more bird breaks

...or as Theresa commented yesterday, beak breaks. Mom is getting into feed them, sometimes with us all there and always if we break here and there. the babes are growing fast...here is their standard position all day. my jaw aches just looking at them!

the color exercises continue...we are now in paint boxes working on taking a primary color to it's compliment through careful mixing and blending...challenging work

the heat beat on yesterday and Katie tried to beat the heat on the studio deck doing some skeining yarns....great hat!

this morning we have a lovely summer day on tap, much cooler and less humidity. yea!

Color Institute East begins

The Color Institute workshop is underway here at the farm. First day gave us scorching temperatures with high humidity. But the class of 10 are eager to learn and increase our levels of expertise in color theory with Michele Wipplinger at the helm. Her experience with color spans more than 30 years with an acute eye and thorough style of teaching.

we spent much of the first day working with the Munsell Color System.

quiet work while the heat pressed on. we had lots of whirring fans, water and refreshments to keep us comfortable.

then the class moved to analyzing textile pieces by finding the nearest matching color chips.

discussions and observations ensued and tomorrow the concepts and training will deepen

the one stickler in the day is we have a robin's nest with two bitty birds in the rafter above our workspace.they are going to fledge any day. the past weeks the mother and I have chatted away while I was getting the space ready. she would come and go and feed them in my company. just this morning I sat and chatted with her in the wee dawn light while she came and went with worms and bugs for the babes. but yesterday she wasn't keen on the other 10 people in the barn. so we took "bird breaks" every hour so she could keep feeding. I am thankful for understanding students who came to learn not worry about the robins. hopefully today she will relax a bit more....we are a peaceful, happy group!

our sweet bear

it's been a wonderful, challenging and educational run with Sidney.

he was a boy to be reckoned with

he loved our family life

and most of all we loved him.
he was abandoned at our farm in 2001, at the age of 2, in the middle of the night, a young male with a bucket list of issues. the humane society said he was incorrigible so we decided to give him a home on the farm.

it's been a wild 10 years but he was a love and yes,

he passed away yesterday.
see you on the bridge budster. you will always be a part of Long Ridge Farm.

Blue Fingers in Ohio

Teaching the art of dyeing with indigo in Medina, Ohio was just great. I flew home with blue fingers but left behind 16 students who can now dye confidently with pure indigo using a reduction vat.

From the east coast to the mid-west rain had plagued the region for days but Mother Nature gave us lovely weather the entire weekend.
After some introductions and lecture time we started right in making the indigo stock and then adjusting the vats for dyeing.

I brought a board I created using images kindly and graciously shared by Jenny Balfour-Paul, author of Indigo. Whether you are a dyer or merely interested in the history of indigo around the globe this book is a must read.

While the indigo stock reduced (you can see the lovely jars full of blue) we took a lunch break....

Some textiles I brought to share for inspiration (terribly faded photo, sorry!)

a students work ready to dip...

another student, Betsy, brought a stunning woven piece she created which had a supplemental weft that she pulled to create a resist when dyed. It started as this vibrant salmon pink. You can see how tight the bind is as when undone the piece will be about 22 inches wide.

Betsy dipped the entire piece  a few times and the resist started to show....

this was the piece day two, having oxidized overnight. Betsy was done dipping and ready to neutralize, then unbind, wash and rinse the piece. I hope one day to see it in it's finished state.

Some skeins of yarn a student, Karen, had dyed naturally and brought to overdye in indigo....

and here are a few of the skeins.....

other skeins dyed with indigo, the left are white yarn the right are gray yarn....

indigo stock reducing...

a pretty cloth-covered box I thought would overdye nicely which my lodging host, Jan, found when we were out shopping about before the class...indigo will almost always enhance an otherwise unexciting object! This was after it's first dip...

some of the students pieces oxidizing as they kept dipping others...

Amanda showing her war paint....

By day two everyone was learning to adjust their own indigo vats with confidence, a fine balance between enough indigo stock added for depth of color plus raised pH and oxygen reduction for lasting color...

more work oxidizing...

 a great tee shirt...

Chris dyed this piece and brought it to show me, using India Flint's technique of eco-bundling. She layed leaves and plant matter on the scarf. The plants she used are celandine (yellow), sand cherry (blue), cochineal (pink) and there are faint whispers of crimson king maple leaves. She bundled it up, let it do it's magic and this beautiful piece developed...

here is Chris modeling the scarf....although Chris isn't able to come to India's workshop in August at my farm I promised to share the project with India...

more pieces continue to emerge....

even a hydranga blossom found indigo!

a delicate scarf with a resist....

I made a woad mother stock on Saturday night and Sunday started a woad vat for everyone to experience...

this was a skein after one 2 minute dip....beautiful French bleu...

woad versus indigo

more woad yarn....

this was a great group of dyers...so much talent, enthusiasm and cool, calm energy. I was treated to a lovely three days. I flew home knowing I had shared the knowledge of dyeing with indigo to them and that will help keep indigo's history and prosperity alive.

Long live indigo and the Medina Spinners and Weavers Guild!

Going down the road with the blues

...the indigo blues that is.
taking off in the early morn for the mid-west to teach a weekend workshop to a full house of 16.
boxes shipped, bags packed.

looking forward to sharing and teaching the magic of dyeing with the oldest and only natural blue dye in the world.
knowledge of indigo began in the tropics about 5,000 years ago. that's an ancient dye!

An art exhibit perhaps?

Artist, Joan Morris' art exhibit opens today through July 31st
Aidron Duckworth Art Museum
21 Bean Rd, Meriden, NH
Textile Works of Art: 2009-2011

Be inspired! Please visit Joan's show. She is an artist extraordinaire and dedicated instructor in the art of shaped resist dyeing (shibori). You can learn more about Joan here


We are delighted to be hosting Joan for a five day workshop in August at Long Ridge Farm. The topic? Shaped Resist Dyeing with Indigo and Vegetal Dyes.
For more about the workshop

Perhaps this is just the inspiration you have been looking for? Come learn the ancient art of shaped resist using natural dyes all the while in the peaceful setting of Long Ridge Farm.

And please wend your way to Joan's exhibit...a lovely drive, a stunning exhibit.

love me two times

We enjoyed last evening here on the farm with a couple of friends, homemade venison pizza, beer, wine and good music. As we walked out to say our goodbyes two beautiful Golden Retrievers were looking at us in the yard...disconcerted at midnight. They were wet and needy. I set them up in the barn across from the house with blankets, and a midnight snack. They were so well behaved and thankful. We retired. This morning at 5am I walked our old lab, Sidney, up back on a leash so he wouldn't have to encounter two yearling un-cut pups at the crack of dawn in his most aged state. I put Sid back in, slept an hour and then got these beautiful boys down the lane and into the fields (after a handsome breakfast, thank you!) for a run.

That boy in the back is a gem. They are brothers, 17 months old, live not too far away (I learned all this after some help from our friend who did some sleuthing). I got the owner's number and by 9AM the pups were picked up and headed off Long Ridge Farm. It's nice to live in a small community where with a little help from our friends and an extra barn for the overnight we were able to reunite...


Tonight the flock got some dessert and a bit of love...