Needle Felt Cat Sculpture: Cheetah
This is a 3-Day Free Event. Monday-Wednesday. Each Day From 9am to 12pm MST
Needle felting is the perfect medium for creating realistic mammals and birds. Because wool is itself a kind of animal fur, with the right techniques it can be used to make extremely realistic fur and feathers. In this workshop, you will learn to create a realistic miniature sculpture of a wild cat out of wool. The course will give you techniques to increase the level of detail and realism in your needle felted sculptures. You will learn some basic animal anatomy and how to use this knowledge for creating art.
Instructor: Kiyoshi Mino
I am a needle felt artist based in the Rock Island, IL. I discovered needle felting by accident when my wife and I were attending a year long organic farmer training program before starting our own farm. I immediately fell in love with it. I loved to draw as a kid but had never tried any form of sculpture before. It was very exciting to me to be able to draw in three dimensions with nothing but a needle and a clump of wool. I have always loved animals of all kinds and because wool is a type of animal fur itself, it is the perfect medium for realistically sculpting mammal fur and bird feathers. In my work I focus on wild animal species which I try to render as faithfully as possible. I believe that almost all animals have unique personalities and emotional complexity just like humans and my goal when depicting wild animals is to try and convey this idea by capturing these unique personalities. I have given workshops in the US, China, Chile and the Netherlands. My work has been exhibited in Shanghai, Boston and New York City and featured in Fiber Art Now, Fast Company Design, and New York Magazine. You can see more of my work on my blog (kiyoshimino.blogspot.com) and on instagram (instagram.com/kiyoshiminofelt)