Think sugar coated bundles of detail and slight oddness combined to make unpainted paintings that are arresting and uncanny.

I'm Dawn Waters and I paint with fiber. In 2014, a friend taught me the basics of wet felting and I began making wearables. Soon after, I was introduced to the felting needle. I wondered if I could make a fiber portrait with one of these barbed needles. I had never seen a fiber painting, and had not created a portrait in any medium. Needle felting is relatively new, unlike wet felting - it’s like tattooing, but with wool. I kept at it, and finally the likenesses were recognizable and the intended emotions emerged. 

I often include an unexpected element like James Brown’s face as Edvard Munch’s The Scream; my political slant, as in Ruth Bader Ginsburg as Wonder Woman; or a poignant subject, such as the iconic National Geographic Afghan Girl. I used to communicate as a writer, but now I do this through these paintings, making statements or eliciting emotions, whether it’s evoking comments about a political statement, a discussion or mere reflection from an emotive piece, or simply a good laugh. When I started creating these paintings, I made famous faces, but am progressing into a more emotionally-focused direction and creating pieces that combine methods and materials. Much of my work incorporates 3-D wet felted objects such as flowers, a nod to where I began. 

I relish the challenge of bringing a subject to life through fiber and creating work that begs to be touched. I have recently begun painting with paint and mixed media and it’s clear that each medium is informing the other, and I see the possibilities are endless.

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Please contact me for commission and exhibition inquiries.  dawnwatersart@gmail.com  804.837.3296

For prints, canvas prints, tote bags, pillows & other products that feature my art, click              CV is here.

This is the Famous Faces page. To view other fiber paintings, click here. 

This is the Famous Faces page. To view other fiber paintings, click here.