Session Five/July 7-11

Ruth Walker
Wet Felting/Beginning to Advanced

All levels
Studio
5 Day class (9am-4pm)
Tuition: $275
Materials: $110 (cost of a full kit)

5 Days o' Felt!
What makes sheep's wool so feltable? Are there differences in feltability between breeds of wool? Which wool preparations are suitable for a given purpose in felting? And just what is 'felt,' anyway? Spend 5 days working intensively with various preparations and breeds of wool, making flat things, round things, hollow things, fun things, useful things and masterful things. From felt balls to felt gauze, you will learn to wet felt, and you'll know why you're using what you're using. This class is suitable for beginners; however, there is a lot of physical labor involved. Please be prepared to stand and to work; while most materials are included in the materials fee, each student is required to bring his/her own elbow grease.

Ruth Walker of Columbia, Missouri, learned to felt in 1992 from master spinner, knitter and dyer Sammy Eber, as an offshoot of wool spinning and dyeing. She felted and developed several of her techniques for several years before taking workshops from well-known felting artists such as Beth Bede, Chad Alice Hagan, Istvan Vidak, and Meike Laurenson, to name a few. Ruth has taught workshops and given lectures/ demonstrations in felting and dyeing to both adults and children in Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, the eastern seaboard, and the United Kingdom. She has won recognition for her work in competitions and exhibitions.