Felted bears

From her home in the Isle of Wight, Suze creates incredible felt sculptures of bears.

Suzannah Jackson works as an administrator at her local hospice in the Isle of Wight, but in the evenings she turns bits of felt into incredible felt animals. 

“I’ve always loved crafting,” says Suze. “I discovered needle felting around five years ago after stumbling across a video on YouTube when I was learning how to make pop poms! I was intrigued, so I bought a kit from my local art shop and gave it a go.” 

Looking through her Instagram, it becomes pretty clear that Suze has a thing for bears. 

“I love animals and I have always had a soft spot for polar bears, particularly at Christmas when they literally take over my home! They are beautiful animals and I find them fascinating. This year I have branched out a bit and I have felted pandas and grizzly bears.”

Suze says that their individual characters, faces and colour variations are all something she tries really hard to capture in her creations. 

“I look at lots of photos and videos when I’m creating my felt sculptures. It’s only in the last 18 months I have felt that I have been able to do justice to the animals I felt. I am still learning all the time – wool is such a forgiving and versatile medium and I am always surprised how much detail it allows you to make.”

Each animal sculpture takes the felt artist around 20 hours, plus some “tinkering time”. But the end result is just wonderful. 

“It’s a great feeling to create something that someone wants to buy and display in their home,” says Suze.

Isle of Wight

@handmade_by_suze