A gifted pallet of raw sheep fleeces became years of creative possibility. Join fiber artist Karen Borga as she shares the story behind the wool—and why every finished piece begins long before anyone sees it.
A Pallet of Possibilities
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JOURNAL
Reflections from the studio, works in progress, natural dye experiments, and observations from a practice rooted in fiber, material, and nature.
Collection Two Begins
The First WOOLBORNE Collection, and I am so proud of this work. It took me a year to arrive at something I'd put my name on—and along the way, plenty of people told me to just put it out there, that it was good enough. They don't know me. I wasn't ready to release it....
My Palette Begins with Fleece
When people imagine an artist's studio, they often picture shelves lined with paint—rows of colors waiting to become a landscape, a portrait, or an abstract work. My studio has shelves too. But instead of tubes of paint, they're filled with fleece. Romney. Icelandic....
Why Wool Is My Medium
Why did wool become my lifelong medium? The answer isn’t simply about texture or technique—it’s about listening to a material that already knows what it wants to become.
The Part We Rush Through
There is a part of almost every project I'm tempted to rush through. Not because I don't love it. Because I'm so eager for what comes next. Yesterday I was preparing my loom to weave a baby blanket. The pattern was ready. The colors were chosen. The yarn was measured...
Why do I create?
It's a question I ask myself often — usually in the quiet stretch between projects, when the wool is put away and the studio is still and I find myself feeling, strangely, lost. When I'm not in the middle of making something, something in me goes dim. I know this...
Nature Participates
A quiet realization while reading about eco-printing led me to see fiber, plants, and natural materials differently. Nature is not simply a source of materials. It participates.
Onion Skin Experiments
For weeks I had been reading about eco-printing while quietly collecting onion skins in the kitchen. What began as an experiment with leaves became something else entirely—a discovery that I was more interested in the color itself than the print.
The Churro Fleece
A Navajo Churro fleece arrived in the studio carrying the marks of the landscape it came from. Before the wool becomes yarn or felt, there is a moment of discovery where the material reveals its own character.
A Pallet of Possibilities
A gifted pallet of raw sheep fleeces became years of creative possibility. Join fiber artist Karen Borga as she shares the story behind the wool—and why every finished piece begins long before anyone sees it.
Collection Two Begins
The First WOOLBORNE Collection, and I am so proud of this work. It took me a year to arrive at something I'd put my name on—and along the way, plenty of people told me to just put it out there, that it was good enough. They don't know me. I wasn't ready to release it....
My Palette Begins with Fleece
When people imagine an artist's studio, they often picture shelves lined with paint—rows of colors waiting to become a landscape, a portrait, or an abstract work. My studio has shelves too. But instead of tubes of paint, they're filled with fleece. Romney. Icelandic....
Why Wool Is My Medium
Why did wool become my lifelong medium? The answer isn’t simply about texture or technique—it’s about listening to a material that already knows what it wants to become.
The Part We Rush Through
There is a part of almost every project I'm tempted to rush through. Not because I don't love it. Because I'm so eager for what comes next. Yesterday I was preparing my loom to weave a baby blanket. The pattern was ready. The colors were chosen. The yarn was measured...
Why do I create?
It's a question I ask myself often — usually in the quiet stretch between projects, when the wool is put away and the studio is still and I find myself feeling, strangely, lost. When I'm not in the middle of making something, something in me goes dim. I know this...
Nature Participates
A quiet realization while reading about eco-printing led me to see fiber, plants, and natural materials differently. Nature is not simply a source of materials. It participates.
Onion Skin Experiments
For weeks I had been reading about eco-printing while quietly collecting onion skins in the kitchen. What began as an experiment with leaves became something else entirely—a discovery that I was more interested in the color itself than the print.
The Churro Fleece
A Navajo Churro fleece arrived in the studio carrying the marks of the landscape it came from. Before the wool becomes yarn or felt, there is a moment of discovery where the material reveals its own character.