• Felting - Felted 3D Art Objects

Design Brief

In this exercise we explored the technique of wet felting using a polystyrene ball for the form. The method demonstrated was layering of wool tops with alternate layers in the opposite direction allowing the fibers to be interlocked once agitated with rolling and massage movements. The brief require to make a series of felted art objects, not necessarily for practical purposes but to demonstrate the development of the skill of wet felting and to convey the concept.

Design Process
The first vessel I did was in class using good quality wool tops with three rather fine layers. Once the fibers were molded around the ball and into the process of massaging, I realized that my layers were too thin resulting in tearing. When the form was finish it was soft due to the quality of the fibers but flimsy due to no thickness. I did manage to stabilize the vessel by constant rubbing and applying heat putting it in the microwave.

Vessel series

Series 1
The softer but flimsy example of the first vessel using good quality wool tops.









Series 2
The second vessel I used cheaper wool tops and much thicker layers but due to the poor quality of the fibers it was so rough to handle and manipulate. This also was formed around a ball. The finished product was less pleasing to the eye, it lacked luster on the surface and the mingling of colour looked like mud.
Although there were issues I was more than pleased with the finished form.









Series 3
The third and final of the series I used the same materials as I did for the second but tried a different form. This time I used a glass bottle only to find many problems with massaging and the task of trying to keep the felt on the object. I discarded the bottle and just felted with my hands till a shape appears. Even though the piece failed the outcome of a concept it was still a learning process and alas 3 dimensional.