If you have a soft spot for textile artists who specialize in needle felting, you should learn Lindsey Thomas’s name. She’ll win you over with her needle-felted wool dolls that take shape of quirky animal characters.
Thomas works from her home studio in London, after getting a degree in illustration from Middlesex University in 2012. Even during her time at the university, Thomas was more interested in mixed media art, and needle-felting allowed her to explore it further.
“It wasn’t until afterwards that I discovered fibre art and the wonderful ability of wool to make my illustrated characters three-dimensional… As a child, I was forever drawing animals and imagining what they would be like if they could peel themselves from the paper. Now I know!” explains Thomas on her official website.
The process of needle felting involves stabbing at wool and catching fibers with needles from industrial felt-making machines. Once that’s done, the wool is transformed into all sorts of three-dimensional figures—quirky animals, in Thomas’ case.
Thomas finds joy in transforming a pile of fluff into animals that she summons from her mind. Her creations take shape of everything from cats and dogs to birds, bears, and even dinosaurs. In addition to making greeting cards with her quirky characters, she also served as the illustrator of the children’s book Dieses Buch ist LEER.
