Registration Opens June 22 at 10am.

2015 Maiwa Textile Symposium

Workshop The Complete Feltmaker

Rene Evans

$$325 includes 100 lab fee

November 9, 10, 11, - Class Limit 14

Maiwa East: 1310 Odlum Drive, Vancouver BC

Felt is one of the oldest known forms of manipulated fibre. Felting appears coincidental with animal husbandry and produces a range of items from clothing and toys to sculpture, tents, and even industrial tools. Often an art and tradition of nomadic peoples, felting is making a worldwide resurgence and is gaining recognition.

Today the lines between feltmaking and the other textiles arts are beginning to fade. Felt is being sculptured into three-dimensional forms with multiple layers. It is being pleated and resist-dyed with shibori techniques. Industrial felts are being used to make structural furniture, while gossamer felts are becoming lighter and lighter. The nature of felt, what it is and what it can do, is being continuously challenged.

In this three-day, sample- and project-oriented workshop, students will explore the many aspects of felt. They will learn basic feltmaking techniques by working with a variety of weights and wool fibres. They will work with art felt and three-dimensional felt suitable for hats, boots, and bags or other art objects, and with lightweight and gossamer “nuno” felts. Students will then select a final project to develop one of the felting techniques covered in the workshop.

Instructor Bio

Rene Evans was born and educated in New Zealand. Rene Corder Evans has always had a love for fine wools, but it was not until she returned to weaving in 1995 that she developed a deep love and appreciation for the art of felt making. In 1996 she was introduced to the Fashion Design Program at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), graduating with a Diploma of Fashion Design in 1999. From 2001 to 2012 Rene was a Textile Instructor within the Fashion Design Program at UFV. She divided her time between creating one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces, teaching weaving at the university level, and her career as a business administrator, enjoying the challenges of all three. In 2012 Rene retired and now she spends time in New Zealand and Canada and is finding more time for textile arts.