Welcome to Entangles, an outlet for unique felt creations made by Jo.

I have always made things ever since I was a little girl and have dabbled in many crafts. I first discovered felting around 20 years ago when I went to a wet felting workshop to make some slipper boots. Boy that was back breaking as they were shrunk on our own feet. 

Looking for supplies I discovered needle felting and ordered some fibre and needles and taught myself to felt. I mainly made mixed media jewellery at the time and used the wool to create beads to use within the jewellery. Then life got in the way so the needles were put away until about 2016.

Two things happened. I volunteered to teach a community workshop after seeing an advert for volunteers to run a needle felting workshop and my daughter was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma. I rediscovered my love of needle felting for therapy to help me get through that stressful time. 

By stabbing the fibre thousands of times with a single barbed needle I can create the solid sculptures that you can see here. 

I find it very therapeutic and can often be found stabbing wool after a day at work as a learning support assistant. 

Despite the troubles that 2020 brought, it gave me the chance to attend some online workshops so that I could refine my skills with traditional wet felting techniques and I started to create sculptured hats and wonderful fine felt items.

I have also recently begun creating wool paintings, by layering many tiny fibres of wool on top of each other with the needles, similar to how a traditional artist uses paint. I love how it becomes multidimensional, and how you focus on different details when up close or further away.

I have been lucky enough to attend both in person and online workshops with some of the best International Fibre artists including Gladys Paulus, Annemie Keonen, Anna Potapova and Anikó Boros. 

Wool amazes me and I am learning new things all the time. Sometimes wool talks and I can start making one thing and it turns into something completely different.

I have taught many workshops over the last 8 years, and I am always planning more.

I hope you enjoy looking at my creations as much as I enjoy making them. 

Thanks so much for visiting 

JO 

Photography Credit: Cyanida