Being an Artist was a childhood dream of mine. After convincing myself that I didn’t have what it took to be a successful artist, I followed a different career path in Health and Fitness for many years. As much as I loved helping people, I was not taking care of myself.

As a result, when my mental and physical health took a turn in 2017, I found myself re-evaluating what truly brought me joy and what my soul needed.

Hoping to reconnect with my inner creativity once more, I found a small needle felting kit at a local craft store and instantly fell in love. The process of needle felting was simple, and I could easily fix mistakes and not be so hard on myself. I found a way to connect to my hands and re-center my mind. It became a grounding technique for me that helped disconnect my thoughts from all the distractions of tv, phones, and screens. I also found a true sense of accomplishment by creating something essentially out of nothing!

My first couple years of felting were all about creating sculptural things and three dimensional art. I learned what needles worked best for certain effects, and I had a lot of fun. What I’ve found over time, however, is that it’s extremely taxing on my elbow, arm, and posture to create larger pieces in this way. Using my knowledge of Exercise Science (I guess my degree did come in handy haha), I knew I had to change the height and position of my arm with such a repetitive motion. This is when I discovered I could needle felt on a flat piece of wool! Without so much twisting and turning, my arm was much happier.

 Since 2018, I’ve been exploring all the possibilities within fiber art and the “wool painting” technique. I like to describe it as using natural fibers to mimic traditional painting techniques. Instead of using paint and a brush, I use sheep’s wool, alpaca fiber, mohair locks and other naturally-dyed fibers and a felting needle to create desired effects. I layer the fibers and felt them into place to create texture and depth. I absolutely love making my paintings reach outside the matting a bit and “come alive”.

My inspiration comes from nature and the beauty all around us. Recreating sunsets, landscapes, trees, plants and animals that I have seen helps me appreciate all the precious things that we can miss if we don’t stop and slow down. Sometimes I’ll find a color of wool at a local fiber store and know immediately what it will become in a painting. Other times I sit in front of my boxes of beautiful colors from a shop called Living Felt in Texas, and suddenly see something fun in my imagination. It feels like being a kid again in art class!

My goal is to explore and push the boundaries of this fiber art, while learning more about my own self-expression and artistic abilities. I love seeing the surprise on people’s faces when they learn the medium is wool and not paint!

I hope my art brings joy and wonder to the homes of my supporters. Each piece is completely unique and made with patience and love. Like many things in life, fiber art might not last forever, but it’s meant to be cherished for its simple beauty.