Sculptural Feltmaking

This course is for anyone curious about exploring wool as a sculptural material — whether you’re completely new to feltmaking or looking to deepen your creative practice. Wool is a wonderfully responsive fibre that, with warm soapy water and friction, can be transformed into strong, tactile, and richly textured forms.

Anita Johnson teaches the core techniques of 3-dimensional feltmaking: how to create seamless hollow three-dimensional forms using resists, and how to shape solid felted pieces directly in your hands through skin-felting.

Students will engage in simple drawing and collage exercises to help spark ideas and develop their own unique felted designs. Along the way, we’ll also explore the bigger picture — felt’s history as a form of protective shelter, its ability to absorb sound and liquid, and its irresistible tactile qualities — opening up ways to think about felt not only as a material, but also as a source of sculptural inspiration.

* NAS Short Courses are open to students of ages 16 years and over. The NAS Art Club is open to students from ages 15 years and over. 

* Some short courses may be held in upstairs studios. If access to stairs is not suitable, please contact us at short.courses@nas.edu.au 

* What to bring? Please refer to the list of required materials in the Art Materials field below.

Students must supply their own art materials, please refer to the list below.

Important note: felting can be quite a strong physical activity so bring a drink, snacks and wear comfortable shoes.

• An old towel
• A pair of rubber garden-type gloves
• A pair of fabric scissors, sewing needle and thread, and a pair of pliers.
• A pair of paper scissors, 2 pastel sticks of different colours, 4 sheets of A2 paper.
• Wool fibre if you want to bring your own. 500gms of unspun wool fibre that has been washed and carded during its processing. You can use coarser wool eg: 29 micron (Corriedale, Finn, Gotland, Strong merino) or a finer fibre eg: 22 micron (Merino). Or a mixture of these.
• If you do not have any fibre the tutor will bring some to purchase during class.
• Enclosed footwear is essential in all studios on campus. 

Anita Johnson has been working in the medium of felt and teaching sculptural feltmaking in Australia and abroad since 1993. Represented by Defiance Gallery in Sydney, Anita’s felted sculptures have been shown in the Wynne Prize - Art Gallery of NSW, the Museo del Tessuto, Italy, the Blake Prize, the 2nd Tamworth Textile Triennial, the Hungarian National Gallery, the 6th International World Textile Art Biennial of Contemporary Art - Mexico, and Sculptural Felt International. www.anitajohnsonartist.com