Maureen Ivy Fisher

 Painting with Fiber

The process I use to create my fiber work is called needle felting.  Dyed sheep’s wool is the paint on my palette. A sheet of felted wool is the canvas. Special needles that adhere the colored wool to the felt sheet are my paint brushes. I blend and layer the colored wool to achieve desired hues, tones, and gradations, just as I would with paint.  Simultaneously, I build with the wool fiber to add a sculptural element.

Organic shapes and forms, rather than straight-edged geometric ones, are the components of my compositions. They are my interpretation of the many landscapes I’ve hiked or traveled. The correlation between the natural material of sheep’s wool and the images that emerge from it, oftentimes spontaneously, feels connected and honest. The images thus created are my embrace of the natural world and, for me, they are a refuge from the digital and man-made spaces in which we live and work today. 

There is a direct connection between the experience of being immersed in nature and being immersed in making my fiber paintings.  They are both meditative, contemplative, and comforting. I love the tactile nature of working with fiber, its softness, and varied textures.  My hands are right in the material, along with the needle, as I add, subtract, layer colors, pull, and shape the material. In this way I am closer to the work than I am with traditional painting, and truly feel part of the artwork.

Influenced by her professional artist father, Maureen has been a painter, illustrator, and art educator most of her life. She studied in IL, CA and France and has a BA in Fine Art/Illustration from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena CA  and a MA in Art Education from Chicago’s North Park University.  

All of the art in Maureen’s Blue Moon Collection is available for purchase.

Send inquiries to kendra@thebluemoongallery.com or text 224-388-7948