Welcome

To Dreamwood Art Design, art inspired from nature's designs. Each dog, cat, bear or other animal is carefully created in my studio using a technique called "Needle Felting". I strive to capture the essence and personality of the animal and get my inspiration from real life animals. I call my work wool art sculptures.Each one takes many hours to create and is often built layer by layer in a pain-staking process.

A wire armature forms the skeleton of the sculpture. The natural or dyed fleece roving from sheep, alpaca is my main material for creating the animals. I mainly work in a miniature size under 5 inches or a smaller dollhouse size (under 3 inches).

Commissions

I welcome commissions to create your favourite pet portrait sculpture. Prices usually range from $65 dollars to $125 dollars - depending upon size, pose and complexity. Dogs or Cats standing or sitting pose usually sell for $65 to $75 dollars, 3 to 5 inches high.

Paypal is accepted on all orders.

I require good quality photos preferrably digital which can be emailed to me. I need a side view, front view and sometimes a back view of your pet. Because of the volumne of requests I receive, there is usually a waiting list of 3 weeks or so. I can also include a collar and leash for the dogs free of charge.

Each animal is accompanied by a certificate which I am happy to include your pet's name on it if you wish.

Thank you and feel welcome to email me any questions.

Sharon

Techniques

Many of my miniature sculptures are created through the fascinating and labour intensive technique called needle felting.Needle felting is a very time consuming process when done carefully and in layers.

Basically, the raw ( washed ) fleece mainly from sheep, or alpaca is felted with a very sharp special needle with barbs on the tip. The felting needle tangles the fleece into a solid layer which can then be built slowly into a solid form or sculpture or a picture or whatever you desire. The possibilities are endless . If you can dream it, you can create it in wool ! Needle felting to be done well, takes patience and time. If you are looking for quick results, needle felting is not for you!

The needle must be poked hundreds and hundreds of times to build the layers and shapes. The more you poke , the more solid and long lasting the sculpture. Some people use a wrap, fluffy technique with the wool which makes the sculpture more of a soft sculpture. This type of needle felting must be very carefully handled and is not going to last .This type of felting creates a loose sculpture that can easily be pulled apart. However this technique allows for faster results and is great if the piece is very carefully handled and displayed.

My technique is different. I sculpt very solid layers of wool fleece to build the form like a clay sculpture. It takes longer, but the resulting sculpture is solid and should last for generations. It can not easily be pulled apart. On top of the solid form, I often felt the 'hair' or 'fur' of the animal. I take tiny strands and create the texture of fur. Usually this 'fur' is can be gently combed with a straight pin. Since the strands are not glued in, the sculpture must be handled with care.

Needle felting is a wonderful hobby and legitimate form of Fine Art and Sculpture. It is quite addictive once you get started and if you stick with it and study your subjects, beautiful results are possible.