I’ve talked about Shauna Richardson in the past, and have featured the Lionheart Project as one of my Friday Inspirations before. Following my trip to Wool House, I decided to send her an email and ask if I could use some of the photos from her website – and in the process, decided she ought to be my next Friday Inspirations!

I have no FO’s for FO Friday, as knitting has taken a bit of a back-seat recently in my life. I’ve been working like a mad thing towards the May Fair Market that I’ll have a stall at, as well as continuing trying to move into my parents house from the temporary accommodation we’ve all been in. I moved all my sewing equipment down the hill today, only to discover I HAVE NO POWER in my bedroom. I cannot express how frustrated this makes me!

Shauna Richardson

A British artist with a degree in Fine Art (you have no idea how jealous I am!), Shauna coined the term crochetdermy. The pieces that she creates – life-size crocheted animal sculptures – are absolutely stunning. The amount of work that goes into these artworks is immense – they have a structural base, and are covered in the crocheted fabric to create the outer appearance of the sculptures.

I’ve been fortunate enough to see two of these in the flesh. The first was a coyote that I saw at Unravel 2013 in Farnham Maltings. Bearing in mind that I’d only heard of the Lionheart Project via the internet by this point, I took one look at the animal and realised it must be a Shauna Richardson piece, before I’d even seen the plaque. The attention to detail is unbelievable. You can see muscle structures, the eyes and teeth are placed in to look as if the animal is an actual taxidermied object. Stunning.

The second crochetdermy piece I saw was the bear at Wool House. I’ve spoken about this guy at length in a previous blog, but I’d like to share Shauna’s photo of her with Prince Charles, celebrating the heritage of British Wool. Seriously inspirational stuff.

I love how Shauna has created her own form of fibre art. If I ever have half the inspiration she has towards creating something that is amazing as just the smallest of her pieces, I will be a happy bunny.

Don’t forget to check out the Lionheart Project. It’s the most awe-inspiring fibre project I’ve ever heard of, and I will go see these guys one day soon.

Much love,

Corrie xx

All photos belong to Shauna Richardson.