Chris Lang Spotlight
Chris Lang
Written by Grace Lukens, February 2026
When you make art, do you know where your supplies come from?
Chris Lang always knows where her materials are from: her own backyard.
Chris, an avid fiber artist, lives on a farm where she and her husband have been raising sheep for nearly 30 years. Though the flock is much smaller than it was before–only seven sheep still graze on their land– they still produce a combined 70 pounds of wool each year. Some of the wool is sold, but much of it goes to Chris’ felt projects.
Chris has been working with various forms of textiles for many years. “My mother taught me to sew, and I made a lot of my own clothes,” she says. “When I married, I made a lot of my children’s clothes and some of my husband’s clothes, and stuff for the home.”
“But as our children got older, they didn’t want mom’s homemade clothes,” she quips.
“Flint Ridge Road Barn”
After clothesmaking, she spent a period of time quilting. Then, sheep entered her life.
When her three children began participating in 4-H projects, Chris and her husband bought them a few sheep. “I realized that I really like sheep,” she remembers, “and so I got interested in the fiber that comes from sheep.”
This interest took hold, and soon Chris, alongside two of her friends, taught herself how to spin wool. From this wool, she began to make woolen teddy bears. “I dressed them in hand-knit sweaters from the wool that I spun. I also got interested in felting to make the pads– the hands and the bottoms of the feet of the bears.”
These felted pads sparked curiosity in Chris. “I wanted to see what I could do with felting.”
This curiosity has led Chris to her current practice: felting artwork that resembles something out of a storybook. A lifelong interest in textiles has culminated here; it is clear in her pieces that the gentle landscapes and the organic curves are composed with a deep love for her craft.
“Mother Nature’s Chair”
One of Chris’s proudest pieces is her work “Mother Nature’s Chair". Taking inspiration from an old captain’s chair in her basement, she sanded and felted over the wood, creating a piece of art that is simply magical. “It’s called 'Mother Nature’s Chair,’” she explains, “because the legs are like a trunk. The back of the chair is the leaves, the foliage. And the seat is basically just a lot of moss and woodland plants.” The final effect is breathtaking, like a forest growing out of the ground right in front of you.
‘Mother Nature’s Chair’ was a huge success. It even went on to win the Best in Show award at the Bryn Du Art show in 2012.
And because she’s now been felting for over 25 years, she says that she now understands that good art comes with practice– and lots of it. “I think with any art, trial and error really enters into it. Any artist [will tell you] that they often make something or do something they’re not happy with, and it ends up in their ‘pile’!” She laughs.
“Let Nature Sing #6”
As a long-time Licking County artist, Chris has noticed that the arts scene in Licking County has changed– though not as much as you may think. In the 1980s, she says, “if I did a show in Licking County, I did not do very well.”
Now, “it has changed some, but not as much as I would like,” she admits. “It’s about what the people want, and what they show up for.”
Perhaps a solution could be a physical space for learning artmaking.
“Columbus has a Cultural Arts Center,” Chris explains. “And Licking County does not have that kind of thing. I wish we did, because I think it makes it more open to everyone. Because I do art, I also appreciate what other artists do.” Physical interaction with art forms, as is clear with Chris’s story, can spark a lifelong passion.
“Generations 72”
And art, to Chris, has a special power. “In some ways, art saves people’s lives.”
“[Art] opens up your mind. A lot of times, it makes me curious. It makes me wonder and stretches my imagination. It’s beautiful.”
Chris still lives on her farm with her husband David and their sheep. Chris’s felt art is cherished by numerous homes across the country. She has exhibited at many venues, including the Ohio Craft Museum, Franklin Park Conservatory, Zanesville Museum of Art, Bryn Du Art Show, Licking County Arts, Denison Art Space, The Dawes Arboretum, Wayne Center for the Arts, The Dairy Barn, The Works, Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, and even has a photograph of one of her 3-D felt pieces in the book World Wide Colours of Felt.