SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2018 | 7A
BASKETS from page 1A
“They were very busy,” Bennett said about the toy
giveaway, which also gave out stocking stuffers and
socks and gloves for all the children.
Then, at Siuslaw Middle School, the food basket
giveaway took place, which had a count of 350 families
showing up to receive ingredients for a home-cooked
holiday meal. The boxes included chicken or turkey,
cranberry sauce, canned vegetables and other tradi-
tional holiday staples.
“We also added chicken broth this year, but I don’t
think that’s a newsworthy item,” Bennett said.
The boxes also included cookies from the Little
Dutch Boy Cookie Company, which are donated di-
rectly from the company in their hometown of Draper,
Utah, specifically for this event.
“They send those to Roby’s, who stored them in time
for delivery,” said Bennet.
Roby’s Furniture and Appliance was just one part of a
community wide effort to help bring food to local res-
idents, as over 100 volunteers helped out in the event.
“We had the Camp Florence boys, several people
from the casino, Rotarians, kids from the Interact
Club, the new owners of Grocery Outlet, St. Vincent
DePaul, and firefighters who helped direct the traffic
and put boxes in the cars,” Bennet said. “We have a lot
of people who are loyal to the program and come every
year. I just want to thank the community and all the
volunteers and the people who donated both toys and
money.”
Despite the large number of people who showed up
to receive the food, there were still leftovers, which
were given to Florence Food Share.
“That’s okay,” said Bennett. “We’d rather buy a little
more than we need then run out. My bet is, the food
we gave Saturday is already gone. The important thing
is that we’re feeding the people.”
FELT from page 1A
Kathy Elfers, one of the found-
ing members of the Siuslaw Fi-
ber Guild, has won recognition
for her works’ unique design
elements, as well as the scale
and interpretation of her sub-
PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
Hundreds of families received
toys at the Florence Church
of the Nazarene, and even
more picked up Community
Christmas Baskets at Siuslaw
Middle School, as part of an
annual service to the commu-
nity by Soroptimist members.
ject matter. She has shown her
unique felt creations at venues
focused on art and presented her
textiles at fiber shows, receiving
awards for the work in both sit-
uations.
This month, she joined a se-
lect group of coastal fiber artists
and craftspeople who are being
recognized for their work in fur-
thering the field of textile arts.
Her exhibition, “Out of the Box:
Contemporary Design in Felt
Making,” is part of the Coastal
Oregon Visual Artist Showcase
(COVAS) through Jan. 26 at the
Newport Visual Arts Center, 777
NW Beach Dr. in Newport.
Tom Webb, Oregon Coast
Council for Arts (OCCA) Direc-
tor for the Newport Visual Arts
Center, believes Elfer’s work is
important both as an excellent
example of the use of felting for
clothing and warmth, but also
work that is worthy of consider-
ation as something more.
“Elfers works in the styles of
wet felting, needle felting and
other styles, and she will pres-
ent wall hangings, wall sculpture
and 3D objects, some incorpo-
rating mixed media,” Webb said.
“The OCCA welcomes Elfers
and her exhibition.”
Elfers studied graphic arts for
two years at the Pacific North-
west College of Art. Later, she
presents …
Former 1975 Siuslaw High School graduate
Charles Suniga
performing seasonal classics.
Dr. Victor Steinhardt PHD,
University of Oregon’s School of
Music professor has called Charles’
music, “Phenomenal”
“He is a true master of the piano”,
A feeling of peace and calming
comes over me when
I hear his music.”
Saturday, December 22nd, 7pm
at the Florence Events Center.
To purchase tickets,
call 541-997-1994 or www.eventcenter.org
for more info
$20 each or $35 for a pair
Co-Sponsors: A & W , Lofy Construction,
W.G. Peterson Woodworking Inc. C & M Stables,
Florence Dairy Queen, Th e Siuslaw News, R & R King Logging,
Old World Gingerbread Village, BJ’s Ice Cream, Bones Nursery
Kathy Elfers uses a variety of techniques in
her fiber art pieces, including wet felting and
needle felting, to create unique textures.
moved to Bend and pursued
studies in primitive cultures and
archeology. She has also been
strongly influenced by native de-
signs, working with deer and elk
leather, creating traditional and
contemporary art and clothing,
and incorporating techniques
from these skills into her felting.
Elfers’ current work is cen-
tered around the use of one the
oldest techniques of felt artisans,
wet felting. She uses more mod-
ern forms of felting, along with
this traditional method, to push
past what are generally consid-
ered the boundaries of the pro-
cess.
During wet felting, the strands
are inundated with hot water
and the fibers are physically ag-
itated to cause a melding of the
individual fibers into a more so-
lidified fabric-like material.
The more modern and fa-
miliar technique for felting is
known as needle felting. Needle
felting does not use water in the
fiber stretching, stripping and
melding process, but uses spe-
cially designed needles to entan-
gle and connect dry fibers.
Elfers combines elements
from these and other techniques
in many of her pieces, including
wrapping felt around and into it-
self to create a layered effect.
This is a technique that is also
old, but still employed in some
special situations.
“The combination of tradi-
tional and modern techniques,
and experimenting with vari-
ous fibers, allows me to create a
multitude of visual and textural
effects,” Elfers said.
One example of the versatility
of felt is its continued inclusion
in the production of many mu-
sical instruments, such as the
piano. The hammers that strike
the strings of a piano are made
with wooden centers, then felt
is wound around the wood core.
The quality of the felt, particu-
larly its density and springiness,
will go a long way to determin-
ing the tone of the note struck.
When the felt is worn out, the
piano will be noticeably out of
tune.
One of Elfers most impressive
exhibits was held last year at the
Siuslaw Public
Library.
The open space
in the main room
at the library can
be described as
s o ar i ng . L arge
windows set
into the dome
at the top of the
building let light
stream down into
the space where
there are com-
puters, music and
movies.
There are also
wall spaces that
are used to dis-
play work from other artists that
are included in the visually stim-
ulating space. Elfers took advan-
tage of the distance of the ceiling
to the floor and hung a number
of long, tentacle like extensions
that were tied into a series of
multi-limbed animal represen-
tations, inspired by creatures of
the sea.
This “Out of the Box think-
ing,” as regards the over-sized
appearance and much larger de-
sign concepts in individual piec-
es, gave rise to the name of her
current exhibit in Newport.
In addition, Elfers’ use of
many individual components in
her work differentiates and ele-
vates her pieces above others in
her field. Her current expanded
vision of her craft has been a
part of an ongoing progression,
from her perspective.
“In 1999, I watched a group
of students making felted hats.
Fascinated by the process, I took
the class with Gin DeCamp and
fell in love with the art form,”
Elfers said. “It was magical to lay
the loose felt fiber, add soap and
start rubbing. Within a short
time, I could feel the fiber be-
ginning to bind and tangle on
itself.”
Webb encourages interested
individuals to come by the New-
port Visual Arts Center to check
out some of the latest work by
an artist that has successfully
merged an ancient fiber tech-
nique with modern artistic sen-
sibilities.
“COVAS features mid-career
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
artists living on the Oregon
coast and rotates artists from
throughout Oregon’s seven
coastal counties. Having lived
in Florence for the past 10 years,
Kathy Elfers will be represent-
ing Coastal Lane County in the
Showcase,” Webb said.
Her inclusion in this exhibit
is an important recognition of
the level and quality of the work
she is producing. Although the
display area dedicated to Elfers
is small, the pieces highlighted
capture the originality of and in-
tricacy of her larger, more ambi-
tious pieces.
Elfers is pleased to be able to
showcase the current work she
is doing and feels a responsibil-
ity to her craft to keep the tra-
ditions and techniques of felting
alive and vital.
“It’s very important that I
make my contribution in pre-
serving these ancient skills and
traditions,” Elfers says. “I consid-
er myself a keeper of the felting
tradition. As with an antique, it
is my responsibility to preserve
and protect, and then pass it on
to the next generation.”
Elfers’ exhibit, “Out of the
Box: Contemporary Design in
Felt Making” will be at the New-
port Center until the end of Jan-
uary.
Her work can also currently
be seen at Backstreet Gallery in
Florence, Mindpower Gallery in
Reedsport and Latigo and Lace
in Augusta, Mont.
For more information, call
541-265-2787.
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