Sit Up, Sit Still - Part 2

About the artwork

Inspired in equal parts by expert female sheep shearers, my mother's amazing Arran knitting skills and the experience of brushing my smallest daughter%u2019s tangly hair in the mornings%u2026 (it%u2019s hard to say which is the more challenging task, or more likely to get you kicked!). This piece forms part of a strand of my work exploring rural ways of life, including once-common skills that are becoming increasingly rare. I%u2019ve focussed in on the textures and tensions of the act of shearing as a contrast to the zen-like act of knitting, with a nod to the journey the wool goes through before it becomes the complex scarf worn by the shearer. Because this piece was also heavily inspired by my own experiences being a mother to small children, the arms in the print are my own - gnarlier than I%u2019d like these days with badly bitten fingernails, but strong from use and good at their job.