Adventures.

The Expressive Arts Program was an extraordinary experience. The insights I gained, the knowledge I acquired and the incredible sense of community that developed will be with me always. I will write more about it in the next newsletter.

Upcoming Connections.

Information on events in which I'm taking part.

About the exhibition:
Afghanistan is a multicultural society that includes many diverse ethnic groups, including the Pashtun, Hazara, Uzbek, Tajik, Turkmen, Kirghiz and Belouch peoples. Unfortunately, these remarkable cultures remain largely invisible to the rest of the world, especially in the wake of the recent conflict in Afghanistan. Take this opportunity to learn about the people behind the headlines. Living in Afghanistan celebrates the rich and diverse Islamic and pre-Islamic cultures of the Afghan people. The exhibition unveils this 'Invisible Afghanistan' through clothing, rugs, textiles and other artifacts reflecting historic and contemporary ways of life.
About the workshop:
Up until now handcrafted felt meant water, soap and hard work! But that has all changed with the advent of 'Needlefelting'. It's the hottest new technique to hit the felting world. We'll use specialized needles that have no eyes and need no thread. The barbs at the base of the needle push and lock the wool fibre together allowing complete control over this totally dry felting method. It's easy, it's fun and you need no previous experience. After a guided tour of the exhibit from Afghanistan, we'll explore the endless possibilities of this exciting medium. Your samples can be made into books covers, creatures, landscape pieces or whatever your imagination can conjure up!
To register for this workshop, call Janet Reid at 416 599 5321 extension 2221

Eastern Retreat:
Quilted Felterludes ®. An Introduction to Needle Felting.
This exciting retreat features a number of quilting and related arts.
Mount Alverno Retreat Centre,
near Orangeville, Ontario, Canada
August 24th, 2002.
Contact me for more info, or go directly to the Retreat Centre's website:
http://www.thomascane.com/quilt
Description of this new one day workshop:
Come and explore a new dimension in quiltmaking! Create a totally unique feltlet (a lap quilt or wall hanging), which will be feather light and toasty warm. We'll use familiar materials like cotton backing and cotton batting, but our blocks will be dry felted with scrumptious wool fibres!
This exciting, simple and innovative technique (known as 'needlefelting') uses speciality needles that have no eye and need no thread. They have barbs at the base of the needle, which will push and lock the fibre to create an extremely strong fabric. The blocks can be either machine or hand stitched together. The possibilities for surface embellishment are endless. The completed quilt top can also be machine or hand quilted. Absolutely no felting experience is necessary.


A Creative Cocoon Workshop:
Multi-faceted Felt - Exploring new paths for an ancient craft:
One-day workshop in the Mulmur Hills
Sunday, August 25, 2002. 9:45 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
This introductory workshop focuses on both ancient and leading edge felt-making techniques. You'll experiment with traditional 'wet' felting methods and well as the hottest new way to felt called 'needlefelting' or 'dry felting', which needs no water! Through a series of 2 and 3D creations you'll work intuitively - allowing the pieces to evolve. As faces, creatures, or landscape features suggest themselves, you'll help them emerge. These felting methods can be used to create standalone art pieces, functional pieces, accessories or clothing. You're limited only by your imagination! Absolutely no feltmaking experience is needed for you to delight in this day!
Fee: $45 for the workshop plus $15 material fee.
Additional fibres and tools will be available for purchase. Bring a pack lunch.
Location: Kai-Liis McInnes' Studio, 836100 4th Line EHS Mulmur (just north
of Highway 89, west of Airport Road, east of Highway 10) - see location information
phone: 519 925 0421

Registration is limited so act now!
Send a cheque or money order for $60 ($45 + $15 materials) to:
Fay Wilkinson P.O. Box 151 Eagle Lake, Ontario K0M 1M0
Questions? Phone: 705 754 4004
e-mail: fay@thecreativecocoon.com

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