Today was the Spring Shearing festival at Withers Ranch in Tucson. Danny Smith drives in from Missouri to shear the animals who live at the working fiber ranch. It's Spring and there were lots of babies on the 8-acre property. Tours of the grounds were the highlight of the day as many families were on hand to learn more about the kinds of fibers produced by the many different breeds. Kathy provides free tours throughout the year to community organizations, school groups, fiber guilds, and others who are interested in seeing how fiber is produced. She also offers classes in weaving, spinning, knitting, crocheting and felting. Today, I provided demonstrations on needle-felted landscapes and a woman from Canada who is a student of Kathy's provided demonstrations on nuno felting throughout the day. I demonstrated dimensional landscapes and was working on this desert scene. It's from a photograph my kids (adults) took on a recent climbing trip. I focused on adding greens and browns to the central tree. I wrapped the natural wool fibers around a square-shaped toothpick (as opposed to a rounded one), slightly moistening them as I twirled them into shapes. I then needle-felted them into place, bu this shaping gives them added dimension and when I go to do the wet felting that I have planned, this will be a textural piece, suitable for framing. I will place it into a shadow box so that the glass isn't against any of the fibers. It will be applied to the surface of a matboard, meaning that the mat would be behind the felted surface, not on top of it. It's not yet ready for framing, but I'll be sure to post it once it is completely finished.
For more information on Withers Ranch, the Sheep Shearing Festival, or the 2010 Tucson Wool Festival scheduled fro November 6, go to www.uniquedesignsbykathy.com.
