WoolYWhimsy

Hi, my name is Susie and I the owner of a fiber arts studio. I love making cute needle felted animals, pet portraits and dragons. Wool has such a wonderful properties for soft sculpting and creating personalities of darling critters.

When I moved to Portland, Oregon I decided that I needed to have a tactile relationship with what I created. I had previously worked as a graphic designer and illustrator and that had been extremely rewarding. However having seen the super busy craft scene in Portland (possibly the craft capital of the world!) I had to jump right in.

In school I was required to take a sculpture class which I found interesting but did not like working with clay. (Too harsh on bare hands). The principles I learned became useful when I realized that fiber could be substituted for clay.

I started with quilting many years ago and then explored paper for awhile. I finally discovered the wonderful properties of wool when my sister requested a dragon be made for her. I really like interesting objects and how they relate to each other spatially and colorways. I especially adore animals and the power of nature’s forces upon flora, fauna and the landscape.

The enjoyment of fiber sculpting animals both mythical and actual knows no bounds. A dragon for instance can be just about anything I want it to be. However a dog or cat may take a little more discipline to create so that it can be identifiable yet with some artistic license and expression.

Creating a sculpture that is interactive, that enables the individual to fantasize and imagine wonderful stories is a real artistic push. I am especially wanting adults and children to interact together using a dragon, for instance as the medium.

My sculptures are made using strong armature and the best wool available. I do my best to source all my materials from the Pacific Northwest and US companies. Every animal is individually constructed from carefully chosen color combinations and attention to detail regarding muscle structure and ultimately personality. As a result they are very posable and interactive. They are needle felted, which is very labor intensive and takes hours of patient fiber molding. However the process is rewarding and I get to have great conversations with my critters. They are very exacting as to how they want to look! As a result each of them is like no other in personality, color or attitude.

I start with the appropriate armature materials needed for the size of the dragon, dog or cat. Some smaller sculptures only require cotton pipe cleaners. Others need stronger wire meant for heavier sculptures enabling them to sit up and assume other poses. The body is wrapped in wool batt from various sheep including Corriedale and Merino. The appendages may be a separate construction and is needle felted first, then wet felted.

I hope you enjoy my felted animals They are lovingly constructed and are full of their own unique personality as well as mine!