Bev Harris began using felt to create pictures and hangings on to which she would "draw" with free machine embroidery. She began her artistic career as a painter and layering the coloured fleece is like mixing paint, as the felt dries the colours emerge with vibrancy and depth. Free machine embroidery adds texture and movement, where there is heavy stitching the felt compresses which enables the areas around the stitching to be more prominent creating a 3d effect. Bev enjoys looking at different cultures around the world and has a love of nature and surface pattern such as Celtic imagery, which is reflected in her feltmaking. Each piece of felt is different and even though a certain amount of decision making is made when placing colours, the element of surprise is always present when each piece dries ready to be made into bags, brooches, jewellery, cards, pictures and hangings - each area of the felt is different and so each item whether it be a brooch or piece of jewellery, has its own individual look.
