Meet Two Vessel Artists

Susan Hale and Betty Hazylett are two outstanding felt artists whose work will be in our show. Here is what they have to say about their art. 

Susan Hale: I've been involved with fiber in one form or another for over 30 years. I took my first weaving class in 1978. I have studied spinning and traveled for several years exhibiting and selling my soft sculpture at art shows.

Four years ago, I was introduced to felting. Starting with needle-felting, I moved on to traditional wet felting, taking workshops and classes with well-known felt artists, including Nicola Brown, Andrea Graham, Jean Gauger, Pamela MacGregor, Sharit VanDerMeer, Elis VerMuelen, Dawn Edwards and Chad Alice Hagen.



Medicine Bowl

My work has been included at the Textile Center of Minnesota in their gallery shop, the Kalamazoo Institute of Art and Krasl Art Center Holiday Shows and the Textile Arts Market in Grand Rapids.  In 2012, I participated in the Blue Ridge Fiber Show in Asheville, NC where I  won First and Third Prizes in the professional felting division.  This year I was included in the Handweavers Guild of America “Small Expressions” exhibit and am very pleased to participate in the Kennedy Heights Arts Center's exhibit, “All the Eyes Can Hold.”

I am inspired by the versatility and resilience of felt.  It lends itself to both the decorative and functional alike and I am constantly excited by the endless possibilities that it presents.

Betty Hazylett: Beyond commenting on the world around me, my work always includes focus on the relationships among the elements of the piece itself.  I love to play with contrast because of the interest and excitement that it can bring to a work.

In creating vessels I can focus on the contrast between what happens on the inside and on the outside of the piece, as in “Earth and Water,” and on how I can connect the inside to the outside, as in “Metastasis.”  My love of rich color is important, as is my love of texture and the different surfaces that can be created with felt. 



 Metastasis

I am constantly looking at how one element changes, enhances, or “speaks to” another, and at what these disparate elements communicate to the observer.  I look for ways to engage the viewer to react to the form, color and texture of the piece, to create their own personal dialog with the work. 

In felting three-dimensional pieces such as the vessels I have in this show, I have returned to my love of sculptural forms.  In focusing on vessels, I am exploring new ways to create works that have volume and are self-supporting.