Studio visit with Ruth Packham

"Wool is a wonder, it can be wet and shrunk and used as a drawing material and moulded and sculpted, it is complex in its varieties and did you know, it has a memory!?" - Ruth

Ruth runs two courses with Make it in Wales: Felted Quirky Bird - Designing and making your own Quirky Bird, and Drawing with Wool - A masterclass in drawing and felting with wool fibre.

We have become fascinated by the versatility of wool, the art of needle-felting and Ruth's inspired technique of using the unlikely medium of wool to draw with.

Why draw with wool?

In most cases, you may find an artist's process starts with a sketch... But what about those of us who aren't confident sketchers? There is often some fear of picking up a pencil to start a project and how many of us have said "I can't draw"? The beauty of drawing with wool is that it adds a new dimension to the drawing process; the idea that taking away the pencil, in turn, takes away the fear. The fear of doing it wrong or not being able to draw it well enough. Ruth believes that anyone can draw, and that perhaps a pen or a pencil isn't for everybody. She also believes that nobody needs traditional drawing skills to be a good artist.

Making marks

Just like pencil on paper, Ruth makes marks with her wool. Except the traditional technique of drawing is much more fluid and free when using wool. Experimenting with fibres of different colours and thicknesses, creating layers and depth, using your hands in a way that comes naturally. Ruth's "Birdlines" series are two-dimensional wool drawings: simple bird shapes that seem to take on a charcoal effect when looked at from a distance. This series of "drawings" capture movement and character; with the needle felting creating marks that are unique to this particular drawing technique.