Woolly Campbell
Lyn and Natalie are a mother and daughter duo who create beautiful needle felted original artwork and pet and animal portraits taking inspiration from the local derbyshire countryside and nature.
Do you concentrate on one medium, or do you work in several?
Needle felting is our main medium. We have tried wet felting but find the abstract nature of it doesn’t always suit our style. We started out as papercrafters making handmade greetings cards but love the tactile textures of needle felting best.
Tell us about your workspace.
We work from home. Our dream work studio would have lots of windows for natural light and pigeon holes for the many coloured wools so we could separate the tones not just by colour. We would also want two large work desks so we would each have our own dedicated workspace because when Natalie is busy doing her pet portraits it is essential to keep the coloured wools away from the natural wools she is using.
What inspires you?
We get most of our inspiration from the beautiful derbyshire countryside, it’s wildlife, nature and our garden. We also like to visit gardens and take photos for inspiration. We mostly concentrate on just one project at a time each but if it is a large project or a commission we may leave it for a day or so, so when you go back to it you get a new perspective. We do research for some of our commissions but a lot of our original artwork is from our imagination. The most rewarding part for us is seeing your artwork framed and knowing it will make someone smile and remind them of this beautiful county.
Do you have a favourite piece in your Little Gallery exhibition?
The bright echinacea artwork is our current favourite as it is very summery and the colours are bright and happy.
How did you start doing what you do?
Natalie originally was bought a 3D felting kit after seeing 3D made animals and wanted to have a go, then for mothers day she bought me a 2D felting scene kit to make a countryside picture. After having a go, and changing the layout around we decided to have a go at creating our own images for handmade greetings cards. This led to us creating our own original art, greetings cards and 3d items.
Do you work on your creative business full time, or do you have another job as well?
We try to felt everyday but it is not a fulltime business. We mainly make for craft fairs and our folksy shop.
If you have spare time, what do you do with it?
When we are not felting we are usually bust with our two terriers, George and Molly.
We may go out or Natalie might be busy gardening, both of which helps us get inspiration for future projects.
What’s next for you?
In the future we would like to expand into doing more art shows, more commissions and getting that dream workspace!
