Resonance – March 2021
I want to share with you what I have been doing so far in 2021. Continuing to stay put under Covid-19 restrictions, I have been taking a lot of online courses from some incredible instructors, those who I would never have had the opportunity to get instruction from in our former world without travelling to the other side of the world! This hat is the culmination of four of those courses – three in millinery and one “outside of the millinery box”.
Course #1: The weeks before Covid lockdown I enrolled in a weekend course at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design EdVentures program. Over two days I was taught the traditional craft of quillwork (porcupine quills), a craft medium originally practiced by the Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy peoples of Atlantic Canada. While we worked with quills on birchbark, we also discussed sustainable practices, associations with nature and first nations people’s history. It was an extremely enriching and beautiful weekend of creative expansion, away from millinery practices.
After taking the course in quillwork I realized that I could not translate quillwork into a hat with my current skills as a felt-maker/milliner, so I let ideas percolate in my head for the better part of a year. I geared my education to learn techniques so that I could realize a hat with quillwork, and thus enrolled in three more classes.
Course #2&3: Thermoplastics by Carole Maher (administered by both BUnique Millinery and Hat Academy) introduced me to different weights and uses for Fosshape, amongst other thermoplastics.
Course #4: Floating Headpiece, by Rebecca Share of Hat Atelier helped me with mounting a swirl, creating a headband and working with straw braid to finish the piece.
All of these courses culminated in Resonance. After two months I had created a hat with porcupine quills, Fosshape, straw braid, millinery wire, thread, and Moroccan silk embroidery floss.
I steamed the Fosshape over an apple-shaped candle holder, then wired the shape. Once wired I bent it into a spiral shape without compromising the sturdiness of the Fosshape. I then completed the quillwork over the following month as each quill required precise placing and securing. The headband and support structure were constructed, the structure then attached to the spiral. I sewed straw braid to fit the shape of the inside of the spiral and its edges. Once sewn in place I attached the swirl to the band. The final touch was wrapping the hat with silk embroidery floss.
I would like to acknowledge the help and mastery of all the instructors whose lessons contributed to my inspiration. All were extremely professional and generous in their knowledge and sharing of their ideas.
New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, Edventures Program: https://nbccd.ca/
Kailie Arbeau, Porcupine Quillwork Artist/Instructor: https://www.instagram.com/artworkxkailie/
Raven Chanelle Augustine, Porcupine Quillwork Artist/Instructor’s Assistant
Carole Maher, milliner: https://carolemaher.com.au/
Rebecca Share, milliner: https://www.rebeccashare.com.au/
