From wool fibre batts and rovings, Anne Brandly makes needle felted dolls and animals. She starts with a simple armature of a critter or person, and stabs the fibre thousands of times with a barbed needle to sculpt shapes. For over 50 years, Anne has been creative: knitting doll clothes during her childhood, knitting for babies, spinning, weaving, painting and making music. A year ago she discovered needle felting on the internet and that art form has captured her heart.
The most difficult part of the process for her is finishing parts of the soft sculpture: centering parts of the face and ensuring they're proportional. In animals the ears give her the most trouble to get them in the right position. Some of the people's faces she likes to leave featureless, leaving them to the observer's imagination. She tries to work regularly, as needle felting is her discipline. She works in the morning when she is freshest, and often during the evening too, but never at night, when she is "ready to veg out". She says that being retired gives her "the luxury of daytime needle felting play."
The most difficult part of the process for her is finishing parts of the soft sculpture: centering parts of the face and ensuring they're proportional. In animals the ears give her the most trouble to get them in the right position. Some of the people's faces she likes to leave featureless, leaving them to the observer's imagination. She tries to work regularly, as needle felting is her discipline. She works in the morning when she is freshest, and often during the evening too, but never at night, when she is "ready to veg out". She says that being retired gives her "the luxury of daytime needle felting play."
Her favourites are 'Old Forest Crone' and 'Grandmother and Child'. Old Forest Crone "was lots of fun to make with her green face reminiscent of Dorothy's Wicked Witch, and her broomstick." Grandmother and Child "speaks of that special bond of love across generations." It's for sale in her Etsy shop "Annesfeltedfriends", while Old Forest Crone will be available for sale at 30 Craft Market on June 28. As a lover of animals (she has two birds and a cat), Anne also loves making animals. " I began making animals because I love our little furry friends, they are so cute. Now I am into making people, mythical and not." Her favourites are mice, of which she's made many. She also likes to "create people, angels, fairies, mother and child, and gnomes, reflecting peace and a simpler time."
Anne loves the whole process: dreaming, planning, making the armature; felting it. "Wool is such a soft, sensuous medium to work in, and it is natural! The most fun is picking the colours to use. My closet holds a great deal of all kinds of fiber ... even alpaca and mohair locks which I use for hair sometimes." She wants to make a horse, but hasn't tried it yet. "Maybe Lady Godiva on a horse? Ha, ha!"
Working at her dining room table, Anne enjoys "background music like Galaxie Nature, or other soft music with animal sounds complementing the usually classical music." And when not creating, she's dreaming up new critters and people. She keeps a note pad handy to jot down ideas and drawings. "I am retired, so I have a lot of time to devote to needle felting, but it's never enough!"
"Last summer I found a pure white dove huddled in my parking lot, injured. I took him in, nursed him back to health, and named him 'Peace'. He is so beautiful, he is my inspiration, and was my first needle felted creature . Even my business card has the image of a dove on it." Anne also derives inspiration from from nature, her mind, and Pinterest. "I mull over these ideas for a while, then may sketch it, then begin."
Working at her dining room table, Anne enjoys "background music like Galaxie Nature, or other soft music with animal sounds complementing the usually classical music." And when not creating, she's dreaming up new critters and people. She keeps a note pad handy to jot down ideas and drawings. "I am retired, so I have a lot of time to devote to needle felting, but it's never enough!"
"Last summer I found a pure white dove huddled in my parking lot, injured. I took him in, nursed him back to health, and named him 'Peace'. He is so beautiful, he is my inspiration, and was my first needle felted creature . Even my business card has the image of a dove on it." Anne also derives inspiration from from nature, her mind, and Pinterest. "I mull over these ideas for a while, then may sketch it, then begin."
Anne's best sellers are animals in her Etsy shop. Happiest when she's creating something, she is now working on gnomes and fairies, and would be happy to provide an introductory workshop for anyone who'd like to create one. "You have to kiss many frogs to find the prince. In other words, if you feel that creative bug inside you, try many different media before you commit to The One. I had never heard of needle felting 'til a few years ago, but I had tried many other avenues of creativity before I found it. It is such fun; it deserves to be better known!"
You can meet Anne and her needle felted friends at 30 Craft Market on June 28 at Silver Bean Café in Millennium Park (King St/Water St).
You can meet Anne and her needle felted friends at 30 Craft Market on June 28 at Silver Bean Café in Millennium Park (King St/Water St).