The Faces of Farms
Throughout 2015, photographer Catherine Frost will be traveling to Maine farms all across the state, visiting those with their own special livestock. From alpaca to water buffalo to turkeys and rare breeds of horses, each month will feature new faces. The best will be featured in a show at the Maine Farmland Trust Gallery in January and February of 2016.
Alpaca in the Raw at Black Woods Farm in Cherryfield
Despite their relatively calm nature, alpaca don't really like to be touched. So sinking your hand into the back of one and rolling your fingers around in the raw fiber is something special.
The process of getting it from the animal's body to the body of a person in the form of a sweater on their back, a hat on their head or slippers on their feet is not easy. The shearing, the dying, the spinning, the knitting - it's an age-old art form and just another example of how farm animals serve us.
We literally take the fiber from their back and put it onto our own - leaving them to look downright weird. These living Q-tips with jutting lower teeth, all ill-proportioned and lanky, have seemingly walked off the pages of a Dr. Seuss book. But just look at those eyes. Doubled-down deep brown marbles, juicy and glistening with curiosity.
And the coat. Some wear dark chocolate locks. Some butterscotch curly cues. Some plain vanilla, but shaken up with soft shaggy shards. Each is so filled with their own earthy flavor, the fiber needn't be dyed. It's perfect, as is.
See Catherine's full post HERE.
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