Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Latvian Dark Headed Sheep




I saw a pillow similar to my above “ornament”- well it was a big shape with a small sheep’s head on  broad side. I really liked it and wanted to do something similar but not the same. However this inspirational pillow has been gnawing at my brain for I am sure I have seen something else similar or the same somewhere else and after doing hours of searching I found nada. I am not even sure if what I was looking for was a sheep, or even from this century.  But I know I have seen something else similar that as not the pillow.  Anyway enough rambling. One of my monsters will be graduating from a teacher, who to the best of her ability, has nurtured her class for the last 4 years in some very trying circumstances, and my monster and I decided me wished to make her a personal thank you.  Initially I thought about doing a felted picture but in the end I decided to do a sheep as sheep used to be quite common in Latvia and hold a special place. I am told that about a century ago they had about 330 000 sheep registered.  Also special to Latvians is Latvian symbols. So I decided symbolise in wool ( yes it is a 100% wool and some native wool in that too from my own sheep)   a “native sheep” - a Latvian Dark Headed sheep, and around her base I felted in some Latvian traditional folk symbols ( do not ask what they mean - as I just used shapes I liked and could felt).  This is my first go at this and the bottom is a bit wonky as I was trying to make the base wide enough to stand without tipping over.  Below is an old picture of our Latvian Dark Headed sheep with my kids and dogs cooling out under the trampoline on a hot summer’s day.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

winter bear

The little bear gets ready for his winter sleep :) This is almost the last illustration in the book and I think the one I like the best today :)
It is a double spread and text will go in the upper left page and the lower right.