has been applied to the
Felted wool.  This allows the garment to hug the body.  The pleating gives varied options on ways to wear it.