Jennifer Angelo

It all started with New Zealand sheep.

American-born fiber artist Jennifer Angelo began her journey in wool felting when she lived in New Zealand for five years, initially drawn by her husband accepting a position at the University of Otago. From 2009 to 2014, she witnessed the power of ocean waves crashing onto boulders, the gentle swaying of Toitoi grass heads and the calm grazing of Merino sheep in green pastures. Observing these gentle creatures in the island landscape, Angelo was struck by their serenity and connection to the natural world. The sheep, and the soft wool they produced, inspired in the artist a deep appreciation of the lasting nature of wool fashioned into felt.

Angelo, who holds a PhD in occupational therapy, was born in Kansas and lived in Pennsylvania before moving to New Zealand and eventually settling in Wisconsin. Her observational skills have been honed by education and influenced by her various environments, including rolling landscapes, jutting rock formations and urban architecture. Before felting, she was an experienced weaver who started her skill set weaving baby blankets and table runners on a four-harness floor loom. In New Zealand she encountered felting, an ancient craft that opened up a whole new world of art to Angelo.

Today, the artist uses her observational skills to experiment with different types of wool, changing one element at a time to discover unique undulations of textures, loops, swirls or bumps. She uses high-quality wool sourced from Australia to create felted art pieces. Influenced by thousands of years of felting, she continues the tradition in a modern context, using techniques such as inlays, prefelts and silks to bring a contemporary flair to the ancient art form. Her techniques involve meticulously laying out individual wisps of fiber before wetting it with soapy water, rolling it in bubble wrap, and agitating it to encourage the wool fibers to entangle and become felt. The result is a luxurious, soft and durable felt, which she then uses to create wall art and sculptures.