'Wool to Weave'

‘Wool to Weave’
Oil on tweed, 305 x 305 mm
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2019

We have wandered away from wool…

I remember the despairing Dartmoor Farmers during the 70’s, the advent of manmade fibres leaving them with sacks of unwanted, wasted wool. HRH the Duke of Cornwall championed wool then as insulation, continuing today through the fashion industry. Wool is a natural, easily grown, eco-friendly resource – time we wandered back!
I have spent a lifetime observing the tough, adaptable Scottish Blackface sheep that thrive on the top of Dartmoor. I employed an oil laden palette knife to illustrate the wool’s depth and character, onto a support of Donegal tweed made from Scottish Blackface wool.