As November disappeared with its dark nights and wet weather conditions, I was faced with an experience of mainly looking after our farm and children while my husband was visiting his home island - the Isle of Man. Therefore I am sharing some of our ideas about sustainable wool written by both of us this time.
Our Swedish Finewool sheep relaxing in the summer on the field.
As many artists promote their art as sustainable these days, it raises the question, what is sustainable art in principle?
So, some definitions found on the internet are as follows:
Sustainable art is “artistic practices prioritising environmental responsibility, social equity, and economic viability. It often involves using eco-friendly materials, incorporating recycling or upcycling techniques, and addressing sustainability and ecological awareness themes.”
Sustainable textile art “focuses on creating artworks using eco-friendly materials and practices that minimise environmental impact.”
My primary material for making art for the last 20 years has mainly been sheep wool. At the beginning we had a production flock of sheep and their wool was not the best quality. So for many years, I also used carded wool and merino wool purchased from different companies. So overall, I was using still a very natural material. The first finewool sheep arrived at our farm over 10 years ago and it has taken time to build up a flock since then. Quite often people ask me how long it takes to make a wall hanging. So to make a sustainable wall hanging, it has taken me all those years to get to the point that now I can proudly say that the main material for my artworks comes from our heritage breed Swedish Finewool sheep.
My last wall hanging is completely made of our own wool fibre.
Over the last few years, we have specialised in raising finulls and our wool locks have travelled to the neighbouring countries in Scandinavia, but also to Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, the United States and Canada. Last year we added a Gotland breed into our flock.
For wool to be truly sustainable, all parties involved must benefit. This means ensuring that animals are treated with respect and care, allowing them to exhibit their natural behaviours, and ensuring their health and welfare. It also involves preserving regional traditional breeds for genetic, fibre, and cultural diversity. Producers should be fairly compensated to secure their sustainable future, and consumers should receive the sustainable fibre they desire. Our goal is to give our sheep the best life and it would be wonderful to be in a position where these grand old ladies can retire gracefully on our farm and still give us wool without being mated for commercial purposes.
Some of the fibre locks from the finull fleeces.
Sheep breeds tend to be regional, with sheep exhibiting different characteristics worldwide, including various colours, horns, hair, fine wool, coarse wool, and milk production. In fact, on a global scale, more milk comes from sheep than cows for human consumption. Unfortunately, many agricultural animals and plants have been bred to the point that the vast majority of chickens, pigs, wheat, and corn are the same genetic breed worldwide.
Our farm is based in Estonia, but Matthew's heritage is from a small island called the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. In a strange twist of fate, we only realised this year that the local breed named Manx Loaghtan on the Isle of Man is genetically linked to the Swedish Finewool Breed and the Gotland we breed here some 3000 km away. Around the year 800 AD, Vikings landed on the Isle of Man bringing their native sheep with them from Scandinavia. The Vikings of course didn’t only land on the Isle of Man but also inhabited the Scottish Islands, Iceland, and Greenland and were also believed to have travelled as far across the northern seas to North America.
Manx Loaghtan heritage breed from the Isle of Man.
Our sheep are part of a group of breeds called the Northern European Short-Tailed Sheep. There are still thirty-four breeds in existence, and most are classified as rare breeds. Many survived because of the harsh isolated environments they acclimatised to, and the inability of other animals to survive there.
In Estonia, we also have two rare breeds called "Eesti maalammas" and "Kihnu maalammas". We would love to help maintain these genetics as well one day, but having a new breed means investments and changes in our management system.
Kihnu maalammas is one of the traditional heritage breeds in Estonia.
So, my journey towards more sustainable art has been a long one, but definitely worth taking! Wool is such an amazing material to work with and my wall hangings are moving towards a more simplistic look to showcase the wonderful variety of natural colours and textures of this wonderful fibre.
We are inspired to find out more about the heritage breeds and one day it will be great to get to know, feel, touch and work with all of these fibres from 34 breeds. It is part of our culture and heritage and it is important to preserve the cultural traditions, farming knowledge, and artisan skills together with the genetics of the sheep breeds.
Until the end of the year then,
Reena and Matthew
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