Patagonian Hands

Claudia, the owner of Patagonian Hands, hails from Coyhaique, Patagonia, Chile, and has resided in Missoula, Montana, USA, with her husband Karl since July 2012. Formerly a school teacher in Chile, Claudia is now a self-taught fiber artist and jewelry artisan in the northern hemisphere.

Using only sheep wool sourced from Hall, MT, and her family in Chile, Claudia creates animal sculptures, primarily birds, through a technique known as needle felting. She eschews the use of glues or stitches, relying instead on barbed needles to compress the fibers and hold the sculptures together. In addition to her fiber art, Claudia crafts silver jewelry inspired by nature. Claudia herself, meticulously designed, hand-sawed, soldered, filed, and polished each piece. Karl plays a crucial role in the artistic process, needle felting the sculptures to create their initial shape. Claudia then adds the finishing touches to give them a realistic appearance.

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