Wool Felt-making with Erika Olson (Sunday, November 12th)
Join visiting artist, Erika Olson of Frog King Feltworks, at Moon In June Studio for a workshop where you'll learn how to create adorable nature-inspired objects out of wool!
Date: Sunday, November 12th
Time: 1-3:30pm
Felt-making lends itself to natural whimsy, and much of this infinitely adaptable process is just about getting a feel for how the materials work and choosing colours and textures that spark delight. During this session, you can learn some of the basics of working with wool roving and fibre inclusions, and delve into wet felting on a 3D form. We will start with making mushrooms, and can branch out to hands-on demonstrations of specific techniques according to the interests of the group. We hope you fully enjoy creating mushrooms and nature-inspired ornaments at this playful, magical, nature-infused workshop at Moon in June Studio!
About the artist
Erika Olson is a Kenora-based visual artist, feltmaker, ecologist, nature-lover, and general purpose witchy woman. When she is not engaged at the Arts Hub downtown or working at one of her many side gigs, she volunteers as carer for injured and orphaned wild birds. Erika has a passion for children’s books, costume-making, good treats and bad jokes. Living in an off-grid fairytale log cabin tiny house, Erika and her daughter spend as much time as they can cultivating a life of nature, magic and creature adoration. Coming from a farming lineage, Erika originally got into felt-making with the goal of keeping a small flock of fibre sheep. She knew that she wanted to have livestock that she could keep for a legitimate purpose that did not involve eating the animals. She loved the versatility and aesthetic of felted items, and was intrigued by the varied cultural roots of this ancient pan-global heritage craft. Shortly after deciding to get sheep, Erika instead impulsively bought tiny dairy goats from a traveling family. Her brief flirtation with becoming a modern-day shepherdess ended with the realization that she is, in fact, the girl most likely to trade the cow for some magic beans. As goats vandalized her home and ate everything of value in her yard, the hoped-for flock of imaginary sheep wandered off into vague future pastures. The felt-making was nevertheless fruitful. Throughout the years Erika has supported herself, her daughter and their associated creatures through a combination of felt-making (Frog King Feltworks), visual art, and arts consulting as well as an assortment of other endeavors.