New Year for the Trees

The 30th January 2010 is Tu Bishvat, New Year for the Tress. Since reading about this festival in preparation for the Festival of the Trees, I have fallen in love with the notion of a holiday designated to tree planting. What a wonderful tradition. To mark this occasion I wanted to create something that honours the renewal of life, and love of trees.


A couple of weeks ago, my dear blog friend Yvette of Felting your Soul sent me a wonderful piece of hand dyed silk. The silk had been dyed with a huge chestnut leaf imprinting its colours into the centre of the piece and had oak leave painted around the edges with natural dyes. I've been so keen to work with silk, yet hesitant to do anything that may detract from the beautiful piece it already is.


So, when my Vicuna wool arrived, I decided it was so special it would be the perfect compliment to Yvette's piece. Vicuna is known as the fibre of the gods, one of the most luxurious fibres in the world. You have to touch it to believe it, softer than silk, just beautiful. The chestnut brown fibre you see in the picture above is the Vicuna.

According to my wool supplier, Vicuna is a relative of the Llama and Alpaca, two animals already well known for their soft wools. Living in Peru the Vicuna isn't farmed or domesticated as most fleece giving animals are, being allowed to roam free through the Andes mountain range.

To honour Yvette's piece, and in attempt to add to it without spoiling it, I laid out a small amount of viscuna oak leaves, and some oak leaves in white merino too. I then laid out spines to the leaves in silk tussah. But that is all i will show of this piece for now. i want to savour it and work on it some more.

Inspired by this piece, I decided to create another nuno felt to submit for January's monthly design challenge. January's theme is 'Japanese'. Nuno felt is a Japanese technique of laying down wool and silk together and driving the fibres of the wool through the silk until they bond and become one.

I am still familiarising myself with this Japanese technique but it is very addictive and the end results are so satisfying.

(silk side up)

(Wool side up)

All of the colours are natural and undyed. There is a real sense of satisfaction about working with the natural palate of nature. This is the kind of work I would like to focus on for 2010.

Thank you for the inspiration Yvette.

** IMPORTANT EDIT NOTE**

I have had a question about how the Vicuna wool is gathered. They are not farmed and the Vicuna is not killed to collect the wool as I have been advised was the process many years ago. My wool supplier advises that:

The reason the animals aren't farmed is because they have an amazing skill for being able to escape! Instead the regions in which the herds graze organise a "Chaccu" every year. Locals form a long line over the hillside and drive the animals into a funnel of coloured ropes which in turn lead into a corral. Once caught each animal is checked over and sheared, with just 200gms being taken from each.