Sheep in the back forty

Sheep in the back forty

Sheep to Artistry 

I raise sheep for their fiber on our 60 acre farm. We rotate our flock from pasture to pasture to allow the grasses to regenerate. In the winter when the ground is covered with snow, I feed hay, and break the ice in their stock tanks so they have water. Spring time is shearing time. The shorn fleeces are washed and combed into roving at the mill. When the roving comes back from the mill I get busy in the studio………I dye some of the roving and leave some its natural color depending on the project at hand. I always save some colorful roving to spin into yarn. The rest is used in my felting work. The following images illustrate life on the farm and in the studio.

Sheep in ‘spring field’: happy grazing

Sheep in ‘spring field’: happy grazing

Sheep with rainbow: Touches of fall

Sheep with rainbow: Touches of fall

Feeding hay in snow

Feeding hay in snow

Shearing

Shearing

Bags of roving delivered from mill

Bags of roving delivered from mill

The barn studio with solar panels that provide electricity for the farm

The barn studio with solar panels that provide electricity for the farm

Dyed roving drying

Dyed roving drying

Dyed roving ready for creations

Dyed roving ready for creations

Spinning wheel – roving to yarn

Spinning wheel – roving to yarn

Colorful yarn in basket ready for sale

Colorful yarn in basket ready for sale

Dying and printing silk

Dying and printing silk

Dyed silk ready for layout

Dyed silk ready for layout

Laying out roving base

Laying out roving base

Completed collage layout

Completed collage layout

Finished blanket drying on fence

Finished blanket drying on fence