Moonlit Path

I went to a wet felting workshop on February 29 (Leap Day) at the West Grey Public Library and everyone in the group came away with a lovely piece of pre-felt.  It was a really good experience taking the loose fiber and turning it into a quite stable piece of felt.  Time was tight so it's amazing how strong the pre-felt is considering so many steps were abbreviated or skipped.  Our fearless leader Kimm was aware of the time constraint and ushered us along so we'd have something useable to take home.  Bravo!

This is my finished piece, with the two colors of fiber I used.  It's three layers (2 of the darker blue).  I hope to use it as a backing for a 2D picture.

Here's Kimm's.   As per usual, the instructor was too busy guiding the group and her own piece got neglected.  Kimm was going to toss it but I hate seeing fiber go to waste and was drawn to the colors so she gave it to me to salvage.

As you know, abstract is not my thing.  Also, I would never have chosen this color combination (for example, see my pre-felt:  practical and, you can say it, ordinary).  So here I was with this organic mis-shapen thing that was calling out to be "found".  I took on the challenge, deciding not to alter it too much.

What did I see?  I saw a tunnel leading to an open space, and on the right the shape of a woman or a tree-woman.  (Turned sideways, Mom saw a butterfly).

After washing and drying it, I felted it to a piece of sparkly, black felt.  Then, using the little loose piece, I added a head to the woman shape and marked out a path.  I added some dark green around the outer edges and yellow and white to the faery glade that the path leads to.  I added moonlight to the path.

And finally some locks to really push for a forest look.

Here it is without the flash, better light for a moonlit image.

I really enjoyed this challenge, thanks Kimm!  I wish I had more salvage to work with as it really made me think outside my usual creations.

And thanks to the Library for hosting this workshop!  Check out your local library to see what they're up to!

For a Love Like No Other

Dogs! This month at the public library in Aboyne you can see this display celebrating our canine companions.  It is Dog Bite Prevention Month but more importantly I wanted to share the informative posters I found online and the images that encourage adopting from shelters and rescues.

Of course the library's assortment of books helped bring the display to life, along with lots of "props" from home (with Willow's permission, of course!).  

I particularly wanted to share the Dogs in Need of Space poster as so many dog walkers don't seem to understand that there are dogs that don't associate well with other dogs.  That's okay, they just need some space and the DINOS poster explains this very well. 













For Dog Bite Prevention Month, this poster is a great reminder that children and dogs don't always mix well!  Never leave a young child alone with a dog, even your own. 

And here's How NOT to Greet a Dog, with fun little cartoons pointing out how terrifying meeting a human can be!  

Finally, under the table is Fauler, with a poster that informs children that those woofs and growls, along with other body language, are the dog's way of telling you to back off and stop being so darn scary!

Please click on the images below to read the posters' text:

You can read more about DINOS by clicking here.

These two posters are from Jessica Dolce's sites https://notesfromadogwalker.com/ and https://dogsinneedofspace.com/posters/

While these two are by artist Lili Chin and you can see more of her work by clicking here.

And finally this poster is from http://www.dogingtonpost.com/