Wool Hanging Cluster Sculpture

© Kim Buchheit. Hanging sculpture; 100% wool, 42" (h)

Lots of places for little critters to hide and nest! I think this piece was inadvertently inspired by cliff swallow mud nests. I did some research on them today, and there's much similarity. The cliff swallow's nests have slight bottle-necks at their openings, however, and are usually clustered horizontally-ish under a cliff or eave. Okay, now I've got my next project outlined :D

Felted Sculpture :: Chocolate Tentacled Pod

© Felted sculpture by Kim Buchheit (100% merino wool; 6" x 36")

Finished this tentacled pod today and hung it from a nearby Juniper tree to photograph, as thunder boomed all around. The tree's shaggy silver bark is so gorgeous, and the dark brown Welsh wool sculpture, with pink and orange shades of felted balls inside, delighted there. If the rain wasn't headed our way, I would have let it spend the afternoon outside. :) ~ Kim

Felted Pod with Tentacles

Felted sculpture © Kim Buchheit
A friend of mine, René, took me out of the trees and put me in the ocean — while she herself was developing mermaids and sea urchins in her studio. The result: a tentacled pod. (see René Westbrook's fabulous work here) ~ Kim

Needle Felted Sculpture :: Nest

Felt sculpture © Kim Buchheit

This pod decided to transform itself completely into a nest — replete with a wet-felted blue egg on a nest of raffia, and a few decorative feathers for good measure. While generally preferring more abstract work, I was not unhappy with this piece. I loved working with the dirty pale green roving. It was a terrible wonderful mess to work with — full of vegetal matter and all — which just made me feel more connected to the source materials and the natural world during the process. ~ Kim

Felted Sculptures in Snow

Felted sculptures © Kim Buchheit; Photograph © Mike Buchheit

Enjoyed shooting more felted pods in the snow. My husband joined me on the shoot and we had some good laughs as we sunk into the mud, battled the wind, and scouted out the best icicles in the park. Regarding these felted pods: the cream-colored pod is covered in tiny mirrors with one large one in the front. I was hoping that the mirrors would pick up the light and make for some interesting compositions.

Felted Sculpture :: Wall Pods

Felted sculptures & photo © Kim Buchheit.
Pictured above are some more felted wall pods that I created. I like them hanging from a tree branch that I nailed to the wall in my messy studio. I've been playing with adding mirrors to these wall pods; one is shown here. I plan to add several more tiny mirrors to this pod after the holidays. Speaking of, happy Thanksgiving to all! We plan on having a house full here at the canyon. ~ Kim

Felted Sculpture :: Wall Pods

Felted Sculptures © Kim Buchheit
A series of needle-felted sculptures that I've been developing. The dark brown-grey wool is 60% llama, 30% wool, and 5% silk... it's such a handsome blend! (The contributing llamas were Triumphus, who has since passed, and Charley, who now lives in Vermont. Thanks, guys.) These pieces are approximately 24 inches in height; am working on large-scale versions. ~ Kim