Mary Andrews of Spiral Studio, www.spiralstudio.co.nz,opened her beautiful studio and lifetime of felting knowledge and enthusiasm to me on one beautiful Nelson day.
Mary dies the washed raw wool she gets from a local farm into a vibrant rainbow of colors. The wool seems to 'want' to felt with a little water and agitation, shapes both functional or whimsical are limited only by the artist's imagination. The scales on the wool swell, rub against each other and bind together, creating a denser, shrunken fabric. The only tools we used were a carding wheel that pulls the raw wool into a looser more workable material, a felting needle to coax the wool into a rough design, and a net to help snag the fibers during the wet phase. I can see lots of felting in my future! thank you Mary!