Leiko Uchiyama – Felt-Making Artist
Handweavers Guild of Boulder
January 2024 Day & Evening Program
Leiko is a felt making artist nestled in the picturesque Blackstairs Mountains of County Carlow, Ireland. Her journey has taken her from her Japanese home as an agricultural and textile design graduate, to New Zealand, where she worked on a sheep farm, to Indonesia where her felt-making techniques developed and France, where she relished aesthetically and culturally rich surroundings.
The experience she has gathered through making, all the sheep breeds and the many types of wool she has worked with, have helped her to refine her skills. She creates wearable pieces with wool and silks which she dyes using her own color recipes. She also enjoys making functional pieces for the home such as tableware, stool tops, wall pieces or rugs.
Leiko has developed many felting techniques including one called Pine Needles. It was inspired by the look of pine needles on snow. It creates a fine, lacy felt – no actual pine needles are involved.
Leiko teaches felting workshops throughout Europe, America, Australia and Japan and she has exhibited in many different countries.
Day Meeting Presentation: My Felting Journey – the Red Thread of Fate
‘The red thread of fate’ is an expression in Japan to explain the special connection with someone important to you. “I can see my felt red thread has been leading me to who I am today as an artist,” she said. Leiko will tell us about how she has learned her craft and developed new techniques for felting.
Evening Meeting Presentation: Lacy Line Felt to Heavy Duty – Diversity of Felt
Felt making is so adaptable, it can be made into something very fine and soft or something strong and heavy. More than 1000 breeds of sheep in the world make this possible! Leiko will show us the materials and techniques she uses to make her many gorgeous items and will show us her technique called “pine needles” which creates lacy felt.
January 15, 2024 – Guild Day Meeting 10:00 am – Zoom Presentation
My Felting Journey – the Red Thread of Fate
January 16, 2024 – Guild Evening Meeting 7:00 pm – Zoom Presentation
Lacy Line Felt to Heavy Duty – Diversity of Felt
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