Painting with Wool - SOLD OUT 7-16-09

Resume of Theresa May-O'Brien

Resume of Mehmet Girgic

Painting With Wool

2 Day workshop
Friday and Saturday
October 16 and 17
9:00 AM - 4:00PM BOTH DAYS

Class Fee - $350
Class Size - 10 students

 Instructors: Mehmet Girgiç and Theresa May-O’Brien

In this workshop, we will teach students how to blend, layer and manipulate the wool to behave as paint and pencil line for  painterly wool felt work.

 In this class, students will learn to create their own personal color palette from our natural dye Turkish Merino through carding and blending.

Students will practice applying the wool to the handcrafted wool canvas in layers so to blend in the felt making process like paints mixing on paper.  Fiber will be manipulated into hand crafted roving to work in the felt painting like a drawing line, allowing the handcrafted line to add to the artistic qualities.

After the layout, students will practice a variety of hand rolling techniques both traditional and contemporary to felt and then full their work to a durable art piece quality.

Students will take away both a quality hand crafted wall hanging as well as the felt making skills to add to their woolen textile craftsmanship.

 Students must bring:

Theresa May-O’Brien: Resume

Objective
Felt making and Teaching of International Culture Through Art

Experience

July-Aug 2008 Co Taught Felt making workshop Felt Garments   Konya Turkey

AugSept2007Taught3dayOsmanTechniqueFeltersFling 

International Conference on Felt Making

July/Aug 2007 Workshop  Tour Natural Dyes / Felt Making with Mehmet Girgic
2006/Aug Co-taught with Mehmet Girgic Osman Technique Felt Workshop Konya, Turkey
2006/June Co-Taught with Mehmet Girgic Osman Technique Felt making at Millersville University in Millersville, PA
2006/June Co-Taught with Mehmet Girgic Osman Technique Felt making at the Fiber Studio in Henniker, NH
2006 Co-Taught with Mehmet Girgic Natural Dye Workshop at Woodscape Artistry Studio in Oneonta, NY
2006 Lecture on Turkish Textiles Berkshire Hills & Dales Spinners Sheffield, MA
2006 - Visiting Instructor Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey
2006 Lecture on Turkish Textiles Golden Fleece Spinning Guild/Schohaire, NY
2006 Felting Instructor, Vancouver British Columbia, Canada
2006 Lecture on Turkish Textiles Albany Fiber Guild/Albany, Oregon
2006- Felting Instructor, Newport Visual Arts Center, Newport Oregon
2006/Jan Lecture on Turkish Textiles /Blacksheep Spinners Guild/Ithica, NY
2005 - Present : Visiting Instructor, Rochester Weaving and Fiber Arts Guild
2004 - Present : Visiting Artist, Roxbury Arts Group/CROP Program
2003 – Present : Lecturer, Regional Felting and Fiber Guilds
1988 – Present : Fiber Artist and Feltmaker, Self-Employed
1996 – Present : Instructor, Flying Cloud Art Institute
1994 - Present : Instructor, IS183 Art School of the Berkshires
1970 – Present : Freelance Watercolorist, Self-Employed

Education
February 2005 : Mentorship under feltmaker Mehmet Girgic, Awarded through New York Foundation for the Arts
September 2004 : Cornell Cooperative Extension Micro-Enterprise Program
2004 Workshop with Feltmakers from Kyrgistan in Traditional Felt Folk Art/Yurt Building at the International Felt Symposium /Hungary
2004 Workshop with Feltmaker May Istvandahl Norway /At International Felt Symposium / Hungary
2003 Turkish Felt Rug Making with Feltmaker Mehmet Girgic
2001 Traditional Turkish Rug Felt making with Feltmaker Mehmet Girgic of Turkey
2002 Dye making For Felt Workshop with Feltmaker Jorie Johnson/ Pro Chemical & Dye /Somerset, MA
2000 Felt Garment Workshop with Feltmaker Polly Stirling/ IS183
1992 Felt making Workshop with Feltmaker Beth Beede/Interlaken School of Art
1977-1981 : Bachelor of Science, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Exhibits/Shows ”The blues” Northeast Feltmakers Guild Exhibition Granby, CT Set-Oct 2008

Aug/September 2007 Exhibition Wool as Art Gallery 51 Philadelphia, PA

June/July 2007 Yun Sanatı /Wool Art  Millersville University Exhibition with Mehmet Girgic
2006: One Woman Show Felt work in Oneonta, New York / Late lounge Coffee House
2005 : Exhibited felt work in the Faculty Show/ IS183 Art School of the Berkshires, Stockbridge, MA
2005 : Exhibited at How They Felt: Contemporary Felt making, Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield, CT
2005 : Exhibited at New Dimensions of Felt making in Ankara, Turkey
2004 : Exhibited in Fabulous Felt Show in Athens, New York
2004 : Exhibited and Demonstrated Felt making at World Felt Symposium in Budapest, Hungary
2004 : Exhibited felt making in Sheeptacular in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
2002 : Juried Exhibit of felt garment in Convergence in Vancouver, British Columbia
2001 : Show us Your Bra Benefit Art Exhibit in Northhampton, Massachusetts
2001 : Hands on Crafts Exhibit, Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Resume : Mehmet Girgiç

       Mehmet Girgiς was born in Konya, Türkiye 1953.  At the age of thirteen, Mehmet joined his grandfather, father and uncle in the family felt business.  They were making kepenek (shepard coats) and keςe  felt rugs. 

     In 1987 Mehmet replaced all the sikkes (whirling dervishes hats) from the Mevlana Museum and is now being asked to look after and  maintain them.   Because of his work with the sikkes, Mehmet is known worlwide as one of the remaining traditional sikke makers.

     In 1996, the first English group came to Konya to take part in a felt rug workshop.  After that , Mehmet was called by the Oxford University to a very popular exhibition called “Art in Action”, where Mehmet  was asked to give demonstrations. (1997 and 2000)   Mehmet was asked to become a member of the International Feltmakers Association, and was  then asked to give workshops in theUK

     In 1997,  the Universitat Osnabruk from Germany, invited Mehmet to give a sikke and felt carpet workshop.

     Mehmet’s first workshop in America was in 2001 where he has returned every year due to increasing interest in his handcraft skills.  The Lincoln University of Missourri, called Mehmet to be the Keynote speaker for their fiber retreat and to teach his technique to students.  Mehmet was also invited to give lectures at Kent University and the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh

In 2008, UNESCO/Turkey declared Mehmet Girgiç a “Living Treasure” for his work in the traditional handcraft of felt making.  Mehmet is the last person to be accepted into the Felt making Guild of Konya, Turkey.

     After 25 years of research, Mehmet has gained  master status in wool identification and natural dye processes for textiles.  Mehmet has also expanded his research  to identify and bring back some of the old kilim and carpet designs.     The family business is continuing ,  Mehmet and his wife are working together to keep these traditional textile arts alive.

     Since 2004, students from the Art School at  Selςuk University of Konya,  have been comming  to  the workshop to develop their skills in felt.

     Mehmet was written into the Leonardo DA Vinci Program for 2004 and 2005.  This  is a cultural exchange  program betweenEurope and Turkey for people working in

handcrafts.

Konya Life Magazine 2007

HALI magazine (No 12 

HALI magazine (No 25 Anniversary)                                   

National Geographic Magazine                                                                 

Vacation Magazine(Japanese )

ETN European Textile Network magazine (Germany)

“FILZKUNST” author Marlene Lang

“WOHMEN MIT FILZ” author Marlene Lang

“Uniquely Felt” author Chris White 2007

Exhibition and Workshop

Art in Action, Oxford University

New Dimensions of Feltmaking/Ankara Turkey

Surface Design Association, USA

2nd Santa FE International Folk ART Market/ Anatolian Artisans, USA

Mattress Factory Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Licoln University  of Missourri, USA

Millersville University, Millersville,PA

Back to the Floor Rug Exhibiton, Wayne State University,Detroit,MI

Hillcreek Fiber Studio, USA

Woodscape Artistry Studio, Oneonta,NY/USA

Mehmet Girgic/Claudia Gemein/ Guzel Sanatlar Galerisi-Konya, Turkey

Friday October 16 & Saturday October 17, 2009

9:00am - 4:30pm

Cost: TBA 

Class Size: 10 Students