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.

Last week I cleaned all of these bottles that once held delicious kombucha tea. Today, I took the next step. I’m both excited and worried. I think that the project will definitely work better visually as a series. This first one looks to me more like the product of a head cold than tea. But then again, does kombucha itself even look like tea? Yum.

Tags: cotton, experiment, Felt, kombucha, needle felting, oh no, snot, tea, wool, work in progress.

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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.

Here is my first attempt at creating the gills that I have sought after in these soft sculptures.



Gilled Mushroom, 2010
It is probably the most delicate so far. I used the wet felting process to make “paper thin” sheets of wool felt. Then I starched and ironed them. Next time, in lieu of chemicals and heat, I will spend more time agitating the wool in the wet stage. More agitation, I suspect, will give me a stronger felt that will lend better to attaching the gills to the top. This one will be on Etsy when I find the right vessel for it.

Tags: etsy, Felt, gilled fungi, mushroom, needle felting, process, wet felting, wool, work in progress.

Winter seems to be here, I’m ill with a cold the first time this season. I had a great Valentine’s day though, with friends and family and of course Henry. I spent this morning making another terrarium. I’m so infatuated with creating these small environments. I drew inspiration from a mushroom (center) I found on a hike in San Francisco. I’m considering a much larger mushroom that will have the same type of gills for another soft sculpture. That would be a lot of gills I’m thinking.
Anyway, here is today’s:

mushroom terrarium, amethyst, 2010
etsy

Tags: Art, etsy, Felt, mushrooms, san francisco, terrarium, wool.

The Heart is finished. I was playing around with the camera this afternoon trying to work on ideas I’d had for such a shoot. I’ve been waiting for some technical assistance since I am somewhat dunce-like when it comes to taking the pictures I want. The ideas are there though. Well, then there are happy accidents like this one where soft sculpture transcends into a photo.

heart, 2010

The soft sculpture will be up on Etsy tomorrow.
Happy Valentines (weekend) day!

Tags: Felt, happy accidents, heart, human organ, photography, photoshoot, soft sculpture, wool.

After all this rain its hard not to think about mushrooms creeping up in random places. For instance, I wonder how many and what kind of mushrooms are currently fungifying the underpass across from my apartment near I-5? I probably don’t want to know. Anyway, in addition to rugs the world of felted mushrooms and terrariums in particular has been opening up to me. For this I did a little wet felting, which wasn’t necessary. And I used a vase I had laying around. Here’s my little contribution:

Terrarium, 2010

loose rocks, 2010

Etsy
Flickr
thanks Henry

Tags: etsy, Felt, mushrooms, needle felting, terrarium, wool.

This is another in-progress project. I’ve seen some pretty great looking rugs made out of felt balls over the course of my work in wool. This rug, in particular, has caught my eye many times. And this crafty site gave me the idea to use small bits of leftover wool.
The process is easy (albeit time-consuming)take old stockings (or purchase cheap-y nylons from the drugstore) gather and squish small handfuls of roving. Then bundle it all the way into the toe of the stocking. Tie it off and you have your first stone. Repeat the process to fill up the tights as tight as you can (I like to do this and that is why I am going to Hot Yoga :)) Toss your tights in the wash and this time, for the first time hopefully, you dry your tights in the dryer. And that is where I am:

When I got these pairs back from the laundry I thought they looked more like a sea-creature and for a minute thought about other directions I could take this stage. Full focus ahead, though, we’re creating a rug now.

I’ll need a few more pairs of tights before this projects reaches more than the size of a place mat. Before it gets too big I need to track down the best type of nylon cord for durability. But I am anticipating a most divine feeling mat to step on at the end of this.

Tags: Felt, felt stone rug, pebbles, rug, stones, wool, work in progress.