My name is Kay Petal and I Felt Alive.  I’m a sculptural needle felt artist from Wasilla, Alaska.  I work out of my home studio, overlooking a scenic Alaskan lake, where I create my Felt Alive Wool Sculptures.  (( UPDATE!!  My Felt Alive Studio is now on the road!  We have left Alaska in our RV on an indefinite teaching tour.  Follow my travel blog.  www.feltalive.blogspot.com ))

With just a single barbed felting needled borrowed from industry; lofty, lustrous wool tangles into solid felt creations bound only by one’s imagination.  Wool is an amazing sculpture medium with endless possibilities.  My focus is on dolls.  My dolls are 100% needle felted wool batting made without using any patterns or a single sewing stitch; just thousand of pokes with my felting needle.  I use various colors of dyed wool almost like paint as I add the details.  They are quite flexible and have a very unusual lifelike quality to them that I contribute to the living qualities of the wool. 

I discovered  needle felting in 2007 on the heels of recovery from treatment of a rare cancer.  After accepting my new title of cancer survivor I became keenly aware of the need to stop giving in to the mundane things in life and find that thing – that thing I am truly passionate about.  I also discovered a determination to learn to step outside of the safety of my shy little box and take more risks in life.   When I stumbled across needle felting on the internet, something struck a chord in me.  I found myself researching this unusual sculptural medium online with nearly the fervor I used to find the best treatment for my rare cancer. Like with my disease, there wasn’t a vast amount of useful information; I quickly narrowed things down and focused on those that I consider to be the best in their fields. 

I purchased a book by a pioneer of needle felting, Birgitte Krag Hansen, and bought what limited supplies I could find locally.  I dove in and knew right away that I had miraculously found that elusive “thing.”  And as fate would have it, not three months after I purchased her book, Birgitte Krag Hansen traveled from Denmark to Alaska to teach.  I managed to take in two fabulous workshops.  Birgitte opened my eyes to the real possibilities of bringing wool to life and I haven't looked back since. 

During my cancer ordeal, I realized how much I rely on my sense of humor and with needle felting I’m finding the same to be true.  My sense of humor drives my creativity and each new piece strangely becomes like family.  I tend to keep all of my work and enjoy the creative freedom in that.  As my Felt Alive family grows I may have to face my separation anxiety and learn to say goodbye.  But for now, I feel my instincts are telling me to hang on to my dolls.  Perhaps it’s the beginnings of a dream of a book illustrated with my characters.  I love taking them out into the world for photo shoots.  I share my photos and videos online in communities like Flickr and YouTube.    Here is a fun music video of my little Felt Alive world. 

 

 

Sharing my passion for needle felting has helped me find a secure and confident voice and is opening some very special doors for me.  As an active member of an online felting community, The Felting & Needle Felting Forum, I was offered an opportunity by the founder to purchase it and take over as administrator.  I am proud to have such a place of honor in this amazing online community of felting enthusiasts.  www.feltingforum.com 

Another gift that needle felting has given me is that I have discovered I have a natural talent for teaching.  I started teaching with an online class I put together and have enjoyed making so many new felting acquaintances with my students all over the world.  I have taught needle felting workshops locally, including volunteering my time in local schools.  I very much enjoy watching my students’ projects come to life.  My latest burst of ambition brought about my new Needle Felting Workshops on DVD - now that is the way to teach needle felting! 

My most recent felting endeavors are getting accolades in the modern blogosphere - it seems the world loves my needle felted Li'l Celebrities and they are making appearances at websites featuring what's hip and cool in our modern culture.  Geek and Gadget Blog  TrendHunter Magazine!  And on the Mega Crafter site - Craftster!

I‘m a lifelong Alaskan; I grew up here in this small town in a large, artistic family.  I was the crafty sister with stacks of craft magazines in my room at a young age.  My husband, Ethan, and I have been married 24 years; our kids have always been the furry, tail-wagging variety.  I can say with all certainty that creating zany needle felted characters is my passion.  My cancer treatment was wildly successful and I am happy to say I Felt Alive!!