SAXTONS RIVER — Wet felting is the topic of a free workshop to be offered at Main Street Arts on Saturday, Aug. 31, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Lorna McMaster and Liz Guzynski will lead the workshop, which is an introduction to the type of fiber work that will decorate set and costumes in MSA's production of The Secret Garden, opening Oct. 24 at the Bellows Falls Opera House. A follow-up workshop will be held in late September.
Workshop participants will learn how to use wool roving to construct wet felted flowers over a wooden form and how to create multi-petaled and layered flower shapes. The instructors will also demonstrate how to use a similar wet-felted process to make other sculptural shapes, including insects and fungi.
In addition to making a felted object to take home, participants will make one or more objects that will be used on the Secret Garden set.
All ages are welcome at the workshop, with an accompanying adult required for those younger than 12. An apron and rubber gloves are recommended for this wet activity.
Workshop leader McMaster has been breeding fiber sheep, working in wool, and teaching fiber art since 1997. She is a juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen and the Prince Edward Island Craft Council and has received several awards for her felt work.
Her needle Felted Dolls, hooked rugs and wet felted sculptures have appeared in several galleries in New England and PEI and her business, Lorna's Wool Needle Felting Kits, has taught thousands of people to needle felt since 2006.
She is the author of several instructional books including: Woolworks: Teaching to the National Standards with Fiber Arts; Nature Notebook: The Art of Learning to See; and Dancing with Sheepdogs: A Beginner's Guide to Herding. She farms in Pembroke, Prince Edward Island.
To register, contact MSA at [email protected] or 802-869-2960.