'The Woolgatherer & Other Stories - Kate White

The Woolgatherer & Other Stories

Exploring the theme of the hedgerow economy, an antidote to digital trading, finding treasures, making something out of nothing and realising empty time is not wasted time.

"My whole life I have been fascinated by the archetypal image of the plume of blue smoke on the other side of the blackberry bush, the hedgerow with the gypsy wagon parked beside the stream, the tiny roadside stall with a handful of second-hand treasures for sale.

I researched roadside stalls and was delighted to discover that communities around the world still build beautiful structures from which to sell wares at their gate. Sometimes it's a book or art swap, sometimes a glut of vegetables, eggs, crafts, elderflower cordial, or jam for sale. Despite potential theft or vandalism these little expressions of life at the end of the driveway continue, as old as trade, and fly in the face of tyrannical administration, digital identities and faceless inhuman policies.

In fact, one could summise that the ongoing trade/cash at the gate, the chatting (real time) with customers and the clear provenance of goods, ignoring the obsessive paranoid regulation of the world, is a form of protest in itself, a wee candle of sense and proof of the common man's decency and ability to get along without 'help'.

In this collection I have imagined tiny shops and given them names and themes - but anyone wishing to purchase one can of course rename and repurpose, although it would be wistful indeed to see them dotted about the community and fully functioning!

The wares for sale, at this market of small shops, are the kinds of things you'd find in a shop at the end of my driveway." - Kate White

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