"Feeling
sheepish!"
Jess Sims
Felt Artist
The CYGNET Gallery, Swans Yard, High Street,
Shaftesbury, Dorset, SP7 8JQ. (Tel. 01747 855699.)
ABOUT ME ...Making My Presence FELT
"In order to be an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must above all be a sheep oneself"
(Albert Einstein)
elting may have satisfied those crafty cravings however I still wasn't convinced. Unsure where my loyalties lay (art or craft?) I went on to study 'Contemporary
Applied Arts' at Cumbria Institute of Arts. Surrounded by a multitude of new, very exciting crafts - ceramics, weaving, embroidery, rugmaking, (feltmaking!) - I was in 'craft heaven'!
n 2006, two months after my graduation, I underwent quite a serious operation. The stuffing knocked out of me, I had the concentration span of a two year old and, with no time for felting, dusted off my sketchpad instead. My scribblings produced a series of childlike illustrations. Behold the healing properties of art therapy!
hen I joined 'The Cygnet'gallery, in Shaftesbury, my love of feltmaking was rekindled. Having not yet discovered felting needles, my felt was somewhat erratic
in style - a mixture of collage, patchwork and mosaic. When I did, it was like
finding the missing piece of a jigsaw, everything clicked into place, all of my
experiences - art, felt, therapy - fitted together. Finally, I could draw and paint
with fibre (hurrah - art and craft united!) And the 'felt artist' in me was born!
explore the world through my senses - the colour, the shape, the texture, even the smell of an object intrigues me. It is the sense of touch which most appeals; seeing something isn't enough for me, I have to walk over and touch it!
Art classes at school were very much drawing and painting based. I enjoyed mixing pastels and paints but being a "making something from nothing" craft enthusiast, I didn't feel satisfied...something was missing. Funnily enough, it was my 'Art Foundation' course which introduced me to felt making!
