Wildflower I by Joan Anderson

This framed fiber art was created by Joan Anderson of Grand Rapids Michigan.

Frame size: 11" wide x 11" tall x 1 7/8" deep

Joan’s fiber art is rooted in a lifelong engagement with the landscape in both organized gardens and the natural environments of woods and lakes of Michigan. While working in the garden, she observes patterns and individual plant shapes in compressed confined spaces that find their way into her art.

Similarly, walking through wood and lake settings reveal more open spaces with different natural patterns to explore. Felted work not only visually represents these natural interrelationships like the effects of water on plants and soil, but also emulates these relationships physically, in that wet felting involves composing landscapes through the hand manipulation of wool fibers in water, soap, and friction. The wool fibers fuse together to form a structure that also becomes an initial color field.

Afterwards, designs are further developed by defining the contours of individual shapes with a combination of sewing and the addition of other fabrics, dry felting (using barbed needles to punch into the wool fibers), and found objects. The final image is an assimilation of responding to the initial felt color field and her observations and memory of her encounters  with the subjects depicted.

Find more of Joan's work here.