Woolrealm

Here's a little story about myself:

I was born in Russia in the Ural Mountains in a family where handicrafts were strongly present. My mother was skilled in spinning, needlework, crocheting, and sewing, and I have learned many of these skills myself over the years. Since childhood, making things with my own hands and art have been a part of me, and developing my skills also led me to the art school. Sports were for a long time another important part of my life: I competed actively as a cross-country skier for over ten years and participated in European and world championships. In 2009 I moved to Finland and settled in Savonlinna, the Kuopio region. Savonlinna became my home for a long time and the place where I built my life in Finland and later also my career as an artist.

At that time, there was little information available about felting, so I had to learn a lot by experimenting myself. This process allowed me to develop my own techniques and unique style. During my pregnancy, I had time to delve into the secrets of felting. Gradually, I started creating slippers, hats, paintings and miniatures of animals. The endless possibilities of felting made it a beloved art form that still captures my heart. The secrets of felting began to open up to me, and I discovered how this art helped me to express a deep connection with the world.

The story of my development

My first commissioned work was made in 2009. It was a sauna hat, and although I was still experimenting with a completely new material, I wanted to make something special for the client. In the following years I explored the possibilities of wool very extensively and made, among other things, hats, bags, slippers, animal figures, and paintings. Each new work taught me more about the material and helped me develop my own technique.

In 2011 I founded the company ELLUNHUOPA. In 2013 I received an order for a dog figurine, and that was the beginning of a new phase in my artistic work. Animal figurines also took me out of Finland, but at the same time my interest in visual expression through wool grew much wider. Gradually, wool became the material I could use to realize my own artistic ideas in the same way that another artist uses paint or clay.

The years I spent in Savonia were an important part of my growth as a professional artist. I developed my own expressive style, studied the field and continuously deepened my knowledge. I graduated as an artisan in 2017 and as a master craftsman in 2025. Alongside artistic work, I also taught and shared my knowledge with others. Over the years, my hobby grew into not only a profession for me but also my own artistic language.

In 2026, a new phase began in my life and work when I moved from Savonlinna to Lappeenranta, Sodankylä. Here I founded the Arctic Wool Experience Center, where I currently work. The center brings together my wool art, exhibitions, workshops, teaching, and my interest in wool and other natural fibers. At the same time, the nature and northern environment of Lapland have opened up new directions for my own artistic work as well.

Why I do this work - wool art is not just art

Sometimes people ask me: ”Why are you doing this? Why wool, why craft?”

The answer is not just about aesthetics or a love of the material. It's not just about wanting to make beautiful images. It's about what happens inside - both in me and in those who look at my work or learn to make their own. Wool is gentle, but powerful. It doesn't scream, but it cares. When you sink your hands into the wool, your body calms down. When you see an animal you care about transformed into a work of art, your heart is moved. When you learn to create something meaningful with your own hands, a feeling is born: ”I can. I can.”

For me, it's not just about making art. It's a way for people to reconnect with themselves. To calm down, to be present, to see the importance of one's own life. To experience beauty even when the outside world is too demanding.

I've seen many times how people become sensitised when they look at finished work or when they do it themselves. It's no coincidence. Wool carries with it something original - a connection to nature, to a time when life was slower and hands mattered more.

That's why I'm doing this. That's why I want to share it with others - both as artworks and as teaching. If you're looking for strength in a gentle direction, you've come to the right place.

Life blanket in the media:

• Hunting channel KORPIMACASINI 2/2020, 37:07
• Newspaper "FUTURE OF RURAL AREAS", 27.3.2020
• Rural Future Magazine "COUNTRY", 16.05.2020 (three page story)
• Egenland travel destinations Top felting in Nilsiä, 3/26/2021 (8min)
• Sheep & Goat magazine 4/2022, ”A felt board like a photograph” 9.2022
• Eagles' stove 14.10.2022
• Yle.fi ”A ”human-sized" Christmas home opened in Kuopio... 25.11.2022
• Kuopio Parishes ”A shop window in the Old Rectory to tell the Christmas story” 11.2022
• Savo Sanomat newspaper ”Louhosareena's host is up to the challenge again - Aku the dog gets a ”visual statue” in Kuopio's parade ground” 10.1.2023
• I love Kuopio ”Aku was here” 26.1.2023
• Week in Savo ”Aku the dog, the winner of the Kuopio Person of the Year 2022 vote, gets a statue in the centre of Kuopio” 26.1.2023
• Savo newspaper ”The furry statue of the Kuopio Woman of the Year was revealed - ”The statue is there for now” 26.1.2023
• Help magazine ”Russian Elena left top sport and moved to Nilsi to become a feltmaker - The first thing she learned was the Savo dialect” 11.11.2023
• Eagles' stove ”Would you believe that these works were created by felting? Ellu draws accurate images of light on wool, mostly of dogs” 11.9.2025

Solo exhibition:

• 2019 Between the roots, Boutique Hotel Sawohouse, Kuopio, Finland
• 5-7.2024 Alternative Space exhibition at Lapinlahti railway station, Finland
• 4-6.10.2024 The flowering of life, Break Sokos Hotel Tahko, Finland

Group show:

• 2017, “Wool in Nature”, Gallery Frøya, Kalvåg, Norway
• June 2022, virtual group exhibition ”DISCONNECT”, The Holy Art, London, United Kingdom
• 7.22 virtual Exhibition ‘UNITY’, The Holy Art Gallery, London, United Kingdom
• 2-8 SEPT 2022, exhibition ”ELSEWHERE”, The Holy Art Gallery, London, United Kingdom
• 30.09.2023 Lahti, Sibelius Hall ”Magic Fairs”
• 5.-28.10.2023 Online exhibition ”STORYTELLERS 2023” Las Laguna Art Gallery, California
• 24.1.-22.3.2024 Online exhibition ”On being human and human being”. Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 16.8.2024 ”The Past meets the Future” Art exhibition at the Festival of the Arts Nilsiä, Finland
• 7.6.2025 ”Korpimetsän K kutsu”, Rautavaara, Finland