My passion, thoughts and emotions all come through in my artwork. My inspiration comes from nature, travel, people I meet, my perspective of beauty and my general outlook on life.
My journey in felting began in summer 2012 in the Green Mountains of Vermont. After a six year career in marketing and public relations in Southern California, I did the unthinkable. I embarked in a yearlong adventure to learn how to grow my own food and learn sustainable living practices as an organic farm volunteer. I had no idea the places this adventure would take me, the amazing people I would meet and the new skills I would learn that would transform my life.
On my third farm stay, I volunteered the majestic farm and Bed & Breakfast, Vermont Grand View Farm. This century old farm house was situated in the Green Mountains in Vermont among enchanted hard wooded forest and rolling green mountains. Here, I met Kim Goodling an accomplished shepherd and fiber artist.
Goodling taught fashion designers from New York City how to felt while they stayed at her B&B. Over the summer, I tended to her farm, sheep and fiber animals by day and felted by night in her fiber arts studio. Goodling graciously taught me all she could about felt and fiber arts. It was one of those once in a life time chances where I happened to be in the right place at the right time. From the first time I fused wool together by rubbing and shaping it with my hands, soap and water, I knew this was going to be a huge part of my life.
Bed & Breakfast, Vermont Grand View Farm
My journey continued as I went on volunteering at various farms throughout the US, learning all I could from fiber artists, shepherds and the sheep flocks I tended to. I learned about the intricacies of fiber animals by caring for them and reading about various sheep breeds and the properties of their fiber. I continued felting on whatever table or surface I could place a felting mat on at the farm houses I stayed at. I shared my felting knowledge with the farm hosts I stayed with and their friends.
Felting provided me a way to marry my three passions: nature, art and textiles. As a third generation artist, being surrounded by fine art since childhood greatly developed my passion for the arts. From childhood, I enjoyed designing and making clothes with my mom. However, I did not connect with sewing and thought sewing was the only way to construct garments. When I discovered that through felting one could create seamless, stich-free constructed garments, a whole new world of possibility opened up for me. Felting has endless possibilities. I enjoy the versatility of the medium. Starting out with accessories, I have now moved onto designing clothing, coats and costumes for clients throughout the country. Every day, I am constantly challenged and learning something new with felt.
One of my first times working with felt at Grand View Farm.
I love finding a way to create a canvas in wearable art form. Felting is my conduit of expression: each piece I create tells a story. My passion, thoughts and emotions all come through in my artwork. My inspiration comes from nature, travel, people I meet, my perspective of beauty and my general outlook on life.
Though much of my work has come about through my own self exploration of the medium, I cannot say I am a self-taught artist. So many people have given me gifts at every step in the journey that have contributed to my success. The gifts have come in all forms from teaching techniques to words of encouragement. I cannot thank enough my mentors, family, friends, clients, supporters and fans who have believed in me and encouraged me every step in my journey.
