Felting in Spain

 

Article by Barbara Sheehey, Benaluaria, Spain & Pam Blasko, CN, USA

 

How it began

 

In the summer of 2005 I made an unplanned trip to the US because my father suddenly became very ill. Once we got there he suddenly got well and walked out of the hospital on his own feet 3 days later. This left us with 2 1/2 weeks of unexpected tourist time. I had heard that in the US there are quite a few people making felt so I decided to try to find some of them, without knowing that it has really become a big thing. My parents and sister had visited an exhibit at the Brookfield Crafts Center a few months before and had bought the CD published with photos of the exhibits. That was practically all the information I had at that point. By happen chance my sister Pamela mentioned a country fair which is held every Sunday in a nearby town. We went and there I saw a young woman selling knitted woolen hats and dyed wool. I asked her if she makes felt and, though she didn't, she told me she had a neighbor who did. I took down the telephone number and called Pam Blasko that afternoon and made arrangements to visit her during the following week.

 

The house is a lovely log cabin in the forest, near a lake with woolly animals in the yard. We saw llamas, alpacas and cute, short-legged little sheep. Pam, who had never seen us and hadn't even heard of us till a couple of days before, received us like old friends and showed us all around Dream Come True Farm with great pride and enthusiasm. She excitedly told us all about what she does and what she plans to do in the near and far future, all directly related to her woolly creatures and her love of the wool itself.

 

I was definitely surprised, since until then I had only come up with people who consider me pretty crazy to be gathering the wool and trying to use it for modern work. My friend Nicky and her husband, had moved from England to Alpandeire, Spain to set up a bed and breakfast and a studio where they can give art classes. She told me about felt and had given me a 10 minute lesson in wet felting just before rushing off to the airport). That was the full extent of my formal learning experience with felt and from then on I was on my own.

 

I was totally flabbergasted and more than excited when Pam told me about the felting needles and showed me how to use them. I was amazed that felting could be so easy and spent the next few weeks felting with the needles she gave me. After having showed us all the things she makes with the wool and telling us all about how to do every part of the process we got into the car, my head full of new thoughts and new information.

 

Just as Chris started the car after having waved good-bye many times Pam suddenly started making urgent gestures for us to open the window. When I did she called out “ Listen, you could also make soap in a jacket, its easy to make and sells really well. You take the soap and .......” She yelled out all the instructions from her porch down to the car and repeated them to make sure I had caught on. I was impressed by her immense generosity and love for her subject. During the conversation I had casually asked her if she would be interested in coming to Spain to teach if I could get a government subsidy to pay for it. She had immediately said yes, without even stopping to think about it, but it was merely a casual comment within a two- hour conversation between people who had never met before. We again said good-bye and left. My parting thought was that this was exactly the person I was looking for as resident artist; her parting gesture of running out to be able to give just a little bit more had totally convinced me.

 

Village of Benalauria, Spain where felting classed took place, population 500 

 

 

Once I was back in Spain I started looking for subsidies that could include my plan for resident felting artist and found one in the Environmental Department of the Provincial Government. I wrote the petition based on what I had been able to see of Pam in that short visit and made up her bio and the things I thought she could teach us. I am happy to say that all of the things I imagined have actually happened. She taught everything I hoped she would teach, and more; and gave all the information I hoped she would give, and more.

 

Shearing in the street of Benalauria, Spain

 

Eight months later I received an affirmative answer on the subsidy. I had been planning to call her, as well as the other contacts I had made on that visit, for months, just to keep in touch, but other things just kept getting in the way; a typical excuse for lots of us which allow us to not do what we think we should do.

 

Once I saw that there was a real possibility of carrying out this part of my plan I called her one Sunday afternoon in May.

 

“Hello, Pam? This is Barbara. I do not know if you remember me but I visited you one afternoon in August of last year”

 

“Oh yes, I remember, How are you?”

 

“Just fine, listen I'm calling you to ask if you want to come to Spain to teach felting in a tiny village in the mountains.”

 

“When?”

 

“Whenever you like, next week if you want to.”

 

“Let me talk to my husband and I'll get back to you.”

 

Since then they told me that they were at that time planning a trip to Florida to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. Pam says she leaned out the window and said “Hey Mike, how about Spain instead of Florida? And he answered “OK, I’m cool.” 

 

She called back the same day and said yes, they would start making arrangements immediately. Soon we were exchanging e-mails about passports, lodging, flights, etc., and a month later they got off the plane in Málaga, Spain.

 

Sheep Shearing, Spain

 

Pam and Mike arrived in Málaga after an 8-hour trip. Even though it was the first time they had traveled outside the USA and evidently the first time they had found themselves in a place where a language they don't understand is spoken, they were extremely serene and excited. I will never forget the first conversation I had with Pam while we were waiting for one of the members of the association who was going to drive us to the hotel.

 

After the usual formalities of “how was the trip? Are you tired?, etc., Pam launched into a detailed description of all the new things she had planned to do during the course. I had to laugh and tell her just to relax a bit until she had rested. Instead of giving in to their logical jet-lag they were up and raring to go until local bed time, which is already later than they are used to, since in Málaga people seem to sleep less than in most other places.

 

We had made arrangements for them to stay in a hostal in Málaga near my house so we could show them around the city a bit and explain the historical and cultural aspects of one of the two oldest cities in Europe. We would let them get accustomed to a new culture before going to Benalauría to start the course and settle in to what was to be their home for the next 3 weeks. They would have enjoyed it thoroughly if Pam hadn't finally given in to her exhaustion by getting carsick.

 

Rafael Fernandez Guerra, founding member of the Association and always willing to help in any way he can, took the group up to the Serranía de Ronda on the afternoon of Monday, June 19. It is a beautiful trip filled with Spanish History.

Felting by the river in Spain

 

Once established in the individual houses we had rented for them (so they would have some privacy and time to unwind between work and play sessions) the course began as planned on the morning of Tuesday, June 20. The participants were filled with excitement and high hopes that this course might be a means to find new perspectives. After the first week of the course all expressed their happiness that this was true and that their expectations were being highly fulfilled.  

 

When Artexperiencia participated in the Feria de la Biodiversidad in Cortes de la Frontera I was introduced to Juan, a young shepherd with an open mind who showed interest in finding ways to use the wool from his sheep. Since Mike and Pam have been raising their own sheep and using their own wool for Pam’s work we arranged a meeting between Mike and Juan to talk about how to shear the sheep to better the quality of the wool. Juan came prepared with photocopies about the types of sheep which are being raised in the Genal Valley and they made themselves understood enough to share information about all of the aspects of their common interest. Since then Juan has kept in touch with me and we will are working to find new outlooks for both of us, to start out with, by cataloguing the types of wool we have here and finding a specific use for each quality of wool, how and where to best shear, clean and prepare it and how to raise sheep to produce better wool. One of our projects, which had to be left off for the next chapter is a trip to Morocco where working with wool is still an integrated part of everyday life.

 

It is clear that opening up to new friends leads to new experiences and can easily create new, unexpected opportunities. We are now planning reciprocal trips between the Ronda Mountains and Dream Come True Farm, taking Spanish people to visit the farm and to learn some of the many things Pam and Mike have to teach. It would be fun and interesting to create “artexperiencias” for more Spaniards as well as US citizens.

 

United We Felt Dream Come True Farm Goes to Spain

We were invited to teach Felting and all other aspects of wool in Spain this summer. It all happened very fast and before I knew it we were on a plane going to Spain with bags of wool and supplies. We were to teach in a village called Benalauria, population 500. My host Barbara was the women in charge and it was she who invited us, applied for a grant and made all of the arrangements. She was a wonderful hostess and shared so much of Spain and its beautiful cultural and is a friend I will always hold close and never forget.

 

A one day kids class for the town kids...kids showing off felting project

 

Spain and the folks were unbelievable. The classes went better then I imagined. There was a language barrier at first, but when you all come together with a common goal and a need to succeed, somehow the barrier did not interfere. We managed well, and learned from one another. They were all talented people. Two weeks of class was followed by a show of the work at a local restaurant in the village. We finished up with another 12 days of living and sharing in Spain. We visited farms, met shepherds, watched as they sheared their sheep. It was frustrating thinking that the wool from the sheep in this area was being thrown away! Once Mike (my husband) met with local shepherds and explained to them what a spinner would want in a sheep fleece, the shepherds were very open. Now there are a few that are working toward a goal to help supply the families who took the course. So yes, it was a great success and we now have new friends and a wonderful cultural experience. We lived it, no tourist stuff on this trip. The experience changed me in some ways, taught me a lot. They thought they were getting the learning experience! I have realized since being home that my fiber animals are who I am. I knew I loved my work but the trip, their reaction, their goals all reinforced for me who I am and what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. You never know where life can bring you or what may come of new friendships.

 

Written in collaboration by

Barbara Sheehey, Benaluaria, Spain

http://www.artexperiencia-genal.com/lana.html

and
Pam Blasko of Dream Come True Farm Oxford, CT USA

www.dreamcometrueyarn.com  

 

_____________________________________

My name is Pam Blasko and I reside at Dream Come True Farm in Oxford, CT with my husband Mike, 9 Olde English Babydoll Southdown Sheep, 1 12 year old corriedale sheep, 2 llamas, 1 huacaya alpaca, 1 suri alpaca, 2 German giant angora rabbits, one miniature horse and 3 wiemeraner dogs! We are a full house for sure! We are also home to the Spinner's Notebook.....a book about wool.  All of my wool animals are to provide us with fiber. I have been in the fiber business or if truth be told addicted to fiber for 11 years now. It all started with one chocolate brown corriedale sheep named Becky that was purchased as a companion to a horse. As I learned all about the care of a sheep I learned about the wool. This was the beginning on the end as some would say.

 

That was the beginning of Dream Come True Farm. We spin, dye and sell our wool and yarn. We also breed registered Old English Babydoll Southdown sheep. Our goal is to raise and produce the healthiest lambs possible to share with other fiber addicted folks. Second to the health of our flock is the quality of our yarns. We try to continually come up with fun and interesting novelty yarns, most one of a kind. We are home to the Spinner's Notebook project, a book dedicated to teaching fiber folks all about wool through the touch and feel of actual fiber samples from around the world and from all kinds of fiber animals. Some you may never think of spinning.

 

My fiber animals have become my life. To wake up each morning and walk out into the backyard and be greeted by bah's from the sheep, a sound of laughter from the miniature horse, a gallop with a twist from the camalids makes all the work involved in farming worth every minute. I raise my cup of coffee each morning to them all and greet them with all my love.