April/May: Birth
It has been the season of Birth around here. Birth seems to fit into spring in nature as well as in my new studio life. Spring seems appropriate for birth and yet here in Wisconsin it’s not an easy time for birth. The weather is still iffy, sunny one day snowing the next. Everything is unpredictable. I guess that is appropriate. I am learning to weather these storms and get used to the kind of pressure that being an artist and a farmer brings. There is no steady paycheck. You make your own schedule. It is intensely related to the weather, animals, commission deadlines and shows! Yet, this month I have made enough work for 3, yes 3, gallery shows!
This year I learned (again) the stages of birth. Anticipation/gestation, push/labor, pain, breath, release, and recovery. These might not be the textbook Lamaze class stages, but they are the ones I have identified and become familiar with. These stages have been evident on my farm and in my studio.
Birth on the Farm
Most obviously, lambing season is one of birth. We anticipated 6 pregnant ewes this year. To build my flock to 12 ewes, in accordance with my Grazing Plan benchmarks in my EQip grant through the NRCS, I chose to breed all my ewes to get my numbers up. I kept 2 rams, Hamish and Lachlan, and had 2 breeding groups. March led off with a set of twins and then a setback as one of my lamb ewes had a still born lamb. As of last blog post I still had 4 ewes to go. I was worried about the condition of the younger ewes after the drought last summer. Lambing progressed with another ewe lamb from Lilith. It was an easy birth and a ewe was a welcome addition. There was a lull in the action and the beginning of the month brought another set of twins from Rose, a ram and a ewe. Then things got hard, and scary.
Emma, an Icelandic who is very flighty and temperamental had a terrible labor with a difficult presentation, I waited too long to call the vet, I pulled a dead lamb and when the vet arrived, he pulled another dead lamb. She had separated the placenta from the uterus and the lambs spent too much time without connection. It was exhausting, and disheartening but we saved the ewe, and I learned a hard lesson. Our last little ewe, Grian, again had a long labor but this time I assisted and knew what to do. She had a tiny ewe lamb. I named her Solas. This new mom needed some focused attention on learning how to nurse and that meant a night of multiple trips to the barn. Eventually she came round , bonded with her lamb and all was right with the world in the barn. Finally, I could breathe deep and sleep. Everyone seemed safe and bonded. The final count was 4 ewes and 2 rams. All healthy and nursing. Such a sigh of relief. Now to recover and get some rest.
On the rest of the farm, the seed arrived for the new pastures as the frost released its hold on the frozen ground. Typical Wisconsin spring weather, snow , freezing rain and some beautiful warm days. The forsythia burst forth followed by narcissus and bright green everywhere.
The warm weather created a new buzz in the flock. The sheep were anxious to get out onto the pasture. Nonna the llama was keen to investigate each new addition, and the rams could resist no longer to get everyone together. I reconfigured some of the pastures and let the rams out with the horses and then Hamish decided that the fences between him and the new additions and his ladies needed to be adjusted. I gave in and just let them all out. I learned last year that when Hamish goes up against our wooden fences, he wins and I end up fixing fence daily, so I let nature prevail.
I am amazed how gentle this ram is with the tiniest of lambs and kind he is to his ewes. You can almost see the pride as he leads them out to tall grass and the hedgy edges of the fields to eat the emerging shoots on all the weedy brush. He stands alert and watches where everyone is, keeping track of each member of the flock. At some appropriate time, he marches them all back to rest and get water, and the whole scenario repeats throughout the day. The flock is reunited, and the new families adjust to the changes that birth requires. It is remarkable how Nature works.
At the beginning of May as the weather began to seriously warm up, Ed Jaeger made his yearly visit to shear the flock. Even though I planned and prepared, mayhem always ensues at shearing and Wallace managed to squeeze out of the barn and flee to the far ends of the pasture with the goats. By the end of the morning 8 of the adults were naked. The next day we hit record 90-degree days for a week. I am sure they were all relieved to not have the 5-7 pounds of extra fleece to carry around. Wallace and the goats had it a little harder, but one by one I am shearing them by hand. Soon they will all be in their summer outfits.
The pears, apples, and all the tulips bloomed and blew their colorful blossoms in a week. I have never experienced that kind of heat in May here. The pastures on the 20 acres were tilled for their final time and all the seed was planted in the hot, hot, heat. Two days later the weather broke, and we received a good rain. I have just been able to see the hint of green on the corduroy of brown furrows in the field. I am hoping for regular rain and seasonal temps to start our perennial cover off well. The birth of our new pasture and hay field is a welcome step in our regenerative journey.
Birth in the Studio
I have been cooking up new work all winter, and it is the time to put it out into the world. Somehow, I gathered enough work to be in 3 shows. I re-upped my membership at the Geneva Lake Arts Foundation (GLAF) and put work into the Early Summer Show at Gallery 223 in downtown Lake Geneva. I was thrilled when I sold a painting the first weekend and needed to refill the spot with another selection. I have a few pieces in the show, some flat prints, and a selection of my notecards. I enjoy doing my gallery sit obligation, meeting other members, and talking with the public as they stroll through the gallery. Community is good.
The spring show at Gallery 360 in Minneapolis, was a major event for me. My grad school classmate Carol Lyne arrived on Wednesday and after a farm visit, we headed to Minneapolis for the weekend events. We met up with my other classmates Barbara Gilhooly and Ayn Hanna, for a reunion weekend and show opening. Barbara was having a yearly show at Gallery 360 and Ayn and I were invited to hang alongside in the front gallery space. I forgot my phone in the busy-ness, and so have no documentation of the whole weekend, but strangely it was a relief to not feel tethered. I might do that more often. The weekend was so fun, visiting with old friends, reacquainting with Minneapolis, visiting the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and seeing those beautiful and compelling exhibitions. I relished the connection with old art friends and meeting new ones also . The opening was delightful, and we returned Sunday to the farm. Since then, I have been notified of a few sales and the work seemed to be well received.
The third show is of new group of paintings. I gathered the first bunch of Your Beautiful Work, paintings in my farmer series and hung them at the newly renovated Lake Geneva Library. At the end of the month, they will go to another spot, the Bottle Shop in Lake Geneva for another month.
The making of paintings is the most satisfying part of the process for me. Painting is the process where I experience a profound state of ‘flow’. Other aspects of art making are more of a struggle, sometimes tedious, framing and documenting, sometimes uncomfortable, talking about the work, sometimes anxious, wondering what people think. In the end, the making, the birth of a body of work is thrilling and awesome and each painting leads me to the next one. There is a natural rhythm I am beginning to learn.
I think I like this new chapter in my life. I feel more in control and connected to my natural farm environment. I have space and time to slow down and focus and find respite from the frenetic pace of the world around me. It’s a hard time to be in the world. I find that having a creative outlet, to make something every day, and to get out into Nature, to witness the changing of the seasons, and to notice what is happening outside are the two activities that truly help me stay grounded and on track. They might be helpful to you also. If you are feeling frayed and chaffed by technology and the constant onslaught of news, make something, a drawing, a delicious meal, a note for a friend, a garden. The act of creation is invigorating and empowering. Or, get outside and walk, with nothing in your ears, and listen to Spring, your heart rate will drop, and your shoulders will relax. I promise, its magical.
