The Mousehole Woolery
Where and when did your needle felting journey start?
My felting journey started out in the rolling fields of the Dorset countryside in 2013.
My partner is a farmer and was working on a rare breed farm, it was shearing time and I was helping to get the sheep in ready for shearing and rolling the fleeces and that's when I fell in love with wool! The lanolin on my hands and the lovely textures of the wool I found amazing. I couldn't believe that some farmers were almost classing this beautiful sustainable material as a by-product and that's when inspiration struck and my felting journey began to share with others the wonderful properties and diversity of wool.
Where does your inspiration come from?
I have always loved animals and nature since I was little girl and that's a few years ago now, going for walks with the family and our dog, catching grass hoppers in my hands to observe a magical moment and pulling owl pellets apart to see what they had eaten always seemed fascinating to me.
I've worked with animals throughout my working life and feel most at home surrounded by them so it seemed a natural marriage inspired from the colours and textures of the wool that I should then create contemporary sculptures inspired by the wildlife and landscape of the British countryside and coastline, transforming loose sheep's fleece with a single felting needle in to a sculptural work of art, bringing a little piece of nature in to people's homes.
Some of my sculptures are also linked to raising conservation awareness and recycling vintage items of an era past, hopefully that bring a smile to your face!
