Artwork

A Body of Work

Artwork / September 14, 2023

After completion of the felted flock I dove into making a steady stream of unassuming charcoal drawings. I felt captivated by the simplicity and obsessed with keeping the realism while not fussing about detail.

So many things in these pieces made sense at the time of making them. the subtlety of ewes as they cross the prairie that is matched by some strokes of charcoal on a muted background. The easy nature of sheep and dogs matched by the ease of spreading charcoal on a page. That charcoal can be so messy and still have flow matching how a flock move can be messy and yet have flow. The flow of our days when we drop complications and let nature, or the art medium, work for us. Individuals moving as one whole because each individual is whole matching a desire to create a body of work stemming from that position of feeling whole. That it can be enough to have a few sticks of charcoal and some paper at hand, nothing more complicated than that. How the deep blacks of charcoal can take over when they go unchecked; the risk of going too far with simplifying, or complicating, one’s life. How messy things can become before they sort themselves out. A continual assessment of when enough is enough.

At the core of this pull to work with such a basic, natural medium is a similar aim for day to day life. To pull out the realism I want to have in my life, to zero in on the dream and apply the layers needed. To do the very challenging work of letting go of details and unnecessary complications. To reach for a primary existence while not letting the flat blacks of nothingness take over.

A couple days ago I went through the storage box where the majority of my drawings land when they are finished. Sheep drawings, dog portraits, magpie drawings… I love the collection that is there. The surprise realization of a body of work is immeasurable. It’s very much like the surprise realization I get when I look over the body of work that is this flock of sheep and its accompanying working dogs.

 

The White Dog

Artwork / April 9, 2023

The moment life gets busier than usual keeping up with this blog always takes a back seat. And once a thing lands in the back seat I tend to go a long time before remembering that I stowed something there awhile back.

We are finally seeing the first signs of Spring. My last blog post was back in the February, right in the midst of winter. Several weeks later and the landscape is still under full cover of snow.

Shearing of the sheep took place a couple days ago and since then we’ve been turning the ewes out to feed in the day but bringing them in overnight on account of freezing temperatures. We had a beautiful turnout of people to help out on shearing day even with shearing taking place on Easter weekend. Shearing is our one big work-bee event and I am always amazed and grateful that people come out and help. Our shearing day is much shorter than it used to be on account of fewer sheep, but it is still a pretty hefty day of work and many hands certainly make it a lighter day.

On account of a long winter, April marks the six month of feeding hay to the sheep. I have to wonder about the sensibility of keeping livestock on the northern prairie. Surely winters like this give merit to the idea of community managed livestock herds migrating south for winter, following the grass, and coming back north as it warms up.

charcoal drawing of white dog

I continue to draw, or maybe it’s that drawing continues to compel me to show up for it. Either way is good. Light colored sheep, white dogs, black and white magpies, they are all tough subjects to draw but when facing an empty white page with a stick of black charcoal in my hand, drawing the white guardian dog feels close to impossible every time. I know these dogs well, I live and breathe with them and part of the difficulty is the fear of not being able to do these dogs justice through drawing them.
When a drawing does pan out it feels a bit like the arrival of a season you’ve been long waiting for.

Artistic Nudges

Artwork / February 18, 2023

With the completion of the felted flock I find myself once again facing new beginnings. And with that there is little to be done except the all important work of heeding the artistic nudge and carrying on.

That fact my artistic world mirrors my real one is a marvel and an inspirational road map of sorts. While I am often challenged by the worry that my day to day, and the subjects therein, will be of no interest to anyone, I feel as excited to draw sheep and dogs now as I did to begin raising them nearly twenty years ago. There is no difficulty in rising early or staying up late to draw (or write about it). A part of that excitement stems from trying something new again and being challenged with it, and failing at a few attempts, and then finally figuring out the how that eluded you before. And yes, I will return to felting, but upon the conclusion of the Felted Flock I needed to dive into something entirely different for awhile.

Livestock guardian dogs charcoal drawing

The three dogs in this charcoal drawing are all deceased now. That isn’t intended as a sad statement though, but as a notice of time passed and experience gained. The flock, the dogs, and the prairie have all shaped and carved their way into my being, they have all lead me to believe I belong somewhere. To be drawing them, to attempt to capture the experiences and share them over again, is no trivial plan.