I create all different types of 3D objects and wall art out of wool. I create these pieces using either a wet felting or a needle felting method (or sometimes both!)

  • Wet felting consists of layering wool, adding olive oil soap and water and agitating it. 

  • Needle felting is a process where wool is manipulated with special needles. The needles have notches that catch the wool fibers and weave them together to produce the desired shapes.

Cindy Kennelly

website: cindykennelly.com

instagram: ck_felt_works

This ages old method of creating wool was originally used to make only clothing. Most of my work utilizes a wet felting process. I layer wool, add water and olive oil soap, and agitate the wool layers as they form into felt. 

EDUCATION

I have studied all aspects of felting: needle felting, wet felting, and nuno felting. My favorite pieces incorporate at least one of these processes in the work.

Studied under:

Saar Snoek, 3D Sculpture with Wool, Holland

Ellen Silberlicht, 3D Fiber Art, LexArt, Lexington, MA

Renate Maile-Moskowitz, Smithsonian Associates

Natalya Brashoveskaya, Master Felt Apparel Design, Nicosia, Cyprus

Niki Collier, Dublin Ireland, “Stained Glass” Wool Felting

College of Felt and Fiber Arts

Flóra Carlile-Kovács. FloraFelts, Seattle, Washington

Natasha Smart, Natasha Smart Textiles

Rosie Pink Studio

Fiona Duthie, Surface Design

Fiona Duthie, Dynamic Surface Design in Felt

Elizabeth Stubbs, Emerson Umbrella, Concord, MA

Eva Camacho-Sanchez, Lana Made Textiles, East Hampton, MA

Jodi Colella, FiberLAB Studio, Somerville, MA

Anna Kristina Goransson, The Eliot School, Jamaica Plain, MA

Kristy Kun, Opulent Fibers

Lena Archbold, Textile Art & Design

AFFILIATIONS

Northeast Feltmakers Guild

Fiber Art Now

Surface Design Association

AllSheMakes.org (Curated online directory for women creatives worldwide)

EXHIBITIONS

2025

  • Memories, Gallery Twist, Lexington, MA

  • Orange Line, Piano Craft Gallery, Boston, MA

  • The Blueprint of Imagination, Galatea Fine Art, Boston, MA

  • Chromatic Colors, The Art Gallery, Boston, MA

  • Interwoven Narratives, The Art Gallery, Boston, MA

  • CowMooNity, Gallery 01760, Natick, MA

  • The Alchemy of Art and Play, The Art Gallery, Boston, MA

  • Transcending Perfection, The Art Gallery, Boston, MA

  • Startling Unpredictability: The Art of New Beginnings, The Art Gallery, Boston, MA

2024

  • Illumination, Gallery Twist, Lexington, MA

  • Ribbon of Highway, Northeast Feltmaker’s Exhibit, NJ

  • Fresh, Gallery Twist, Lexington, MA

  • Seasonal Exhibits, Artisan’s Gallery, New London, NH

  • Embracing Uncertainty, The Art Gallery, Boston, MA

  • FEAST, Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA

  • Lyrical, Gallery Twist, Lexington, MA

  • Solo Show: The Flower Market, Gallery 01760, Natick, MA

2023

  • Let There Be Light, Galatea Fine Art, Boston, MA

  • Pairings, Gallery Twist, Lexington, MA

  • NorthEast Feltmakers Exhibit, LARAC Gallery, Glens Falls, NY

  • Lasting Impressions, Gallery Twist, Lexington MA

  • WILD Spring, Belmont Gallery of Art, Belmont, MA

  • Seasonal Exhibits, Artisan’s Gallery, New London, NH

  • Sensory Play, Creative Hub of Worcester, Worcester, MA

  • FLOW, Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA

2022

  • Felt Stained Glass Exhibition, Pearce Museum, Dublin, Ireland, juried by Niki Collier

  • Felt Stained Glass Exhibition, Gallery Kabllo, Vienna, Austria

  • Flights of Fancy, Gallery Twist, Lexington, MA

  • Seasonal Sales, Artisan’s Gallery, New London, NH

  • Ukraine Fundraiser, GalleryZ, Lowell, MA

  • Flora and Fauna, Belmont Gallery of Art, Belmont, MA

  • All She Wrote Books, Somerville, MA

  • Put Together, GalleryZ, Lowell, MA

  • Exploring the World of Fibers, LexArt, Lexington, MA,

  • Make Peace Not War, coordinated by Corinna Nitschmann

  • Bright!, GalleryZ, Lowell, MA

  • Illuminatation, Gallery Twist, Lexington, MA

2021

  • Juried Members Show, Concord Art, Concord, MA

  • Exploring the World Of Fiber, LexArt, Lexington, MA

  • Seasonal Sales, Artisan’s Gallery, New London, NH

  • Cool, Calm, and Collected, Gallery Twist, Lexington, MA

  • Human/Nature, Mosesian Arts Center, Watertown, MA

  • Looking Up, Gallery Twist, Lexington, MA

  • Artisan’s Fair, Wakefield, MA

  • The Chemistry of FiberLab, LexArt, Lexington, MA

  • Seasonal Opening, Avenue C Exhibit, Southboro, MA

2020

  • Private Exhibition, Gallery of the Burroughs, Northborough MA,

  • Illumination, Gallery Twist, Lexington, MA

  • Seasonal Sales, Artisan’s Gallery, New London, NH

  • Functional Art, Belmont Gallery of Art, Belmont, MA

  • Avenue C and Friends, ZXZZZFXF

2019

  • Perceptions of Self, Mosesian Gallery in Watertown MA,

  • Sensory Show, Mosesian Gallery in conjunction with Perkins

    School for the Blind

  • Illumination, Gallery Twist, Lexington, MA

2018

  • Calendar, 2018 Concord Art 2019 Calendar

  • Concord Art Walk, Concord Book Store

  • In the Dark Forest, Concord Museum Festival of Trees

  • Colors! TheW Gallery in Wayland

COLLABORATIVE WORK

  • 25 Million Stitches Project, Global Project

  • Ukraine Artist Fundraiser - Gallery Z

  • Ribbon of Highway Exhibit

  • Beneath the Surface Exhibit

  • Make Felt Not War, Hungary

Make Felt Not War is the most complex and international project for wet felters until now. It is a cooperation of more than 600 participants, aged from 3 to over 80 years from 23 countries and different continents. We aimed to make a peace-felt  after the Russian-Ukraine war started in February 2022.

Connections at Piano Craft Gallery, Boston, MA.