The Long Blow

This was another piece made for the display during the new Zealand Shearing Champs. It was by far the hardest piece I attempted and getting my head around the positive and negative spaces was quite a challenge.

For those not accustomed to shearing, The long blow is the blow toward the end of shearing the sheep and starts from the back of the neck and travels down to the rear of the sheep. The shearer stands with his/her back straight and the sheep held firmly between their legs. The electric shearing handpiece slices off the wool at the skin level . In front you can see the shorn fleece