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ARTICLE: From the San Mateo Daily Journal (with permission) by Bart Charlow on November 7th, 2026.
When I first encountered Birgitta Bower’s artwork, I had no idea what I was seeing. Moving closer, I was amazed. You will be too, viewing her new show at M Stark Gallery through Dec. 20, 2026.
This is fiber art taken to a high level on a small scale. Bower’s landscapes are very detailed and impressionistic. What sets them apart is that these are meticulously constructed of felt and fiber stitching.
Bower is no stranger to stitching, having received her medical training in Sweden, where they would have taught her how to methodically use fine threads. California licensing kept her from pursuing medicine here, but that loss is our gain. She’s a delightful artist.
“I can capture nature and I can play with the wool. It’s full of possibilities,” Bower says. “I can do both things.”
Bower claims that she lacks the ability to visualize the way that most artists do. She visits locations, takes reference photos and works from them.
These are local scenes. You may recognize the sites, which adds a very resonant dimension.
“Tidepooling” puts the animals and the people in an unusual perspective. The people bending to view little creatures between the rocks are small in the background. A proud heron and a panoply of sea animals dominate the foreground. Sea stars, anemones, a scallop and more in colorful 3D reach out to you.
I read a message here about how small we humans are in the vast environment, and how important the rest of animals and plants are to our world. They are certainly reaching out to us in these finely crafted pieces.
“Flower Power at Ross Cove” gives those wildflowers their due in the foreground, while the composition curves along the bluAs to a headland in back.
“Pescadero Coast” presents that flat expanse of Pescadero Beach in a wide horizontal format. The colors of the ice plants are rich alongside the pale coastal pathway, while a vibrant sea crashes over the rocks. You can almost feel and hear the waves. That’s a lot to capture in fiber.
She moves inland with “Pescadero Creek,” a vertical piece depicting the water rushing over the rocks surrounded by a verdant redwood and madrone forest. Vibrant greens of the tree canopy contrast with the darker greens in the foreground. It looks as though she captured every rock in the stream and simultaneously shows the rippling surface of the water with threads. A neat trick.
If you’ve been near Montara Beach looking over the fields toward Devil’s Slide, you will easily recognize “Montara Foothills.” Here she adds paint to wool, yarn and embroidery thread on linen to full eAect in this panoramic view, even including the telephone poles.
“Evening Glow” in yarn, silk, embroidery thread and beads on linen shows a stand of silhouetted trees against a warm sunset.
“Cathedral Trees” again shows people walking a woodsy scene as small compared to the broad dappled light on a sienna path in wool, yarn and thread on linen. Trees arching over the trail appear to be alive, reaching from each side toward the other.
Yes, there is one “Pumpkin Patch” piece paying homage to the fame of our coastline. People are small, pumpkins are large, with a jack-o’-lantern smiling at you in front. You will smile too.
“I’m always curious how things will look in wool. It trains the mind … more fun than crosswords,” Bower said. “I can work on these pieces adding or changing forever.”
So have your own fun at M Stark Gallery Nov. 8 from 1-4 p.m. for an artist reception and at 5 p.m. Dec. 4 for an intimate artist talk, including Peter Tokofsky, an art educator at Stanford.
M Stark Gallery, 727 Main St., Half Moon Bay, (415) 407- 8743, mstarkgallery.com.
You Can Create Too: Uncommon Threads in Los Altos has a couple of needle felting classes coming up: uncommonthreadsyarn.com/pages/
Bart Charlow, author, artist and consultant, blends more than 50 years of painting and photography with narrative storytelling. Explore the intersection of observation and expression through his insights on the local art scene, find his books and art at bartcharlow.com.
Bower’s second solo exhibition with M Stark Gallery, Wild and Wooly II, will take place November 7—December 20, 2026.
First Friday, November 6 from 4-8PM: Sneak preview
Sunday, November 8 from 1-4PM: Public opening reception
First Friday, December 4 at 5PM: Bower in conversation with Stanford arts educator Peter Tokofsky PhD. This event is free and open to the public.
Birgitta Bower is known for intricately detailed, sculptural felted landscapes that capture the vibrant personality and raw beauty of the Coastside. Wool allows for a soaring range of color and luster more vivid than conventional painting or photography, and she maximizes this quality. Trial and error is an important element of her process; she is continually perfecting her technique.
Bower is a self-taught needle-felting artist. Trained as a doctor in Sweden, she found her license and degree credits were not transferable when she moved to the US, so focused her attention on raising her two children. She was first introduced to felting when she received a maker kit from a friend in 2008. She became fascinated by felting, becoming an expert in every step of the process, learning to clean, prepare, and dye the wool which she sources directly from Bay Area sheep farms. Bower takes her medium one step further by combining sheep wool with other fibers such as alpaca, and adds further texture with yarns and threads. Bower has been an active exhibiting member of the Coastal Arts League since 2018. She lives and works in El Granada.
Needle-Felted Landscapes by Birgitta Bower Are Coastside Gold, by Stanford arts educator Peter Tokofsky PhD.
2024.9 Wild and Wooly, PUNCH Magazine (Birgitta Bower)
2024.6 A fluid approach to wool, Coastside Magazine (Birgitta Bower)
M STARK GALLERY
Sat 11-5, Sun 11-4
First Friday Art Walk 4-6
Weekdays by appointment
Author: mdrag
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