ELISE KYLLO: It's wool and water.
All you need is that and patience and stamina, comes--
I don't know-- having a sense of--
sense of adventure, maybe?
Because wool often doesn't follow your direction.
And I really like that, the possibilities.
If you were a first time--
haven't felted slippers before, it
might be hard to see that this is the shape, two feet.
If you imagine that, this piece of plastic
is a resist inside of the slipper.
So I'm going to put a lot of wool over this
and agitate it on the fibers.
It transforms from something fluffy
to something really durable.
It's just the magic of this becomes something so strong.
My name's Elise Kyllo, and I'm a felting artist using wool
to make things of beauty and function.
I want to create.
I need color, and choice, and the unknown, experimentation
and expression.
It's getting heavier and heavier.
I'm often guilty of too many materials,
and each one affects the other.
And then you don't know what you're going to get.
[laughs] But often, it's a great surprise.
SARAH WADDLE: Elise is very passionate about felting
and wool, and especially about sharing
that craft with other people.
And I think Elise is also particularly inspired
by that ancientness of felting.
That it's one of the very most original ways
that fabric has been made.
And keeping alive that memory of those traditions,
but also exploring new, modern directions and contexts
for that craft are really cool ways
that she's spending her time here.
A jacket behind me is like one of the first jackets I've made.
And I had a long way to go, just because it's
kind of Neanderthal, really thick and heavy.
But it's beautiful.
But this is sort of moving towards something that's
more flexible and wearable.
So if you lived in the Arctic, this would be great.
[laughs]
WOMAN: That is great.
ELISE KYLLO: It's sculptable, it's paintable, it's practical.
And it's really-- it's also really whimsical.
Elise and I both, I think, are really
into those sort of playful things.
And so it's really fun to sort of see what she's working on
and get inspired by it.
This is a scarf.
And it's made with llama, and wool, and some yarn.
It's super soft.
This is called a--
it's a nuno scarf, where there's silk and wool together.
This is a piece--
I did a show about lichens a year ago.
And it was-- everything was wool and lichen related.
And in the toy box are some things
I carry along with me when I do a demo or something.
I had just moved to Grand Marais five years ago.
And I'd been teaching felting for about 12 years.
And still feel like I had a whole lot to learn.
Like this treasure chest is really deep,
and I'm just on the surface.
And ADP was going to give me time
to dig deeper, and experiment and play
without worry about the jobs.
[gentle music]
Now I do love this part.
Sort of not thinking about form, or structure, or purpose,
but sort of just playing with color.
I don't think I would felt if there wasn't that part of it.