And the Maryland Sheep & Wool review continues with fine art and photography entries.
I love watercolor and there were several entries in this medium.
These two paintings were simply suggestions of sheep. Very interesting.
The suggestion of sheep is all the human eye needs to connect the dots and identify the subject in these paintings.
Sometimes, I like suggestion paintings. They "goose" my own imagination and creativity.
This print to the right was so cute!! The sheep are following the cat down the snowy trail. The artist was a vendor - booth was in the Main Building but the name escapes me. What a cute picture!
Another great watercolor is this group of resting sheep on the left. I love how the artist showed the sunlight on the sheep. The colors and this placement of light make it a warm and cozy little piece.
Take a look at this fellow! He looks so curious! Great foreground-background in this painting. Also, the artist achieved such texture in painting the fleece. Looks like you could just sink your fingers right in. As you can see by the blue ribbon in the left corner, the judges agreed.
These two framed pieces used a very different medium. Wool! Yes, it's not just for spinning, knitting, felting, or weaving anymore! Wool makes terrific landscapes, too.
This photograph was just wonderful and I think it would make a great watercolor. I hope this little lamb doesn't eat all the colorful flowers like Argyle in Barbara Brooks Wallace's wonderful children's book.
It's been awhile since I read the book but here it goes as I remember it ..... Argyle sees all these beautiful colorful flowers in the next pasture and decides to go eat them. Well, his wool turns all the colors of the flowers. The farmer's wife begins knitting his wool into argyle socks. The socks sell like crazy and the farmer and his wife make a lot of money. The town puts Argyle on display in a pen in the center of town and the mayor awards him ribbons. Everyone is happy except Argyle. He's away from all his sheep buddies. He also can't get to those flowers he likes to eat anymore. As a result, his fleece fades back to its natural color. The mayor takes back his ribbons and sends Argyle back to the pasture. The farmer and his wife are very upset. Everyone is unhappy --- except Argyle! Years ago (back in the 1980's), I participated in a sheep to shawl with Clothos Children at Maymont Park in Richmond, VA (Wikipedia link - can't pull their web site up at this time). There was an Argyle book signing and one of the Maymont sheep had been dyed with Koolaid in a multitude of colors. It was a great day and the children loved it!
I'll finish up with the Maryland Sheep & Wool report soon - I promise! Next post, will include some of the vendors and my purchases!!!
Hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day. I think we all mother something - be it children, husbands, pets, etc. - so let's ALL celebrate today!!
I recently viewed some lovely sheep watercolors in British Country Living and your post reminded me. Thank you! Sheep = what I wanna be. Smile.
Posted by: Pom Pom | May 31, 2009 at 03:28 PM
Oh wow, what beautiful artwork!
Posted by: Rebekah | May 14, 2009 at 07:23 PM
Where were the art and photo entries? I forgot about them.
Posted by: Rosanne - Firefly Nights | May 12, 2009 at 04:06 PM
Missed you at knitting last night. I'm going to start a by-invitation Yahoo group for us--mainly for communication purposes.
Posted by: Timmie B | May 12, 2009 at 01:39 PM
Really liked the yurt pictures. Hope you had a good Mom's day too!
Posted by: Lindy | May 11, 2009 at 07:04 AM
I really love the abstract sheep! Happy Mother's Day.
Posted by: Jane | May 10, 2009 at 11:18 PM
Oh WOW...that art is beautiful!
Happy Mother's Day!!
Posted by: Robin in VA | May 10, 2009 at 07:05 PM
I almost bought the sheep following the cat print. But it was pricey. I did take her business card though!
Happy Mother's day. I got a pair of pink gardening gloves and a pink trowel.
Posted by: Issy | May 10, 2009 at 06:05 PM
I love the two watercolors at the top and the other watercolor with the resting sheep. I hadn't heard the Argyle story. What a cute story!
Zoe ferret sent me an ecard and apologized for the boys (Clyde and Dexter) not sending a card. LOL!
Happy Mother's Day!
Posted by: Sydney | May 10, 2009 at 05:09 PM
Another great post! I hadn't heard about Argyle; cute story.
Gretchen was so eager to spend our first Mother's Day together that we've been up since 6-something. Bless.Her.Heart.
Happy Mother's Day to you too!
Posted by: Chan | May 10, 2009 at 11:15 AM