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. 

Meet The Amazing Northern California Sheep Ladies The Story Behind Our Wool Old barns, big pastures. We celebrate the extraordinary women sheep farmers of rural Northern California.   From their farms come our pillows and throws.   Meet Hazel Flett, Bodega Bay Pastures.  We source our "canvas" and purchased 100s of pounds from Hazel this year to make everything from Cat and Home Mats, pillows and throws.  Meet Joan Pont from Pont Family Farm. We still can't figure out Joan gets her Gotland sheep in that extraordinary grey-taupe color. photos by Paige Green/Fibershed   Where does the Wensleydale come from?  ...

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...

The Back Story JG SWITZER was prototyping a format, 100% wool home rug, so we brought a few samples home to wash and test them, and set them on the dining room table. What happened next was a surprise. Our cats started fighting over them. The winner, Diego, started rolling around on his cat pad. He looked like he was smitten with Catnip. No joke. We have video to prove it.  Many cat blankets later, rugged trials with washing and mixed use, it turns out the kitties still love the smell and feel of natural wool. It’s like one big,...