My completed seven “chakra hearts”

The first stab is the hardest

I had so much resistance at the beginning. This is common for me and new projects. There is a period of resistance, after which I’ve decided on something, and maybe even gotten the materials, in which I just can’t start. Finally, late one night, I pulled up Jen’sĀ Facebook videos (Jen of Felt Me Now) to get started with her felted chakra hearts project.Ā  Half an hour later, thanks to her relaxed and competent instructions, I had a fuzzy red heart in front of me.

Jen teaching me to felt with a Facebook video

My first heart!

Once I get going

As soon as I had I mastered the basic technique, I wanted to keep making. So I did. Within a week, I had turned out all seven hearts. Classmates on Tuesday saw me felting in class. Hopefully instructors didn’t think I was tuned out. It’s just so relaxing and helpful to keep my hands busy while I am listening. It’s definitely better for my attention and brain than scrolling web pages or thinking about upcoming assignments and errands.

Felting in class

Cruising

So, what’s it like?

I’m ready to start answering my first inquiry question:

  • What is the practice of felting like? ā€“ Is it easy? Hard? Frustrating? Fun? Quick? Time-consuming?

Answers:

  • It’s easy!
  • It’s fun!
  • It can be quick (I got down to making a heart within 30 minutes), but it can also be time-consuming, in that you can keep fine-tuning and fine-tuning forever, or you could choose a more challenging project.
  • It’s possible to start experimenting right away

Experimenting with blending colours, by adding a little orange fibre to the yellow, to make it a stronger colour.

Experimenting with making an all-indigo heart, versus using core grey felt for the centre.

What’s next?

I still have to finish this project, by stringing a fishing line through the centres to make a wall-hanging. Then I might explore making more objects (seasonal gourds?) with the materials I have leftover. I could move on to my other two inquiry questions ā€“ What is the historical and ongoing practice of felting among First Nations communities in the Pacific Northwest? / Would felting make for a good medium for the secondary school art classroom? ā€“ but I feel like I want some more exploration of the material/medium first.

Hearts waiting to become a wall hanging.