The Story of JG Switzer Wool.    

At JG SWITZER, our painter’s palette is provided by local and Heritage breed sheep. See how we create our "painted" wool pieces. See the artistry behind the craft. We “paint with wool” using a locally farmed canvas of Dorset and Suffolk wool from Bodega Bay. 

Wool Nerd, Artisan, + Founder Jessica Switzer Green  Through an amazing group here in NorCal called FIBERSHED, we set out two years ago to shear some sheep, and in doing so came across industrial felting machine, one of a few in the USA.  We took her home to The Barlow, an industrial maker and craft person space in West Sonoma county, California.   Painting with Wool at the Design Workshop   We call her LUNA the loom.  She weighs 7.5 tons and has 10,000 needles and makes the most amazing creations from natural fibers. We are often in the wool...

Wool is nature's finest natural fiber, and while some have heard of Merino, from Merino sheep, few are aware of the MANY types of wool, from Blue Faced Leicesters, to Wensleydale, to Shetland, all sheep make different feeling fleeces, and JG Switzer sources from the Livestock Conservancy's "at risk" HERITAGE SHEEP list in order to create livelihood for small flocks and their farmers, and honor an ancient fiber and the people who cultivate these endangered domestic animals. We mill our own wool at our design workshop on a 7 1/2 ton needle loom we call "LUNA the LOOM."   Our...