Felting is an ancient craft that fills the life of nomads with warmth and wonder since the dawn of time. Nomad means felt. The Land of Nomads is the Land of Felt.
The history of felt certainly got me captivated. I share the mission now alongside some Hungarian felt-makers to puzzle out and unravel the meanings of the hidden symbols and forgotten ways of life of the nomads, while rediscovering the skill of felt-making that people were once expert of, but the craftsmanship is dyeing out with the disappearing lifestyle. My teachers wish to find a place for felt in the modern world while extensively researching the old ways.
What a great week working together on our individual projects with the guidance of Istvan Vidak. All our works are fantastic!
Wool has amazing qualities, and we should certainly keep it! It is WATER-REPELLENT, if felted properly. WARM but BREATHING. It is HOLDING SHAPE. That is why it is used to make hats for many thousands of years by now and still standing. It is NATURAL and SUSTAINABLE. None-less to mention it is FIRE-RETARDANT. It really is, I tried it. Hence rug-makers and hat-makers are burning off the excess hairs with flame. (It got fancy these days among hat-makers but it actually had a reason apart of making artificially distressed-looking hats.) Nomads believe in the felt’s HEALING properties. Every felted item was sacred. With its handmade existence, all their added magical symbols and other useful qualities certainly any felted item keep their owner safe.
Then here, Australia is home of the merino wool. Soft, wearable. And we can combine it with the luxurious but volatile silk to make it even softer to wear.. or strengthen it with leather? No reason why not to make felt popular again. When I was looking at learning felt-making it was all about making horse-riding equipments as saddle-blankets. Now the opportunities with merino are vast, textile artists and the fashion world is re-discovering it.
So while I keep the door of experimenting open, I want to perfect the nomad way of felt-making. I make rugs how felted rugs were made since many thousands of years, just as masks for horses on ceremonies, and hats for noble people. But as well I make modern accessories and I will keep adding fashion items as my time lets me. Making toys is my secret side-project.. must keep everyone entertained!