Felt by Design

My blogs

Industry	Arts
Occupation	Cultural Policy Officer
Location	Ontario, Canada
Introduction	Allyson is an emerging feltmaker and textile artist living in Canada's National Capital Region with her partner and their Yorkie dog and Tortie cat. She graduated from Canterbury High School’s specialized and intensive visual arts programme (1998). Exposed to various mediums during her art studies (including photography, mixed media painting/drawing, life drawing, print-making, ceramics, sculpture and textiles) she explored the possibilities of each before falling in love with felt-making during a special mentorship with well-know fiber artist Maggie Glossop. Working primarily on interpretative landscapes and conceptual abstract pieces, Allyson strives to convey the raw emotion she sees and feels in the natural world of expansive sky, vast water, towering trees and young plants. The physical process of patting, rubbing, rolling and kneading the natural fibres until they mat together not only creates work that communicates what Allyson sees, but also implicates her body in the physical environment from which she draws her inspiration and materials (sheep's wool, mohair locks, silk, bamboo and soy fibres).