Artwork

The Felted Flock Growing Pains

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”As the Felted Flock grew it morphed into a narrative more broad than I anticipated when I embarked on the project. As I shared it online it also began to take on meaning for other people. I’ve never had this experience of artwork being watched and looked at before it is finished. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”There is one struggle that stuck out through the project and is still evident at the conclusion of it. Any description of the project falls woefully short of the scope of it. Verbally telling that you are felting a flock of sheep doesn’t cut it in terms of interest value. When the flock is viewed in real life though it astounds, it causes reaction, it invites a further and longer look. In hindsight, five or even twenty five sheep would not have sufficed, this had to be a flock of significant number, with as many extra characters as I could add within a reasonable time frame. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”3049″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”The felted flock was shared in public four times over the two years of creating it. The fifth time happens this week and is the first time for sharing the entire, complete collection. The first public showing was at a local art show and that was when I knew the project had impact beyond what I could tell people about. A similar depth of response was had the next three times it was set up in public. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”As the flock grew its storyline and meaning grew with it. As I created it there were so many parallels emerging between the created flock and the real one feeding out on the pasture. But this is where lack of momentum would often strike and I’d be at a loss for ways to describe what I was seeing in the project. And also at a loss for how to keep up with all of it. For the upcoming fifth showing I’ve been reflecting on how to tweak the display to represent the broader story and micro scenes that have emerged. I set up the show tomorrow so I’ll have more on that to share in the next post. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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The Felted Flock Naive Beginnings

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Three years ago the idea for the felted flock arrived to mind during a walk. “you should felt your flock” was the out of the blue statement that popped to mind. The concept of taking wool from the ewes and using the fibre to create a flock and make handmade versions of scenes of daily living with sheep, was very appealing. Using wool and creativity to present a visual of all that takes place with land and animal in order to grow wool seemed relevant enough to share. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”1697,1682,2862,2795″ onclick=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”The idea was immediately exciting to me but also immediately too big and too crazy. I dismissed it. The idea persisted and a year later, when I was feeling very stagnant in my other felting work, I conceded too giving it a try because it was, at the least, a change from what I was doing. In hindsight it’s probably prudent to note that at the beginning there was a woeful lack of what lay ahead, and how much the project would shift itself and me before the end. This lack of knowing what lay ahead certainly contributed to me jumping in willingly. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”I have been a disciplined task master for a long time. I have the solid habit of getting up early in the morning and doing something I like to do (for me that’s artwork, photography or writing). This served me well with tackling a two year project like the Felted Flock because I didn’t need to form the habit of making time to be creative at the same time that I was trying new creative work. I just needed to tackle learning new work and then keep going. What I didn’t know was how hard the keep going part was going to be.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”At the onset, there were several fingerling ideas of how to visually and artistically share the story of what takes place before the fibre we love ever reaches our hands. Some of these micro scenes have been successful in catching attention but a few of these fingerling ideas did not see the light of day because in the midst of the project my momentum faded.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”3044″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”The workload of artist and of farming are alike in how broad they feel. In both endeavours the work is large with an end that keeps receding. I would lose momentum and then get it back and then lose it again. There were days when I lamented having to do the real work with the real sheep because all I wanted to do was felting. And there were days when I all I wanted to do was spend time with the real sheep because I didn’t want to return to felting. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”At the start of the project (October 2020) I did not know how to form wool into shape, I was a novice to three dimensional felting and the learning curve is steep. Making the wire armature to proportion was and still is the biggest hurdle. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”There were so many early mornings sitting at a table felting sheep; whether for twenty minutes or for two hours, whether in artistic bliss or in sheer frustration at yet another throw away. Recently I placed the first and the 121st sheep made side by side and took a photo. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”3043″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”That photo represents curiosity, refinement, defeat, frustration, persistence, patience, triumph, and growth. All the ways I have been fine tuned right alongside the work. What I never took a photo of is all the characters that landed in the trash.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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A Prairie Minimalist

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Through the past couple years of drought the landscape feels as though it may have shrunk a little, become more bare bones and essential. The bare nakedness is made more stark on account of it being harvest time and all the neighbouring fields are now laid bare to bake in the dry heat. Save for the stint of winter season whites the landscape has been very similar in tone these past couple years – dry and brown. The green of spring has been so brief it might just be canceled out should we head into another dry year. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Even the wildness of the place feels less than usual; I haven’t seen skunk or rabbit or badger or snake in a long time and the bird song is light and infrequent. I suspect the animals are moving toward areas where there is water. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”2937″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”There is a minimalist feeling to it; not bad, not particularly good either, just a flat knowing that this is where it’s at. On the prairie Mother Nature is taking a foray into less vibrant color and chaos. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”And in terms of life lived out here, well, life has gone along with the shift of mother nature. The work of looking after sheep and dogs is minimal because there are fewer of them, or maybe I’ve just simplified the work to the point of bare essentials, I’m not sure. I do know I’ve become more direct about what to do, and then making time to get that specific task done. And I’ve changed what I expect my self to get done, and that makes life feel minimal in a healthy way. The big jobs that take days upon days to complete will happen in due time and they are no longer a frequent occurrence like they used to be.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Many smaller habits of living have also become very minimal without me noticing they were heading that way. Far fewer trips to the city, shopping only for what I need, using the library again. It is my recent photographs and the strong pull toward neutral tones in recent felted artwork that caused me to notice this undercurrent of minimalism occurring in my life. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2938″ img_size=”medium”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”I like the minimal – it goes with the less vibrant, less chaotic, introvert I know lives within. This undercurrent will pass on though; when Mother Nature moves on from this drought and into vibrancy again I’ll feel that pull too. And life will bring its opportunities and slips that toss me into excitement and chaos. Nonetheless I find myself feeling comforted by being in this space now and in knowing this minimalist approach will serve me down the road. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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