Artwork

Gift of Drought

Artwork / December 29, 2021 / By

Due to the drought of the past few years, and subsequent selling of animals the flock is one third the size it normally is and thus chores and all that feel pretty light this winter. Allen is also home a bit more regularly right now and the extra pair of hands makes chore time a breeze and provide added assurance during the very cold weather we’re experiencing. With the deep cold and new snowfall the ewes have ceased traveling anywhere to graze and we’re feeding them daily. Dog houses have been moved out for the guardian dogs and walks with the Kelpies are brief.

The smaller size of this flock equals a change to my day to day and also to my future time and income. Whenever I sit on the prairie and ask the question of what to do next ‘do more social media’ does not come to mind. So early in the month I made the decision to leave social media for stretch, a choice that spilled over to being on the computer at all (I did manage to get the December issue of Crooked Fences out the door). I unplugged for a spell and by gosh it felt good. You know the saying, “it’s all in your head” – you realize its truth when you step away from social media. I’m tempted to say the decision to put social media to the side for a spell has something to do with hibernation but that isn’t what this break from social is about. This is almost the opposite.

Felted wool wall tapestry, work in progress. Can you see the dog taking shape?

Hunkering down for the winter is the usual way of it for me and being guilt-free creative is icing on the cake. My sideline hustle is being an artist / photographer, the subjects of these pursuits being the sheep and the dogs. The operative word here though is sideline, so with a bit of extra time in my lap this winter I want to use it wisely, to refocus on being a creative person, to dive in and let the extra time be the gift of drought. I feel certain some good will come of it. A new year is also near and while I am not one to make resolutions I do like to enter a new year doing at least one of the things that I wish to make more prevalent in my life – artwork, photography (and writing) are a few such things.

Fibre from The Living

Artwork, Sheep / December 4, 2021 / By

Fibre comes from the living and where there is life there is its opposite – that and Magpie’s.

When a ewe dies the wool produced is gone with that loss of life. It’s a particularly big loss to the shepherd when the fibre produced is unique or highly favoured. The handful of Corriedale ewes that piqued my fibre interest are well aged ewes now. Three of them have died. Annie, Sable and Endeavour are still here, grazing their way through old age. Several of their offspring reside in this flock.

Wool is touted as being a natural, sustainable resource which it most definitely can be, however some awareness is warranted around the oft used S-word. Sustainable is to reach for balance so as to avoid depletion of natural resources (parsed from a dictionary definition). It does not mean a life is never-ending; it does not mean we get to skip over death. Death allows for that very necessary balance to exist in the first place.

There is wool that becomes the fibre of our making because there is an animal who grows it and (hopefully) a shepherd who cares about the resources it took to do so. The animal and the shepherd will not avoid depletion but if we’re thoughtful of our choices we will see the continuation of the nature they contributed to while they were living.

I shared the Felted Flock photo and update on Instagram last Sunday and it resonated deeply with several people. I thought to include it here as the beginning of a longer conversation around death of animals and our perception of death in general. If it stirs you to be part of the conversation, please know your comments are welcome here.

Thank You Sheep

Artwork, Sheep / September 16, 2021 / By

I am going to sit in this landscape a moment and say thank you to some sheep.

I am coming off a whirlwind fibre fair weekend and heading into a whirlwind art show that begins on September 16 and continues through to the 26th. In the midst of that time frame there is the heavy task of sorting and tagging lambs for market, and the heavier task of deciding on ewes for sale due to lack of winter feed.

A parcel of prairie, a flock of sheep, numerous dogs, a couple cows and horses and cats too – it is all a lot of work as so many of you know. There is no way around that nor should there be because when we try to find a way around the work we lose sight of the very Nature that allows grass based agricultural to work so well.

This prairie land with this flock of sheep and these dogs, the very nature of this place is what stirs the desire to take a photograph, make a piece of artwork or write some words. It stirs the desire to keep making attempts to capture the deeper meaning of all the work and turn it into something tangible that can be shared with you.
And getting outdoors to take photos, muddling my way through making a piece of artwork and constantly writing in journals is what keeps the work from being too much.

But as the flock shrinks life is shifting, as life is wont to do. I feel a stronger emphasis and pull toward making photography and artwork pay for themselves like I have always expected this flock to do. It’s a welcome shift and a big unknown and scary one at the same time.

Prior to living here the titles photographer, artist or writer were not even on the radar. Now these creative acts are fast becoming the singular pursuit because it feels more and more imperative by the day that slices of nature be shared with a world of people who are lost and rapidly becoming detached from the very nature that can heal them.

The Art Now Saskatchewan fine art fair is an opportunity for Saskatchewan art galleries to promote their gallery through promotion of current artwork. The event is a hybrid online/in person event. You can shop online and/or you can visit the gallery in your area and view the artwork in person and make your purchase directly. Full information about the Art Now can be found at artnow.ca. My work is presented by the Little Manitou Art Gallery at Manitou Beach, SK. as part of a collection of women artists.

I am also one of several artists giving an artist talk this year; a first time opportunity for me. My art talk happens live at a reception taking place at Little Manitou Art Gallery Friday the 24th at 7 pm. The reception is open to the public. The art talk will also be recorded and shared online on the ArtNow website on September 26th at 1:30 pm.