WITH EACH STAB of the needle, the fibers catch, twist and snarl. From this violence might emerge the dainty pink nose of a mouse the size of a knuckle or a Japanese waxwing’s watchful ruby eye. In these stunningly realistic animal figures, meticulously sculpted from felt, it’s the details that astound, the transformation of a material so soft and inchoate — wisps of wool shape-shifting under a maker’s fingers — into something solid, structured and anatomically precise. .–The Wonderful World of Needle Felted Animals
I discovered this art a few years ago after years of quilting. As Ligaya Mishan, the author of the above article, so eloquently puts it, there is just something about starting with the most basic of supplies–wool and a special needle–and transforming it into lifelike animals. Each time I begin to needle felt something–a Mexican gray wolf, a bactrian camel (the one with two humps), a javelina (those pesky little peccaries that wander across our yard)–it slowly comes to life. I grab a piece of wooI that has been dyed to match the color of the animal and get a thrill out of its softness. Often I find a small piece of grass that escaped the carding process, reminding me that this material came from a farmer’s field perhaps in North Dakota. I have to leave the eyes for last because that’s when I fall in love with the little critters.
Some friends ask why I have a compulsion to sell my creations at art and crafts fairs. As my fellow neighbor and artists says, “I want to sell some so I can makes some more.”
