How our felt workshops bring peace
What you don’t fully choose is the end result. You can choose colours, layer the wool to create depth and texture, add other items like bark, ribbon or cloth and make adjustments while it is dry, but once you begin that massaging process the wool takes on a life of it’s own! Colours look different, strands move to make new patterns and you find yourself discovering aspects you never knew were there!
A bit like life really.
Wet felt emerges from the making process with a life of its own – you can plan and guide but it always surprises you.
Ideal training for control freaks everywhere, as well as a healing experience for those who disengaged from traditional art because they couldn’t get it to ‘look’ right.
Felting lends itself to a range of styles, here are some of the options:
Workshops
If you have a group of up to 6 people who would like to do a workshop together please get in touch to discuss availability.
I am able to accommodate larger groups in an alternative venue, please get in touch for further details.
Starter session
1.5-2hrs
One off session
2-3hrs
Follow on sessions
2-3hrs
Longer courses
6wk modules
A course would usually include:
Introductory session
2 sessions exploring different styles of felting using a variety of techniques
Final piece:
Planning and testing out session
Creating session
Embellishment session to add detail
Upcoming Sessions
£24/person – 6 spaces available
Come along and create a landscape. Bring photos and memories to inspire you
£24/person – 3 Spaces available
Learn to felt a variety of different flowers and pick one style to create your final piece
£24/person – 5 spaces available
Felt a Christmas themed design to use on cards for a personalised christmas gift
Meet Rachel Heppenstall
Intrigued more by the process of artmaking than the end result, I undertook a Diploma in Art Therapy in 2007 and for many years have used the skills I developed working with children with physical and mental health issues, engaging them in the creative process and enabling them to produce work they didn’t think they were capable of!
Felting has been a key part of this, and I love watching people’s confidence grow as they engage with this beautiful, tactile resource.”
Rachel lives in Charlton Kings with her husband and three children. She loves her allotment but has managed to kill off every house plant she’s ever owned. She enjoys long walks in the hills followed by coffee and cooked breakfast. Over the last twenty years she has studied philosophy, worked in a rare books library, campaigned for recycling awareness, lectured in Environmental ethics in business, managed a cafe and taught Art. She loves to combine her passion for art with her environmental ethics.
Fully covered with DBS and PLI
Current projects
This piece was inspired by Blue Planet II episode 4: Big Blue where a mother whale had to leave it’s calf to dive down over a kilometre deep to feed. The calf was forced to stay near the surface as it was unable to hold its breath for long enough to reach the depths where goodness could be found. All this self-sacrificial care is enacted within an ocean adrift with plastic pollution and all the dangers surrounding it.
I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides crash over me
But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me
and through each night I sing his songs
praying to the God who gives me life
Psalm 42:7-8
Mixed media including felting, batik, embroidery and applique. All plastic waste and other flotsam found on beaches in Cornwall and Dorset.
FAQs
What is felting?
What happens when I turn up?
What does it cost?
For groups with their own premises my charges are £45 per hour session. Half days are £90 (one 3hr session or 2 shorter sessions) and full days £180 (two 2.5-3hr sessions or up to 4 shorter sessions).
For longer courses or larger groups rates can be arranged – please get in touch
What if I need to cancel?
What if I can't make the dates available?
Are you insured?
Do I need to bring anything?
I have a group that would like to try felting - can you come to us?
I also have access to venues around Cheltenham if you have a group but no venue of your own.
For travel outside Cheltenham an additional mileage cost would be included in the fee.