Kelly Conrad didn’t just find needle felting, she tumbled into it like a curious explorer and never looked back. With a simple kit and a spark of wonder, she discovered she could turn soft wool into whales, birds, and even a many-armed octopus full of personality.
Her work feels like a walk along the ocean, calm, colorful, and full of small surprises. Inspired by nature and guided by instinct, Kelly creates pieces that invite you to slow down, look closer, and feel connected to the world around you.
How did wool and fiber enter your creative life?
Art has always been a part of my life, and over the years I have tried many different mediums: drawing, painting, jewelry, knitting, and many others.
I always hoped to be able to find something that would allow me to eventually share my art with others, but everything I tried always felt a little off. It either didn’t seem natural, or I doubted myself too much, or I felt I was spending too much time depending on other artists’ work for inspiration.
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It wasn’t until COVID that I discovered needle felting. For Christmas of 2020, I asked my husband for some new art supplies to try out and keep me busy while at home. One of the gifts he gave me was a small needle felting kit. I didn’t know much about needle felting at all, but I watched a short video on how to make a small owl ball with the wool from the kit. Then I made a whale pincushion. Then I found a company that sold Corriedale wool roving and bought large amounts of it.
Within two weeks, I was making Sesame Street Muppets out of wool. For the very first time, I found a medium that felt innate. I knew that with a needle and some wool, I could make anything I wanted to.
I did some more Muppets and sold a small, commissioned piece before moving on to making some video game characters that sold as well.
In 2024, with the support of my amazing family, I started Wool and Pen and entered a craft fair to sell my own work. I started small with some pictures I had drawn, cards I had made, and several felted ornaments. I sold some prints and cards, but I sold almost every ornament I made.
I then started to put my full focus into needle felting.
Nature seems to play a big role in your work. What draws you to subjects like birds and sea life? Are there particular places that feed your creativity? Is there a piece that marked a turning point in your artistic journey?
I can be an anxious person, and nature grounds me.
My family and I spend a lot of time outdoors, and my husband and I spend most of our summers camping and kayaking. When we go out, I always have my camera with me and take tons of pictures to use as references.
My favorite place to get inspiration is the Oregon coast. Every year, we go camping for a couple of weeks in the small coastal town of Newport. It’s a non-negotiable trip; if we were to miss it for some reason, the whole world would feel off.
I don’t know what it is really about Newport, except it makes me feel grounded, safe, and small in a giant world. The beauty and colors of the beaches and surrounding land are wonderful inspiration to make felted pieces out of, and there is a lot of amazing wildlife to turn into sculptures.
I really like to focus my sculpture work on animals and birds that live in or around the water. Birds can be a challenge that I love to work through, and there is something about the idea of making fish, whales, and sea mammals out of wool that is unexpected and whimsical to me.
Wool is such an amazing medium to work with; it is very forgiving, and when sculpted, can have beautiful movement in it that really does work for sea life.
The first big piece that was of my own design was a Great Pacific Octopus.
I had a piece of driftwood given to me, and I could see an octopus exploring it. He was challenging to make; built over a wire armature with over three hundred suckers individually felted on his arms.
I had intended to create him for a gallery that was looking for pieces, but still felt nervous to try, so he ended up travelling with me as I started to connect with other artists and was accepted into juried shows. He was a great conversation starter, and through him, I learned about pricing, I gained confidence in my own designs, and started to become bolder in my other creations. He finally sold in April of this year.
How do color, texture, and shape work together in your mind when you begin a piece? Do you plan your compositions carefully, or do you allow the piece to evolve as you work? What part of the process brings you the most joy?
I start a piece by carefully looking at my reference material and then picking out the wool I am going to use.
I have a large bookcase with square openings that is filled with all different colors of wool next to my work desk. With my wall pieces, the colors drive the piece. I like to start with a base color and then use small amounts of accent colors to blend into what I’ve started with, which creates a lot of depth.
My favorite part about working with wool is that you can change things around easily while working. If a shape doesn’t look right, or a color is off, all you need to do is pull it out and change it up. Even if it is tightly felted, you can still change it up by felting something else over what you don’t like. It allows for tons of freedom of expression and experimentation.
I really love this when working on sculptures.
Sculptures can be tricky; I can see what I want in my head, but as the piece starts to grow, sometimes it might get away from what I wanted.
When felting a wool sculpture, you want the core of the piece to be as solid as possible, which can make changing things as you go more difficult. Unless, of course, you own a knife.
There have been more than a few times that I have cut a chunk off a piece or sawed a whale in half to make it longer. It is incredibly forgiving.
Working with wool allows me to trust my vision and know that I have lots of play to create what I want, even if at first I feel nervous about how it looks starting out.
And that is what brings me the most joy in my work: at some point in the process, there is a moment where I can finally see where it is going, what it will look like, and how it will be finished. In a wall piece, that feels like I am back in the place where I took that reference photo or drew that beginning image. With the sculptures, I know I am at that point when I start talking to the animal or bird I have created.
Can you describe your studio space? What makes it feel like home for your creativity?
I have two children, and my youngest moved away in December 2025. With his blessing and my husband’s support, we transformed his room into my studio in January of this year. It is a beautiful space.
We put in a hardwood floor and painted the room in a light cream with a soft blue accent wall that I drew some beach-themed images on. I have a Dreambox cabinet that I work out of with my “wool wall” right next to me. I have a large folding standing table to work on bigger pieces at, and an armchair for when a friend comes to visit.
There is a ton of natural light, and we removed the closet doors and replaced them with curtains to allow for easy storage. It is a very special space and has allowed me to grow and have more room to create. I’m incredibly thankful to have it.
What do you hope people feel when they see your work?
I just want my work to make people feel connection.
I have gotten so much out of this artistic journey, and I want my work to reflect all the feelings that I put into it, and the joy I’ve gotten in being able to make it.
In each piece I make, I learn something new. Every single time. Each piece becomes a moment of time in my life that I get to share with others.
I have been incredibly lucky so far to be part of some wonderful art shows in my area and have sold some pieces. But the biggest reward I get from doing these shows is talking to the people I meet at them.
The man who came by to see my Octopus and told me about the time he went diving and saw one. The people who come into my booth, thinking that they are looking at a painting, and realizing it is wool. The person who recognizes a place I have recreated and shares their love of that same location. Those who come and look at my work and share their experiences with needle felting, or who pull out their phone to show me pieces that they have made and are proud of.
These conversations, these connections that are brought about from the work I create, mean everything to me, especially in a world where connection can be hard to find.
What advice would you give someone who wants to try needle felting for the first time?
A lot of people tell me that they have tried needle felting before, stabbed themselves with a needle, and stopped. That will happen.
You are repeatedly stabbing a loose bit of wool with a needle; you will stab your fingers from time to time! I find that most people who start needle felting begin by doing a sculpture, and that can be tricky.
I think the best thing to start out with is a flat piece, or a felted picture. You are much less likely to stab yourself when the work is flat in front of you, and it is a great way to play with color. There are lots of small kits out there.
Where can people see your work?
You can see my work on my website www.woolandpen.art or on Instagram at wool.and.pen
Rapid Fire Fun:
One word that describes your creative life? Humbling!
A place in nature that inspires you the most? The ocean
Favorite color of wool right now? All shades of green
Early bird or night owl in the studio? Early bird
Interview posted May, 2026
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