Sunday 20 May 2012

Needle Felting

Using wool to plan out my painting
Inserting color fibers into the wool outline

 Needle felting.... The materials are simple but the results are incredible. It all started in September 2011, I went to a yarn store with my friend who literally talked me into going with her. We bought Shetland and Merino wool with a few needles to start our exploration. There is one thing that you need to know about me. I have experimented with a lot of materials in my life. Painting, drawing, sculpting, sewing, knitting and jewelry making. I have so many tools in my studio that I was afraid to tell my husband that I got into yet another media...But here I was, sitting there at my easel creating my very first painting. Painting out of wool. I have bought different color wool and started to lay out my portrait with thin strands of dark brown wool. These little fibers went into one another quickly and easily with the help of a special barbed needle. The little fibers tangled and attached firmly to one another to create a beautiful matted cloth. After the outline was finished, I slowly added rich wool colors to brighten up the painting. When the wool painting was completed, I was thrilled with the results. I have never worked with such a unique material before...The colors were rich in their intensity. The material radiated warmth. The fibers created a sense of depth and emphasized texture like no other media I had worked with. I have been felting for eight month now. Practically every room in my house has my wool paintings adorning the walls. I can't seem to stop felting. My Blog