Kaaren Poole

a sampling of my needle felted animals

Needle felting is a sculptural process of building form over a wire armature.   

Wool fiber has tiny barbs on it.  Holding wool fiber against the form and repeatedly poking it with a needle that also has tiny barbs on it entangles the barbs on the fiber and locks them into a single piece. 

Once the armature is covered, one adds more and more wool until the piece is almost complete. Up to this point, I've used off-white "core" wool which is a bit less expensive than the finishing wool, which is the final, color layer.

Needle felting is a time-consuming process but one which I find rewarding as I see the animal emerge.  The colors you see in the pieces are the colors of the wool.  I use glass beads for the eyes - or, on larger pieces like the bear actual glass eyes for doll-making.