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Felt Artist  1. Tell us about your work and what you do. I am a fiber artist who specializes in feltmaking. I use both traditional hand felting and needle felting techniques to create small sculptures, vessels, wallhangings and wearables.
Hand felting techniques, which in their most basic form involve using wool, water and friction to transform raw or minimally processed wool into a durable fabric, date back at least 6,000 years. I work with wool roving or batts and combine those materials with silk, thread, yarn, ribbon, rocks, glass and anything else I want to experiment with to create vessels, scarves and other smaller wearables, table runners and wallhangings. Each time I create felt in this way I am astounded by the magical transformation of wool into felt that occurs right beneath my fingers.
My needle-felted sculpture, wallhangings, and embellished clothing also create a form of felt from wool, but rely upon a newer technique. In these pieces the wool remains dry because I can rough up the scales on each fiber with specially barbed needles. Once those scales are roughed up, the fibers entangle easily which allows for the fibers to be sculpted or attached to other fibers as embellishment.2. How did you get started? What is your background? I am a high school English teacher who has always loved other people's art, but never saw myself as an artist. I was lucky to take a local class on needle felting while my young children were involved in their own art classes. In the first class we made simple sheep, and from there I became hooked. When I saw that I could shape personality into the little critter taking shape under my hands, I began to get an inkling of how flexible this medium is for sculpture. Really, it is like working with clay without the mess. Of course, being a teacher I immediately began learning everything I could about wool, needle felting and other felting techniques, and I have not stopped playing and learning since. 3. Do you have a favorite craft show moment? My favorite craft show experiences always involve the interactions I have with people as I demo my work. Most people are not aware of how felt is created. The closest experience they have is with ruining a sweater in the dryer or knitting and fulling their own bags and hats. Seeing me create something as simple as a needle-felted acorn or a hand-felted bead always elicits a sense of wonder, and as people hear aspects of my own story as an artist, many become excited about continuing to try new things to find their own medium for expression. It is a place where I bring together my passions as an artist and teacher, and so I feel most at home. 4. Where can your work be seen or purchased? Examples of my work can be seen at my website, www.annavations.com where my show schedule for each year is listed. Anne is part of a group website, too. www.granbyartists.org. My work is also available at Sheepgate, a small store abundantly filled with natural goods located in Blandford, MA. 5. Where can you be reached? Anna Moberly, 142 Hartland Rd, West Granby, CT 06090 Telephone: (860) 977-9625 |