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!
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!!
The above article appeared in the
Spring 2009 issue of Art Doll Quarterly
The above article appeared in the
Autumn 2009 issue of Art Doll Quarterly
Follow my
Travel Blog where I share my adventures of spreading
the love of needle felting from coast to coast!
Felt Alive LIVE Workshops
updated regularly.
Hubby and Me
Annual fall blueberry picking trip in the Talkeetna Mts.
Homer, Lucky and Spike
These are my kids - I rescued them as orphaned litter mates, bottle fed them and raised them to be fine, young men. We lost Homer to bone cancer in March, 2009 - he is dearly missed.
View From My Home Studio
The scenery is ever changing out my front windows.
Chloe
This is my little great-niece Chloe. She is playing with Kleebus, one of my felted characters.
Pioneer Peak from my front window.
This was taken in the winter after a warm spell left a layer of water on the frozen lake. It may be cold here but is it ever beautiful!