A handmade, needle felted flock of 150 sheep plus guardian dogs and a handful of birds and wild creatures who coexist with us. Every piece is made from wool. When on display this collection visually tells the story of all that takes place before fibre ever reaches our hands.
Update: The Felted Flock has been sold but is still available to galleries for exhibition; read the full update on the blog at Sale of the Felted Flock
It began as the story of wool; a visual display highlighting what takes place on the farm before fibre, yarn, quilt batting, blanket, insole, rug, insulation etc., ever reaches our hands. It morphed into a deeper narrative of tangible work and intangible reasons. When we focus only on work and production, without honouring our intangible reasons, life is an intensive, heavy beast. And when we focus only on the intangible reason without emphasis on tangible actions of work, life is only a light weight pipe dream.
Any description of the project falls woefully short of the scope of it. Verbally telling about a flock of felted wool 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.
Welcome to The Felted Flock. There are 172 characters, including ewes, rams, lambs, guardian dogs, stock dog, shearers, shepherd, coyote, fox, magpies, crows and even a wee cowbird. It took twenty six months worth of early mornings and stolen evenings to create. There are a few blog posts sharing its story if you wish to read further:
The Felted Flock Naive Beginnings
The Felted Flock Growing Pains
