Wild Wool – Made of Waste
Exhibition 1 – Jan 2022 (Displayed below)
Exhibition 2 – Friday 3rd Feb – Saturday 4th March 2023
The Barony Centre, 50 Main Street, West Kilbride KA23 9AW
For more information contact wkcreativeworks@gmail.com
2022 Exhibition
The Shepherd
The Story of Sheep
From Flock to Fleece
In summer heat, sheep will overheat, so need to be shorn for their welfare. Flocks are gathered from all parts of the farm and wait patiently in pens adjacent to the barn. The shearing team come fully equipped, a lead sheep is tethered in the shearing trailer, this encourages others to form a reluctant queue - each shearer has one sheep to clip and one waiting. The men are paid by the sheep, the pace is relentless and the work highly skilled, sheep are shorn in minutes. The fleece is collected, rolled and stuffed into bags ready to be transported to the Wool Marketing Board.
From Fleece to Felt
We start by pulling single locks from the fleece, then nestle them individually into a bed of roving. We experimented with different combinations of fleece for contrast and once we are happy with the layout, a net is laid over the locks and we pour on boiling water. As the piece becomes wet, we apply soap and once the water is pooling, rub gently to massage it into the locks. Next comes rolling - encased in bubble wrap and tied like a roast we do three sets of rolls. We then scour the fleece and rinse to get rid of the lanolin, lastly we tease up the locks and let the fleece dry.
From Flock to Fleece
Scottish Blackface rug with a stripe of Herdwick
Herdwick rug - from 2 different fleece
Mule fleece stool - with carbonised wooden legs
Blue faced Leicester mule rug - felted from the back
