Leslie McFarlane
Whispers of Wool:
The Art of Becoming
The Featured Artist's work can be seen online and in the gallery from April 1-26.
Opening reception: Thursday April 2, 5 -7 pm
Artist talk: Wednesday April 15 at 12 noon
Contact the gallery for inquiries.
About the Artist
Fibre has been a constant thread in Leslie McFarlane’s life since childhood—an instinctive practice of making, exploring, and working with the hand. Over time, this early connection has evolved into a focused exploration of wet felting, where wool, silk, water, and motion come together to create works that are both tactile and contemplative.
Leslie’s practice is rooted in process. Through layering, agitation, and time, fibres shift and transform, revealing textures and forms that balance intention with unpredictability. Her work is guided by a sensitivity to the imperfect and the quietly complex, often echoing the rhythms of the natural world and the coastal landscape of Nova Scotia.
A dedicated member of numerous fibre guilds and communities, Leslie has long been engaged in the exchange of knowledge and creative practice. Teaching has become an integral part of her journey, and she has led workshops across the region, sharing both technical skill and a deep appreciation for the expressive and meditative qualities of fibre.
Leslie is a juried member of Craft Nova Scotia, where she both teaches and exhibits. Her work has been featured in a solo exhibition at Flora Hall Gallery in Annapolis Royal NS, as well as in group exhibitions with Society of Fibre Artists of the Annapolis River.
Through Whispers of Wool: The Art of Becoming, Leslie continues an ongoing exploration of transformation—where fibre, time, and attention come together to create work that is quiet, textural, and reflective.
Artist Statement
My work as a fibre artist is grounded in the ancient and intuitive process of wet felting. Using wool, water, soap, motion, and time, I create sculptural and surface-based works that explore texture, transformation, and the expressive potential of natural materials.
I am drawn to the imperfect, the weathered, and the quietly complex. Through the layering of wool roving, hand-dyed silk, and a variety of natural fibres, each piece emerges from a balance of control and surrender. Wool has its own character; it shifts, resists, and responds in unexpected ways. Rather than forcing the material into submission, I have learned to work in conversation with it.
The coastal landscape of Nova Scotia, and the shifting tides of the Bay of Fundy, quietly inform much of this work. The surfaces echo tidal patterns, weathered stone, drifting water, and the traces left behind along the shore.
Whispers of Wool: The Art of Becoming reflects both the transformation of fibre and the personal process of making. Through the repetitive rhythm of felting — rubbing, rolling, pausing, and returning — the work becomes not only a physical object, but a record of attention, patience, and presence.