My discovery of the art and craft of felting in the autumn of 2018 proved to be a turning point on my artistic journey. Since that time I have been learning the tools of the trade, exploring techniques and dipping in and out of the history of felt, a fascinating weave of gender, social, cultural, and geopolitical threads stretching back 6,000 years. Bringing together felting with my other interest, haiku, I juxtaposed haiku, and related forms, with felting, text with textile, to create “haikufeltings” and esp. the form of felting haiga, pairing an image with haiku in a way that deepens the meaning of each form.

Having recorded my first steps in the world of felting, together with sources of inspiration, publication news, and poetry in my blog and social media accounts, I recounted my journey in “Hairballs to Haiga: The Evolution of a New Hybrid, ‘Haikufelting’” in the debut issue of the literary journal MacQueen’s Quinterly, aka MacQ.

I will be recording my next steps here, on Feltabilia: of wool and words, the dedicated blog to my felting journey, including new feltings, haikufeltings and felting haiga, history of felt and felting resources, and sources of inspiration.

Join me on this journey, follow my blog, share your thoughts in the comments.