I’m a self-taught textile wildlife artist based in Austria, turning thread into fur, feathers, and feeling — one stitch at a time. I work with a humble sewing machine, in free-motion, to create photorealistic embroidered portraits that celebrate the wild beauty of the animal world. What started as a personal obsession has become something bigger: a way to speak up for endangered species and stitch their stories into something permanent.

My background? Not what you'd expect. I’ve collected degrees in tourism management, film and theatre operations, kinesiology, counselling — and yes, makeup artistry too. But the art part? That found me later, while I was home raising two boys and getting wildly bored of sewing in straight lines. So I threw out the rules, experimented like mad, and came up with my own mantra: “Stitch outside the box.”
 

Now, my art is driven by curiosity, caffeine, and a deep love for nature. I chase realism not because it’s easy (spoiler: it’s not), but because I want people to feel something when they see a fox’s gaze or a bird mid-flight — all made with nothing but thread and tension. My work is constantly evolving, just like the world that inspires it. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
 

Publications:

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- Servus Magazin Gute Küche 01/2015

- Handarbeit! Magazine summer 2015
- Sulky Blog 07/2015

- Patchwork Professional 01/2016

- Ottobre, Fabric Design Feature 01/2016

- Textile Art Berlin 03/2016

- Lena's Patchwork 04/2016

- Embellish Magazine 09/2016 cover photo
- Patchwork Professional 10/2016
- Patchwork Professional 01/2017
- Patchwork Professional 04/2017
- Textile Curator 12/2017
- Be Creative with Workbox/Gallery Issue No. 170
- Be Creative with Workbox, Artivism Article Issue No. 172
- Inspirations Magazine Issue 101, Artist Feature 02/2019
- Textile Fibre Forum Magazine, Issue 133, Reader's Gallery 03/2019 

- Embellish Magazine Artist Profile Issue 38, 06/2019
- Social Distancing Festival, 04/2020

- Stitch Magazine issue 126, 08/2020

- Homespun Magazine Feb/Mar 2021
- Stickstoff Magazin Cover & Feature Article 02/2021

- Art Quilting Studio Winter Issue 2022

- Textile Portraits by Anne Kelly, Book feature, 2023

- Stitched Journey with birds by M. Sielman, Book feature, 2023

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Exhibitions:

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- Nadelwelt Karlsruhe 2016 - Textile Animal Portraits

- Exhibition of 'Otter portrait' Houston Quilt Festival 11/2016

- Exhibition of 'Otter portrait' St. Louis Quilt Market 05/2017
- Art Scene Today, juried exhibition *a stitch in time*, finalist
- Nadelwelt Karlsruhe 2018 - extinction is forever
- Jane Goodall Institute Austria 2018, Gösserhalle Wien
- Collaboration wt. Monique Martin, Canada 2020

- 50 bees, 5th edition, Acearts Somerton 04/2022

- Creativa Dortmund, Stickstoff Lounge 03/2023

- Hausfrauenkunst, Vienna 04/2024

- Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork, France 09/2024​

- Frau Mut und Ihre Schwestern, Vienna 04/2025

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Curating: 

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- #BeJane exhibition in honor of and in the presence of Dr. Jane Goodall's 85th birthday,
in cooperation with the 'Jane Goodall Institut- Austria'. 09/2019 Vienna, Austria

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Other:

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- Online course for Makerist `Freihandsticken mit der Nähmaschine`, 07/2016
- Fabric Designs for Stoffprinzessin, 2016/2017

- TV Interview SchauTV:  https://bit.ly/2sa83OX (minute 5:04)
- Auction of the portrait of 'Wounda' together with Dr. Jane Goodall 06/2018
- Fundraiser for Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Kangaroo Island, 01/2020

- Fundraiser for Earth League International in cooperation with Aurifil 11/2021
- Creativa Talk by BlaBla.Cafe, Stickstoff Magazin & friends, https://youtu.be/GMIzLwZCKv4

- Fundraiser for Caritas Österreich/Funds for Ukraine

- Auction of the portrait 'Solitude' together with Dr. Jane Goodall 11/2022

- ORF Wien Heute, Hausfrauenkunst 03/2024 

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