Meet the artist

One hazy May day several years ago, I was making my way around some of the amazing and inspiring houses taking part in Brighton Artists’ Open Houses when I stumbled across Into The Woods. I still remember the sensation of entering a kind of fairytale kingdom full of wondrous woodland creations. The artist Mia Underwood had filled her house, with the help of artist friends, with delightful and quirky woodland inspired paintings, toys, jewellery, accessories, woodcraft, ceramics, textiles, papier mache and even hand-woven baskets.

As her rather lovely (real!) name suggests, Mia Underwood is inspired by the natural world and it influences much of her work. From a gold leaf painting of morning light to a felted badger scarf, her diverse range of creations have a spark of nature’s energy in them. This comes through in her new book My Felted Friends. All 35 of the delectable needle-felted characters contained within have a distinct personality and they literally seem to leap or flutter or scuttle off the page.

My Felted Friends provides even a complete novice felter (me!) with the tools and tips they need to get started. The techniques are clearly explained and beautifully illustrated step-by-step style. The book is split into sections – Into the Wild includes a panda and a stripy tiger cub; On the Wing has a colourful parrot and a teeny tiny penguin; Into the Woods showcases a cheeky squirrel and doe-eyed deer and in Perfect Pets you’ll find a dinky dachshund and a happy hamster. These delightful creatures are just some of the many literally itching to be made – you honestly won’t know where to start when you see them all peeping out of the habitats Mia has created for them!

Before I leapt into making all 35 creatures, I thought I’d ask Mia a few questions about My Felted Friends and what she’s been up to:

Your beautiful book My Felted Friends is packed with luscious felted animals. Can you tell us where you get your inspiration?
My inspiration comes from so many different places and I am constantly foraging for new ideas. This part of the project is something I really get stuck into; I put on my favourite music and enjoy taking my creative mind for a walk. I was always called a day-dreamer by the teachers at school, and there is nothing wrong with that.
For me, it is about recording everything, even if it is a half-baked idea. There is something about creativity that you have to entertain the frivolous ideas or the good ones will never come to the table.
My recent obsession is Pinterest. Oh, the amount of wonderful pictures you can find – it is an amazing source of inspiration. If you ever get ‘artist’s block’ scroll through Pinterest and you will soon be running with many ideas.
Since I was a little girl I have had a sketchbook for recording and exploring ideas or experiences. My sketchbook is like an old friend and I love looking back at past drawings.

You’re clearly someone who has a gift for crafts. Have you always been a crafter and what inspired you?
I have always loved making things by hand. My lovely Danish grandmother “Mormor”, who sadly passed away a few years ago, always encouraged and praised anything handmade. Mormor was a ball of energy, constantly making things for the family. We all have lots of wonderful creations that she knitted, sewed, and drew over the years. I have just finished my second book Nordic Crafts which is a celebration of my Mormor’s life. The book will be coming out this September, and includes loads of different crafts, from knitting, sewing, crocheting to felting. I have included a few of my Mormor’s knitting patterns and details of her traditional Danish fabric boxes.

There are lots of creative people in the family, with my dad being a famous fine artist, and my chef mum specialising in the creation of the traditional Danish Kransekage cake, which looks like a sculptural form. My mum use to make her own clothes when she was young, I remember her whizzing away on the sewing machine and she use to knit the most stunning jumpers with her own designs. So I have been inspired by all their different passions. I do get bored if I have to do the same thing day in day out which is why my work is a complete mixture – I love to explore new ways of expressing my imagination and creative passions.

You have two girls. I imagine their rooms are filled with little felted animals, lucky things! Do they enjoy crafting with you?
All My Felted Friends animals just came back from the publishers and are still wrapped up and sitting safely in a box, but I plan to design a few scenic shadow boxes for them to stand/sit in for display in the girls’ bedrooms.
My youngest daughter Eva is only 14 months so she is a bit young, but Lilly is almost 5 and very creative. Her drawing skills are amazing, she already depicts her characters with so much detail and will spend a long time on each drawing.
When I was making the animals for the book, Lilly often asked, “what are you making now, Mummy?”. I kept feeling bad that I was not making them for her to play with. Then one day she asked, “Mummy, did you needle felt me?”. That one made me laugh.

Lilly and I love to make a creative mess, whether it’s drawing, painting, cutting and gluing. She particularly likes making things from cardboard boxes, as long as it involves glue and glitter. We have recently made fairies to hang in her bedroom and Ann Wood’s horses with movable limbs. I do try to keep her occupied and keep her away from watching too much TV. For one of her Christmas presents I needle felted her two of her favourite cartoon characters with wire armatures; she was really happy about that!

I have to admit I didn’t know much about felting before I read your book, being a bit of a knitter myself. Is it easy for beginners to get started?
It’s really easy! Anyone who has good dexterity, a bit of imagination and patience can do it. There is an age limit as the felting needles are very sharp, so I would say age 8+ with adult supervision. The great thing about needle felting is you can’t really make a mistake, if you add too much wool just pull it off, if you add too little just add some more.

All of the felted animals in your book seem to have personalities – which were your favourites to make?

The tiger and the squirrel. I love the way they have been photographed in their woodland forest scenes for the book. I have been approached by a children’s book publisher to create a children’s book which I am currently working on.

You’re sharing some of your felting skills with lucky folks in East Sussex. Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming courses?
I am running some workshops at Waterstones in Brighton. The next workshop is on 7th April making spring birds. Pop into Waterstones in Brighton or call 01273 206017. Suggested age is 10+ and the £5 ticket price includes materials.

I will be running a few needle felting workshops this summer at Wilderness Woods in East Sussex.

I also run workshops in people’s homes or in mine – email me at [email protected] if you want to arrange a group workshop.