Dose #54 – BAAutiful 7: “Heart Felt” – The Art of Teresa Perleberg
We come to the last part of our BAAutiful series with the needle felting art of Teresa Perleberg.
Dose #48-54 : “BAAutiful” (A Special Year of the Sheep series)
Dose # 54 – BAAutiful 7: “Heart Felt” – The Art of Teresa Perleberg
DDoA: How long have you been doing art? felting?
TP: I started needle felting in 2006. Years ago I enjoyed cross stitching then I moved on to knitting and spinning wool. I have always loved photography.
DDoA: What led you to the art of felting? What do you love least/most about this medium?
TP: After purchasing some sheep I wanted to learn how to spin their wool into yarn. I joined a local spinning guild to learn how to spin and while I was learning to spin my daughter Libbie was given some felting needles and shown how to needle felt. When we returned home that evening I started playing around with needle felting. I stayed up until 3 am making my very first needle felted sheep. I love felting with wool from our sheep, taking something grown on our farm all the way to completed project. Felting takes a lot of patience because it is very time consuming, this is what I like least about felting.
Artist Teresa Perleberg with her adorable sheep at her farm in North Dakota
DDoA: Please share some of your favourite pieces and tell us a little about them.
TP: I love making Bear Creek Bunnies and this one just makes me giggle every time I see her picture. I designed the Bear Creek Bunnies after a long very snow filled winter. I was ready for spring and wanted to work with fun colors so I decided they had to wear dresses. My very first Bear Creek Bunnies were smiling but now they have started to laugh! 🙂 I have been told that they make my customers happy just looking at them and that is what I treasure.
DDoA: What inspires you? What’s the average time you spend working on a piece?
TP: Cute animals inspire me as well as cartoons and illustrations. Living on a farm is great for inspiration. We raise cattle, chickens and sheep and have cats and a dog for pets. I love watching birds and wildlife, taking photos of them to use for felting inspiration.
I make easier pieces and others that are more difficult. I make snowmen and once I have the wool spun into yarn and knit into hats and scarves and the other supplies ready it takes me under an hour to finish them. My cute little fluff ball sheep can be finished in under an hour as well. Bear Creek Bunnies take me an entire afternoon to complete. My bigger more detailed sculptures such as the giraffe or Longhorn bull take several days to a week to finish.
Needle Felted Giraffe by Teresa Perleberg
Needle felted Longhorn Bull by Teresa Perleberg
Needle Felted Scottish Highlander by Teresa Perleberg
DDoA: What tips do you have for artists and craftsmen trying to sell their work on line?
TP: Pictures! learn to take good pictures of your product or hire a photographer. Thankfully I was into photography long before I even knew what needle felting was. I am still learning because looking back to just a year ago I can see improvement in my photography. Once you have good pictures get them out there on blogs and social media. I take pictures everyday, of my sheep, products, farm life and share them with the world.
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Learn more about Bear Creek Felting on marthastewart
Visit the official Bear Creek Felting website
Find and connect with Teresa Perleberg on Facebook
See more photos of Bear Creek Farm
Read yesterday’s feature on Teresa Perleberg: “An Artist’s Life on a Sheep Farm”
So do… as artist Teresa Perleberg does…Do what you love. Love what you do. And most of all, share what you do with those you love (& the rest of the world!)
DAILY DOSE OF ART 
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