Preamble
This blogspot has a number of posts on felt and felted objects which have been listed below for your convenience.
Hallstatt Textiles
Nuno Felted Scarves@Felted Pleasure
Fabric Construction - Felt
Felted Garments
Felted Accessories
Felted Works of the 1980s
Felt Shawls
Felt Objects - Part I
Felt Objects - Part II
Introduction [1]
It was not unitl the 1970s that artists outside the traditional felt-making societies began investigating felt as both a creative medium and a rich vein of a scholary study. Exposure to the felts of nomadic peoples through exhibitions and books, such as M.E. Burkett's, Art of Felt Making, catalyzed a period of intensive field research from North Africa to Mongolia. Inspired experimentation also took place in the studio of artists, who loved the unique physicality of the material.
In Western Europe and the Americas, felt has typically been valued for technical rather than aesthetic reasons. Self-extinguishing, capable of holding large amounts of fluid without feeling wet, and sound absorbing, felt has long been ubiquitous but invisible - a gray part of the industrial landscape.
Felt Objects - Part II [1]
Designer: Christine Birkle.
Description: Jacket J 22 and Skirt KWS 9/4 (2010).
Materials: Merino wool, cotton, silk.
Photograph: Courtesy of the artist.
Designer: Lara Grant.
Description: Arched Coatdress (2007).
Materials and Technique: Merino fleece, polyester thread, covered buttons; wet felted, needle felted, sewn, blocked. Ankle accessories designed by Chrystie Cappelli.
Size: 114.3 cm long.
Photograph: Courtesy of Arun Nevader.
Top view of the above Arched Coatdress (2007).
Designer: Anneke Copier.
Description: Sheba (2007).
Materials and Technique: Wool, silk, peppercorns; wet felt.
Size: 135 cm long cm long.
Photograph: Courtesy of the artist.
Detailed View.
Designer: Christine Birkle.
Description: Hut Up. Top KST 9/5 and Skirt KSS 6/3 (2010).
Materials: Marino wool, silk.
Size: Dimensions vary.
Photograph: Courtesy of the artist.
Designer: Anneke Copier.
Description: Elsas (2010).
Materials and Technique: Silk, flax, wool; nuno techniques, wet felt.
Size: 145 cm long.
Photograph: Courtesy of the artist.
Designer: Katie Coble.
Description: Mirrored Felt Piece Folded (2009).
Materials and Technique: Industrial felt, linen thread, polyester, elastic; cut, stitched, sewn.
Size: 82 x 30 x 15 cm.
Photograph: Courtesy of Tom Foley.
Designer: Maggy Pavlou.
Description: Armadillo Coat (2009), front profile.
Materials and Technique: Merino fleece; wet felted, pieced, stitched..
Size: 57 cm long.
Photograph: Courtesy of Kevin Facer.
Back Profile.
Reference:
[1] Susan Brown, 500 Felt Objects, Editors Note. Mornu and J. Hale, Lark Crafts, an Imprint of Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. (2011).
Introduction
Art is a human endeavour which encompasses the long history of life and experiences of human beings over the epochs. It connects us through gender, race, age, time, and shared experiences from the cave paintings of Lascaux to the plethora of modern art media and concepts. By creating a visual dialogue, we have the means to share and exchange emotional, psychological, and cultural narratives from both an artists and viewers perspective.
Artists have historically created works that embrace the concepts of protest, resistance, social change, and resilience of the human spirit in the face of extreme hardship. A powerful source of inspiration is often born from the ravages of conflict zones.
In these uncertain times, the outlook for the global economy is grim with a series of trade policy shocks that threaten to paralyse economic and business decisions. Global tensions are rising, with warfare ongoing in the Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, and Sudan, just to name a few.
The Ukraine has a rich and diverse culturally significant heritage in creating art and exhibiting artworks. Since 2003, the organisers and founders of the International Mini Textile and Fibre Art Exhibition “Scythia” - Ludmila Egorova, Anastasia Schneider and Andrew Schneider - have curated this biennial contemporary exhibition in the city of Ivano-Frankivs’k, Ukraine. Despite the difficult situation in the country caused by the war, their vision encapsulates the role and contribution that the art world can make to normalize society engagements, in tense war times just as these.
An excerpt from an interview with the organisers in 2023 is as follows: “Art is a part of our national identity and plays an important role in the time of war. Art provides cooperation between friendly countries, shows our cultural diversity, helps to share ideas and understand common goals, it heals and helps to return to the memory of a peaceful life even for 20- 30 minutes, while visiting an art exhibition. Each artwork sent by a foreign artist, shows his or her support and wish to share emotions with the audience in Ukraine, which is very important nowadays for each person in our country. The exhibition also helps Ukrainian artists to spread their ideas worldwide, to show the diversity of their thoughts and to express their feelings. Specially made artworks, and artworks which are closely related to the feelings of Ukrainian citizens during this war, will be presented at these exhibitions. Such artworks are made not only by Ukrainian artists, but by the foreign artists to express their solidarity with our people and to help to inform and depict the situation to the people worldwide”.[1]
In 2024, textile artists working in various textile and fibre techniques were invited to apply for participation in the, 12th International Mini Textile and Fibre Art Exhibition, “Scythia,” via a jury selection process. Artists could submit 2 artworks, 2 or 3-dimensional works, up to 30x30x30 cm. There was no set theme for the exhibited artworks.
I was honoured to be informed that my ArtCloth print, ‘Time Waits for No Man,’ was selected by the jury for exhibition at the Ivano-Frankivs’k Museum, Ukraine, June 3 - 17, 2025. Artworks by 121 artists were selected representing Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mauritius, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkiye, Ukraine, and the USA.
Synopsis and Processes for the ArtCloth Print ‘Time Waits for No Man’
The quote, 'time waits for no man,' is commonly attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer, and it originates from his book 'Canterbury Tales,' which was written between 1387 and 1400 AD. The quote concisely captures the fleeting nature of time and the fundamental fact that change is inevitable. It emphasises the concept that time, along with opportunity, must be seized with passion, nothing must be left to chance, and we should focus on our goals. It reminds us of our mortality and the impermanence of life on this planet.
The concept for this ArtCloth print was rooted in the investigation of the influence of the 'fine-art' world on the 'street art' of Graffiti and the Post Graffiti movement. The iconography of the artwork centres on over 500 years of appropriation of Leonardo da Vinci’s, ‘Vitruvian Man’ image. It traces its journey through time to its current destination in contemporary media and on walls in our urban streetscapes.
'The Vitruvian Man is a drawing by the Italian Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to ca. 1490. Inspired by the writings of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, the drawing depicts a nude man in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and inscribed in both a circle and square. It was described by the art historian Carmen C. Bambach as '...justly ranked among the all-time iconic images of Western civilization.' Although not the only known drawing of a man inspired by the writings of Vitruvius, the work is a unique synthesis of artistic and scientific ideals and often considered an archetypal representation of the High Renaissance. The drawing represents Leonardo’s conception of ideal body proportions, originally derived from Vitruvius but influenced by his own measurements, the drawings of his contemporaries, and the De pictura treatise by Leon Battista Alberti'[2].
In tandem with the concept of a deconstructed and distressed street art aesthetic, the artwork had to characterize the psychological relationship between the subject and viewer - capturing the fleeting nature of time and the fundamental fact that change is inevitable and that no man can control the passage of time no matter how powerful or influential they may be.
My research demanded various design considerations to produce the aesthetic principles underlying the production of the piece. Multiple complex layers of hand painted, silk screened, mono printed, stamped, collaged, resist, mark-making and distress techniques using transparent, opaque, and metallic pigments were employed to create the heavily textured and dense surface on the cotton substrate. A collaged clock references the passage of time along with images of red leaves falling away to oblivion at the bottom right of the piece. Dark, light, and metallic hues were chosen to give a high contrast and attain an interesting balance of the various elements in the work. Varied shades of yellow, gold and browns dominate the work to highlight the soft gold-brown watercolour washes and brown ink drawing in da Vinci’s original artwork.
In conclusion, both Geoffrey Chaucer and Leonardo da Vinci epitomise the idea that time, along with opportunity, must be seized with passion, nothing must be left to chance, and we should focus on our goals. Centuries after their legacy, they have continued to influence generations of artists and writers.
Time Waits for No Man
Title: Time Waits for No Man (Full View).
Techniques and Media: Hand painted, silk screened, mono printed, stamped and collaged employing
transparent, opaque, and metallic pigments on cotton.
Size: 30 cm high x 19.5 cm wide.
Year of Creation: 2025.
Edition: 1/1.
Detail View No.1.
Detail View No.2.
Detail View No.3.
Detail View No.4.
Postscript
The organisers held another exhibition, the 4th International Micro Textile and Fibre Art Exhibition, at the Ivano-Frankivs’k Centre of Contemporary Art, concurrently with the 12th International Mini Textile and Fibre Art Exhibition “Scythia”, at the Ivano-Frankivs’k Museum. Dates for both exhibitions were June 3 - 17, 2025. Both exhibitions are featured in the catalogues on the Scythia Contemporary Textile and Fibre Art website at the following link: http://www.scythiatextile.com.
The editor of Studio La Primitive Arts Zine, Robyn Werkhoven, invited me to write an article about some of my recent ArtCloth prints.
My article was published in Ezine Issue 62, July 2025 and is titled, 'Three Print Journeys'. The concept, synopsis and processes for the prints, Time Waits for No Man, The Power of One, and Graffiti Garden are discussed in the article. The ‘Three Print Journeys’ article appears on page 180 of the Ezine.
Note: In 2017 Studio La Primitive Arts Zine was selected by the New South Wales State Library to be preserved as a digital publication of lasting cultural value for long-term access by the Australian community.
References
[1] http://www.scythiatextile.com/mini-2023.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man
Preamble
This is the forty-eigth post in a new Art Resource series that specifically focuses on techniques used in creating artworks. For your convenience I have listed all the posts in this new series below:
Drawing Art
Painting Art - Part I
Painting Art - Part II
Painting Art - Part III
Painting Art - Part IV
Painting Art - Part V
Painting Art - Part VI
Home-Made Painting Art Materials
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part I
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part II
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part I
Historical Notes on Art - Part II
Historical Notes on Art - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part IV
Historical Notes on Art - Part V
Tempera Painting
Oil Painting - Part I
Oil Painting - Part II
Oil Painting - Part III
Oil Painting - Part IV
Oil Painting - Part V
Oil Painting - Part VI
Pigments
Classification of Pigments - Part I
Classification of Pigments - Part II
Classification of Pigments - Part III
Pigments for Oil Painting
Pigments for Water Color
Pigments for Tempera Painting
Pigments for Pastel
Japanese Pigments
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part I
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part II
Selected Fresco Palette for Permanent Frescoes
Properties of Pigments in Common Use
Blue Pigments - Part I
Blue Pigments - Part II
Blue Pigments - Part III
Green Pigments - Part I
Green Pigments - Part II
Red Pigments - Part I
Red Pigments - Part II
Yellow Pigments - Part I
Yellow Pigments - Part II
Brown and Violet Pigments
Black Pigments
White Pigments - Part I
There have been another one hundred and thirteen posts in a previous Art Resource series that have focused on the following topics:
(i) Units used in dyeing and printing of fabrics;
(ii) Occupational, health & safety issues in an art studio;
(iii) Color theories and color schemes;
(iv) Optical properties of fiber materials;
(v) General properties of fiber polymers and fibers - Part I to Part V;
(vi) Protein fibers;
(vii) Natural and man-made cellulosic fibers;
(viii) Fiber blends and melt spun fibers;
(ix) Fabric construction;
(x) Techniques and woven fibers;
(xi) Basic and figured weaves;
(xii) Pile, woven and knot pile fabrics;
(xiii) Durable press and wash-and-wear finishes;
(xvi) Classification of dyes and dye blends;
(xv) The general theory of printing.
To access any of the above resources, please click on the following link - Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics. This link will highlight all of the one hundred and thirteen posts in the previous a are eight data bases on this blogspot, namely, the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms, Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff, A Fashion Data Base, the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins, the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns, Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements, Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms and the Glossary of Scientific Terms. All data bases in the future will be updated from time-to-time.
If you find any post on this blog site useful, you can save it or copy and paste it into your own "Word" document for your future reference. For example, Safari allows you to save a post (e.g. click on "File", click on "Print" and release, click on "PDF" and then click on "Save As" and release - and a PDF should appear where you have stored it). Safari also allows you to mail a post to a friend (click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or other posts on this site may be a useful Art Resource for you.
The new Art Resource series will be the first post in each calendar month. Remember - these Art Resource posts span information that will be useful for a home hobbyist to that required by a final year University Fine-Art student and so undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip those mind boggling parts) and in other parts, it may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). The trade-off between these two extremes will mean that Art Resource posts will be hopefully useful in parts to most, but unfortunately may not be satisfying to all!
White Pigments - Part I [1]
Some classifications of white pigments include several of the material grouped separately in this series of posts under the heading of 'Inert Pigments.' Under the present heading, only those pigments which retain their color and opacity when in ground oil are listed.
White lead is one of the earliest artificially manufactured pigments recorded; it was employed in China as far back as we have any history of the materials of Chinese paintings, and was used in the earliest periods of European civilization. It was used in a variety of products.
The earliest use of lead white (LW) in different regions.
World's earliest synthetic white lead cosmetics found in China.
White lead has very desirable properties when ground in oil: it has the lowest oil absorption of all white pigments. It unites with oil to form, a buttery paste, which has fine brushing qualities, and it is noted for its opacity or hiding power and its pleasing tonal characteristics.
White Lead Crystals.
White lead produces paint films of great durability. Its two defects are its toxic nature (see future posts), and the fact that the surface of white lead paint films is liable to turn dark brown, when acted upon by air, which is polluted with sulphur dioxide fumes. The latter defect is of slight consequence in oil paintings, where the pigment is usually well protected and locked in by oils and varnishes, or in varnished tempera paintings, or in undercoats; but it definitely precludes the use of white lead in all the other artistic painting media.
Out of the shadows: chiaroscuro painting restoration (6th June 2022).
Due to the selective use of light, many paintings that use chiaroscuro have large areas of flat, dark pigment. This presents a challenge for care and restoration as it presents an easily disturbed shadow that does not easily hide disturbances in the same way a busy, colorful painting would. Secondly, dark pigments from the late 18th century and early 19th century often included a tar-like additive called bitumen, a substance that does not age well and may cause major visual concerns.
White lead brushes out poorly in most water mediums. Should an oil painting be affected by sulphur, as described above, the remedy is quite simple which will be discussed in a future post. However, the only conditions under which this darkening would be likely to occur would be such as are found in kitchens, stables, industrial or factory buildings, and outdoors in localities where soft coal is burned. Artistic oil paintings are not usually exposed to such conditions. Under the conditions which prevail in easel painting, the best white leads in oil, will not react with any of the approved permanent pigments, even those which contain combined sulphur, provided these are of high quality.
The best grade of White Lead is usually known to artists as Flake White, a corroded basic lead carbonate made by what is known as the old Dutch process, though essentially this process is the same as that described by Theophrastus and used in ancient Rome and Greece.
Flake White.
The number of modern lead compounds made and used industrially under the name 'White Lead' is large. All are inferior to 'Flake White'; basic sulfate and silicate white leads are used because of their lower costs. Cremnitz White, a nineteenth-century develpment, is made by the modification of the process, which allows it to be more carefully controlled; it is a somewhat purer, a more brilliant white, but it has less opacity.
Cremnitz White in Walnut oil.
Various authorities rate one slightly above the other; for artists' use, both are superior to the rest of the industrial white lead pigments. The basic raw material of the Dutch process, or flake white, is metallic lead; that of Cremnitz White is litharge. Fortunately, all these distinctions were extremely minor, for it is doubtful whether much if any true Cremnitz White has been sold to artists in recent times, despite the continued use of this name. Either Flake or Cremnitz White can be taken to mean the highest quality basic lead carbonate for artists' use.
It is also doubtful whether any manufacturers make a distinction between the various kinds of White Lead in artists' oil colors; the differences are small enough that if a pure basic lead carbonate with best pigment properties is selected, the product will be satisfactory. Much White Lead in oil is made by blending more than one variety.
White Lead has always been the basis or principle pigment for oil painting. Its properties in oil, as regards to grinding, drying, brushing, and other manipulations, and its opacity, flexibility, and durability are so superior to those of other whites and, in fact, most other pigments, that it is not only a standard of comparison by which the physical properties of other pigments are judged, but it is beyond some of the rules and restrictions which govern the correct application of colors. Old portraits, which have been thinly painted except in the faces, where a heavier coat of paint consisting of Flake White has been used, are often found to have disintegrated except for their faces, which are in perfect condition; and it is not uncommon to find other old paintings in which white lead areas, thin or thick, have outlived both impasto and very thin coats of other colors.
A 16th century painting. Mary Magdalene with an Ointment Jar was purchased at auction with an attribution to the Master of the Mansi Magdalene (1490-1530). The long history of the painting had seen it undergo alterations and historic restoration campaigns that were not completed to a safe 21st century standard until recently.
The success of the oil painting technique as a standard easel painting process for several hundred years has been based largely upon the use of this pigment, and its exclusion from many latter-day palettes has resulted in a lowering of some of the good qualities of the technique. Because of these points and because none of our other whites is entirely perfect in oil, Flake White still remains in use as a pigment for oil painting, despite the claims of zinc and titanium whites.
Reference:
[1] The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, R. Mayer (ed. E. Smith) 4th Edition, Faber and Faber, London (1981).
Designer: Lara Grant.
Top view of the above Arched Coatdress (2007).
Designer: Anneke Copier.
Detailed View.
Designer: Christine Birkle.
Designer: Anneke Copier.
Designer: Katie Coble.
Designer: Maggy Pavlou.
Back Profile.
