On Sunday, the 20th of September, twenty members enjoyed a delightful morning of needle felting with guild member and artist Eva Salamon, learning how to create their own charming felted owls.
Students watching Eva demonstrate the steps
Eva guided the group through the process, demonstrating techniques for shaping and building the owl from wool fibre.
A few photos
There was plenty of concentration, creativity and, no doubt, a few individual personalities emerging as the owls took shape!
Sharing work at the end of the session
Eva Salamon (in the centre) and some of the students with their needle-felted owls.
Eva’s Work
We were also delighted to have the opportunity to see some of Eva’s own work and learn from her experience as an artist and feltmaker.
Eva will soon be selling her creations at upcoming Halloween markets and craft fairs. Follow her on Instagram to keep up with her events. : @feltedvision. Here’s a link to her website: https://feltedvision.sumupstore.com/
Desserts with History
Bakewell Tart by Lorna
Guild member and committee secretary Lorna Cady brought another of her famous ‘Desserts with History. This time she made a vegan Bakewell Tart!
Appreciation Time
Many thanks to Eva Salamon for sharing her skills and enthusiasm with us, and to the members who joined us for another enjoyable Feltmakers Ireland Sunday Session.
Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
If you are a member of Feltmakers Ireland and have news to share about upcoming exhibitions or workshops, please email feltmakersie@gmail.com
Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
The Outset Gallery has announced the return of its annual open call and large-scale group exhibition, OXO 2026 – the 5th edition of the Outset Xmas Open.
Returning this November, OXO will once again bring together a diverse selection of emerging and established artists from across Ireland and abroad, transforming their newly designed gallery into a large-scale exhibition running throughout the Christmas period and into the new year.
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
On the most recent episode of the International Feltmakers Association (IFA) podcast FeltMatters, Education Team Officers Heather Potten and new co-host, Louise Curnin, talk about turning classes into lasting friendships, opening local shops to sell work, and branching into related crafts such as dyeing, leatherwork, ceramics, and weaving to enrich their felting. They describe shared rituals (making at a table, silent concentration), studio life (yurts, messy bedrooms and dogs on mic), and the satisfaction of creative escapes.
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
While our members and readers might not be travelling to Arizona in the coming weeks, they still might be interested in learning about other felting organisations’ exhibitions.
The Arizona Felters’ Guild currently has a group show featuring over 50 pieces from 20 of their members.
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
The Global Bioeconomy Summit 2026 (GBS2026) invites visual and literary artists to contribute creative perspectives to one of the world’s leading bioeconomy events, taking place in Dublin on 20-21 October 2026 at the Convention Centre.
They invite submissions exploring how bio-based innovation, natural resources, and circular systems can help shape a more sustainable future.
This is an opportunity to contribute a creative perspective to a global event bringing together leaders from science, policy, industry and civil society to discuss the role of the bioeconomy in addressing climate and sustainability challenges.
Applications close on Monday, the 28th of September 2026.
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
Several Feltmakers Ireland members are participating in events as part of this year’s Culture Night: https://culturenight.ie/
Co Leitrim
At the Leitrim Design House on Carrick-Shannon, guild members Belinda Reid will demonstrate 3D needle felting, and Karen Bowden will show how wool, water, and friction can create beautiful wet-felted flowers and beads. The guild’s exhibition, ‘The Essence of Nature ‘, is on The ArtWall.
At Gather Kildare, guild member Tamzen Lundy will demonstrate wet feltmaking and free motion stitching. Her colleagues at Gather will also share what they create.
Note: Some of the events are drop in and others require booking. Please check the associated links for details.
Apologies if we missed your event.
Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
The Wool4Health Awards were launched at the European Wool Day 2026 Conference in Tralee earlier this year. They aim to celebrate the therapeutic and well-being benefits of fibre crafts using natural fibres like wool.
Tactile hand comforters provide soothing sensory stimulation through touch and repetitive movement, helping to support wellbeing, focus and emotional regulation. They can be particularly beneficial for people living with dementia or Alzheimer’s, individuals with autism, hospitalised patients, and older people in nursing homes.
The closing date for mailing sensory hand comforters to Spain is Friday, 25 September 2026.
Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.
Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.
Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.
There was a wonderful sense of creativity and community at The Leitrim Design House in Carrick-on-Shannon as Feltmakers Ireland launched its latest ArtWall exhibition, ‘Essence of Nature’, on Saturday, 29 August.
The exhibition was officially opened by Cllr Sean McGowan, who welcomed the opportunity to celebrate the talent, imagination and craftsmanship of felt artists from across Ireland.
Bringing together the work of 36 members of Feltmakers Ireland, ‘Essence of Nature’ explores the beauty, diversity and quiet power of the natural world through the expressive medium of felt.
The room was buzzing with chatter and enthusiasm as we welcomed members, families and friends to join us in celebrating the ArtWall launch.
The Essence of Nature
Nature has long been a source of inspiration for artists, and this exhibition demonstrates just how many different ways it can be interpreted.
The participating artists have responded to the theme through landscapes, flora, fauna, light, seasonal change and more abstract interpretations of the natural environment. The result is a varied and vibrant collection that showcases the extraordinary versatility of felt as a contemporary art medium.
From richly textured surfaces and intricate details to bold colour and abstract compositions, each piece offers a personal response to the world around us.
Feltmaking is a particularly tactile art form. Wool and fibre are transformed through traditional and contemporary techniques into artworks that invite the viewer to look closely and appreciate both the skill involved and the stories behind each creation.
A Celebration of Irish Felt Artists
Feltmakers Ireland is a vibrant community dedicated to promoting feltmaking and supporting artists working with this versatile textile medium. Members work across wet felting, needle felting and mixed-media approaches, combining traditional skills with contemporary artistic ideas.
The ArtWall exhibition provides a valuable opportunity for artists to share their work with a wider audience and demonstrate that felt is not simply a craft material, but a rich and exciting medium for fine art and creative expression.
The exhibition also highlights the continuing interest in handmade, sustainable and locally connected creative practices, celebrating the heritage of wool and fibre while looking towards the future of textile art.
A Special Setting at The Leitrim Design House
The Leitrim Design House, located within The Dock Arts Centre in Carrick-on-Shannon, provides a fitting setting for the exhibition. The Leitrim Design House
The ArtWall allows the individual works to come together as one larger celebration of colour, texture, nature and imagination. It is a chance for visitors to discover the diversity of contemporary feltmaking while also supporting the artists whose work is represented.
With all the artworks created by Feltmakers Ireland members, the exhibition reflects the breadth of talent within the organisation and the strong sense of community that exists among its makers.
Visit the Exhibition
‘Essence of Nature’ is on display at The Leitrim Design House in Carrick-on-Shannon from late August through early October 2026, forming part of the wider August Craft Month programme.
Visitors are invited to take their time exploring the ArtWall, discovering the individual interpretations of nature and appreciating the skill, creativity and dedication behind each piece.
The exhibition is a celebration not only of nature, but of the artists who continue to find inspiration in it — and of the enduring possibilities of felt as an art form.
‘Essence of Nature’ offers a beautiful reminder that something as simple as wool and fibre can be transformed into art that is deeply personal, richly textured and full of life.
