This workshop is aimed at: 

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• Those with basic experience in 2D wet felting, who are ready to start exploring 3-dimensional hollow sculptures in felt

• Those with basic experience of felting around a simple resist, who want to improve their sculpted work, refine their practice and achieve more intricate shapes

• Any of my mask making students who would like to prepare for a mask making masterclass

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Please note that this workshop is NOT suitable for complete beginners to felt making. Some basic wet felting knowledge is assumed. 

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WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

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Though serving thoroughly practical and protective functions, animal horns can also be regarded as nature’s own sculpture. These structural hollow forms range from simple to simply breathtaking, and many display intricate textures that lend themselves extremely well to a range of felt making techniques.  

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In this workshop you will create 2 types of horn:

 

• A straight, textured horn

• A curled, ridged ram’s horn.

 

You will learn how to prepare the resist for each of these shapes, how to lay out the wool around a resist for best results, how to incorporate texture, ridges and colour transitions, and how to use colour to highlight 3-dimensional form. You will learn how to sculpt fine detail and respond to the wool, and how to finish your work to a high standard. 

 

Some additional bonus materials are also included, such as how to stiffen (harden) finished felt.

 

I aim to take the pain out of figuring things out for yourself, while opening the door to new approaches that will help you in your future projects.

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Though we will focus on the challenges of replicating the shape and textures of different types of horns, everything you'll learn in this workshop is applicable to other projects, and infinitely adaptable to your own visual language.

 

Learning is supported through video demonstrations, step by step illustrated instructions, and a virtual community where you can ask questions and share photos of your work in progress, so I can give constructive feedback.. 

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During this workshop we will cover:

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• How to lay out wool around a resist & stay in control of the fibres

• How to use colour to emphasize sculptural form

• How to achieve seamless and subtle colour graduation

• How to incorporate ridged surface textures

• How to incorporate sculptural ridges through differential shrinkage

• How to sculpt the main shape and fine detail and respond to the wool

• How to finish the felt to a high standard

• Ways to stiffen felt

• And more…

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If you have always wanted to sculpt in wool and were not quite sure where to start, then this may be the workshop for you!

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MATERIALS

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Materials are not included in the course fee, but have been kept as low cost as possible, and you may find you already have many of the items on the list in your home or studio. Care has been taken to provide detailed descriptions where necessary, in anticipation of any questions you may have.

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You will find an illustrated Materials List, Materials List Q&A and Suppliers List in the virtual classroom as soon as you register, but if you prefer to take a peep ahead of time, take a look at the text-only PDF below.

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HOW IT WORKS

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The workshop content is divided into 3 days, spread over 3 weeks. Each week, the contents are released to you on a Friday (see dates at the top) - you will receive an email notification of this each week. This is what is known as "scheduled content". Every subsequent Tuesday I will respond in writing to any questions that have been submitted, and to offer constructive feedback on your work.

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This schedule is designed to give you a 4 day window to work through the contents and ask any questions that may arise as you felt, and 2 more days to resolve any issues after your question has been answered,  but before the next week's content is released. The intensity level of the workload gradually increases each week (reflecting the general build up in physical intensity that is inherent in the felt making process) , with the contents of week 1 being fairly gentle and of a preparatory nature, and the contents of week 3 being more physically demanding and time consuming.

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Running a scheduled course likes this, with set start and end dates, means that you and your fellow students can move through this course as a group, so that when I visit the classroom to answer questions, everyone in the group will be more or less at similar stages of work and you can benefit from seeing each other's work and approaches.

 

However, if you prefer to work anonymously and/or simply don't want to wait a week before you pick up the course work again, that is totally fine - you are under no obligation to follow the exact schedule. We are all unique, and have our unique ways of learning and working, and all of these are welcome. All you need to do is wait until some (or all) of the content has been released, and then start doing the course work at a pace that suits you. For example, you could wait until the content for both weeks 1 & 2 have been released, before starting work on the project, so that by the time you have worked through the contents for both weeks, you don't have to wait very long before the release of the final week's content.

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Please note though that I will ONLY visit the classroom to answer questions and provide feedback during the scheduled part of the course, so if you want to ask me any questions, then you need to make sure you join in at least for some (but not necessarily all) parts of the scheduled programme. It really is fine if in week 3 you want to ask a question related to week 1!

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If you have any questions about how the way these online workshop work, you may well find your answer in the FAQ’s. If, after reading

these through, you still have a question, please send me an email at gladys@gladyspaulus.com 

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ABOUT THE TUTOR

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Since 2010 I have taught my approach to felt making to over 1,000 students, and my workshops and master classes are in demand internationally. My students range from felt enthusiasts to professional artists, and many return year after year. 

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Though my felt work has a strong technical foundation, I sometimes take unconventional approaches. When I first started making felt, I was a real technical purist, but once I built a foundation of knowledge and skill, I became  more interested in the nature of the creative process, learning through play and finding ways to achieve the visions in my head.  For this reason, most of my methods are born from experimentation, and continue to develop and evolve as the nature of my arts practice develops and deepens. 

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In my teaching, I bring both these sides of me. My workshops are thoroughly technical because I know that this is what builds confidence, but at the same time I encourage you to arrive with an  experimental attitude, to be open to play and to sometimes break 'The Rules' a little!

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Through my growing programme of online workshops, I aim to gradually introduce you to the full range of techniques that I use in mask making.