Felting geodes and wall hangings

18 December 2024

Blog by felt artist, Anna Osborne

My project involved 12 community workshops to make felted geodes and a large piece of community felt art. It was designed to engage people who might not otherwise be drawn to looking at the history and geology of the area through an enticing and entirely accessible craft.

Workshop participants created multi-layered balls of wool around a resist which when felted. These were then cut open and decorated with glitter and glass pieces to represent the fluorspars of the region. The base product of wool is a natural one that has links with the North Pennine landscape and is attractive to work with due to its appealing textures and colours.

While waiting for the geodes to be felted in a tumble dryer, participants learned about the link between the craft and the North Pennines National Landscape. They were also invited to make a small needle felted picture based on the landscape and history of the area. A variety of subjects were created, from open moors, flowers (including gentian), sheep and other animals, and also the people and structural remains of the mining industry. These pictures, along with an extra-large geode that I made specially, became part of the final exhibition.

I ran four workshops aimed at young people and family groups, five workshops aimed specifically at adults, two workshops for home educated children and their families, and one workshop at Nenthead Primary School. The workshops were engaging for both children and adults. The home education community was notably enthusiastic, and very welcoming of a fun educational activity.

People seemed genuinely excited to make the geodes, and everybody left with something that they were proud of. Many people were introduced to felting for the first time, but the workshops worked just as well for those who had some felting experience who were introduced to new techniques. Participants expressed a wish to continue building their felting skills after the workshop.

Children were very keen to discuss their own finds of fluorspars and took great delight in using the UV torch to make their felted geodes fluoresce in the same manner as actual fluorospars. Families said that it was a good experience that engaged everyone together. Adult workshops were very sociable events with lots of conversations between people, and those that came alone appreciated the opportunity to socialise and combat social isolation.

Anna Osborne’s art bursary to deliver felting workshops in the North Pennines National Landscape was part of the 2024 community arts programme for the Land of Lead and Silver project, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England.

The 2025 community arts bursaries applications will open in January 2025.