Gallery Forty-One announces January Member of the Month

Gallery Forty-One brings in the New Year with Ann Laczak as the featured Member of the Month. Ann, as a Family and Consumer Science teacher, loved fabrics, sewing and design. When she was given an embellishing machine, she had no idea what it was for, but it opened up a whole new world for her. 

Ann taught herself how to felt with the embellishing machine by reading books and watching online videos.  And she is still learning every time she starts a new piece.

Most of the fibers used are 100% wool fleece and roving (a narrow bundle of fiber). However, other components are working their way into her craft such as silk and aluminum.  

One of two techniques used is dry needle felting, a process using barbed needles to interlock fibers together. The other technique is wet felting in which the fibers are interlocked using hot water, soap and agitation.  

Felting has become Ann’s passion and she enjoys creating a canvas using wet felting, then creating a picture on top using the dry needle technique. She enjoys blending the fibers to bring out scenes in both realistic and abstract genres.

Visit Gallery Forty-One at 41 Lake St. in Owego to view Ann’s work.  December hours are Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday thru Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours to 8 p.m. on Thursday.

For more information, visit www.galleryfortyone.com, on Instagram at www.instagram.com/gallery41owego, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Gallery41Owego, or call them at (607) 687-2876.