A well known artist from Gdansk talks about her fascination for felt. A collection of jewellery made of felt decorated with amber for the first time was presented at this year’s Amberif.
 How did you come up with an idea of making jewellery out of felt?
A few years ago at Ambermart fair we had an opportunity to view the products made of felt by an artist, a Polish woman living in Germany who makes different objects, jewellery and fabrics out of this material. Maria Milewicz-Brauer presented a small collection but it was big in such a way that it became an inspiration for many people. I know about it after several conversations with the “seeking” artists who did not hide their delight, but no one reached further and used it in his or her works. It was a different situation with me: I met the artist personally. Some time ago she brought me some fleece and showed me how to make felt. Through a trial and error method I achieved certain solutions of my own.
Is felt a rewarding material?
I like felt as a material very much as it provides various colour possibilities and it combines very well with amber. At present I make simple forms involving setting amber in felt as well as fuller, more designer-like compositions with amber and metal. It is like playing with colours depending on a type and shade of amber. Although felt making is actually a very hard work – you have to acquire new manual skills adapted exactly for this material. The similar situation was with flax and jute strings which I used to use. Felt is a friendly material for amber, both materials are warm. I feel happy that such person like Maria appeared as she became an inspiration for more than one person.
What made you interested in this material, after all it is quite ordinary?
Felt has a very deep historical traditions. The Scandinavian use it to produce clothes. Travelling tribes of Nomads and Mongolians used to build yurts – this material did not let in water and it kept warmth. Felt strings were used by the ancient people to string beads, bone decorations etc. Highland trousers are also made of felt – I have even considered going to the mountains and finding materials in natural colours. I am also interested in dyeing – in the past I used to dye by myself jute strings, silks and cotton which I used in my older works. Albeit I get fleece, which I use to produce felt, in ready-made colours.
 It turns out that there is a whole culture of felting – I have found many information concerning this subject on the Internet. In Poland there is a fashion designer Beata Jarmolowska who in 2006 presented beautiful outfits at Amberif Fashion and Jewellery Gala. I was enraptured with her fanciful hats in which there appeared felt elements matching perfectly the whole of the outfits. Zuzanna Bartecka, known also in our circle, whose outfits we also had a pleasure to watch at the Gala, for a few years has been designing outfit collections made of felt materials. The biggest number of artists working with this material lives in USA, Germany and Norway. In these countries they offer special courses of felting. An interesting fact is that in the West working with felt helps people with a cerebral palsy – a colour therapy provides incredible results. Colours heal and these kind of workshops also help the disabled in activating their manual skills. At present felt is underestimated, it is used to polish amber. However, I am thinking about a possibility to put it into industrial production. 
I am afraid that felt will gain acceptance only in the case of artistic jewellery; in industrial jewellery it might not be successful as associations with this material are not the best ones.
And that is a pity because it constitutes a very rewarding and durable material. It can be true that indeed it does not have the best associations but the reason of such situation is that we know very little about it in Poland. Personally I like new challenges and discovering new materials. If I made someone interested in this material, I encourage to have great fun. 2007-10-08 | 
