Estonian Fibre Farm
This week we got to have a virtual visit to Estonia to meet the amazing Reena Curphey.
The full interview replay is available to watch inside the membership, which is now open to new members, but below is an overview of the interview:
Reena is living in Estonia where she is from originally, in a picturesque rural area, providing her with natural inspiration all around her and the perfect location for taking raw, natural fibres from her own fibre flock and turning them into works of art in her cosy studio.
Reena studied textiles in art college and during those four years, one week kind of changed her life! She had an opportunity to study one semester in Finland. Whilst there she had a one week long felting course, and fell in love with the merino wools and what she could do with felting.
Although she didn't go back to felting immediately, her passion for it obviously stayed with her and when the opportunity opened up for her husband to realize his dream of having his own farm and raising sheep, they decided to have a total lifestyle change and create their own jobs in rural Estonia.
With their own sheep and access to other local farmer's flocks, Reena had the perfect opportunity to start experimenting with fibre to see if she could process her own wool in her felted creations. She sought the guidance from books and taught herself how to wash fleeces and card wool.
She even began spinning her own yarn, handy, because apparently in Estonia the art of knitting and crocheting is still taught in schools... Iove that so much that young ones grow up learning these fabulous natural skills, which in some parts of the world are sadly dying off! Reena's spun yarn is beautiful and she incorporates some of it into her wall hangings as well as using for knitting and crocheting.
Fibre Art Wall Hangings:
Reena takes commissions and also creates beautiful pieces for exhibitions, but her favourite thing is to be able to let her creativity flow and experiment with no set idea in mind, using only the inspiration all around her such as the nearby forests. Her work really is beautiful.
Reena laying out fibres:
We loved learning about her fibre farm which sounds amazing, and currently consists of around 100 animals, including Swedish Fine-wool sheep, North European Short Haired sheep, Estonian national breed of sheep, Heritage breeds and more, as well as Angora Goats and Rabbits. One of Reena's favourite animals is Henrietta (pictured with her below).
Some of Reena's Fibre Flock:
Reena processes her own fibre on a small scale mainly for use in her own artwork, but she also sells some of her fibre online which is available on her website.
Reena's own fibre:
Check out her beautiful fibre kits on the website:
We got to see some of Reena's incredible artwork, including some of her textured wall hangings which are so unique in her own style and in neutral colours. They would add a natural and calming ambience to any space. Look at some of the beautiful things in her studio!
Reena in her studio:
Also offering in person workshops and online courses, Reena loves supporting others in their creative journey, seeing their confidence and creativity develop as they learn new skills. She would love to do more in person teaching in the future and maybe even do a felting retreat, which I'm sure you'd agree, sounds amazing! She also plans to do more fibre kits to go with her courses in the near future so keep a lookout for that!
Reena's final words of advice for anyone hesitating about starting on their own felting journey was to just have a go! She hopes people will be brave enough to start and, not to get stuck on the final result, but to just enjoy the creative process. Having a go really is the only way to improve and progress in any creative endeavour, so I wholeheartedly agree!
Thanks so much again for coming to meet us Reena. It was a real pleasure and we look forward to see what progress you make on your future felting goals. 😍
Reena loves hearing from fellow wool lovers, so to get in touch or see more from her, please visit her links below:
Website: https://www.reenacurphey.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reenacurpheytextiles/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reenacurpheytextiles
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReenaCurpheyTextiles
Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/reenacurpheytextiles/
