Inspired by the rolling hills and natural beauty of the Dorset countryside, award winning artist, Di Pattinson will be displaying her masterful felt-work at a new exhibition.

Having begun her career as a P.E. teacher, Di broke her back in a road accident and became a wheelchair user before her first year at Weymouth Teacher Training College was complete.

But having always been creative, Di returned to teacher training college a year later to train in her second subject, Arts and Crafts.

“In those days, it was unheard to go back to school after such a serious accident. It was a big step,” she said.

After the birth of her three children, time dedicated to art was scarce but she began watercolour painting as a hobby in the 1980’s when her children were still small.

Di continued to hone her artistic skills until she attended an adult art class in the early 2000s, when she said she became ‘hooked’ on felting.

“It just grabbed me. It’s more tactile and textual and more hands on. The skills I had learnt in water colour were transferable and I was able to use them in my felting,” she said.

Having refined her felting techniques over the last 16 years, Di said her inspiration comes from the colours and textures of our natural world.

This summer one of Di’s pieces won the Felting Trophy at the Dorset Arts and Crafts annual show in Wareham.

Di said she particularly enjoys a painterly approach when creating her 2D pieces. She works with the fleece as if it is paint, selecting a ‘palette’ of colours before beginning a piece.

Working mainly with dyed merino fleece, Di uses the traditional ‘wet felting’ technique to blend the colours and create her 2D and 3D artwork.

She then adds detail and texture using needle felting adding in yarns and natural fibres, such as hemp.

Di regularly runs felting workshops and will demonstrate some of her techniques during the exhibition.

The Felt and Textile Exhibition will be displayed from 10am until 5pm between August 19 and 28 and for more information see www.feltandtextileart.co.uk.

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