Artistic | Laura Lee Burch

My Art Studio by Laura Lee Burch

It took a long time to finish my studio, after we bought the 150+ year old Ottoman-era property in the ancient port city of Jaffa, Israel; we had to design the space and then rehab it with the help of ancient architecture specialists (architects, engineers, builders and carpenters) because the building is historic and required many special details in its restoration. The building has been many things over the years but it’s original purpose was as a barn. The building is located in Shuk Ha Pish Pishim (the flea market); in ancient times herders kept their livestock in the area below our apartment and slept in the rooms that are now our house. The herders sold their livestock in the market that still exists today albeit with a very different look and feel! The flea market today is a very hip and gritty place with many bars, restaurants and boutiques.

There are 2 outdoor spaces in our house now but years ago the rooms were built around an indoor courtyard, a very common feature of Arabic architecture. The rooms are designated by the vaulted ceilings, one of the most striking features of the house.

It took us a little more than 3 years to rehab our home in which my studio is located. My art studio has a mid-century modern look; it contains 8 large storage cabinets with transparent backs so you can see the stones behind, a card catalog for storing tiny supplies like threads, tape, felting supplies, knick-knacks etc., two mid-century style tables, my aquarium of turtles and a little sofa. There were two niches in my studio (we don’t know what they were for); I now use one as a storage area and one as a bathroom.

I keep my wool, fabrics and finished sculptures in my storage cabinets.

I have a mid-century style handmade, walnut sewing table and a matching taller table with my computer on it; this is where I felt because all my wool is in the cabinets behind me. As I sit and work I can watch my turtles in the aquarium that separates my studio space from the rest of the house. Louie and Shmoopy (my dogs) often visit me in my studio, Shmoopy is currently banned from the studio because she has eaten too many of my felted pieces; she jumps up on the table and cabinets and steals them.

My sewing table has an inspiration board behind it. I have many memories stashed inside the studio; the chair was my grandma Burch’s sewing chair.

Sewing has been a handed-down activity. From my grandma Burch and from my mother to me, from myself to my daughters.

My father made this wooden tool chest when he was just starting his career.

I’m holding Alice’s needle felted flamingo.

I’ve added many family heirlooms in my studio; they give me inspiration and they are reminders of quality, old-world craftsmanship. My fiber-art is needle felted, many times with embroidery, beads or textiles incorporated into the work.

Studio before:

Studio space before: stucko walls and ceiling.

Studio before: Second cubby hole, now used for storage.

Studio after the walls and ceiling were sandblasted and the cement floor was layed.

Needle felting and Mixed Media

The beginning of the long process of embroidery.

At one point in my needle felting I began to wonder how I could make the surface more interesting, so I began to experiment. I needle felted a mask using a large felted ball as a mold to help me obtain the curved shape of the mask. I felted the mask face as I’d felt any doll face but as I started to apply the colors of the face I became bored with the felted outcome. I decided to start the long, arduous process of embroidering the mask.

It took me several years to finish this project because many other projects became more important and I put the mask away, time and time again. Because of the tediousness of the embroidery I wasn’t excited to finish it.

As I progressed with the mask embroidery, the shape of the mask changed and I had to keep reshaping it. Getting the needle through the center part of the face was very difficult. By this point (above) I was anticipating adding color so the process became more exciting!

Multi-media mask for Purim, Halloween or the theater.

The mask came to life with the addition of each different color that I added. The more colors applied to the surface, the faster I worked!

I compare the many colorful thread stitches of my mask to brush strokes; the outcome reminds me of an impressionistic painting.

My Theater Mask has a felted, embroidered handle.

I sewed/glued a chop stick to the side of the mask for a handle; I felted a handle, embroidered it black and inserted the thread-wrapped chop stick into the handle. I sewed black beads around the mask to compliment the handle.

The feel that the messy, inside of the mask is as interesting as the outside! I’m looking forward to my next needle felted-embroidered mask and I’m sure I will finish it in record time!

Pig Jokes and Needle Felted Pigs!

Q: Who is the smartest pig in the world?
A: Ein-swine

Q: Why did the pig cross the road?
A: He got boar-ed.

Q: What do you call a pig with laryngitis?A: Disgruntled.

Q: What do you call a pig who won the lottery?
A: Filthy rich.

Q: What do you call the story of the three little pigs?
A: A pig tale.

A policeman in the big city stops a man in a car with a pig in the front seat.
“What are you doing with that pig”” He exclaimed, “You should take it to the zoo.”

The following week, the same policeman sees the same man with the pig again in the front seat, with both of them wearing sunglasses. The policeman pulls him over.

“I thought you were going to take that pig to the zoo!” The man replied, “I did. We had such a good time we’re going to the beach this weekend!

Q: Why should you never tell a pig a secret?
A: Because they love to squeal.

A man in a movie theater notices what looks like a pig sitting next to him.
“Are you a pig?” asked the man surprised.
“Yes” the pig replied.
“What are you doing at the movies?”
The pig replied, “Well, I liked the book.”

Q: What do you call a pig that’s not fun to be around?
A: A boar.

Educational and Medical Aides Made by Needle Felting

I do a lot of different commission work in needle felting, it’s usually a doll or a mask or a beloved pet. I’ve made puppets for educational aides in the past but recently I was asked to do a bust of a multi-ethnic young girl; the customer wanted the doll’s mouth to be able to open and close and her tongue to be movable. The customer is a speech therapist who thinks that demonstrating how to move and place your tongue will help her young patients to better follow her instructions. I tried to stay away from the ventriloquist-look as much as possible because I think ventriloquist dolls are scary looking. The very unique thing about this therapy doll is that you can place the tongue in different areas in the mouth to show children more easily how to make specific sounds:)

“Put the tip of your tongue on the bottom of your front teeth.”

From the commentary I’ve received concerning this bust, the speech therapist is onto something!

Bęc Smith I’m a speech pathologist and think this is so cool!

Sabrina Chan That is very cool coming from someone who would have benefited from seeing that as a child.

Laura Burch I’m so happy to hear this!

Cyn Plahuta I agree with Sabrina Chan — I think the speech pathologist would’ve been a lot more effective with me when I was a kid if she’d had something like this. Great idea!

The following photos show the step by step felting process of the Speech Therapy Bust:

Continue reading “Educational and Medical Aides Made by Needle Felting”

Hat Head

Imagine looking chic outside in the cold, even in a hat!

The girl who’s always on her A-game wears a 1960’s needle felted/embroidered hat!

Straight out of Mad Men, the 1960’s Doo keeps you warm because its lined in fluffy fleece and keeps you looking gorgeous inside and outside this winter!

The 1960’s Doo is needle felted from wool, the details are embroidered and beaded onto the wool hat.

Wear a piece of art!

Its cold outside, but my Doo will keep me toasty warm!

This needle felted hat took so long to make I lost track of the hours! The hair shape was felted and then hours and hours of embroidery started. I used varying colors of yellow and ochre to give the “hair” depth. The fancy headband was also embroidered and beaded. The interior is lined with fleece so that the hat is actually usable in cold weather!

Q: Who is the smartest pig in the world? A: Ein-swine

Q: Why did the pig cross the road? A: He got boar-ed.

Q: What do you call a pig with laryngitis?A: Disgruntled.

Q: What do you call a pig who won the lottery? A: Filthy rich.

Q: What do you call the story of the three little pigs? A: A pig tale.

A policeman in the big city stops a man in a car with a pig in the front seat. “What are you doing with that pig”” He exclaimed, “You should take it to the zoo.”