How can we collaborate or work together?

If you think we could be a great match, email me at hifriend@ernieandirene.com and I'd love to connect.

Can you make something custom for me?

I would love to work with you to make something especially meaningful for your space. Email me at hifriend@ernieandirene.com and we can start the process.
I do not do portraits of any kind: pet or person. 

Where did you get your start?

I got my BFA in Fibers at the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2011. There, I learned every aspect of fabric making. From weaving, crocheting, knitting, and felting to embellishment with surface design, beading, embroidery, and screen printing on fabric. 

Straight out of college, I worked in Print Design in the fashion industry and still do some freelance designs, but I always knew I wanted to work again with my hands, so in 2013, I took the leap and started producing artwork full-time.

What is felt?

Felt is a nonwoven fabric created through the interlocking of fibers. There are two ways to felt - wet felting and needle felting. Wet felting involves soap, warm water, and agitation. Long ago, shepherds used to put wool into their shoes to make them more comfortable for their long days of walking. Their sweat and the pressure of their foot on the wool would knot the fibers together to create a strong fabric. Now, we use a similar technique by laying out raw wool, soaking it in hot water, while agitating and rolling the fibers together over time, which creates a flat piece of fabric.

Needle felting is a product of the industrialization of wet felting. They found that sharp needles with tiny knicks in them could pull and knot the fibers together in a similar way as wet felting, so they'd put out a large bed of raw wool and lower and raise thousands of these needles into the wool to create yards of fabric. Legend has it that one day, a factory worker brought home one of those needles and began poking some raw wool with it, and needle felting as a craft began.

I use a combination of wet felting and needle felting in my pieces.

How do I hang my fiber art?

All Ernie and Irene pieces come ready to hang with D-rings or yarn tabs on the back. Each can be supported by a nail.

For the crocheted pieces, I recommend using a piece of masking tape, laying it over the back of the piece, and marking each tab on the tape, then placing that masking tape onto the desired wall for reference when nailing.  The felted pieces are so lightweight, a single nail per ring will do.

My preference is to hang the piece as-is, highlighting the raw edges by letting them speak for themselves. But, in a setting that may require straighter lines, some have used floating frames, slim shadow boxes without glass, or a rectangular board behind the piece.