Textile artist Fleur Woods finds inspiration in the small, sparkling moments of everyday life, from garden wanderings to the quiet rhythm of slow stitching. In this interview, she shares how nature, vintage textiles, and a playful, trusting creative process shape her richly layered fiber work. She talks about finding your artistic voice, embracing slow making, and why joy is at the heart of her practice.
Can you tell us about your childhood and early creative memories? When did making things start to feel important to you?
Gosh, so many…I remember doing lots of drawing as a kid and going for walks, picking flowers. As a primary school-aged child, one Spring I came home with a huge armful of daffodils, much to my Mum’s embarrassment as I had helped myself from all of the front yards in the block. Luckily, no one minded.
Can you remember the moment you thought, “I want to make a life from my art”?
When I was in the corporate world in my 20’s, trying to squeeze any ounce of creativity out of what I was doing, I was making art and doing small exhibitions on the side, and thinking, I really need to make this my day job somehow.
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Your work is deeply inspired by nature. What places or landscapes keep drawing you back again and again?
Aotearoa New Zealand, where I live, is known for its incredible natural beauty. I am so lucky to be surrounded by it. Honestly, though, a garden anywhere in the world is a haven for me.
What everyday moments do you find most sparkly with creative ideas?
Wandering the garden, picking flowers, sipping coffee on the porch, sorting through threads and textiles, walking the dog, driving the kids to school. The light, a fallen leaf, flowers growing in random places, seed heads, a pile of linen, it all just brings me magic.
What does your studio look and feel like on a good day?
It feels calm and uninterrupted, great podcast, fresh flowers, hot coffee and play time.
Can you walk us through your favorite materials and tools?
What are the things you must have? I love and use plastic snap frames for their versatility, vintage woollen blankets are a favourite base fibre for me, silk merino hand dyed wools, chenille needles size 18-24, sharp scissors, a comfortable place to sit, and my daylight lamp.
Your work feels both expressive and playful. How do you balance planning with letting the piece surprise you?
My work evolves very organically with little planning, so I guess I lean pretty hard into the playful. It’s really important to me that my practice is joyful, and for me, that means allowing myself a lot of freedom and trusting the process to support the work to evolve beautifully.
What’s a challenge you run into most often in your process?
It is very slow work, which I actually love and embrace, but sometimes that makes for long hours in the studio if I have deadlines to work to.
Can you share a time when a project went very differently than you expected — but ended up better?
When I took to a large 1m x 1m fibre rockpool piece that was very colourful with a white wash of acrylic paint. It felt like quite a risk for a piece that had already essentially been finished. I wanted to create a different balance with the colours, so I mixed up water and white paint, poured it over the work, and left it outside for about a week to dry. I ended up being beautiful, and the paint caused the fibres to warp and move in beautiful ways.
How do you know a piece is finished?
If I feel like it’s close, I put it away for a day or two, come back with fresh eyes, and if nothing major jumps out at me as needing attention, I let it be done.
When you look at older pieces now, what do you see in yourself that you didn’t see then?
Courage, I am so proud that even though my stitching was quite simplistic and unskilled at the beginning, I let my joy for it guide me and allowed myself to develop over time.
Have your themes or subject matter shifted over time? In what ways?
I think nature & femininity have been an enduring theme for me, combined with a celebration of vintage textiles, colour and texture. I think the themes are the same but the mediums and ways of expressing them keep evolving
What does a perfect creative day feel like for you?
Play without purpose, mucking around with ideas that I’ve had, and pushing materials and techniques for new ways to express.
How do you stay connected to wonder and curiosity in your work?
By ensuring that I honour my process, keep it slow, thoughtful, and meaningful. I don’t think I will ever stop learning and evolving, and I’m not sure I will have the time I need in my lifetime to create everything I wish to. I also mix up my practice with teaching and travel, both of which I love and get a lot of inspiration from.
What do you want people to feel when they see your art?
Soul connected to the work, the story or whatever it is in the work that feels like they have met a kindred spirit. I wish for my collectors and viewers of my work to be able to see something new everytime they view the piece, an intricate detail, a change of tones in the light. Like an ongoing conversation, a relationship that evolves overtime.
For someone just starting with stitch or mixed materials, what’s the first thing you’d tell them?
Play, play without attachment to outcome, let yourself be weird and whimsical,
How do you make time for creativity when life feels busy or full?
My work is the foundation of my creative practice and my business, so it is and always has to remain high on my priority list. I ensure that it always stays very close to the top of my list, and even if I can’t manage large stretches of time, I regularly interact with my work and make even for small windows of time regularly.
What part of being a maker do you think gets talked about less than it deserves?
What you create isn’t simply the thing that passes through your hands or an idea that you have executed, it is connected to the culture, the continuation of skills, the passing of knowledge, the people who experience it. The ripple effect of making with your hands is vast and important for not only the maker but their communities and the well being of our world.
If your work could talk back to you, what would it say?
Thank you letting me exist as a form of expression, however imperfectly in the world
What’s one piece of friendly, honest advice you wish every creative could hear?
It’s important to find your unique offering, your soul language. You can only find your artistic voice through making a lot of work and never, ever giving up.
Where can people see your work?
(socials) https://www.instagram.com/fleurwoodsart/
Website: https://www.fleurwoodsart.com/
My book The Untamed Thread (available worldwide)
Interview posted March 2026
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