Woolgathering by Thomas Coleman Bell

Collecting wool snagged on wire or bushes by passing sheep, or carried from the sheds on the wind, was once termed woolgathering. Supposedly this was seen as a profession for those with few or no other options – the elderly poor picking wool out of cracks in rocks and thorny shrubs – or as a trivial task to send children away on.

Woolgathering became an idiom, to be absent for a trivial purpose, as in daydreaming.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to pursue something so trivial (and enjoyable) as making music, especially with those featured on these recordings. Supposedly we daydream less as we age, though I hope this is not true. Daydreaming is essential for making art. We let our minds wander and end up wherever they carry us. Sometimes even coming away with a song (or just enough wool for a new pair of socks).

Thomas Bell is a Melbourne based musician and composer working primarily within jazz and contemporary fields.
Photo by Hannah Phemister
Banner photo by Adelaide Carmody Stolba