Get to Know Clare Bullock Feltmaker
My name is Clare and I am a Feltmaker and textile artist. I discovered felt 18 years ago as a means of expressing myself and have never looked back. I now organise workshops at my own studio in Sharnbrook North Bedfordshire as well as travelling to other places around the country as a guest tutor and speaker.
I have been lucky enough to talk to large groups, clubs, organisations, guilds and at events around the country.
Please take a look at my available workshops held at my studio in Sharnbrook or I can tailor one to your specific needs.
If you are interested in me coming to your venue either as a guest speaker or to run a workshop then please do get in touch.
My Travel Cloth, a Diary in Stitch
I can never remember making a conscious decision to start this process, only that I enjoyed working with the small pieces of Nuno felt that I had made. I soon worked out that I would use colour in a different way depending on the mood I was in, after a time I had a large box full of pieces in varying colours that reflected my feeling, thoughts and memories. I had no plan for these little pieces of treasure only that I found them strangely comforting. At no point did I ever intend to stitch into these pieces, the joy of Nuno at the time was you didn’t need to stitch into it as it’s beautiful on its own. I can’t remember who first asked me if I ever stitch into my felt, the answer was no. I had never even considered it, one of the reasons I loved felt making was there was no need to stitch which was just as well as I couldn’t sew a button on successfully.
I think the start of my journey began when I was on a train, I put my hand in my pocket to pull out a tissue and instead I pulled out a screwed up piece of Nuno felt. At the time I wanted to do something with it but I had no needle or thread. When I got home I decided to add some stitches to it and found it rather satisfying. That was when I decided to always have a small piece of Nuno felt and a needle and thread with me wherever I go. That way I can spend my free moments stitching how I feel into the little bit of treasure bringing it to life, making it part of me. Once the piece of Nuno felt is stitched I sew it to the bigger cloth. My travel cloth grows with each new piece as a living, growing visual diary. My story in stitch.