After a popular return to Patcham last week, Karen Rao Felt Artist will be back at our Open Market fair on Sunday 29th March. Make sure you don’t miss her!…
Please introduce yourself and your brand….
I am a felt artist creating animal hats in the stunningly tactile medium of wool. My fun and functional collection includes hand felted hair clip ears and feather brimmed hats! This wearable art gets you noticed by day and keeps you snug by night – for year round cosy Winter wear, Cosplay creations or for festival fun!
How would you describe your style and your creations?
Carefully blending different wools and animal fibres, results in highly realistic colours and textures of our canine and feline friends and other animals too. Originally hand felting varied dog breed inspired hats with their floppy ears after meeting all these wonderful dogs on my daily dog walks.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
Felt making follows the ancient technique of using just wool, soap and water to createThe uses of felt are endless, so too is the learning process which makes the nature of felt making so unexpected and so rewarding. My work in constantly evolving within the theme of nature originating with my dramatic wave art, followed by cheeky monkeys and flamboyant flamingo wall art for kids’. I create dainty floral corsages and fun felted ice lolly brooches too.
What can we expect to find on your stall at The Fairy Tale Fair Brighton this Spring? And are you looking forward to taking part?
I will be bringing with me my popular animal inspired hats including the best selling fox hat, my cat hats and maybe the odd Minotaur! I will have my small and pretty felted floral corsages too, my poppies and sunflowers provide year round burst of sunshine. I’ve always got new ideas on the go so you’ll probably see some new surprises too!
Do you have any plans or ambitions for the future?
I always strive to reach new audiences and experiment with exhibiting my work alongside running drop in workshops. This year I have many new ventures coming up. I’ve recently had a commission to make a statement piece of stag headdress complete with majestical antlers. This work in in transit to Milan at present, so I won’t rest until it safely reaches it’s destination! It’s the customers who provide the most challenging and rewarding aspects of my work. Who knows what is just around the corner!