This month we’re featuring Felicia Reed for the Capitol Hill Art League’s Mind of the Artist feature. Read their story and check out their beautiful artwork below. Follow Felicia Reed on Instagram at @fiberartwithfelicia.

I am enjoying helping others on global levels using the modality of Art during this time of OPPORTUNITY!

I was born in Washington, DC during the 60s and have lived in the area all my life.  I am grateful for the “best of both worlds” as I like to call it which included access to the Nation’s Capital and beautiful secluded family farm land in the country of the Northern Neck of Virginia along the banks of the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. I could roam hundreds of acres alone and explore from sun up to sun down in a very safe setting. Freedom and pure bliss!  

Professionally, I am a certified Life Purpose, Spiritual and Christian Coach, Advocate, Fiber Artist, Professional Speaker, Quality Management Professional, Mastermind Team Member and Leader, and TV Host of “Females Without Fear to Face Art”. I am also a trained Energy Healer.  I volunteer on organization boards such as CHAL and serve in group forums working to support others in their lives. Regardless of what role I am in, I work to promote positive and constructive life changes and healing modalities primarily using art and nature. I am a survivor of every form of abuse and have survived several life-altering traumatic experiences where I know-for-a-fact that natural modalities and art saved my life. 

As a child, I displayed an interest in fibers.  I loved to sew and would make garments and items for myself, family and friends. At a very young age, I could read a pattern and sew couture garments. I often sewed Galanos, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and other top designers of the time.

I would even rework their patterns to my liking by removing pockets or details that I felt weren’t suitable or served no purpose. I also enjoyed treasure hunting for garments to take them apart and rework the design.  I found myself adding “this” or “that” to give the piece my own twist. I would purposely look for things that needed mending. My creativity and passion for fabric ran deep whereas I would sew for 12 hours or more straight on many weekends or holidays.  Sewing, knitting, crocheting, embroidering, designing, reading and exploring nature provided much needed outlets from family dysfunction. I could dream and create my own reality with my hobbies and be the Indigo Child that I knew I was.

It wasn’t just with fabric that I had a desire to work with. It was found things like antiques, vintage goods, things from my exploration in the woods and trash!  Yes, the trash of others became treasures and brought a great sense of accomplishment with my custom workovers. I was known to make phone calls to those with trucks or car trunks that could carry my finds. People were willing to help me as though they somehow understood this was a NEED thing for me. Reworking, remaking, fixing up and beautifying are prevalent elements in how I approach many tangible things.  

After stepping away from many hobbies and natural talents or gifts, I would return to them at the age of 50 after enduring another round of horrific abuse.  I picked up my knitting needles and started to do the rhythmic repetitive stitches to help with brain fog, trauma and disbelief. I had been prepared early on for self-healing.  I believe through a constant prayer, I received a new gift which was felting. This constant daily prayer to be wrapped in love and protection to make it through led to a strange occurrence where I received an email for a workshop at a place where I was not a member or affiliated. It was an invitation to felt and had a picture of an amazing wrap included. I signed up and actually went a week early to the class! Excited!  Shortly in the class, I experienced a knowledge boost as though I had done this work before.  I worked ahead of the class and mostly in insolation as I crafted my first wrap. I would later call the wraps Healing Wraps.

The Healing Wraps are made with silk and wool fibers and hand agitated in a traditional felting process using only soap and water.  Each wrap is unique and receives prayers, affirmations, high vibrations and intents for the owner.  The Healing Wraps are used in my coaching work and in art exhibits.  I encourage swaddling and wrapping up to create cocoons of safety and wellness. I promote resetting the energy field with the Healing Wraps.  Many use the wraps for medical appointments such as chemotherapy.  Survivors use the wraps as adult blankies to help with triggers from trauma.  Some of the Healing Wraps have been used in prayer spaces.

I am personally rarely without one of my Healing Wraps. I have found plenty of uses including: cold grocery stores, cool beach nights, ground covers, comfort in tough and easy days, to help others, dresser scarves and table runners to mention a few of the ways they are used. My own ultimate use is to swaddle with them and feel the energy from the intents and the fibers themselves.  The 100 percent silk and 100 percent wool fibers have energy from plants, animals and nature and I can feel the source when I work with the wraps and when I am wearing them.  The Healing Wraps are award winning and bring elements of surprise as in “how did you do that” to sparking dialogs to get others to open up.  They are often used like Talking Sticks and get passed around in sharing settings.  I believe the Healing Wraps are a gift and a tool for me to connect to others so that I may share the concept of healing with art.

More about Felicia L. Reed, Artist

Her award-winning felted Healing Wraps are featured in galleries, engagements, art forums and wellness entities as tools that spark dialog and change to overcome life transitions and trauma.  Felicia Reed inspires others, especially females, to own life events, face them, and ultimately heal them to a manageable degree.  Ms. Reed is working on an upcoming book and touring as a fiber artist. She can be reached on IG at @fiberartwithfelicia and by email at Felicia.reed@putitinperspective.net and is available for engagements.