Two Mountains (Needle Felting)

Two Mountains (Needle Felting) Originally uploaded by randubnick

On Monday I took my first class in fiber arts at Red Brick, and learned to make free lace (described in yesterday's post). I also learned how to do needle felting, which is working wool fleece into a felt backing with a very sharp needle. The photo is of the needle felting project that I made Monday night. I used a piece of yellow felt, about five inches square. I didn't like the color, but that was what was available. I didn't think I was going to like the process or the project, but I put a little bit of red fleece on the felt and got started. It suggested the sun, so I started creating the outlines of mountains. I began to approach the process as if I were painting, using different colors of fleece in transparent layers, and mixing the colors on the felt as if it were canvas. I got so involved in this that I didn't perceive time passing. The instructor mentioned that the process worked with yarn as well as fleece, so I outlined the mountain shapes with a little pink yarn. I covered almost all the yellow felt, but it peeks out here and there, and now I like the way it breaks through the fleece, adding complexity to the colors and perhaps suggesting a little sunlight on the mountains.