Wool and Felting
Needlefelt Creations
Most of my creations are landscapes based on scenes around Scotland, places my husband and I have visited.
Occasionally inspiration will come from something in my head, an old drawing, a blend of wool or nature..
I was taught to needlefelt by Anne Arnold from
Solway Woolscapes, she is also one of the people who encouraged me to take my art further, the other, is my mum.
This is a selection of my landscapes, all of which are original one off pieces, never to be repeated. I have lots of pictures available at the fairs I attend or you can order a picture from me.
Idea to Picture - The process of creating a landscape
Most of my pictures are based on landscapes around Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. I start with a picture of the landscape and then start building up layer by layer until I have something I am happy with. These are not copies of those landscape pictures but an interpretation of them with a certain amount of artistic licence thrown in! Each piece can take me anywhere from 15 minutes to a week to complete depending on the size, design and how I feel about it as I felt.
I use a lot of curls in my work, either Wensleydale or Blue Face Leister, I love them for the texture and interest they add. I also use a lot of my own processed and hand dyed texel wool which comes from my neighbours sheep. I also buy some of my colours and blends either from World of Wool, which is also where I get all my pre-felt, Wingham Wool Work or Hairy Dog crafts.
I start with a piece of pre felt
A rough layer of wool is added
Then felted in
Iron flat
Start adding the furthest away detail
Then the next layer
and the next
and the finishing touches
This is the landscape this piece was based on, The Roaches.
Cleaning and Dyeing Raw Fleece
Processing and Dyeing my own wool is a very recent hobby of mine. My mum has dyed her own yarn and fabric for years and during 2020 I discovered a love for this particular hobby. I live next to a sheep farm so the wool I get comes from less than 200yds away, bonus!
To process raw fleece (fleece that has not been cleaned at all and contains all the oils, bits of twig and plant and possibly poo), you first need to wash it. As I am only needle felting I can be a little rougher with the fleece than if I were using it to spin. A warm bath and plenty of shampoo is what you need, plus good ventilation and rubber gloves. The wool may take one, two, three or more washes to get it to the stage where its clean enough to be used.
After its cleaned the wool gets dyed the help of my mum, we use Acid Dyes and Citric Acid to get the vibrant colours. After all this the wool is ready to use, some of it I card, the process of combing the fleece, but some I use as it is as it adds great texture to my wool paintings.
Competition Entries
I have entered three competitions with my felt art, both at Pier Road Coffee and Art in Littlehampton. I was encouraged by my friend Imogen Marshall who is an amazing artist and you check her work our here.
The first piece was A Stormy Sea - a landscape from my imagination made with Texel wool, silk, curls, neps and Angelina! This particular piece took me 3 days to complete.
The second piece was my felt feather - Brighter Days Are Coming. I love this piece, it took me 4 days to complete and I was really sad to see it go but very excited to have it exhibited. I am planning do do other felt feathers in the future.
