Featured Artist - Rose Lafferty

We are very pleased to welcome our featured artist for May - Rose Lafferty! She is a full time civil servant from Portishead, Somerset, who creates vibrant felted pictures using a combination of wet and needle felting techniques.

She produces wet felted pictures, specialising in animals, nature and landscapes, mainly inspired by her weekend breaks away with her family! Due to working full time her felt art started as a hobby, but as it is such a flexible and enjoyable material to work with she quickly became addicted.

‘’I am currently trying various techniques to try to obtain the effects I want to achieve. Some of which I think I may have invented myself! I'm currently looking for outlets for my work, so I can make space to continue producing even more pieces. My inspiration stems from the natural world. I love creating landscape and flower pictures and living close to the sea, I also enjoy creating pictures of birds and animals.

In one of her projects (gallery image 9) Rose uses different types of wool, nylon, cotton and silk to create clouds and waves for her sail boat seascape picture.

‘’I’ve created lots of pictures based on this theme, but they all look different, which is why I love felting. I used cotton and wool to create texture for the beach.’’

Rose has a few local shops that sell her work and also displays her pieces in her Facebook Shop: Rose Felt Inspired Shop.

Q&A

What do you enjoy most about your craft?: The versatility of felting and the ability to rework it if it goes wrong.

What is your favourite fibre?: I love the Merino and silk mixes. There is a lovely yellow (Pegasus I think) that makes a lovely background. For effect my favourite is actually the bright trilobal nylon top.

What is your favourite breed of sheep?: It's got to be Merino so far, as it's so versatile, but it's lovely to have a variety of others.

What do you like most about the company?: The variety of wools and specialist fibres available. My house is full of it! Also a great delivery service that allows me to state where I'd like the items left when I'm out.

Do you have a top tip for your fellow crafters? Yes, don’t limit yourself to just wet or needle felting, but combine both, and photograph all your work as a reference for the future.

You can view the work created by Rose in our gallery below, which details the title of her project and the materials she has used from World of Wool to create wonderful textures.

If you would like to see all of our previous featured artists click here.