I have found that since moving here to New Hampshire three years ago, I dream about my gardens. I plan, expand, and grow.Winters are especially fun with all the white around. The void of color is very compelling for my creatively, and I reach within myself for color inspiration. During the growing seasons, I am constantly distracted by nature’s own color combinations.

This mural is made completely of hand formed wool felt. I begin my process by dyeing all the colors to be used, in the fiber state. I use sheep's wool, sourced from different growers, some locally. Once the fiber has been cleaned, I dye in small batches using wool dyes, which are color and light fast, and resist fading. The felt is made by wetting the dry fibers and rubbing and rolling until the piece has gotten to the desired state...in the case of this mural, as stiff as possible.

My feltmaking has been primarily as functional art, like rugs and upholstery fabrics, but when Donna at The Framery of Vermont gave me the opportunity to use this wall space, I decided to push myself artistically and technically! So what you see here is a new concept for me. By incorporating very dimensional images into the scene, I feel it really comes alive. As a feltmaker, I also know what wool can do, but until I began hand sculpting the fish and flowers, I didn’t really know! Because of wool’s physiological make up the fibers can by manipulated, and stay that way, think fedora hats! So with that as a concept, I dreamed my most fanciful image and got to work!
- Nicole