A Convergence is Announced

Yes, we have gone full circle from our very first post on the 9th March 2010 when we started this blog as today we are thrilled to let you know that our good friends at The Illawarra Feltmakers have announced the dates of the 12th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence.

It will be held from 1st to 6th September 2013 in the Illawarra Region of New South Wales, Australia.

The 12th Southern Hemisphere Convergence Organisers have set up their blog at http://12thsouthernhemispherefeltingconverge.blogspot.com/  so tune in there to keep up with what's being planned.   The Bunbury Felting Group are proud to be their first blog followers.

We are so looking forward to it.  Wishing you all the best with the organising guys.  See you all again in September 2013.

Image from the 12th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence Blog .  Click here to view.

Thank You and Goodbye

Well, the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence is well and truly over and we hope you all had a wonderful time.  The feedback that we have had from you has all been positive.  It has been satisfying to see the results of the Committee's hard work over the last two years come to fruition.

Along the way we have had many helpers and we sincerely thank everyone involved in making the event happen. We have been constantly over whelmed by peoples' generosity.

Particular thanks go to our sponsors, the traders and individuals who contributed to the goody bags and prize draws. Please seek them out to do business with in the future, they are all specialists in their fields and will give you the benefit of their expertise.

Others with expertise that was willingly shared with us was that of our very talented photographers Toni C and Lyn Pix .  They have generously provided us with their time and their amazing images for use in our publications and promotional material and of course the fashion cd which  Camera House Bunbury worked really hard to get ready for Thursday night.  Thank you all.

Our gratitude goes to Michelle Jones who's new business AM Management provided us with the "non felter" models for our fashion parade. Her models kindly donated their evening to us and were absolutely beautiful. Thank you guys, we really appreciated your help and involvement in making this a professional event.  We also need to congratulate the hairdressers and makeup artists and the dressers who came in to make the fashion parade work like a dream.

Thank you to Gary Palfrey-Jones and Victoria Gelmi who helped all the tutors with their IT issues. Great job guys.

Thank you to everyone who brought their work along to share whether it was in the fashion parade, the Bazaar Night or the display of work.  We were thrilled by the amount of participation.  You really made the Convergence buzz.

 Finally we would like to thank the talented tutors for donating their time and knowledge. Convergence is a gathering of felt makers and sharing knowledge is the underlying theme. Without your big hearted attitude there would not be a Convergence.

In time this blog will disappear into the blogosphere.  It was only intended to communicate on the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence and therefore has no relevance going forward.  We intend however to ramp up our Bunbury Felting Group blog and we hope that you will join us there to enjoy our further adventures in felt.

Farewell and we hope to see you all in 2013 in New South Wales for the 12th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence.


 

Happy International Day of Felt

Isn't it fitting that the eve of the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence has been officially declared as the 3rd International Day of Felt?  We couldn't have planned it better ourselves.

Pop over to www.feltunited.com to find out all about this wonderful felting event and how you can be part of it.

We'll be a bit busy today getting ready for our week of felting but here's a piece we made earlier -

Detail from Shawl by Lorraine McArthur

Our Fabulous Tutors

When we were compiling the information on our tutors for your registration packs we realised how many of them have had their work included in magazines.

In fact if you are flicking through the pages of the latest issue of Textile Forum you will find Anne Foy's work on page 22.

 

Then, while sitting having a quiet moment with our new book "500 Felt Objects" we  spotted the work of two of our tutors - Maude  Bath  and Liz Clay. 

If you are not familiar with these publications then rush out and get them now.  500 Felt Objects has just been published and is an absolute gem. 

We have a very talented group of tutors to delight you with next week.  Thank you to all who have agreed to tutor.  Without you there can be no Convergence.

Welcome Maybrook Designs to the Traders Hall

Maybrook Designs is Convergence Convener Val Hornibrook's business producing 100% Merino black wool rovings.

Let's meet the staff -

Yes, as you can see Val grows her own wool supplies which probably explains why she is such a prolific felter and frequently includes black in her designs!

If you would like some of the Val magic in your felt work then visit Maybrook Designs in our Traders Hall next week.

In the meantime if you would like to see some of Val's felting click here.

What to Pack

With only a few days to go before the Convergence begins, you will probably be getting your bags packed so we thought we would remind you of a few things to bring.

The newsletters have included a packing checklist but one item not on it was Personal Insect Repellant.  There have been quite a lot of mosquitos in the Grammar School Grounds – particularly in the evenings,  wo we  suggest you bring some personal insect repellent to help prevent bites. 

Here's the rest of the checklist.

Bring your felt making gear if you would like to do some felting on site.

Wool and other provisions will be available every day from our Traders Hall.  Traders Hall consists of a range of textile oriented suppliers and will be open daily.  Many Traders will share their expertise through ongoing demonstrations.  Stock up here with all your felting needs.

Plastic bags will be useful for transporting any still wet sample pieces.

Notebook and pens/pencil for taking notes at tutorials and lectures and jotting down all those felting ideas.

Some business cards will be useful – both for passing on to new friends with your contact details and also for labelling your work on our Display of Work area – details below.

Your felt garments and accessories for the Fashion Parade.

Your felt creations for the Display of Work area.

Your felt Banner.

Your suitcase full of creations for the Suitcase Bazaar Night.

What you need for the Days Theme .

Don’t forget your camera.

There have been quite a lot of mosquitos in the Grammar School Grounds – particularly in the evenings.   We suggest you bring some personal insect repellent to help prevent bites.

Please be aware that there is not a bank or ATM close to the school.  There will be plenty of goodies to buy at the Convergence in the Traders Hall and our Bazaar Night so remember to bring plenty of cash in your wallet but keep it safely on you at all times.

The Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School is not licensed to sell alcohol so if you want to share a glass of wine at dinner with your felting friends you’ll need to bring your own.

Looking forward to seeing you all.

The Bizarre Bazaar - Suitcase Exhibition

At 7.00pm on Wednesday 5th October the Cafeteria at the Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School will be transformed into a busy eastern souk .

This is a great opportunity to sell your work. Bring your suitcase full of creations and open it up for sale. Even combine with others if you have only a few items.

Items do not need to be felt, they can be any medium.  If you have some special things in your stash that are excess to your needs consider bringing them along so that others get the chance of enjoying and using them.  You can then use the money you raise to buy more things for your stash!!  

There is no charge for participating – we want lots and lots of suitcases to create a fun enjoyable evening for all.

 Please remember to invite your friends and family to join us. Just direct them to this blog - the information regarding the event is all at the top of the right hand side bar.

See you there.

Silksational

A big thank you to Sylvia Riley of Silksational for sending us a 3 metre prefelt in a natural colour for us to use in one of the fabulous prize draws we have arranged for Convergence participants next week.

Sylvia told us that she had only recently found out about the Felt Convergence and would have liked to be a trader if there had been a bit more time to get organised.   However as she really wanted to be part of things she was going to send us the prefelt and some flyers on Silksational.

Do have a look at the information on them.  Silksational are a wholly owned Australian company based in Sydney. Their aim is to make textile art affordable and within easy reach of everybody. They supply mostly by mail order a wide range of items for the textile artist including silk painting supplies such as silk and dyes; dyeing supplies such as powdered dye, chemicals, beakers, pots; silk clothing blanks, silk scarves and sarongs, silk cushion covers and of course silk, wool, cotton, silk-bamboo and linen by the metre. A new addition to their range are fibres and woollen prefelts.

Pop over to their website by clicking here.  You will be amazed at the range just a click away.  Gosh we do love Internet shopping.

Thanks Silksational.

Unique Perspectives

Opening today at the BUNBURY REGIONAL ART GALLERIES , UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES: TWO SOLO EXHIBITIONS – Felted work by Helen O’Hare (Ireland), and Joomchi Paper Works by Jiyoung Chung (USA/Korea).

Brilliant, expressive, inspiring work representing the diversity of textile and fibre art across the world. This exhibition is brought to us by Bunbury Regional Art Galleries in partnership with Fibres West 2011.

Convergence attendees will be enjoying a trip to view it as we have organised a break from felting to visit.

Helen O'Hare Gallery Shot

Helen O'Hare Detail

Jiyoung Chung Information Courtesy TAFTA

UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES opens today and runs from 23 September – 13 November 2011. 

Please Dress Matilda

As we have mentioned, we really need your help to make the Convergence Fashion Parade a success.

We have the auditorium, photographer, models and music but only 49 attendees have so far  indicated that they will be providing garments for it! We need you to bring your creations to make this a fabulous night of fashion.

You don’t need a complete outfit to participate. Remember that accessories are the key to fabulous dressing so please bring your scarves, bags, hats and wraps. These will all create amazing looks for the catwalk.  There is no limit on the number of pieces you can enter into the Fashion Parade so pack plenty as the more pieces there are the bigger and better the event will be.   Don’t be shy, this is your fashion night so be part of it.
We really don't want to hear those dreaded words "my stuff's not good enough".  So be confident in your creations; you will be so pleased you participated when you see your things out out on the catwalk.
 You can model your own garment or have it paraded by the models that we will be providing. 

Matilda will be so pleased to have something to wear.

Blocks by Design

We have been overjoyed by the generosity of so many of you during the run up to the Convergence and we would like to express our appreciation to everyone who has contributed to the event by providing donations of goods which we will use in participants "goody" bags and for prize draws.

We were particularly  delighted to open up a package sent to us by Doug Osbourne of Blocks By Design and find this amazing hat block -

Blocks By Design - Evenly Curved Multi Piece Block

We felters are all keen hatters and a good hat block is a must if you want to achieve a professional result.  If you have ever considered getting your own block then look no further than Blocks by Design.  They have the most amazing range of blocks we have ever seen and will also design one specifically to your needs.  Just browsing through Doug's website makes us get deep into the art of millinery.

Their motto is "to help you create your dream".  Well Doug, you certainly live up to it by helping us to create our dream Felting Convergence.

The fabulous Blocks by Design hat block is worth $270.00 and one lucky  11th Southern Hemisphere Felt Convergence attendee will walk away with it.

The block will be proudly displayed at the Convergence so make sure you have a good look atit and admire the high quality. 

In the meantime pop over to the Blocks by Design website and start deciding on what block to order.   

Then get creating.

Hidden Love by Jacqueline Gibson

We have added their website to our Felt Network over on the right hand side bar so that you can find them easily in the future.

Thanks again Doug.

Meet Carole

Some of us recently did a workshop with Carole Redlich  a talented textile artist who now lives in Alvie, Victoria.  (Previously she lived here in WA and used to work at the Thread Studio).

Carole's "Shadow Lands"  workshop was all about creating sculpture from fishing lines and translucent plastics -

One of Carole's intricate translucent sculptures

Yes, it's the exact opposite of felt, but of course we immediately spotted Carole's stunning felt jacket -

Turns out Carole is a keen felter and loves to create in this soft dense opaque medium too.   

Jacket Detail



She's recently been exhibiting some of her felt wearable art creations and has kindly shared the following pictures with us -

Outback Tracks

Outback Tracks jacket detail

Red Rocks Reserve Dress

Felted Flowers Jacket

Felted Flowers Detail

Cut Back Shawl Detail

Wedding Vest

Looks like next time we will be booking a felting workshop with Carole.  She's an experienced machine embroiderer too and combines these techniques as you can see, to make some amazing garments.

Carole says "My work is always developmental. I grow with every new piece I make, I love the stimulation, and challenge of creating a new piece of work and the agony of resolution. I have exhibited widely and love teaching and sharing with others. My workshops are diverse and entertaining, covering a wide range of topics (experimental stitch, felting, wire jewellery, pattern stitching and laminating plastics to name a few!). There is always a new adventure around the corner and a new red herring to follow"!

We had great fun in her Shadow Lands workshop and have no reservations in recommending  her as a tutor.  Her website www.caroleredlich.com  is not operating at the moment but if you want to get in touch with Carole email her at  carole.redlich@aapt.net.au.

Convergence Announcement - Travel Arrangements

We are aware that many of our overseas and interstate participants will be flying into Perth airport and then making their way down to Bunbury.

If you are arranging to travel to Bunbury by bus or train once you arrive at the Bunbury bus or train stations you will then need to make your way to the Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School which is about 10km south of Bunbury.

If you need assistance getting from the Bunbury train or bus station please let us know by emailing feltconvergence2011@westnet.com.au . Please head your email “Travel Arragements” and let us know how you are planning to travel to Bunbury and your estimated time of arrival.

Alternatively if you prefer to make your own arrangements taxis are usually standing at the Bunbury train and bus stations. Local taxi firms include:
Bunbury City Cabs (08) 9721 5558
Bunbury Taxis Co-Operative Ltd : 13 1008
South West Taxi Operators Association : (08) 9721 2300

Travel information is available on the right hand sidebar of this blog under "Convergence Information".

Location Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School

Art Bras

This bra is the creation of Margaret Kelly, a very talented machine embroiderer who has utilised her skills in creating this gourmet breakfast celebrating Perth ABC radio's breakfast presenter Eoin Cameron.

Eoin's promotional blurb says "Breakfast with Eoin Cameron on 720 ABC Perth is the best way to start the day" and Margaret sets the scene with this hearty calorie laden order of eggs, beans and sausage -

washed down with a cuppa,

 the morning newspaper and  all served up on a gingham tablecloth.

This  “Celebrity Art Bra” was created and auctioned to raise funds for the Val Lishman Health Research Foundation Breast Cancer Survivors Project .

Have You Packed Your Suitcase for Bazaar Night?

On Wednesday 5th October at 7.00pm we will be opening up our suitcases for

The Bizarre Bazaar Suitcase Exhibition

The Cafeteria

Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School

5 Allen Road, Gelorup

We are asking all our participants to bring a suitcase full of creations and open it up for sale.  If you don't have enough pieces to fill a suitcase then bring them along and combine with your new convergence friends to run a combined suitcase.  Items do not need to be felt, they can be any medium so bring your handcrafted treasures and make this a really busy market place.

There is no charge for participating.

This event will be open to the public and we are busy promoting it - free entry and free parking.

If you have friends in the area make sure you let them know about it and encourage them to join us.

And most importantly - remember your suitcase.

Yurt Update

Back in December we published this post on the National Yurt Building Project where a fabulous yurt was made at the Mittagong Textile Fibre Forum in 1998.

We asked the question "where is it now"?

Well we were thrilled today to receive a comment on the original post from Martien van Zuilen (the founder and creator of the Yurt Project) who tells us -

"The Yurt is Alive and Very Well!
It is currently in Victoria and, after 13 years the project is going strong. The Yurt will next appear at the TAFTA Fibre FORUM Conference at Geelong; September 25th-October 1st.
For more info go to tafta.org.au.
Best wishes to all for a great Convergence"

We immediately popped over to the TAFTA website and found this picture  of the yurt -

ABOVE: The felted Mongolian yurt (ger) in the grounds of Geelong Grammar, created at a TAFTA FORUM through the efforts of Martien van Zuilen and many felters around Australia.

It looks wonderful doesn't it?

Thanks for the update Martien.  You can find out more about Martien at her website by clicking here.

Make Your Convergence Banner

In Bunbury we will be supporting the tradition of past Convergences for all attendees to felt a banner to be displayed and then sold to raise money to help finance the next Convergence.

We therefore need you to bring a felt banner to the Convergence. The size should be approximately A4 (that's the size of a standard piece of printer paper).

Here are some ideas from the 10th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence in Masterton, New Zealand -





Masterton Banners

Masterton Banners

You can add your name to it if you wish. They will all be for sale as part of the Convergence program at a fixed price of $15 per banner to raise money for the next Convergence in 2013.

Banner By Jacqui Gibson

So have some fun and fly your banner on our wall.
Make sure you buy a banner too. It's a wonderful souvenir and a great way to support future felt convergences.

Traders Hall Update - New Trader - Rock View Alpacas

Things are getting busy in the Traders Hall and we are very pleased to welcome Rock View Alpacas to provide you with all the lovely soft alpaca that you need to create the softest warmest lightest garment ever.

Keen felter Maureen Foss runs Rock View and  has been building up their herd for several years now.

Photo Shane Foss

The softest, whitest fibres come from the baby alpaca, and they are cute too.

Photo Shane Foss

Maureen's alpacas have won prizes in shows Australia wide as has her alpaca felting.

Alpaca requires a slightly different felting technique so Maureen will be on hand to demonstrate techniques and give some tips and she'll have plenty of lovely alpaca for sale including batts.

Photo Shane Foss

We'll see you there.

The 12th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence - Where Will It Be?

With  only a month to go and the clock swiftly ticking towards the start of the 11th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence starting here in Bunbury the Organising Committee is busy putting together the final arrangements for our fabulous felting event. 

We hope you are enjoying sharing some of our tasks and arrangements through our blog and maybe even wishing you were part of things here at Felt Central.

Well the big question is where will the next Convergence be?

We have participants coming from all over the globe so who knows who will pick up the baton. 

Will it be somewhere new like Tasmania?  All that wonderful scenery for us to enjoy and the perfect felting climate.

Or perhaps New South Wales or Queensland.  All those active ACT felters may want to put their hands up perhaps?  Or the New Zealanders again?  What about Victoria?  Who felts in South Australia?

Are you game to run the next Convergence?

Photo Toni C

Traders Hall Update - Nannas Notions

Another new Trader attending the Convergence on Wednesday 5th October including the Bazaar Night is Lyn Bolton who runs Nannas Notions down in Bridgetown WA. 

Nannas Notions provides vintage sewing and knitting notions as well as turned wooden notions.   Exactly the sort of things we felters need to finish off our hand made garments  as so often modern commercial products really don't work for us do they?

We are really looking forward to seeing Lyn and her old sewing notions at the Convergence. 

The Wednesday of Bazaar Night looks as if it is going to be a great opportunity to stock up on all sorts of goodies so remember to bring your cash!

Please Dress Matilda

Our model - Matilda has nothing to wear to the Convergence.  Can you help dress her?

Matilda is one of the models appearing at the Convergence Fashion Parade but we are worried that she may have absolutely nothing to wear.

We have the auditorium, photographer, models, music and lightshow but so far only 49 Convergence attendees have indicated that they will be providing garments for it! 

So please bring your beautiful garments and wearable art for a spectacular night of entertainment with your work on show at this fashion event.

You can model your own garment or have it paraded by the models that we will be providing. Professional photographers will be taking pictures of the catwalk show and a CD of the event will be available for purchase at a nominal cost at the end of the Convergence.  

We need you to bring your creations to make this a fabulous night of fashion and to dress Matilda of course!

Traders Hall Update - Sheryl Chant

Things are getting busy in our Traders Hall and we are pleased to announce that Sheryl Chant has contacted us and is going to be joining us on Wednesday 5th October which is our  Bazaar Night.

Sheryl is a highly qualified artist and has exhibited throughout Australia for many years.  She specialises in primitive firing  saying

"I employ a variety of firing techniques, from oxides on green ware to Raku to pit and saggar and smoke firing. The thrill of the unpredictable, the excitement of heat and flame, each firing is an experiment, an adventure for me".  

See the clayfeet website - http://www.clayfeet.com.au/sheryl_profile.htm for more information.

To the Convergence Sheryl is bringing her unique hand made primitive and raku fired ceramic buttons.   We all know how hard it is to find buttons that compliment our felt garments  so be quick to visit her as we will certainly be hot footing it to her stand to buy them.

Thanks for joining us Sheryl.

Unique Perspectives Part III

The second textile artist on show at this exiting exhibition is Jiyoung Chung (USA/Korea) with her work titled Joomchi Paper Works.

Jiyoung Chung is a tutor at TAFTA's 2011 Geelong Forum and Janet de Boer of TAFTA has very kindly allowed us to reproduce this article from Textile Fibre Forum Issue 2, No 102, 2011 -

For more pictures of Jiyoung Chung's work click here.

UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES: TWO SOLO EXHIBITIONS – Felted work by Helen O’Hare (Ireland), and Joomchi Paper Works by Jiyoung Chung (USA/Korea) is presented by BUNBURY REGIONAL ART GALLERIES 23 September – 13 November2011, in partnership with Fibres West 2011.

Unique Perspectives Part II

If your head is still spinning from the size of Helen O'Hare's work in yesterdays post we have some more pictures for you but first - let's meet Helen-

Helen's Workshop

Clearly Helen needs a big space to work in when you consider the size of some of her exhibition pieces.  She's based in Northern Ireland and you can read more about her work by clicking here.

We have some more pictures of her work; these kindly sent to us by Janet de Boer of TAFTA (Australian Forum For Textiles Arts Ltd) -

Section of large piece.

Grey pink detail

Detail colour

1999 Felt work.

Helen's beautiful installation work will be on view at BUNBURY REGIONAL ART GALLERIES 23 September – 13 November 2011.  

Don't miss it!

Unique Perspectives Part I

Convergence participants may like to take a break from all the felting and have a trip out.

Bunbury Regional Art Galleries Photo By strasser©paul - Panoramio

We have therefore organised a trip to  BUNBURY REGIONAL ART GALLERIES , for you to enjoy  UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES: TWO SOLO EXHIBITIONS – Felted work by Helen O’Hare (Ireland), and Joomchi Paper Works by Jiyoung Chung (USA/Korea). Brilliant, expressive, inspiring work representing the diversity of textile and fibre art across the world.  This exhibition is brought to us by Bunbury Regional Art Galleries in partnership with Fibres West 2011, and runs from 23 September – 13 November 2011.

First lets look at Helen O'Hare who is a talented artist doing some amazing felt work as you can see from these photos which she very kindly sent us -

Gallery Shot

Detail

Detail

Detail

Gallery Shot

Gallery Shot

Look in tomorrow to see more of Helen's work.