Dream Classes

Lisa Klakulak teaching in her studio

I am a self-taught feltmaker, meaning that I spent years in the trenches making terrible felt and then crawled up on the dry land of real feltmaking.  There is something to be said for learning something from scratch on your own: you learn how to teach yourself and how to learn from direct experience, you gain a unique insight into a medium maybe picking up on certain things that become “eureka moments,”  you learn self-reliance and are constantly on the look out for evolving your craft without the influence of strong personalities like teachers often have.  In this way, I feel like an explorer of new lands, able to find new personal worlds and a unique voice/vision.

That being said, teaching yourself can be a very slooooow process and there are times that I dreamed of how much fun it would be to hit the fast lane and pick up the tricks of the trade in a felting class from professionals!  There are 2 people in particular at the top of my dream list of taking classes: Lisa Klakulak and Chad Alice Hagen.

Lisa Klakulak offers a tremendous range of feltmaking classes through the Cloth Fiber Studios in her hometown of Asheville, NC.  She might even be traveling to a city near you since she teaches all over the country.  I really appreciate her investigation into specific feltmaking techniques and the clarity of the classes that she offers: each course tailored to a specific aspect of the craft ranging anywhere from felting with 2D and 3D forms to natural dying techniques.  You can read from the full menu of exciting classes here.

Chad Alice Hagen v. Felted Wiener Dog

I think I would definitely qualify as a Chad Alice Hagen fan, willing to camp outside her classroom for tickets to the show!  Not only has she written some fabulous must-have books on feltmaking, she also teaches classes around the country and in her hometown of Asheville, NC.  Her sparkling wit and intelligence will not doubt leave you with a life-long sense of the magic of the medium.

So….after years of doing it the hard way, these would be my dream classes and dream teachers.  Funnily enough, both hale from Asheville, which makes me wonder if there might be a new Pilchuck School brewing there?  Something to do for feltmaking what Chihuley and Pilchuck did for glass?  If there is, my bags are packed!!

Felt-making Classes in the Bay Area: Heidi Paul

Heidi is a local Feltmaker here in the Bay Area who offers great classes and makes her own wonderfully felted items.

Here is a link to her workshops for 2009 and her website, where you can see more of her delightful creations.

About Heidi’s affinity for felt and textile arts (from her website):

As a feltmaker, Heidi does conceptual work as well as millinery. “With felt I often let the piece tell me where it wants to go, but as a sculptor I start a piece with an idea. My pieces are balanced by intuition, trust and thought, letting both the skill of my hands and the nature of the material participate.”

Why fiber? “Fiber is approachable. I think textiles ask to be touched. We all have grown up with something soft or warm or compassionate that has made us feel safe and comfortable; textiles are an influential association.” Heidi believes the connection between the sense of touch and safety is one of the first and oldest experiences humans have. 

Heidi also teaches at the renowned Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina.