I have had my head down the last month concentrating on finishing up with the Felted Flock. Every early morning that I sat down at the table to felt yet another sheep I have wondered why I embarked on such a project at all? What made it so appealing that I committed to such an insane idea as needle felting a flock of 143 sheep, seven lambs, six guardian dogs, one stock dog, one fox, two coyotes, nine birds, two shearers and one shepherd, plus several other characters that landed in the trash. It is not an unlikely possibility that all of this work will sit in a storage box, and that outcome begs the question of what all the work was for.
The start of the Felted Flock and all the curiosity and anticipation it had feels so far apart from the just crossed finish line and the mess of emotions I feel now. I am happy to have completed this big project but I still need time to sort it out and decipher what it is that I actually feel about the project and its accomplishment. So many people have fallen in love with it and yet I feel as though I have fallen out of love with it.
I started the felted flock with a good dollop of enthusiasm. I finished the felted flock with far less of that enthusiasm though. The project took something from me that I can’t articulate right now given how fresh the finish line is, but it has also left me with healthy anticipation of other artworks I might be able to accomplish. Projects I never believed myself capable of given the number of times I have started and then quit them.
I am certain the deeper feelings will surface soon enough and that I will own the accomplishment every way possible. There is the opportunity to set the entire collection on display at the local art gallery in January and perhaps that viewing, along with writing more about the project, will stir the reaction I’m holding in check.
