Amanda Fiebing

Happy Friday! I couldn’t ask for better weather. This morning my studio was completely drenched in sunlight. Beautiful, and exciting, but almost too bright to sit in. I said almost. I decided to power through the rest of the Kombucha project. I now have a full case of waterless Kombucha tea, which is good for…. er. It was a fun project. I am now craving some Gingerberry.
When I my resource for fantastic photographic abilities home I will get pictures of each one, but for now: The Full Case.

Kombucha, 2010

Tags: cotton, fake food, Felt, glass, kombucha, wool.

This is a recreation of one of the many mushrooms I saw this past weekend on top of Mt. Guemes. This one is quite a bit larger than its natural counterpart. Its about 9 inches tall. Needle and wet felted. Inside the glass dish are the beginnings of an air plant terrarium.

Felt Mt. Guemes Mushroom, 3.2010

Mt. Guemes Mushroom, 2.2010

Tags: fake food, fake plant, farm, Felt, mushroom, needle felting, soft sculpture, wet felting, wool.

I got my inspiration for these babies from this photograph by amazing West Seattle-based photographer, Machel Spence. She has some truly fantastic work. I love when science and art blend the way they do in her pictures.
I used all white Merino wool roving. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite types of roving because of its smooth and silky texture that is soft but can be manipulated into something much more rugged and structural. The stems, after some wet felting became very tough to use needles on because they became so firm. This merino also works the best, I’ve found, for making very fine and delicate sheets of felt. An essential part of these mushrooms. I needle-felted the top sheets this time and was overjoyed with the lack of shrinking and knotting. The process definitely took longer but the end result was a more even blend of the wool into itself.
Here they are:


white translucent mushroom pair, 2010
Now on Etsy! Buy them.
p.s. if anyone knows the type of mushroom these resemble please please please tell me! Thank you.

Tags: delicate, fake food, Felt, merino wool, mushroom, white mushroom, wool.

Here is the latest installment of ‘Amanda makes felted mushrooms’ project. Is my art blog becoming predictable? Well, I really think I made some progress on creating the “paper thin” gills with this mushroom. Somehow it feels less delicate than the first gilled mushroom I’m not so sure that it is, though. I stuck with my mushroom muse Both will be up on Etsy very soon. Now isn’t that exciting?! I’m still feeling concerned about shipping these bad boys because they are art and so very fragile. I’ll figure it out, I’m mostly excited for someone to have these in their home.


gilled fungi, 2010

Etsy (soon to be live!)

Tags: Art, etsy, fake food, Felt, gilled fungi, mushroom, needle felting, soft sculpture, wet felting, wool.

The past couple weeks included some commissioned work. The project came to me through word of mouth which was really inspiring. Ok so it was one of Henry’s coworkers, 2 degrees is still 2 degrees of separation, right!? This commission was for a grouping of mushrooms to put in a basket as if they were freshly foraged (and cleaned). With the request for two specific kinds, Botelus Edulis and Agaricus, I made this bunch of fungi:

See larger photos here.

***I’m happy to report that even after spending hours making mushrooms from felt their edible form isn’t any more appealing to me.

Tags: agaricu arvensis, Art, botelus edulis, custom, fake food, Felt, handmade, mushrooms, needle felting, soft sculpture, wool.

This set of felted mushrooms was a gift I was most proud of giving this past holiday season. Its interesting, I have never eaten a mushroom myself (well, maybe fragments here and there against my knowledge or will).  From first sight of the fungus I knew the meaning of repulsion as instinct. Their shape, their name, the idea of eating a ‘fungus’, the smell,  their smell when cooking; all things that put me off of mushrooms. Ew, yuck, patooey.

I must say, though, that this winter at the produce stand on Beacon Hill something changed when I was picking out some lemons. I saw a previously unseen beauty in these shriveled and sickly pale gilled fungi sitting next to the lush citrus fruits. Suddenly it clicked, the perfect gift for my mushroom-loving sister, Kathryn of KAM gear in Ballard, WA; felted mushrooms.

fly amanita & white button

black chantrelle & white button

black chantrelle & white button
Photos by Henry Rose

More are on the way for another commission. More photos to come.

Tags: Art, fake food, Felt, needle felting, sculpture, soft sculpture, wool.