Fiber artist Jill Ffrench crafts felted bird sculptures that pay homage to their voluptuous plumage. Using 100% pure felt, she stitches the hand-held creatures and adheres them with embroidery thread, wire, and wax. When complete, the soft figures don ornamental long, tails, which feature a combination of layered felt and decorative stitches to produce a spectacular effect. (The detail shots are my favorite.)
Jill’s inspiration comes from travel, and she spent most of her 20’s traversing the world. “It’s memories of this that I sometimes think of when I begin a bird project,” she explained to MrXStitch. Continuing,
In Africa I fell in love with the colorful roller birds that live in the Acacia trees. In India I was drawn to the bright colors of the hand dyed saris against the hot dry desert plains, and of course the stunning Indian peacocks that strut through palaces and temples.
Like many artists and makers, Jill is always thinking about pushing her work forward. “In the future I am interested in developing my bird patterns further,” she tells me in an email, “and combine all of my work techniques to develop larger scale soft sculptures that can be displayed in public spaces.” Yes—I would love to see these twice or three size what they are now.
If you want to adopt one of these bird sculptures, you’re in luck. Jill has them for sale in her Etsy shop, Fantails and Feet.
