Three Hurdles and a Sheep

The Sheepfold 
EXPOSED 2014

Helen Day Art Center

www.helenday.com

90 Pond Street

Stowe, Vermont, USA.

July 12-October 15

Opening reception and walkabout with progressive Hors d'oeuvres
July 12, 2014

4 pm

Somewhere around the middle of March, while I was still in England I learned that my proposal for another woven willow piece made the cut for EXPOSED 2014!

I was, once again stunned by the news.

This is no small potatoes for me you know.

It is big. Really, really big!

So. After I got over being stunned, I got excited. Then nervous, because it meant alot of work to do between the time I would get back to Vermont at the end of May, and installation at the end of June.

My proposed piece was a sheepfold. So I would need to locate enough willow of the right sizes to make some hurdles and a sheep... cut the willow, find a place to work, lug the willow there 'work the willow up'... and make jigs.

All that before I could actually begin weaving!

You might have heard me talk about 'working the willow (or hazel) up' before. Or maybe you haven't. It's definitely an underwoodsmany term. Essentially it means getting the small trees you've harvested into a 'ready to use' state. You do this by skillfully removing all the side branches that will get in the way when you try to weave it, or split it or make a stake out of it.

Technically, this process of removing the branches is called snedding; in an English woodland it is done with a billhook, and you start at the base of the tree and work your way up towards the top.

(Secateurs and loppers will suffice in a pinch too.)

Maybe this has something to do with why we call it 'working it up'?

Maybe it doesn't.

I did locate enough willow  between Morrisville... Waitsfield... Jericho... Essex, and discovered (thanks to Bernie) that my back car seats fold down! So, I can fit quite a bit of willow in my 99 Chevy Malibu and can even fit 10 + footers in, sliding them in thru the trunk and all the way up onto the front dash!

I've got new admiration for my little ole car!

I spent a day with my brother Lee cutting down the willow and alder encroaching on his driveway. He and his chainsaw made short work of cutting the trees down, then we spent the afternoon together in the shade, snedding.

It was fun spending time with my big bro!

Kathy and Bernie donated 2 rough cut 1X6's and Lee spent a morning with me drilling the holes for my jigs.

After all that prep work was accomplished, it was me, nose to the grindstone weaving willow to my little hearts content.

I started with my sheep...

She took shape quickly, and I was just so into the sheer pleasure of it, I forgot to take pictures.

And then, I was done!

"Rose" spent the next couple weeks drying on the front porch in Jericho while I got on with the hurdle making.

That's my little ole car loaded up with willow from my brothers house. And then, on the way home...

a moose in the field!

the willow...

the tools...

(ouch! I just got a serious pang of homesickness for England posting this last picture... I remember like it was yesterday the day JW dug around in the landrover and came up with that yellow tape to reattach my cushiony 'tennis grip' to Betty's handle... it was a cold, rainy day in Bushy Wood, November or December during my first visit to England in 2011! JW, myself and another volunteer, Nick were coppicing hazel...

I realize a normal person probably wouldn't long for cold rainy days in the woods. So. You have found me out then. I have a brand new red cushiony grip thing to replace this old tattered one... just haven't been able to bring myself to do it.)

and my cozy little work space under the old apple trees at the Duncans...

And then, before I knew it it was June 29th.
Installation day...

details...

The whole rod hurdle... the white weavers have had the bark removed... it was the absolute perfect time of year to peel the bark. Came off easy as pie. Man oh man. I could peel bark til the cows come home. Saving the bark for something special... tell you about that another time.

baa baa black sheep...

I am pleased to say all three hurdles turned out straight (enough) and sturdy... I do believe the underwoodsman would be proud of me.

Heartfelt thanks to the following human beings:

Rachel Moore, curator of Exposed along with Katharine Longfellow, Nathan Suter and the rest of the folks at the Helen Day Art Center.

The jurors: Samantha Cataldo, DJ Hellerman, Amy Rahn.

Kim Komer and LCCD, Dinsmore and Leo, the Connerty's, Duncans and Grays, for their show of support, allowing me to harvest willow, and helping in numerous other ways.

My 3 big brothers.

And, of course, John, my favorite underwoodsman (and his trusted apprentice Jake) in England. For sharing the days and work with me for the goodly part of six months, during 'Episode II-the sequel'. I miss you guys a ton. Every single day.
And my other British accented peeps too, who helped make it possible for me to even be in England... and fed me curry on a regular basis...Tina, Duncan, Julia, David and Maddie...

"Oh my gosh! Look at the time! It's late..."

posting with a heart full of love and gratitude-
susie