2014, wool, thread, string, buttons, bits and bobs, approx 36 x 27 inches.

This artwork was a collaboration with Andrea’s pre-kindergarten class and was raffled off for the 2015 ASL fundraiser.  Young children respond really well to making felt.  It is the oldest fabric and rightly so.  All you need is some fluff from a sheep or goat and some water and you can easily make a dense and warm fabric. Children also love rainbows, so this is a rainbow.  Actually, each child was only allowed to do one colour strip at a time, because believe it or not, all this wool gets messy and disorganized.  The consolation with this is that each colour has at least 10 variations that they could use.  They then laid thin(ish) layer after layer of raw wool in alternating directions .    I sewed them loosely inside a thin polyester piece of fabric to keep all the work stable.  I then washed it in hot soapy water until it became the firm fabric that we call felt!    From these strips, the children cut out pockets and chose buttons and special things which would go into their pockets.  I sewed all the strips together into a rainbow and sewed on the children’s pockets and buttons and added their bits and bobs.  Children love colour, they love to squirrel things away and they love secrets, so this is an homage to them.