Felt landscapes: painting with wool

Wool is a wonderful, tactile, textured and beautiful material, and it is possible to create stunning ‘paintings’ of landscapes and wildlife with only some wool, water, soap and a felting needle! I have recently started running one-day workshops to teach the basics of wet felting and needle felting for 2D felt painting, and my students have produced beautiful pictures full of colour, depth and interest.

The workshops are run online, so that anyone can join in, wherever they live. We use Zoom, and the class is 'live' - I'm there throughout the day with my students, almost as if we were in the same room together. Classes are kept very small (3-6 participants) so that there is plenty of individual attention, and the workshop is suitable for complete beginners. Even those who have never tried any kind of felting before can create beautiful pictures, full of colour, depth and interest!

The atmosphere is relaxed and creative, with everyone learning and using the same basic techniques to create their own individual choice of picture. As a teacher, I'm there to guide, to teach, to help and to bring out each student's hidden talents!

We start the day by learning about laying down fibres and wet felting, using this technique to create both our 'canvas' and our landscape - the mountains, sea, sky, lakes and fields. Then we move on to learn needle felting, to add the fine details and the foreground elements that really bring the picture to life. Careful close-up demonstrations are included, with explanations of how the different felting techniques work, and hints and tips to get the best results.

At the end of the day, the participants have a finished (or very nearly finished) picture, ready to frame!

Participants buy their own materials in advance, and I provide a shopping list so that all the basic needed for this first foray into felt painting can be purchased from Heidifeathers for around £30. And of course, they are yours to keep for your future felting adventures.

To find out more about my workshops, with dates and prices, please take a look at www.theceilidhroom.co.uk/workshops

Here are some pictures created in one-day beginners workshops by past participants.

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Lesley K Beginner workshop Oct 2020jpeg

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