NICOLA BROWN – I feel, I find, I felt
Inspired by shapes from the natural world and the beauty of the rural Irish landscape Nicola Brown creates sculptural pieces and functional art using traditional wet felting methods. Starting with the softest and most tactile of raw materials, wool, silk, vegetable and animal fibers she is constantly fascinated by how it is possible to create strong organic shaped sculptures or soft flexible fabric by the simple addition of water, soap and friction from her hands.
From her studio at Duckett’s Grove, Co. Carlow Nicola offers visitors the opportunity to browse a selection of her current work as well as facilitating workshops where people may try out this fascinating and ancient craft for themselves! Adults and children, beginners and more experienced felters are all welcome to these workshops; private parties (birthday, baby shower, hen party etc.) are also catered for by arrangement. Nicola is on the Crafts Council of Ireland’s craft education panel and a member of the Carlow VEC adult tutors list.
Unless she has an outside workshop or event Nicola is available at her Duckett’s Grove studio from 2 until 5 on Fridays, 10 until 5 on Saturdays and 12 until 5 each Sunday. She also works from Duckett’s Grove on selected days mid week, please contact her on 087-2789740 or email clasheen@gmail.com if you would like to check out her upcoming schedule.
Internationally Nicola teaches regularly in Michigan, California, Kentucky and Portugal, please check out the workshop page for details of confirmed US and European dates for 2013.
At the end of 2012 Nicola was honoured to be selected with great US felting friend Dawn Edwards to take over the reins of FeltUnited, a not for profit group of international artists whose goal is to connect feltmakers around the globe.
Your feltings are beautiful and very inspiring! I love the jewelry. That’s something I’ve been wanting to try for a long time but haven’t quite got around to it. I’d love to see pictures of your wall hanging.
ok Nicola, I am about to embark on an idea that is spinning around in my head. I want to felt several layers say white, gray blue then make slices through the blue layer in a diagonal pattern and then pinch the sliced layers of blue in a pattern and connect the pinches. so as to explose the gray layer.
So with the previous smaller experimental pieces I have TIRED to experiment with slicing and it has yet to work. I CAN snip out slashes with sharp shears…. but can you think of an easier way? I tried a razor blade (xacto) , rotary cuter and nothing seems to penetrate effective enough.
I discovered a bamboo window shade in my backroom that I am planning to use since my available bubble wrap widths are limited.
If you have any suggestions on slicing… I welcome all.
Thank you for your generous compliments.