Have you ever wondered what goes into the making of massive art batts?
In this video, you can see a behind-the-scenes look at precisely what goes into the whole process. At 4x speed, watch the creation of a giant landscape batt, from empty carder to final unrolled batt.
Landscape batts are a joy to create - for this one, I was inspired by the classic fairy-tale motif of "the upside down" from Stranger Things, or Patricia McKillip's "Ombria in Shadow", or "Through the Looking Glass" - the idea that a magical mysterious world might lay beneath the firm reality on which we stand. The majority of this batt represents that mysterious world, with a small sliver of pale, sparkling sky and green hillside to top things off.
Every artist approaches batt making differently. I like to work in layers, building up a base and adding texture and depth before adding yet another layer to get the batt to the size I want. These landscape mega-batts don't involve a lot of planning, but are spontaneous and inspired by my own ideas and the colors of fibers I have on hand. My studio becomes buried in bits and pieces of colorful wool, silk, sparkle, and I pull from the piles as the mood strikes me.
Batts like these can be terribly difficult to photograph, but wicked fun to spin, precisely because of all of those layers. A photograph can only show the surface, so I hope you'll enjoy this peak into what goes inside.
My favorite aspect of this industry is that it doesn't end here - the rest is up to you, the spinner, felter, weaver, knitter or crocheter, fiber artist. Seeing what happens to my creations after they leave my door is completely thrilling. If you share on social media, be sure to use #ClassySquidFiberCo on Instagram and Twitter so I can find your posts - @ tagging me often gets lost due to the amount of notifications I receive. Hashtags are forever! On Facebook, you can tag my page Classy Squid Fiber Co or post directly on the page's wall - I love to see what you create.
Happy Spinning!
~Amanda