Elsa Leyden, Fiber Artist and Alpaca Farmer

I have dabbled in just about every aspect of art I've stumbled across throughout my life. Some interests have stuck, while others have not. The ones that did not stick were usually the ones I was not very good at! Actually, the truth is, the more complicated and technically challenging the process, the more likely I am to pursue it until I have mastered the craft.

The real passions of this artist’s heart though, are animals. I have always lived with a pack of dogs following my every move and various other critters have joined the menagerie over the years including guinea pigs, geese, degus, cats, canaries and well, you wouldn’t really believe some of the things if I told you...Then came the alpacas.

I have enjoyed sewing since I was a child. The appeal has always been that I could sew something up pretty quickly and have the finished product. When the alpacas started moving in, I explored spinning and weaving but quickly realized that it was just too labor intensive for me and began searching for a faster way to get the raw fiber to yards of fabric so it could be cut up and sewn. I landed on felting somewhere between 10 and 60 alpacas. I’ve now perfected the technique of laminating alpaca fiber onto silk to produce a very fine fabric for clothing. Along the way, I discovered needle felting and have added it to my master crafts.

Elsa teaches classes in fiber and art. She has developed a line of alpaca fabric and fiber art kits, that are available through Longbranch Fiber Farm in Washington State.