Juliane Gorman is a maker of practical and fantastical wet-felted hats. Now working out of her back garden shed in Dublin, Ireland.

Coming from an architectural and urban design background, I worked for several established architectural firms. The year 2018 marked a transitional period for me. During that time, I developed a more hands-on approach to environmental design, contrasting with the large-scale approach I used to be a part of. By mere chance, I learned about camels and camel fibers, sparking my interest in animal fibers and traditional women's crafts. Since then, I have shifted some of my focus from architecture to fiber arts. While felting is relatively new to me, it has quickly become my favorite tool in my toolbox.

Joy, humor and playfulness have always been major components in whatever I create. If I don't feel those things as I create, how can any viewer? I have always chosen a tactile material to express myself, clay and fiber being my main mediums. Currently, wet felting is front and center in my studio. With its magical process, taking wool, adding warm soapy water with the agitation by my massaging hands, I can transform it with endless possibilities. Wet felting continues to challenge my creativity while stretching my imagination to see what adventures in my work will unfold.

Life is about the learning and finding your joy!

Art is my joy, wool is my medium, photography is my hobby and creating felted landscapes pulls it all together into one unique piece of art.
I always have said that I was born with a camera in my hand, and I have always loved to create art. I have done various textile art forms, but none that I have loved until I found felting.
I began my felting adventure in 2010 when I first saw beautiful felted articles made at the League of New Hampshire Craftsman fair. Seeing the amazing articles of clothing intrigued me and I was hooked. I began to take lessons, and making items on my own. I have created art to wear from head to toe. I have made hats, scarves, neck warmers, vests, jackets and boots.
Life evolved and I stepped away from felting for several years, until I met my husband. He supported me and believed in me and once again I began to felt. I retired, sold my house and in the process of packing I found a landscape piece that I had long forgotten and had attempted to make for a friend, it was horrible. But with persistence, determination and a lot of tearing out, and doing again, not to mention a few more classes my skills improved and I completed the piece. I had then caught the bug of felting landscapes. Having Cerebral Palsy my fine motor skills leave a lot to be desired, but wool levels the playing field for me.
I now live between a houseboat based in Rhode Island and a sailboat based no where in particular. I no longer have the space to make large pieces such as vests, jackets or scarves. Since we travel the eastern seaboard seasonally I have the opportunity to take many pictures. We have sailed as far north as Newfoundland and as far south as the Bahamas. The pictures that I felt are taken during my travels of inspiring scenes and majestic sunsets. I do the felting right on the boat while dancing on the waves or anchored snugly in port. The challenge is storing the hundreds or so different shades of colored wool in the small space of a 34’ boat, not to mention the felting tools.
I find creating a piece to be meditative and challenging at the same time. The skills that this unusual medium requires has been a journey that will never quite end as each landscape seems to have its own challenge of color, shapes, fine detail, and broad areas with variegated patterns.
I also love to teach this art form, comments from students have included; "I don't want to stop", "It is very meditative", "It is very satisfying".
Since I have found that it is a very forgiving art form, I am interested in teaching folks who have Parkinsons, or other fine motor challenges that may prevent them from drawing or painting. Painting with wool, I have found to be more accessible for those of us with fine motor challenges.
Please contact me for info on teaching.
Peruse my virtual gallery, I accept commissions which include larger pieces although I need to approve the picture. Price is dependent on the size and complexity of the picture. I reserve the right to use artist discretion in completing the piece.

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Joy Muller-McCoola has used wet felted wool as her primary medium since 2012. Various other mediums were her focus over her 37-year career as a public school art teacher. She has shown in the Mohawk Hudson Regional at the Hyde Collection, Albany Center Gallery, the Schweinfurth Art Center, The Arlington Center for the Arts, the Center for Contemporary Arts in NJ, LARAC, Mountain Gallery, View Art Center, and more. You can see her demonstrate felting at Kings County Fiber Festival in Brooklyn, ADK Wool & Arts in Greenwich, NY, and Beekman Street Fair in Saratoga Springs. Muller-McCoola’a work tours as part of Wool & Water, a traveling group of fiber pieces that bring attention to water issues in the Adirondacks.
Her current work uses wool from twelve breeds of sheep whose migratory history is similar to that of human beings. Environmental issues related to climate change and water are her focus along with the movement and relationships of people, and where the industrial meets the natural.