NEW Studio Spin Sessions

I am thrilled to share with you my latest collaborative project, the Wooldancer Spin Sessions, a video series I am co-producing with MVMedia. With my uber talented man Marcel Varnel behind the lens, I am thrilled to bring our artistic visions to the screen for you to join me fly-on-the-wall stylee, and enter into the fibre world of Wooldancer!

After receiving requests from keen students and peeps overseas wishing to see the knitty-gritty of my creative process.. how i make expressive one-of-a-kind handspun yarns, how I spin & make the products i post in my shop, my wool dye methods, they way I make freeform crochet wearables,..  I decided to create a visual record of what I do in the studio. 

This video series will showcase many of my studio processes for you to view. I have uploaded my first video, Fibre Art Rolags, to Youtube and Vimeo. I personally love watching this in the Vimeo viewer.. and urge you to view in fullscreen!
 
The Spin Session videos are not intended to mimic How-To Tutorial videos saturating youtube.. instead I wanted to inject a sense of intimacy in the vision, so you can feel like you are right next to me, taking a Private Class. These videos are a glimpse into my process, and are a perfect preview of what takes place in my fibre art workshops.

"There is a fusion of skillful technique in construction & design, yet there is always an element of magic too! Come and join me in my studio, and share in my observations & joy in creating timeless Artisan yarn." - Michelle

I Heart You

 'I heart You' handmade *gift cards by Wooldancer

The New year has begun with a flurry of activity for Wooldancer, with a well-spring of new ideas, new found skills, projects to work on, new art to make, new products & website to create, and here I am again attempting to revisit my blog as a part of my studio process! 

I know I know I hear you say, oh so much to do.. we are grasping the magnitude of life, and being grateful for each and every moment. Opening myself to new opportunities, friends and sweet moments of creating with natural fibres .. warming my soul in a myriad of ways.

You continue to inspire me through posts on FB, IG, Pinterest.. oh how much our world has opened up with these portals of inspiration, communication and channels to one another. I am thankful that at this moment our expanding Wooldancer community has amassed over 720 likes on FB growing daily, with over 300 crafty followers on IG, & not forgetting our 476 faithful flickr family, I feel we have a milestone to celebrate! 

My eldest has made some fresh lemonade, the sun is shining, and we are chirping loudly with the birds, I hope you can feel the love and joy too! We are celebrating YOU, and your heartfelt contribution to shaping the journey of our Wooldancer experience, dancing to the rhythm of our wheels and our own tunes, as we spin the threads of our lives, together.

Thank YOU!
 *'I heart You' handmade giftcards now available in our online store, and FREE with online purchases over $25 before Valentine's Day Feb 14!

fast forward

It's been a long time between drinks my blog friends, so I shall attempt a photo-a-day record of fibery adventures since April this year..
It's been 4 fabulous fibre-filled months, beginning with a most memorable moment when I became a new bird amongst the fabulous flock known as Fibre Arts Australia. You know the story about introducing a new hen into the flock: sneak her in during the night, pop her on a perch, and in the morning the flock accepts her as having been there all along. I felt right at home, made welcome by Glenys Mann, a most generous organiser, whom I thank deeply for granting me the opportunity to be plucked out of the crowd and set on my perch for an incredibly inspiring week. Albeit Awe-struck at the company I was in, the feeling of Belonging remains true, and I hope one day to be back again amongst the fine flock of Forum fibre artists, some of whom I befriended and shall blog about here. Stay tuned!

Take a pictorial tour through my Fibre Arts Australia flickr set.

on the edge..

There's nothing quite like last-minute deadlines to fuel momentum.. I am on the edge of my seat with excitement to have been invited to include a piece of work in the upcoming group exhibition, Design On The Edge.

title: TBA

cocoon handspun with finnish landrace fleece; artists hair; wire

 

The metamorphosis has begun, and I forsee many late evenings in the stars for me to complete this goal of a human-size handspun cocoon.

Do join me on Opening night Sat 14 April 5:30pm at Braemar Gallery, Springwood NSW
and hold me to my word that I will emerge unscathed from 2 weeks of mega-making workshop spree I embark upon tomorrow..
firstly, I am hosting Vilte, felt artist from Lithuania, with her 5day workshop, then I head to Ballarat for another 5day workshop with Fibre Arts Australia, this time with moi at the helm.

grab a wheatgrass & hold onto your seatbelt folks, this fortnight is going to be a ride for the books!

shifting & shaping + Vitle update

The new year is symbolic of turning a fresh new leaf, and it is heartening to read around the interweb accounts of the significance this time of year.. there is a special kind of energy that propells us toward, that moves us forward, one step at a time, or in leaps and bounds toward markers in life, achievement of goals, as grand or simple as they may be.

i have been shifting and renewing Beneath My Skin, excited at what this dragon year holds. As a mother to 3beautiful growing children, each a Muse to me in their own unique ways, i observe my own growth as a mother through them. Confronting, enlivening and enriching as it is, I strive to always do better for them.

this year, I resolved to make a huge life change, to live an authentic life and work with dogged determination to make a sustainable existence for my family as a creative being.. To throw caution to the wind, and to live more deeply into my life as Wooldancer.. not only as a business or label, but for all the real qualities of owning my creativity as my vocation. I have been granted such fortune during the years by taking this path, by living into the community as a wool-worker, as a designer, as a teacher, as a student, and I hold my place in this dearly. And so it is, to offer Wooldancer to those who are willing to see my work and attend my workshops, to live into my art in Daily Life as a creative person who longs to derive a supporting lifestyle for my family, propelling me forward into 2012.

This choice has come with some reservation, as the 'job' i took on, guiding & holding a beautiful space for young children as a Family Day Care Educator, as close to my heart as it is, was veering me in a direction I know in my heart is not All That I Am. It is scary to let the certainty of employment go, but I have also found that other doors are opening for my woolly pathway, one that is as warm, trusting & comfortable, enfolding my soul & spirit, holding me up with comfort that It Is the right choice to make. [I am thrilled to have been invited to teach Stage4 Textiles this term for Kindlehill High School.. a challenge I am humbled and excited about exploring; and there are Workshops, ever so many wonderful workshops!]

For some folk this choice may seem obvious. Today, society demands that we be 'other' than who we are, to work at 'jobs' that we really would rather not, had we experienced different life circumstances, or if not, to chase our tails to survive.  I have been contemplating & sketching for some yarns that 'reflect" this theme: To make ends meet, to scrape for bread and butter, to keep our head above water.. these notions are the foundations of leading a 'happy life', for most it is simply to get by and make do, to simplify for a 'sustainable life'. I'm exploring this theme for an art project that will be showing in March at Braemar Gallery. If you fell so compelled, do Comment with your thoughts about your views on what a 'sustainable life' means to you.

 This choice, for my pursual of a sustainable creative life, is partly due to you my dear friends, who read and follow snippets of my journey as Wooldancer.. with the warmth and enthusiasm I have felt. For if not for your encouragement and continual support with all my endevours, i would not be (wool)dancing to my own rhythm. A heart-felt Thank you.

Shifting again, and rightfully in grey, The 2day Vilte workshop has sold out, as has the 3day Beyond The Surface workshop.
Thanks to those of you who have enrolled. This will be a special experience. Stay tuned for more wonderful woolly workshops with Wooldancer!
xoMichelle