Felted Sea Sculptures

   

I have be meeting amazing people writing for Craft Gossip and this artist, Helle who lives in a beachside suburb of Sydney, Australia, truly stretches the word amazing to awe-inspiring. I discovered Helle’s blog Gooseflesh where all her wonderful creations are housed. I have an idea that one day her work will be in an art gallery. She has the eye for the unique and her sea sculptures are really unbelievable. See for yourself when you visit her blog or her ETSY shop. Helle’s photography is brilliant in the way that she thoughtfully lays out collections of related items that evolves into a delightful photograph.Helle did not have much about herself on her blog so I wrote her and asked.

These are some of the details she shared with me. I consider myself an artist now. I originally studied biology at Uni and worked in medical research at Sydney University. Always felt like a fish out of water there. Later, I decided to study Horticulture and Art simultaneously at college. Started my own horticultural business about 15 years ago and have never looked back. I mostly design and renovate residential gardens. Now the art is my major focus, with a few horticultural episodes in between. It’s been a gradual process of finding myself and realizing that creativity is a major source of happiness for me. I have a very strong connection with the Natural World. it’s a wonderful source of inspiration.

It was only recently that felting became part of my crochet. It was something that I experimented with one day and found the felting “finished” the small Coral Garden pieces. I mostly use pre-loved tapestry wool found in Op-shops. The wool is mainly from unfinished or left-over tapestry kits donated to the various charities. The loose ends, when finishing, disappear when felted and the colors seem to blend together better as well. Making something precious out of the discarded gives me satisfaction and joy. Felting was always something I had wanted to try. Years ago I bought a pretty felted handbag with little flowers which I never really used but loved to look at. The only other felting I have done is using woolen jumpers (sweaters) and blankets found in Op-Shops. I’ve made various objects out of these, including cushions, soft toys and as components in other pieces.