Mandy Troxel’s wool paintings featured at Orcas Artworks for July

||| FROM MANDY TROXEL for ORCAS ISLAND ARTWORKS |||

Mandy Troxel is the featured artist for the month of July at Orcas Island Artworks. For the occasion she has created “Goats on the Rock,” a wool-felted homage to agriculture in the San Juan Islands. Her largest piece to date, “Goats on the Rock” uses both wet-felting and needle-felting techniques, all with 100% sheep’s wool. The genre of this piece is called “wool painting,” though this is a slightly deceptive term: there are no paints or brushes used. Rather, many layers of natural and dyed wool are felted together via the tip of a specialized needle. From a distance, one may not even realize that the work is 100% fiber.

Mandy Troxel has worked with wool for over two decades, beginning with joining alongside islanders Kari Van Gelder and Amy Lum to form the cooperative woman-owned business “Bossy’s Feltworks.” In 2024 she called upon her background in visual arts to try wool as a medium for 2-dimensional art as well. Delighted by the process, she delved into the art of wool painting.

While it may look like a new or novel craft, felting has been documented from as early as 6000 BCE, having been used for everything from nomadic yurts to toys for the children of Mesopotamia. Mandy is honored to add to this grand tapestry of fiber art that transcends centuries and borders.

Recently, Mandy’s work has been included in juried international fiber shows.  In June, Rustic Fiber Academy’s Online International Juried Fiber Art Exhibition featured “American Goathic,” a painting featuring a trio of goats and the historic apple barn of Crow Valley (currently available at Orcas Island Artworks). The Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Museum will also feature one of Mandy’s wool on linen paintings at their International Quilt and Fiber Museum Festival show this coming October.

Orcas Island Artworks, located in Olga, is a cooperative gallery featuring over 40 members. It offers a carefully curated selection of fine art and handcrafted pieces by talented, passionate artists who call Orcas Island home. Visitors can explore one-of-a-kind works that reflect the unique spirit of the San Juan Islands. The gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.