Artwork

The last half year has been a dive in and go deep journey and while I have been writing about some of those deep topics there are several wonderful and light things occurring that have not been shared here with you yet.

I’ve been staying busy with creating artwork and keeping up with social media on that front. It’s a new ball game for me and I’m still figuring out how to manage the pace of regular posting on social media.

The prairie, the flock of sheep, the stock dogs, the guardian dogs – each one so closely connected to the well being of the other and each one so much a part of the whole of my land and livestock life I do not see one without the other. If I had to choose one subject for the artwork though it might just be the livestock guardian dogs. Thankfully I don’t have to make the choice.

Early on the year an interview article about our place landed in Sheep Canada Magazine. The writer, Stuart Chutter, did a very generous job of portraying our place and taking tidbits from my previous blog to give it a real personal spin. This issue also marks the third time a photo of mine makes the cover of this magazine. I am so pleased with that. You can read the article by following the Sheep Canada link above.

I am once again organizing the fibre showcase for the provincial sheep show which is a national event this year as it’s Saskatchewan’s turn to host the Canadian Classic Sheep Show. The fibre showcase is not a large affair but oddly enough this is a tough event to organize and promote. Fibre fans are reluctant to step out to a sheep show without knowing there is ample public traffic and support for their wares, and sheep producers in this province remain reluctant to embrace the meaning and value of fibre even though it is something they produce. Marrying the two fractions is a hard sell. Nonetheless I will set up a table this year because I feel it is important to showcase fibre, particularly at a national sheep event.

I’ve also applied for a vendor spot at the second annual Biggar Fibre Fair, and I’ve registered to be a participant in the local Studio Trail Art Event. All three events take place across the months of June/July. Given May/June will be swamped with lambing I’m trying to get prepared ahead of time.

I have also fulfilled a couple recent commission requests and finally tackled the long job of building/updating the artwork page into a respectable gallery of images. The photography page is underway and will be added to as new photos emerge. It has indeed been a creative, dive in kind of year thus far.