Membre d’Honneur de l’association Feutre Art Textile
It is with regret that I announce the passing of Christina on 13th September 2019 and I would like to express my deep condolences on behalf of the International Feltmakers Association, but also personally.
I first met Christina in 1996 at the International Felt Symposium in Landquart, Switzerland, where she did a fantastic presentation on the history of human clothing using felt since early times. It was quite extraordinary. We met again a year later at the first feltmakers meeting in Switzerland (she lived in Geneva at the time) when Christina demonstrated felting hand-carded wool. There were many other meetings until she later moved to France and we had less contact but followed each other’s work.
Thanks to Christina, there is a detailed, written interview from 2014 with Mary E. Burkett OBE, the first president of the International Feltmakers Association.
Christina worked with sheep’s wool since 1979, firstly as a spinner and later, from 1985, as a self- taught feltmaker. She specialised in using regional wools and, until 2009, creating clothing, accessories and interior design items. After 2010 she became a consultant to farmers, schools, museums etc, and passed her skills on with teaching both as a spinner and feltmaker.
Christina was made Honorary Member of the association Feutre Art Textile – the French Feltmakers Association (recently disbanded after many years of activity).
I had a deep affinity with Christina and the shared love for the raw material wool, with which she worked so often. Christina has done so much for the revival of the felting craft in the last decades; she was such an important impetus and teacher. I feel a great gratitude that our life paths crossed again and again.
Thank you, Christina.
Johanna Rösti, Chairperson, International Feltmakers Association
edited by Janine Rees