Shara Thompson is a self-taught local fibre artist who lives in Whitstable. Shara describes her work similar to painting a picture but with fibres as the medium. The background is generally made out of pre-dyed combed wool or natural fleece. The other part of the picture is created from a collaboration of different types of threads, which are blended together by hand until the right effect is achieved both in colour and texture. The next stage is to bring these elements together to form the end result. The work is a fusion of colour, texture and form. Shara is strongly influenced by the natural world providing her with a constant source of inspiration for her representational and abstract designs. It may also be an object, pattern or colour that evokes a certain thought. She never knows what, when or where her next idea will come from.