Needle Felted Hearts

I just finished an order of hearts for The Walker Art Center Shop in Minneapolis and thought I'd share some of the color here. 

These little niblets are made entirely of wool by needle-felting wool roving. 

In case you don't know what needle-felting is, I'll give you my version.  (because sometimes I live in a craft bubble and assume that everyone knows what needle-felting, roving, mordants, mod-podge, etc. is)

So wool fibers are hair, and these hairs have scales on them.  Their surfaces are sort of jagged, and when forced against each other, they grab hold and mat together.  Whether you're creating felt from roving, using a felting needle to force them together, or fulling a wool sweater, the fibers are essentially doing the same thing, grabbing each other and holding on. 

Picture two pinecones. 

If you were to start wiggling those pinecones into each other, their scales would become entwined. 

That's kind of what the individual wool fibers do.

Needle-felting is just the process of forcing these fibers together using a specially-designed barbed needle.  I sometimes refer to it as at-home plebotomy. (if you've done it, you know what I'm talking about)  Artists use this technique for sculpting, creating "paintings", vessels, and lots of tiny wool hearts.

So if you find yourself in the Minneapolis area, stop by The Walker and psst...buy a heart.

Happy Tuesday, all.