Wendy Clarke

My Fiber Art

I knit my first scarf in the first grade. I went to Rudolf Steiner School in New York City where both the boys and the girls were taught to knit. I didn’t take up knitting again until 1998 - just after the death of my mother. I had a very full life as a video artist and never thought about the possibility of spinning wool or raising animals. When my mother died, I knit 2 shawls to wear to her memorials. A friend of mine saw the yarn I was using and said to me, “Why don’t you learn how to spin?” By then, I had moved to Topanga, California. I found a spinning teacher and began to spin and make one-of-a-kind wearable art. In 2005 I moved to San Cristobal, New Mexico where I currently live on a small farm with:

  • Cupid, Romeo, Mojo - 3 miniature donkeys - and Chinook, a large standard donkey

  • Ayla, Asun, - 2 angelic angora goats

  • Plum - a Teeswater sheep

  • Blue, a llama and Sinatra, an alpaca

  • 6 dogs - Bella a Poodle, and Nico a Yorkshire Terrier, and Lolita a Chihuahua, and Lupita a Chiweenie, and Lilly a tiny Terrier, and Patou a Great Pyrenees who takes care of us all

I shear my goats, sheep, llama, and alpaca and spin their wool into yarn. I fell in love with Wensleydale and Teeswater sheep because they have the most wonderful curls. I hand-spin wool making every effort to keep the essence of the animals’s character. I do not card their fleeces, but rather pull open the locks gently with my fingers. I spin in the grease and wash it after it is spun. As I sit at my spinning wheel, I watch with wonder and excitement as the fleece twists into beautiful airy strands.

When I use my yarn to make the sweaters, vest, hats, etc. I let the yarn tell me what it wants to become. I do not use patterns, but rather watch how the garment unfolds. Every step takes many hours and is a meditative process. I have great appreciation for this ancient art.

In 2018, I began to felt my fleeces. I make jackets, coats, and shawls. Each garment is unique in both design and pattern. The clothing has a rough, peasant-like quality that is both warm and fashionable.

Please enjoy wearing these warm wooly clothes. People will definitely notice you!

 

Wendy Riding Sirius

Wendy Riding Sirius

My Drawings

I draw with my finger, using the iPad app “Brushes”. I spent the last several years living vicariously through the Dancing Donkey drawings and have drawn over 1,000 to date.

​The Dancing Donkey project is the latest form to arise out of my life in the arts. The daughter of successful artists, I began my career in New York City as a videographer, where I created “The Love Tapes” and had exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art and other museums around the World. After a move to Topanga, California, I got my first two miniature donkeys, Marcello and Sophia. I moved to northern New Mexico where I could raise more miniature donkeys, adding to the barnyard: Sirius, Crystal, Petra, Romeo, Cupid, Mojo and Chinook to the donkey herd, as well as  2 llamas – Chappy and Blue; 1 alpaca- Sinatra; 2 sheep- the Coco Plums; 3 Angora goats; and 6 dogs- Bella, Nico, Lupita, Lolita, Lilly, and Patou,  to the barnyard.

The donkeys are my muses. They have inspired sculpture, and drawings and a children’s book “​The Dancing Donkeys Learn the Alphabet” as well as other books that are in the works.  While making the drawings, I was remembering the ballets and Broadway shows that my mother took me to as a child.  

The group of drawings on the Animal Spirit website are my collection of Fiber Art Donkeys. I sell them as either cards or prints. Their purpose is to fill you with joy.