High School

The Essential Question
How does nature inspire people to create art that expresses their connection to the natural world?

Objective
Students will create a landscape felt painting by exploring composition, color blending, and texture to express the beauty of nature through textile art.

Materials
wool roving in various colors, felt base or pre-felt sheet, felting needles, foam pad or felting mat (to protect the work surface)

Procedures
1. Show examples of felted landscapes and explain the process of needle felting. Share with students that they will create their own needle-felted landscapes, focusing on texture, color blending, and composition.
2. Students prepare their workspace by placing a foam pad or felting mat on the table and placing a felt base (or pre-felt sheet) on top. This will be their canvas.
3. Have students lightly sketch their landscape idea on paper or use chalk to outline major shapes on the felt base.
4. Direct students to add background layers to their felt base, gently pulling and placing thin pieces of wool roving where the sky, land, and water should go.
5. Share the following tips for using the needle to felt: Hold the felting needle straight up like a pencil. Carefully poke the wool into the felt base, going straight in and out. Use short, gentle stabbing motions—this tangles the wool fibers and attaches them. Always watch your fingers: keep them to the side of your working area to avoid poking yourself.
6. With the backgrounds complete, students build the midground, adding wool to create hills, trees, and other shapes in the middle of their landscape. They can use different shades of wool for highlights and shadows. Ask students to continue felting to blend and secure each shape.
7. Students should repeat the layering and felting process to add foreground details, using smaller tufts of wool to create finer details like flowers, rocks, or tree trunks.
8. At this point, students can begin to refine the overall composition, using the needle to blend colors and smooth edges. They can add thin layers of white wool over areas they want to soften or add clouds.
9. Have students check that all the wool is secure and the design looks finished.

Assessment
Did students create an original and thoughtful landscape with layers, textures, and clear elements?

Nicole Herbst is an art teacher for Sturgeon Bay Schools in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.