A Tuam-based textile artist’s sheep breed wool portraits feature at Project Baa Baa, a programme celebrating the cultural, economic and environmental contribution of sheep to our lives, hosted by the Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture.
Kathy Ross’s 12 portraits of Irish pedigree breeds of sheep is exhibited at Printworks, Galway, as part of the European congress of sheep farming and associated traditions. It can be seen online on the Project Baa Baa website.
The individual portraits incorporate needle felted wool shearing taken from the various breeds. The portraits were created by layering needle felted sheep wool with hand and machine embroidery to create a hyper-realistic representation of every subject.
Importance of Irish sheep wool
By using shearings from individual breeds incorporated into the artwork, Kathy told the story of the different breeds into their own portrait, creating an awareness of the importance of Irish sheep wool and the variety of wool and breeds in the country.
She began work on the portraits in May 2019, when she visited the breeders and photographed the sheep. She produced drawings from original photographs and used design techniques to apply the drawings to material, completing the stitching and embroidery on the pieces.
“I grew up just outside of Galway city, in the rural setting of Doughiska. We were surrounded by farms and livestock,” Kathy told AgriLand.
“My mum, Margaret Watson, was a watercolour artist and painted landscapes. At the weekends she used to drive around the Galway countryside, taking photos and sketching and I always went with her with my own little sketchbook and pencils. I think it was her influence more than anything that encouraged me to pursue my passion for art,” said the textile artist.
“It was only as an adult when I relocated with my own family back to a rural part of Tuam that I really began to appreciate the countryside. After years of living in the city, the space was captivating.
“I went for walks down every country lane and took thousands of photos. I was fascinated with all the old outhouses and abandoned cottages along with the noisy livestock we had for neighbours.
“Inspiration was everywhere. Within that first year of moving, I created a whole series of paintings based on my surroundings. I suppose it was my way of getting to know my new environment,” said the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) graduate.
That collection of paintings was called ‘Timeless’ and was exhibited in both Tuam and Galway city. However, after finishing it, I found I was becoming more and more frustrated with the two-dimensional quality of my work. I began experimenting with hand stitching through some of my old sketches.
“I loved the way the stitches made the artwork pop and so I decided to pursue it further,” Kathy said.
“I bought myself a budget sewing machine and taught myself how to ‘thread paint’ or free motion embroider. I also started incorporating needle felting into the pieces. I really loved the added dimension that textiles brought to my work and found myself suddenly obsessed with these new techniques,” said the Tuam-based creative.
“Wildlife and animal portraits are my favourite thing to make. When you’re living in the countryside there’s always wildlife nearby. I bring my camera everywhere. I’ve made different breeds of cows and sheep, along with common Irish wildlife like hares, badgers, robins and squirrels,” she said.
“My favourite animal to make is probably a cow. They all have such different personalities and I love their curious nature. I love when I get orders for cow portraits and hearing the stories behind each breed.
“Last year I was even sent some Highland cattle hair to incorporate into a portrait which I had never done before. It was extremely coarse but worked well in the piece.
“As well as animal portraits I also make lots of landscapes. Needle felted Irish wool makes for very dramatic skylines. Over lockdown people were missing their favourite landmarks and so I had a lot of orders coming in. I started making them in embroidery hoops which acted like little peepholes or ‘windows to the world’.
“I get orders for pieces from all over the world and sell primarily through my website and social media pages,” said Kathy.
“I’m getting lots of orders for landscapes for Christmas at the moment, with families sending a little bit of home to their loved ones abroad. I can also embroider a personalised message into each piece to make it more special,” she said.
‘Incredible reaction’
“Project Baa Baa invited me to show my work at its launch event at Sheep Fest in Athenry. The reaction to the portraits was incredible. Farmers and breeders loved the idea that you could use the sheep’s own shearing to make their portraits.
“At the time it was incredibly difficult to source Irish wool roving and so it was really interesting to chat to breeders about the story of wool processing,” the textile artist said.
“Following on from the launch, Project Baa Baa commissioned me to create a collection of 12 heritage breed sheep portraits. As part of the collection I had to go and meet with breeders and learn about the different sheep breeds. I also took wool shearing from each breed to incorporate into the work,” she said.
It was so interesting to visit different farms and learn about the different breeds and their individual characteristics. Breeders were so interested in the project and taught me so much about the different sheep. Even the shearing from each sheep had a different texture and lent itself to the story of the sheep.
“I found myself drawn to certain breeds. In particular, I loved the Valais Blacknose, a Swiss breed of sheep that’s almost kept as a pet by some breeders as it’s so cute and fluffy. I also loved the Mayo Blackface, or mountain sheep. We have lots of those in the fields around us and so it was great to meet local farmers and chat to them about the breeds.
“Another favourite was our own Galway sheep, known for its thick wool. As part of my research I even got to help out with rolling the Galway sheep wool after shearing last summer. My kids came along to the shearing too and really enjoyed it. It was a fascinating project to work on,” said the textile artist.
“I’m currently working on a collection of Irish wildlife portraits. I began working on them over lockdown and made my largest piece to date a part of the collection. It measures in at over 1m² and took almost two months to make. It’s a portrait of a red stag. I used over 70 different coloured threads and quilted the entire piece so it can hang like a tapestry.
“Pre-lockdown I had been booked to do numerous talks and workshops throughout the country. Unfortunately, due to restrictions these had been cancelled. As with everyone I’m currently working on ways to bring more of my practice online,” said the textile artist.
“I was lucky enough to recently be awarded a creative place on the Tuam seedling fund. This will allow me to teach workshops and give talks to people both nationally and internationally, through online platforms,” Kathy said.
“Over the past year I have begun to collaborate with textile industry leaders such as ‘AurifilThread’ and ‘Janome’ sewing machine manufacturers to become a brand ambassador. I want to pursue the potential of these collaborations and have my work viewed on a more international level. I’m keen to highlight the importance of Irish textiles and artwork through my own practice.”