About Me

Hi! Welcome to my world of needle felted creations. My name is Sarah, and I am a mother of two, an avid runner, and a self confessed serial crafter.  In a past life I was an archaeologist, but due to an autoimmune disease I could no longer successfully make that my career. I tried a couple other fields, but nothing ever made me as happy as doing archaeology did. 

I have found that joy again with my art. I create realistic sculptures of birds and animals through a process called needle felting. Working with fiber allows me to create a very life-like finish that brings these animals to life. I blend, layer, and form the fibers until they build up to the finished sculpture.

To create my work, I start with a wire frame, which gives my sculptures support and allows me to pose them in diverse ways. Fiber is unique in that it allows the wire underneath to move even when the sculpture is complete. After that, I needle felt a strong core as the base of my sculpture and layer on blends of colored wool.

Needle felting is done by taking a small, barbed needle and poking it repeatedly into wool to create a sculpture. This action starts to knit the wool fibers together, and as I stab the wool over and over it pulls into itself. Tiny scales on the surface of the wool lock together allowing you to firm and sculpt the wool into your desired shape. It is a slow, but lovely process. Each sculpture takes hours to create. The wool lends itself to a variety of techniques, so each sculpture is completely unique.

My work is strongly influenced by the natural world around me. I often watch how animals sit and move so I can incorporate that feeling and movement into my sculptures. I want them to look like they could take off from their wood mounts at any time. It is this feeling of movement that makes them feel so lifelike.

I am currently focusing my work on local birds and mammals. I love the look on someone’s face when they recognize a bird or animal that they know. My goal is to recreate and share wildlife found in South Carolina. This allows others who might not have access to nature and wildlife to see the beautiful world that is around us.

I am excited to share my love of felting and teach others how to make their own creations. I have started a line of DIY kits with video tutorials, and teach regular in person classes! Lately I have been making a lot of birds, but I love creating all animals. If you look through some of my gallery shots you will see I sculpt everything from the realistic to the whimsical. I am happy to bring any idea that you have to life, and you can reach me through the contact buttons if you have any questions or requests.