Deer Mother...

When I made my reindeer I knew that the females were the ones who kept their antlers in the winter.

So I gave her a feminine Sami name meaning 'quiet,' to honour the majestic and powerful and all being magical creatures we associate the winter season with.

Introducing Jaska...

After blog hopping this morning I found the most interesting post by Gather a local Victoria

blog produced by two women who clearly know how to research and put out a gorgeous blog.

They are truly passionate about which they write about! 

I urge you to check out there archives...so interesting and

many tasty recipes made from local, wild crafted ingredients!

So I found this enlightening post all about the Deer Mother in legend, folklore and history...

https://gathervictoria.com/2014/12/04/doe-a-deer-a-female-deer-the-spirit-of-mother-christmas/comment-page-3/#comment-4911

So grab a mug of tea and spend the time to have a look through the beautiful images

and learn all about this engaging tale of the Deer Mother.

I guess it explains a lot on a former sculpture I made...Finns Nordic dream...

I had no idea about all of the folklore regarding birds in the antlers and such!

(this sculpture is sold)

(p.s...Jaska is now available in my etsy shop here

My inner Sami, and then some...

A while ago I posted about the Sami people here.

It was their relationship with the reindeer, the land

and their Northern environment which inspired me

in a needle felting project.

The reindeer became more than I had planned and my imagination

blossomed...

Here sits Finn, a fox lies sleeping beneath his chair in the moss...

Perched above Finn, witness to his dreams, sits an owl...

The woodland birds making a home with the reindeer...

Silently, Finn has drifted off to the land of the Sami...

This piece was so much fun to do and probably my most elaborate to date.

As an added bonus, it will be one of the chosen pieces for the

Sooke Fine Arts Show this summer!

If you're in the area, the show runs from July 28th - August 6th.

For more info you can have a look here.



Embracing my inner 'Sami'...

Today I want to talk about the Sami people.

Some people call them Laplanders.

This is not quite right according to this native Sami man:

"Lapp" means a patch of cloth for mending, thus the name suggests that the Sami are wearing patched clothes, a derogatory term and one that needs to be replaced. The word "Laplander" is also problematic since that could mean any person who lives within this region, also those that are non native. Finally there's a part of the Sami population who always have lived outside the region of "Lapland" such as the Sami's in Swedens, Jemtland and Härjedalen.

They are the only aboriginal people of Northern Europe and are known

for being nomadic reindeer herders.

This photo was taken in the early 1900's of a typical Sami family.

Present day Sami people have lost their habitat due to mining,

hydroelectric dams and general increase in population and pursue

other careers but there are still some out there who live a traditional lifestyle

in rural parts of Northern Europe.

They are the only people in Europe who can legally herd and practice reindeer husbandry.

The needle work of the Sami people is beautiful and intricate.

I am working on a piece right now and have been keeping these people in mind.

Can you guess what it is?

I was also inspired by this little throw rug I have...

...and then the doodling began on a piece of scrap tissue that was lying around...

I am taking some artistic license in the designs and going a bit more swirly

and Swedish...

I feel that this sculpture may take a while given the detail but

once again, through research, I am learning about something

I didn't really know much about.

I leave you with this beautiful short video of

one Sami man's relationship with his land and his reindeer.

http://youtu.be/T5HcLFyPkYs