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Birds artfully made in natural fibres

Welcome to my wonderful world of life-like wool and plant fibre sculpted birds, where no detail is too small or feather too tiny for me to notice and recreate in fibre.

02/11/2026

I've got a few unexpected things going on just now that, sadly, mean I won't be open for the November Whitstable Artists and Makers trail. And that I'm not scheduling any Christmas birds this year.

I will still be making, even if you don't see me posting so much.

I hope to emerge after Christmas like a blackbird into the snowdrops: bright eyed, eager for the spring and ready to sing.

Wishing you all well xx

30/10/2026

He's home!
Absence definitely does make the heart grow fonder. I am going to find him a vintage display case and admit I won't ever part with him.

28/10/2026

I'm making progress on the giant Robin.
She now has a wing and tail that I think I like, made from wool felt with free-motion stitched details.
I spent yesterday drawing, cutting and sewing legs in a similar style. I am not sure about them but will keep working in case it is just the 'midway blues'.
I might make some wired legs as a back up, because you can always use giant wire robin legs somewhere else, right haha!

27/10/2026

I say 'I hope you like birds' when people visit me. It's meant as both a warning and an invitation, given a few 'recoils in horror' reactions I've seen in the past. Ornithophobio is no small thing.
At the recent artist's open house, these tiny wool magpies prompted many stories and exclamations. From instant dismissal with a 'I hate magpies' to delighted tales of finding their feathers like treasure.
Robins very often prompt highly charged, emotional responses of remembered loved ones or brief but intense garden friendships.
The pigeons and gulls elicit clenched fists and rage as often as love and a desire to hug them. This last open house I had one visitor who offered a detailed description and also a demonstration of punching that seemed to fill my tiny front room.
It is fascinating to see a handful of wool produce such charged emotion, both positive and negative, especially as I am typically so relaxed and even thought-free whilst making them.

26/10/2026

A robin and ruby oranges, both awaiting morning on my kitchen table.

Work in progress

24/10/2026

I'm going to need a bigger brush...

23/10/2026

Puffin (wool painting work in progress)

I listened to Grayson Perry's 2013 Reith Lectures on BBC Sounds yesterday and learned that I am an 'outsider artist'.

The fact I have never heard of that term before is a clear sign I am an outsider. It means someone who has never been trained as an artist. Someone who is compelled to do art whilst knowing very little about what it means to be an artist.

I also realised that my Dad, Alan and his brother, Jim are outsider artists. They both worked in oils and watercolour, pencil and ink. Jim rarely showed anyone his art but my dad was more open to me watching him in our crowded home full of kids. We didn't have the space for him to hide. So, without knowing it, being an outsider seems to be an inherited trait.

I sold my first piece through a gallery exhibition this week. So, just now I'm feeling ever so slightly outside in.

22/10/2026

I've accidentally created a bird x-ray!

Hahaha 😂

21/10/2026

Atlantic puffins original artwork in wool on vintage linen

If you came to the recent EKOH trail, I sat wool-painting this portrait whilst you visited. I thought you might like to see the finished work before I set about finding a frame.

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Whitstable

Website

https://www.mindfulfelting.co.uk/

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