ARTICLE AND PHOTO BY JODI HERSEY
“Everything I saw, there was nothing like the artwork I was making,” Hillary Dow said. Dow, a fiber artist and self-published children’s book author from Hampden, uses her felted artwork for all of her illustrations.
“Unfortunately, felting simply isn’t as mainstream as knitting,” the mother of two explained. “Felting is a process of using a barbed needle to go back and forth through fibers. When the barbed needle goes through the fibers, it just kind of makes those fibers lock together. The more you poke it with a needle, the denser, firmer, and smaller the wool becomes.”
According to feltingart.com, felting is the most ancient form of textile art. It even predates weaving and spinning techniques.
Dow’s felting passion began when she first purchased a felting kit from Wrinkle in Thyme Farm in Sumner. It wasn’t long before she was needle felting fairies, mermaids, and other creatures using dyed sheep’s wool. She then layers her pieces onto a background before photographing them for illustrations in her children’s books.
“Each illustration takes anywhere from 15 to 25 hours to complete,” Dow said. “The characters in my books have often been inspired by our two children, Eva and Tyler, or our nieces and nephews. My parents are in the first book as Babcia and Dziadzia.”
Maine’s numerous farms and festivals help Dow stay well stocked with fiber supplies.
“The Common Ground [Country] Fair and The Maine Fiber Frolic are both wonderful opportunities to network with Maine’s fiber farmers and producers. I always leave those events lugging large bags of beautifully colored wool,” she said. “Rolled balls of roving, blended batts, bumps, curly locks, I try it all.”
Dow has written and published three books. Her fourth, titled “Flock of Rock,” is due out this year.
“It’s about a musical sheep named Leona, who is bound and determined to help her flock find their groove,” she described. “Leona begins with classical instruments, but it isn’t until she moves on to rock [music] that she piques the interest of her fellow sheep.”
Dow, who has a full-time marketing job and a busy family that loves to be outdoors, finds time to create in the wee hours of each morning.
“I have a daily routine of waking up at 4 a.m. and spending the first two hours of every day doing things that bring me joy: writing and illustrating,” she explained. “It’s miraculous what one can achieve when they commit 14 hours a week to something. Throw in hours on a rainy weekend here and there and productive car rides during family outings, and the pace of achievement just keeps going.”
This fiber artist plans to keep needling away in hopes of inspiring young and old alike to try felting.
“It’s really cool to be doing something different,” she said. “The pictures in my books will introduce felting to people of all ages. I aim to do my part to help others find it and to love and appreciate it as much as I do.”
To learn more about Dow and her books, log onto bindingtales.com.
Bangor metro autumn 2024
