Valerie Wartelle came to the club to tell us about her work in wet felting, illustrated with slides, sketch books, sample felted pieces and finished pictures.

Valerie has sketch books to record landscapes and subjects from which to create felted pictures. She also works from photographic images.

Valerie explained that she buys wool tops in a wide range of colours and does not dye fabrics. The fibres in the wool tops are already aligned (carded). which is necessary for bonding fibres together or into woven fabric.

As Valerie states on her website – “The process uses wool tops, hot water, soapsuds and friction to interlock loose fibres together to create a stable fabric.”
She slowly lays fine layers of wool fibres onto a plain flat woven fabric, together with linen fibres and silk threads.
The process needs warm water and physical agitation of the mass of fibres to encourage individual wool fibres to bond with each other and intertwine with the silk woven fabrics.
The pieces can be squeezed, pressed, rolled on the table or through a mangle.

The resulting matted wool is bonded, stable and colourful.

Valerie explained how she sews linen and silk threads and fibres into her paintings to make organic forms.

Landscape scenes may be created with subtle or bright colours blending into each other.

Valerie has a website with more details of her vision and methods as well as courses she runs.
https://valeriewartelle.co.uk
There is a short film showing her processes. Go to the following page and click on the image.
https://valeriewartelle.co.uk/my-practice

Mick Burton explained and demonstrated continuous line drawing and colouring at the May 2022 meeting in Glasshouses to a full house.

Many artists have used continuous lines in their artworks, Mick showed images of drawings by Picasso and Salvador Dali that used continuous lines.

He demonstrated how lines could be drawn in sections or at key crossing points before joining up loose ends to complete the drawing as a single flowing line.

He provided outlines of familiar images to enable members to construct continuous line drawings.
These are some of the results by members.

Colouring
Mick explained how enclosed areas can be coloured in a systematic way to emphasis the shape and flow of the subject. There is plenty of scope to vary the patterns.
These are some results by members.

Abstract Drawings

Mick showed members some of his abstract paintings. There is immense scope to create patterns and shapes with colours flowing around the lines.

Artworks by Mick Burton
Examples of his work can be viewed at > mickburton.co.uk/
Some of the artworks shown to members

Tracey made a return visit to demonstrate acrylic painting of a seaside scene. An enlarged image was projected onto the wall

She commenced with a blue/grey mix for the sky, applied with a flat brush. She added white to to the sky mix for the distant clouds, as illustrated.

Tracey painted layered horizontal blue greys with a smaller flat brush to create the sea, then blocked in the middle ground and foreground with a burnt sienna as a bright undertone to enhance the foliage to be applied.

After the sky paint had dried, Tracey applied white with a rough dry brush in swirling patterns.

Tracey then used a natural sponge to apply a dark green over the complementary orange ground.

Tracey added the chimney and windows and applied patches of burnt umber and Paynes grey with the flat of a pallet knife and rooflines and window features with the edge of the pallet knife as illustrated.

Rocks created with burnt umber, Payne’s grey and purple. In foreground, dark burnt sienna and dark green applied with scrapped pallet knife. A stipple brush used to apply yellow and greens and sponge to apply yellow ochre, lemon yellow and white to lighten the green gorse.

Tracey used the pallet knife to paint alternate dark and light for the steps and hand rails

In left foreground, dragged white to form grasses and in right foreground, red and yellow ochre dragged with knife.

Tracey applied a splatter of light colour using a toothbrush.

Painting at the end of the session.

Pateley Bridge Art Club are having a live exhibition of members’ artworks in Broadbelt Hall, Glasshouses Village which is 1 mile east of Pateley Bridge. It runs from April 8th to 11th, 10am to 5pm. Visitors welcome, refreshments and cake available.

Quarterly paintings submitted by art club members in March 2022