Hanna and Olha Dovhan – known as Manooni in the art world – are two sisters born and raised in Ukraine, in the city of Zaporizhia. A place with has a large river running through it, surrounded by the vast plains of steppe and famous for being the home of the Cossacks. Both Hanna and Olha are fiber artists, in particular they are needle felt artists. And what artist they are!

Hanna is 31 years old and she fell in love with the visual arts from her earliest years of life, at least that’s what her parents say. At present she is devoting a lot of her time to sculpting and drawing. Her favorite materials are wool, watercolors and ink.

Olha, on the other hand, is 28 years old and loves making toys made of wool. She started working with needle felt 6 years ago and now she can no longer imagine her life without it. It is a form of art that allows her to transform ideas, feelings and thoughts into real life objects. She loves traveling, listening to music, art and football. These are among the inspirational themes she uses.

For us they have created Albert, Jaqueline and Bernardo. Respectively a Dalmatian, a poodle and a mutt. Highly elegant, one might say monumental as they are so refined. Respectable busts that would be at home sitting atop the mantle of a parlor.

The fiber used is our Maori, a blend of New Zealand carded wools.

And now let us get to know Olha and Hanna better.

Double interview

Who has inspired you in your careers?
Olha: My initial source of inspiration was my sister. She introduced me to the world of needle felt and she taught me everything she knew. I couldn’t have done it without her.
Hanna: my family.

If you hadn’t become a fiber artist, what would you have done?
O: that is a complicated question. I really don’t know.
H: I would have become a painter. I like both painting and drawing.

Describe your art in one word.
O: It’s simple.
H: It’s a remedy.

Which of you two first had the idea of working together?
O: I think it was a join decision.
H: honestly, I don’t remember.

If you could choose one person from history to spend a day with, who would it be?
O: the musician Jeff Buckley.
H: the Croatian artist Ivan Rabuzin and the Swiss Paul Klee.

Favourite book?
O: It is difficult to choose just one. If I think of recently read books I really loved Bryan Cranston’s “A life in parts”. Fun and exciting.
H: I like children’s books and illustrated books about artists.

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more, then we suggest taking a look at the section didicated to needle felt. However, if you want to try this technique strait away then we reccomend one of these kits.