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Door County Art League Meeting: June 25, 2007
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THE CRAFT OF HANDFELTED WOOL TO BE DEMONSTRATED
AT DOOR COUNTY ART LEAGUE MEETING
Door County fiber artist Rosie Dittmann will be guest speaker at the Door County Art League’s monthly
meeting on Monday, June 25th, beginning at 7:00 PM at the Gibraltar Fire Department meeting room. The
public is invited as Rosie, who describes her work as a contemporary approach to an ancient craft,
demonstrates wool felting. Rosie says, “Each wool fiber has microscopic cuticles that open when wet; this is
what allows the fibers to catch on to each other and form a solid mass, my material!”
Her favorite subjects are flowers, trees, birds, and geometric designs. The fiber itself, its color and texture,
whether it is natural or dyed, stimulates her and gives her ideas, which then continue with cutting, layering,
folding, and embellishing. At times, Rosie has a specific image in mind; however, she often just sets out fiber
that attracts her at the moment, looks at it periodically, adds other colors or yarns, and “waits until it tells me
what to do.”
Rosie has been working with wool for thirty years…knitting, spinning, and weaving…and has been handfelting
for the past eight years. “Wool is a natural fiber, has wonderful qualities, and felting pushes the limits of what
can be done with it,” Rosie explains.
Beginning with the varied fiber-arts as a hobby, Rosie then added to her knowledge with a self-directed
journey through books, practice, and classes with professional weavers and felters from around the world.
She says her teachers, the Bauhaus weavers, and artists from the craft movement, including Frank Lloyd
Wright, have influenced her artistic endeavors.
Rosie’s work is exclusively at Whitefish Bay Farm Gallery on County Road WD in Sturgeon Bay . Her pieces
will also be displayed at the “Art in the Barn/Women Create” show at Off the Wheel Pottery in Egg Harbor in
July and at the Fairfield Gallery with “Women Create” in December. In addition, she and her husband own a
small commercial sign shop.
Few people know about the craft of feltmaking, so Rosie hopes to enlighten a few more at the Art League
meeting. She says, “Felting brings me joy, comfort, and satisfaction!”
The Door County Art League was organized in 1986 for the purpose of developing active community
involvement in the field of creative arts. Membership is open to artists and all other persons interested in and
supportive of the visual arts in Door County. Since the first season, the League has offered a variety of
programs to members and guests wishing to enrich their lives through the knowledge, use, and enjoyment of
art.
The Gibraltar Fire Department is located at 3496 County Road F in Fish Creek. For more information on the
League, go to www.doorcountyartleague.org or call President Dorie Zimmerman at 920-868-1142.
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