Anxious to find your own wet felting style? This may help

Like everybody else, when I first started wet felting, I didn’t have a style or a voice. I wasn’t even thinking about having one. I was just trying to figure out how I could make the pieces I saw others do and, above all, understand how wool behaves.

If that’s where you are right now, know that everyone goes through that phase. And, if you’re a bit further, starting to feel the desire to have your own style, to create work that other people recognize as being yours, know that it’s a phase as well. So, no matter which phase you’re in, it’s all ok.

We don’t start with a style. We develop one. And developing your own felting voice is a journey. Like any creative path, it evolves through different phases. Some of them are exciting and others are confusing. But all of them are necessary.

Phase #1: Imitation AKA learning by following

Aside from artists who were already working with other media and then decide to bring a new medium, wet felt, into their already existing style, this is where we all start. Whether we follow instructions from books, make whatever we’ve seen in a free video from YouTube, buy online tutorials or take live classes. And that’s totally ok. If this is where you are, embrace it and absorb everything you can. Think of it like learning a new language.

Phase #2: Experimentation AKA growing by playing

As your confidence and your knowledge about the materials grow, you start feeling empowered to do things a little differently: you try new shapes, play with bolder color palettes, or tweak one of your favorite techniques.

This is the first whisper of your voice wanting to emerge. But it’s just what you need to start playing with projects other than what someone else is teaching.

This phase will be messy, and you’ll try things that don’t work. What you actually like and don’t like will also become clearer to you.

Phase #3: Identification AKA following the pull

You’ll naturally start gravitating towards particular details. Wet felting can include a broad number of techniques and fibers. And felt makers can specialize in anything from clothing or hats to bags or sculptures. Some people love color, while others only work with undyed wool.

As you start making your own decisions, you start recognizing your fingerprint. If you feel like you’re nearing this phase, but still find it difficult to recognize a pattern, here are some questions that can help you get more definition:

• Do you prefer fine wool types like Merino or coarser ones like Bergschaf?
• Do you gravitate towards organic shapes and textured surfaces, or do you like clean design and straight, sharp edges?
• Are you passionate about sculptural pieces or would you rather make wearables?
• Do you prefer color or undyed wool?
• What are your favorite techniques? Do you enjoy adding other techniques to felting (like dyeing, eco printing, sewing, embroidery, weaving)?

Little by little, you’ll see your style emerging. And, once you know what you love, you can start refining it. This doesn’t mean you stop experimenting, but now you’re building on something more solid.

You might choose to focus on mastering a specific technique, like differential shrinkage or complex resists. You may decide to explore your color palette more intentionally. Or maybe you start thinking about your work as a collection or series, like what I’ve done with my “Exploring The Circular Shape” experiment.

Your style will keep evolving, because it’s a reflection of you. So many things change in life that can influence your work. Personally, I’ve seen my taste in color change, I’ve gone from making wearables to concentrating on 3D felt. I also used to be quite a purist. Now, I love introducing other materials into my felting practice. I’m starting to mix embroidery, sewing and even printing and dyeing into my projects.

In the end, the most important thing is to remember there are no right and wrong ways of doing things. Trust the process. It may be slow, but it’s silently developing in the background.

P.S.: Would you like to read more about how you can develop your style? Here are “My 3 tips on how to create your own wet felting style”