Begin Again Before You Feel Empty

Musing / September 7, 2024 / By

How it can be so difficult to put words, or brush strokes, or pencil marks, onto a blank page is a mystery to me. Taking the action to start any activity of relevance in one’s life is one thing that does not seem to get easier with practice.

It is certainly true for me that the hardest thing to do is put the first words down, or lay the first fibres out, or make the first pencil mark on that too-clean, pristine white page. Doesn’t matter what activity it is, the starting point is a hangup. Even though I’ve conquered thousands of previous starts this is still the case.  And the level of difficulty with starting looms ever larger whenever I leave a significant gap between writing one article, or making one piece of art, and the next. Left in the gap, the resistance grows thicker and heavier until the idea of making anything at all is shrouded in doubt and purposeful forgetting. Even if I manage to do other writing, starting the project that has been lying in wait is a near impossibility.

Starts are so obscure. They are indistinct and vague and they are subject to certain deletion or remaking. They mirror real life a little too much, and like life, they require courageous rising up every single time in every single day.

wool sheep eating grassesThis brief reflecting brings me around to sheep of all creatures, and to a solution that sounds a little like heaven to me. I know it works for them… when you do get going, just go ahead and graze, do not stop until satiated, and always begin again well before you feel empty. I believe the last part is key. If life would cooperate with such a schedule I’d be a happy camper indeed.

Pace of Nature

Musing, Sheep / August 18, 2024 / By

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

wool sheep at rest

This photo was taken at 6:47 in the morning.
It was still cool out, the ewes had already taken in a belly full of grazing. When the day is shaping up to be a hot one they’ll rise soon and mosey their way to shade, unless there’s a good breeze blowing. They seem to appreciate a breeze that is strong enough to keep the flies and mosquitoes away.

Sheep just might be one of the most patient creatures.  In the heat of the summer there is little to do but wait out the day and then feed in the coolness of the evening and very early morning.

I have let slip my habit of pausing to watch them as frequently as I used to. I have been letting the pull of other tasks and desires take over. I have been dismissive of the ordinary, every day checking of sheep; treating it like a task I have to do instead of a task I get to do.

One does not have to pause for long for the quiet mood of these meditative creatures to seep in and be a needed reminder. But if the only thing these creatures represent is production and numbers then all the time in the world will not suffice.

Sale of The Felted Flock

Artwork / August 4, 2024 / By

I am not sure I really believed the Felted Flock would sell but I did hope for that outcome. Now that outcome has become reality, and I feel many things, including amazement and a good dollop of pride.

In case you have forgotten all about it, the Felted Flock is a collection of needle felted sheep and other animals who hang around them and/or are needed by them. The general intention behind creating was to share the voluminous story of growing wool and to highlight where fibre comes from. It was a two year art project that I finished December 2022.

Here’s the scoop on the sale. Earlier this year I was approached by an employee from SK Arts and after several back and forth exchanges Sask Arts made an offer to purchase half of the number of felted sheep along with every supporting character – so the guardians dogs, the stock dog, the fox, the coyote, the shearers, the shepherd, the crows, the magpies, and the wee cowbird. The new home for this downsized version of the felted flock is the Permanent Art Collection of Saskatchewan.

This sale means that the felted flock collection is archived and inventoried in an art collective, and when it’s not being shown it is held in storage by an organization with that capability. It took me about a week to decide on the sale and while there were a few terms and conditions to be navigated it felt right the whole way through and the process was rather seamless. The first showing of the flock is planned for this summer/fall in Regina, SK.  And because it resides in the permanent art collection, the Felted Flock is also available for any provincial gallery to rent for exhibition, and vignettes are available to be used as part of group shows.

Upon hearing the news friends have asked if it was hard to sell and the answer is yes and no. It was exciting to make the sale; a sale such as this is an amazing opportunity and nearly every artist’s dream. What was hard was letting go of my vision for the felted flock and allowing a new vision to reside in someone else’s hands. Because from here on, where and how the collection is set up and shown is in someone else hands. That is still hard and may always be hard, I don’t know. But I am eased with having the felted sheep that did not go with the collection to now do with as I please. And since these are no longer part of the felted flock I feel free to give them a new creative outlook. And so that is what I am doing. I am giving them a new look and making them into the prairie sheep collective. A couple of these are already on display at the Watrous Art Gallery and more will most likely head off to an art boutique in Saskatoon. I’ll share their makeover here on the blog as well so stay tuned.