Tuesday, November 20, 2007

A Sculptor, I am not

I'm still playing a little catch up with blog posts and today its all about the "Going to the Dogs" needle felting class I took at Halcyon Yarn a week & a half ago. I got up at some awful hour earlier than usual (after a night out at the TSO concert mind you!) and drove the 2+ hours North by myself... through sun, clouds and even snow!

MaineDrive_11907

MaineDrive_11907b

Shh... don't tell Matt I took these photos while driving. He may not approve of my unique skill of photoing-while-driving in snow squalls.... mind you, I think its quite a talent! You're probably wondering why I even took photos.. well, it was the first snow I'd seen of the season... around the Portsmouth area and I just felt like documenting the trip (side note: we got our first snow fall of the season here in Southern New Hampshire today, though just a dusting).

I'm not big on bridges, but I always find driving over this one that leads from New Hampshire into Maine interesing.

MaineDrive_11907c

I actually made it to Halycon early for the class (even after a MickeyD's pit stop!), surprisingly! For anyone who knows me, you know I am so not a morning person and I often have that running-late thing going on. But alas, I made it a bit early and met Lisa there for the class. Our instructor was the wonderful Marianne Dubois, who brought along several of her gorgeous creations for us to oooohhhh & aaahhhh over!

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She's been in to dragons lately... this one was my favorite!

FeltingClass_11907dragon

We started the class making a basic, fun dog. The object was to make a standing dog of fun colors. Well, I quickly learned that cursing does not help your needling I wasn't cut out to be a sculptor. My doggy came out nearly twice the size he was supposed to be and I had quite the time "sculpting," but in the end I was pretty happy with the cute fella... though he still needs some more needling and finishing touches to be complete.

Here's Lisa and I (click each for additional photo) showing off our first doggies of the day.

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You can clearly see her's is much nicer (and more of normal size!) than mine. She's definitely got a talent for needle felting!

The second part of the class was to sculpt a standing dog that was to be more realistic. Damn, the class got difficult! Again, a sculptor I am not... but I gave it a go and I will pick it up again after I finish all this crazy holiday knitting. Marianne was very patient, though it was clear some people (ah-hum... Miss Lisa!) got it more than others. Now I know why I knit.... but again, I will pick it back up soon and work on it. I want to get the Fleece Dog book (hello, Santa... are you out there?) and work with it. Will. Get. The. Hang. Of. This.

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At the end of the day, we left with this (and lots of roving to finish at home with). That's my mess creations on the right and Lisa's to the left.

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That black blob of a mess is supposed to be the start (inside portion - which is only black because it'll be covered on the outside by black and apparently the usual inside of white shows thru when felting over with black... did you follow all that?) is supposed to be my Lola... or maybe Teutul... as you can see, it can turn in to whichever one at this point.

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They didn't have any blonde-ish fleece for us so I couldn't start out with a Zeus...

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Marianne also realized this should probably be a 6 hour class next time (ours was a 5 hour class with a lunch break). We were her first class working on the dogs and apparently they take much more time than her usual felted starter animals... go figure! It was a great class and I did learn a lot. It was great to spend the day with Lisa too!

8 comments:

Criquette said...

Your post cracked me up! I agree, it is a gift to be able to drive and photograph at the same time - but you did it in the snow!!! which makes you uber-gifted. I am also making a needle-felted dog this week as a gift (it looks more like a monkey with a bear head) and I can't sculpt worth a damn either. i figure if it doesn't turn out, it will make a fine chewtoy!

Alana said...

It's so fun to take a class once in a while!! I've taught way more than I've taken, so maybe that's why I get such a big kick out of taking one. Those little sculpted dogs are adorable! I can hardly wait to see your "babies" done up in felted wool, and fur!

Gina House said...

I'm very impressed with your pictures-while-driving. Very nice! Especially the bridge one. The class looked like it was so much fun....I love the purple dragons, too! I bet you'll be doing LOTS of needle felting in the future....come by the shop while I'm there...we have LOTS of fiber!!!

Susan said...

Wow, those dogs (and some of those other things that the instructor brought) are really cool. I saw the needle felted dog book in a store recently and I thought about buying it, but figured I'd never have the patience or talent to make them. Now I'm wondering if I just need a trip to the next workshop at Halcyon.

And I love the bridge photo. That bridge always says You're Going to Maine to me. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Kare said...

I'm telling!!!

hehehe

I love your dog that you made. It must have been such an interesting class.

SissySees said...

My mother inlaw is voting on telling Matt, because she's a nervous Nellie... I LOVE your blue dog, and I'm sure you'll not need a lot of practice until you're cranking out lovely renditions of your own doggies...

Beth said...

You have no idea how much I want to take a class like that! Looks like so much fun and your dog is fine - he's the perfect size. The fleece dog is a cool book too.

Joan said...

Oooh! That looks like fun. I don't see anything wrong with your dogs, faux OR fur. ;-}

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