Since childhood, Northville fiber artist Laurie Snell has enjoyed doing all kinds of needlework, including counted cross stitch, needlepoint, beading, and her longtime favorite: knitting. But in 2018, while attending the annual Adirondack Wool and Arts Festival at the Washington County Fairgrounds, a new form of needlework caught her eye.

“I was intrigued when I saw a booth with this totally different technique going on, something called needle felting. So, I bought a little kit and made a tiny owl—and I was hooked!” Since then, Snell has delved more deeply into needle felting and wet felting by watching numerous YouTube videos and participating in online felting groups. “There is so much to learn,” she enthuses, “and there are so many great tutorials out there, available to everyone.”

Fiber art refers to artwork made by using natural or synthetic fibers or textiles to create pieces of art recognized largely for their aesthetic value rather than their utility. Felting is a technique by which wool fibers are tangled together, condensing them to a material which can range from wispy to sturdy. To felt, all that’s needed are wool, some sharp, barbed felting needles, and some sort of mat surface—like foam, sponges, or bundled layers of wool—to absorb the point of the needle.

Wet felting involves using wool roving (unspun wool that is washed, carded, and ready to use), hot water, and soap. A variation of wet felting, called nuno felting, incorporates textiles like silk, linen, and open-weave fabrics into the process. 

Needle felting is a wool sculpting technique in which needlelike implements of different sizes are used to repeatedly stab and poke the wool roving, in the process gradually condensing the wool to create solid shapes.

“I enjoy doing all kinds of felting,” Snell says, “but, currently, I seem to be doing more needle felting, which is very time-consuming. When making a doll, I often needle felt the body and face and, then, wet felt the clothing. Both techniques actually tangle the wool fibers to each other. In its natural form, wool is very puffy. It’s full of air. Both needle felting and wet felting basically remove the air from between the fibers, enabling the fibers to lock together to create a very dense wool.”

For years, knitting was Snell’s first love. “But knitting doesn’t have a lot of leeway. You follow a pattern, you count, and you keep track of your stitches. So when I started needle felting and wet felting, it was very freeing to me because there are no patterns, really. It’s all free form. I could mix colors by blending strands of different colored wool and mold the wool any way I wanted to. Felting really opened up a whole new world for me.”

Snell enjoys making highly detailed, quirky dolls and characters that evoke a sense of nostalgia. Loaded with personality, they tend to make you giggle. None of their facial features are painted on. Every last detail—every multi-toned eye, crow’s foot wrinkle, or blushing cheek—is achieved through the meticulous needling of multiple colored strands of wool, artfully locked together.

“My favorite part of doll-making is creating those fine facial details, especially on an elderly face. Making the wrinkles and doing the subtle shading is truly fascinating work. I make all of my dolls’ clothing as well, often embellishing with buttons and beads or pieces of vintage lace and linens.”

Snell may start out with a specific plan for a doll. “But as I progress, the wool will often take me in a different direction. The wool has a life of its own, really, which is why I think the faces are so intriguing. You can actually see the life in them. I used to get frustrated when, after investing a lot of time visualizing a character in a certain way, the wool would disagree with me and take me down a different path. But I’ve learned to step back from it. If I get to a certain spot where I start to feel things changing, I set it aside for a few hours or days. When I return to it, I often see things quite differently. Suddenly, the new direction will make sense.”

For Snell, needle felting is a time-consuming labor of love. “It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also very therapeutic for me. I love getting into that zone where I’m so immersed in it, I kind of lose track of the world around me. It’s a wonderful feeling! But I’m a slow worker, and finding large chunks of free time can be challenging. I’m raising my 5-year-old grandson, Merrick,” she beams, “so spending time with him is my top priority. If I have 20 minutes before Merrick gets home from school, I can’t needle felt but I can do basic things like prepare some base forms, which goes quickly. To really get into my imagination, though, I need solid blocks of time.” 

Merrick enjoys checking out his grandmother’s work area and watching projects evolve. “He makes suggestions, too,” Snell says proudly, “and sometimes I’ll follow his ideas. When that happens, we both feel a nice sense of joint effort.”

Snell loves making holiday-themed characters, Halloween in particular, and experimenting with totally new subjects. “The more I learn through tutorials and first-hand experience, the more ideas I come up with. Lately, I’ve been getting into the world of mushrooms, which is really fascinating to me. I’ve created felted mushrooms both as 3D statues and in 2D form, as more of a painting. There’s always something new to try. The possibilities are endless.”

This vibrant fiber artist has exhibited her work at several venues, including the Shaker Museum Craft Fair in Albany, the Paul Nigra Center for Creative Arts in Gloversville, and the annual Northville Rotary Woodworking and Fine Arts Show. And everywhere she goes people can’t help but stop and chuckle at her charmingly realistic characters. Without question, Laurie Snell proves that wool has a life of its own.

You may contact the artist at lauriesnell.fiber@gmail.com or 518-847-8851.