Pobol, meaning people, was the only piece where I could see how the word made the shape in my head.  The plosive ‘puh’ giving me the soft, exploding outward feeling, and the ‘bobbliness’ of the word as a whole. I knew I wanted soft ball shapes for this, plenty of them, differing in sizes and colour. This could translate into pretty much any form of jewellery, so I opted for a bangle, something I do not often make.

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I wanted a strong skeleton, so made a silver bangle with a tension clasp. Then I began needle felting many, many, many small balls in different colours. Many. This piece I had to have help with, I needed to wet felt the balls once made, and I just can’t cope with the feeling of wet wool, so my husband kindly provided the wet, soapy hands needed. The balls we sewn together fairly randomly around the bangle. It is one of those pieces that you could go on forever adding and adding to, but I didn’t want it to be any heavier or bulkier than it is now. I like how it is suggestive of the solidarity and separateness of people too.