Friday, Feb. 25, 2005

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Crabapple art students learn a new craft

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

It’s not every day that an elementary school has some of their classes’ work shown on television, but today, HGTV’s “Crafters Coast to Coast” will have a piece on felting and the work of several classes from Crabapple Elementary School will be shown.

Though the school will not be named on the program, the students at the school know the work involved in felting and can see the results every day as they head to the school’s cafeteria.

Felting is the layering of dyed wool. Artists use moisture, agitation and a pronged needle to create a work that looks like a painting. This process dates back to the Iron Age in Scandinavia. The project at the school was the idea of local artist Helena Marette, who works with both fibers and metals. She was approached by Crabapple Elementary’s art teacher Connie Ewing, who had Marette work with students at Kedron Elementary several years ago on a project involving recycled materials. Each class created a 10x10-inch square and all of the squares were combined into a unique wall hanging for the school.

On today’s episode of “Crafters Coast to Coast,” Marette and the process of felting will be highlighted. While discussing the process, she also shows off some of the squares that were created by the classes at the school.

Marette is proud of the work the students did and hopes that they will be able to return to the school years after they graduate to see their project.

“Crafters Coast to Coast” will air at 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. For more information on Marette, visit www.planetartstudio.com.