Emilia Ponomarev

Hat Snood Transformer

Newmarket, New Hampshire

My felting experience (both in Russia and US) covers more than 10 thousand hours of felt-making, meaning this is not a hobby anymore – it is a passion and a lifestyle. I love playing with wool fibers creating various art pieces, from garments (coats, dresses, vests, skirts, tunics) to accessories, hats, scarfs, bags, 3-D objects, wall hangings, and many more. I work mostly in wet-felting technique, applying needle felting where necessary.

I am Russian by origin. I can do quite a lot: quilting, crocheting and knitting; embroidery (beads, lace, cut through); sawing (almost anything if need be). As a saying goes “a need is a mother of all talents” and it conquers all the peaks.

Eventually, I found out about a totally new craft for me at that time – wet felting. I did not fell for it from the first try. But as I learned my way around felt, and its limitless possibilities, I learned that felting can bring joy and inspiration and allow me to apply all my other craft skills and leanings. With every new felted piece I understood and loved felt more and more. And it was mutual, I think.

Even now, when I have vast experience, I cannot say which felt I like more, heavy or light, thin or thick, clothes or art objects, jewelry or bags, hats, scarves or gloves… I just enjoy to see my hands creating something new out of wool fibers and whatever else I can bring in to embrace wool. Wool is very generous and accepts all natural fiber, fabric and yarn. When felt is loved it gladly submits to taming. I love my felt all the way through the process from the very begging of a project.

I also learned that felting relieved me of internal fears – we are often afraid to make an irreparable mistake – as in felting, as long as you do a quality work, a mistake is a just a door to an unexpected creative outcome.

The longer I work with wool fibers, the more I fall in love with the process, with the material, with – very often – unexpected results, and, most important, with the endless possibilities of felt. Each new project is still a new experience for me

I was honored to present my art in several exhibitions:

2015 All Russia Baikal Warmth Exhibition

2016 a year-long Soul of Felt Russian-German Exhibition that was showcased in Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Ireland

2017/18 – Estes Park Wool Market

2018 Taos, NM Wool festival where my piece received a Silver Medallion, Champion Ribbon and First Place rewards in various felting categories

2018 Salida and Boulder, CO Fiber Guilds Annual Events Honorable Speaker

I also love sharing my knowledge and experience. Being a trained teacher I can convert complex felting concepts into workable, usable, and fun learning process. My Russian partner Nina Demidova and I also teach felting online, using teachable platform (rufeltonline.teachable.com and rufeltonline.com), where we offer classes and webinars, including many free ones. Classes are structured to walk students from basics to making high quality felt projects, using various techniques, textures, and designs.

Emilia Ponomarev

Hat Snood Transformer

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