Lily S. May–Life with Art
I have finally finished the appliqué I've been working on that I struggled with. I made it with merino wool felt, cotton fabric and cotton threads. After sewing, unsewing and resewing the work, here it is. I'm happy to have seen it through to completion. I was inspired to sew the appliqué by the very… Continue reading Finally!
I finished this wool felt wall hanging this week. I worked on it slowly over a month and a half or two months and it was a struggle at times. I sewed and resewed after ripping out stitches that I felt could be improved. I went through many emotions while working that are sometimes part… Continue reading The Meeting
I began working on this wool felt appliqué in the spring and finally finished it (for now anyway) during this past month. At first, when I assembled the shapes, the piece looked like a scene of innocence. That didn't feel right to me because this time has not been innocent what with the arrival of… Continue reading Springtime During the Pandemic
There is a small, excellent museum in Toronto called the Textile Museum of Canada. It re-opened recently and I went there on the weekend to see the work of one of my favourite artists, Anna Torma. She does large scale hand embroidered pieces that are spectacular. Her exhibition is called Permanent Danger after a piece… Continue reading Anna Torma at The Textile Museum
This past Sunday I attended an excellent wet felting workshop in Toronto taught by Monika Aebischer. You can see her beautiful work and teaching schedule at http://www.theolivesparrow.com. I had gotten ill for the originally scheduled workshop, so I joined other participants who were learning nuno felting in which they combined silk and felt to create… Continue reading All in One Piece
Dreaming of flowers on a day when there's an extreme cold weather alert in Toronto. This small felt appliqué is one I made at the end of last year with merino wool felt. I enjoyed contrasting machine die cut flowers with hand embroidery. Keep warm, people, and dream on!
In addition to reviewing my earlier work, I'm also doing new work. This small wall hanging is a combination of both. I found it in a box of partially finished cloth works I started years ago. I decided to finish it in the evenings, sewing as I listened to the amazing and wonderful stories on Moth Radio online. I turned… Continue reading Oh My!
After making the little felt bowl that I showed in the last post, I got to work on this piece. I'll be felting it further to make it sturdier. There's bits of alpaca among the merino wool.
I made this cotton wall hanging in 2002. It's 8 1/2" x 11." I deliberately left the edges raw to experiment with texture and sewed the piece by machine. Mola appliqués, a type of vibrant multi-layered work, were part of my inspiration for Seeds of Peace.
Arts of May 