VALERIE JUKES

I am Valerie Jukes and I make needle-felted animal masks under the name VALERIAN FIBRES.

When I first came to Bradford on Avon 31 years ago, I was lucky to be involved in the 1990 community play which centred around Bradford’s history as a woollen town. As a result, I learned the art of hand-spinning and my lifelong interest in wool was kindled.

I discovered needle-felting, the art of stabbing wool repeatedly with a barbed needle to sculpt it into shape, only a couple of years ago but became rapidly addicted to this process of transformation. The beauty and flexibility of wool never ceases to amaze me. The challenge with animal masks is how to create a realistic animal face which will sit on the proportions of the human one. The end result is a unique creation which can be used as a mask or displayed as wall-art.

Examples of my work can be found on https://www.facebook.com/valerianfibres