Magpie

There are more than the usual number of Ravens and Crows here this year. The birds caused a healthy does of trouble around lambing time by killing young lambs. I take a little bit of solace in knowing that in due time Mother Nature will check their abundant population. Where ever the Crows and Ravens showed up the Magpies would be right behind them, forever hopeful of getting their pickings of a kill.

Once lambing wrapped up the trouble ceased but the birds show up where ever the flock is. The Crows and Ravens keep a healthy distance but the Magpies are a bit more trusting, or desperate, I’m not sure which. They’re keen about any opportunity or potential of food. It might seem odd to want to photograph the birds but I do. I haven’t been able to decipher if the ewes are pestered by the birds or if they have a certain amount of curiosity about them, like I do.

I don’t feel any deep fondness for Magpies, but I like them because they are always around. Wherever the flock goes they are there, wherever I go they are nearby. If a dog dish is left unattended they’ll be there shortly to investigate. They are a constant within this prairie life and that provides a sort of reassuring routine in and of itself.

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Wool Artwork Milestone

Artwork, photography and word are the three avenues I reach for as creative outlet and as a means to share my perspective, my story about this land and livestock life.

In whatever activity is being pursued there comes moments of personal milestones. Only the person engaging in the activity will know when those personal highlights occur, how they feel and what they are marked with. This piece of wool art marks one such highlight for me.

Untitled, felted wool on linen, 16 x 20 inches

To catch you up a bit, I began sharing my artwork at trade shows last year and as a result there has been a regular scattering of commission requests over the last nine months. It has been a very creative time. But now there has been a break in commission requests and with that I dove into trying new background material for felting onto. But more than that my aim was to loosen up the detail I typically get so drawn into, but yet keep the realism I love. That’s the personal stretch for me. I got there with this piece and I love it because it holds a remnant of that feeling.

With the linen I appreciate that I can draw right on the fabric which I can’t do with the wet felted wool I typically use. I also love the clean presentation of the thinner fabric wrapped around a frame.

I’ll certainly try more of these.

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Special Prairie Places

Recently on our daily walks me and the Kelpies have been walking the mile to the south pasture in the hopes that I might see the cows, who recently calved.

In this pasture is my favourite sitting stone which I haven’t sat at for some time. On the first trek out here it became evident how much I have missed this spot/this pause in time. I didn’t want to leave it. Every trip out here I feel a settling in my spirit, the calling and connection to a familiar place that always holds space for you. This spot has been that right from the first time I ever set foot here.

It repeatedly happens that I get caught up in regular life and forget this simple treasure but always the land and/or the dogs pull me back and call me home so to speak and more often than not that pulling back happens precisely when I need it most.

The prairie space, the dogs – to have both as part and parcel of every day life is wealth beyond measure.

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