Last week I went to the International Feltmakers Association's AGM & conference which - luckily for me- was held in Bath. I had been looking forward to this event all winter and I had an amazing time! What follows is a report I wrote for IFA's quarterly member's magazine 'Felt Matters'.

IFA Conference, Bath 12-15 April 2012

MEMBER’S REPORT

Being a relatively new member of the IFA, this year’s AGM and Conference was my first experience

of the international feltmaking community, and what a wonderful experience it was too! I am selftaught

and I work pretty much in isolation from other feltmakers so it was a real treat to have the

conference take place on my doorstep (about 12 miles from home), see the range of work on show,

indulge in no holds barred woolly chat and attend some very inspirational workshops.

On arrival, Yule Somme’s ‘Felt Feet’ activity gave the perfect excuse to explore the grounds and

woodland just outside of it. After an hour-long wander with feet clad in soapy wet Blue Faced

Leicester, plastic bags and walking boots, I had magically produced a pair of perfect, delicate looking

felt casts of my feet (see photo), which are now taking pride of place on my wall at home. Yule’s activity really brought home to me the history of felt and the myths and legends associated with it. It was a perfect way to start the conference and a good talking point to help break the ice when spotting others out & about with similar soggy feet!

After a warm meal and some interesting talks in the evening it was time for my bed to let all the

impressions of the day sink in a little. After breakfast the next morning we were all off to our

respective workshop venues, mine was at Bath Spa University – which gave me the chance to have a

good look around the felt exhibition that had been set up to coincide with the conference. It was

fascinating to see the different approaches to the material and technique, my favourite pieces being

Martha Haire’s ‘Evolve’ and Kilda Meadows’ ‘untitled’. Neither of them could technically be classed

as felt I guess, as little or no wool was involved in the making, but the processes involved were very

similar and the results were beautiful.

My day was spent in the capable hands of Carole Waller. We learnt how to screen print on a variety

of silk fabrics in preparation for nuno felting, and I rather enjoyed being back in a well-equipped

printing studio. It brought back all sorts of memories from my days back at Art college years ago…

Although I very much enjoyed the workshop and I look forward to incorporating the resulting fabric

into my future felt work, my only criticism was the lack of actuaI feltmaking that day! Still, I now feel

brave enough and equipped with enough knowledge to try my hand at some printing at home.

After the evening meal there was a presentation by felt artist Heather Belcher about her ‘pairings’

art project with a ceramicist. Although I was very tired and the bench a little uncomfortable, I

couldn’t help being drawn into the thought processes behind Heather’s resulting felt work.

The next morning brought with it the first round of felt making workshops. I was booked on to Sheila

Smith’s ‘Texture in Nuno felt’ workshop which, having read Sheila’s books, I was really looking

forward to. Sheila lived up to her name and delivered a very clear, fun and action packed workshop.

After a demonstration, we each made two sample pieces of textured nuno. The first piece explored

the effects of a variety of fabrics and fibres incorporated into nuno, the second piece aimed to

introduce an extra dimension by layering in wool neps and burrs and short lengths of felt sausage

(see photos). The resulting piece can then be embroidered, which will enhance the 3-dimensional

aspect of the piece. I was enjoying this workshop so much, the time flew and before I knew it the

time had come to rinse out our work and finish up.

After the AGM, the afternoon offered some free time so I went for a stroll and copious cups of tea, before getting ready for the evening’s gala dinner. Not quite knowing what to expect I wore my raven mask with some trepidation, but was soon put at ease as people wearing wonderful creations started flowing into the theatre for pre-dinner drinks. It was great to see so many ways of felt being worn, and even greater to find I wasn’t the only one wearing unusual headgear – Iris Brunton’s chicken hat cosy and Sue Horsburgh’s punk zebra mask deserve a special mention! Everyone had the chance to show off their garments in an impromptu fashion show after dinner, to the sound of much laughter and catcalling.

Sunday morning brought the last round of workshops and I was signed up for Chris Lines’ ‘Pre-felts

for Design’ session. I work with pre-felts quite a lot myself and, having seen Chris’ beautiful work on

display during the conference, I couldn’t wait to hear more about her approach. After an

introduction to some of her work and techniques, and a short session on the principles of design,

Chris demonstrated how she makes multi-coloured, multi-layered pre-felts incorporating fabrics,

which are then felted onto a loose fibre background and enhance with more layers and fabrics.

Although slightly worse for wear because of the wine and late hour of bed time the previous night, I

particularly enjoyed the experimental aspect of this workshop and had great fun cutting out shapes,

layering and trying to anticipate the possible effect of placement within the design (see photos).

Chris is an excellent teacher and I found I could really relate to her background as a painter as well. I

would have loved for this workshop to last the whole day, but I am sure I will be referring to her

hand outs over the weeks and years to come.

After lunch the conference was officially declared closed, but I was signed up to go on a visit to the

Fashion Museum, so after a quick group photo it was off in a mini bus into Bath. By now I was

exhausted so after a look around I settled myself down in the section on Victorian clothing to take a

well deserved rest. Luckily I didn’t have to travel very far to get back home again, unlike some of the

other members who came from as far away as Canada and Russia…

I had a fantastic time and came away feeling I had made some great new friends and contacts and

learned lots of new techniques (if only I had been able to attend all of the workshops … ) But above

all, the experience has left me very, very, very inspired and my hands are going to have trouble

keeping up with my brain as felt idea after felt idea is taking shape!

So thank you to all Liz Clay, the board members and workshop leader for organising such a fantastic

programme of events, and thank you to all the IFA members who attended for making this

experience such a rich one!