A while back I included Reyart’s felted acorns in a post as they were so lively and playful. In further exploring her Etsy store though I wanted to share other of her works as they’ve inspired a slew of ideas in me. Reyart is Reya Veltman who, not surprisingly, is currently based in the Netherlands.
All my life my mother has collected glass Christmas trees, it’s an addiction. She and our neighbor Francine actually learned they were competing with each other on Ebay to win them! These little Tree Folk look just like many of those glass versions, just a simple shape but recognizable in proportion and color to be a tree.
This past Winter in New Hampshire we had a terrible ice storm at my parents’ house. My dad kept the house warm without power for twelve days to keep the pipes from bursting. He told me that when you looked out at the trees they were so droopy from the weight of the ice — this piece, above and below reminds me of that.
Reya also makes one of my favorite little things, felted rocks — she makes them in wonderful colors but also in natural tones — she also is a evidence of the importance of presentation, the photo below is a favorite.
I explored items she had already sold last night too so that I could see how her work has evolved. Many of her table linens are incredible including the peacock centerpiece below!
Full image, with detail below.
In addition to felting Reya also does some limited printing, mostly with linocuts. One, an amoeba-esque red print looks lovely on napkins!
Reya appears to have lived in many places, she’s originally from Trinidad and was in Canada before the Netherlands I think. I that influences her work a great deal in the types of natural elements she incorporates as those locations have very different topographies and vistas.
The trees are so dainty!
Boulder Bowls — love them all.