The process is slow and mindful, involving the development of an intimate knowledge of the land as much as quiet concentrated work on stitching and piecing. The cloth is dyed in small segments bundled around stones, twigs and [sometimes] found metal trash. The bundles are gently simmered in a brew comprised of locally harvested water [from seas, rivers, lakes, ponds or puddles] together with a handful of windfall leaves to give color to the solution. After cooking they are left to rest - this allows time and the elements contained within the leaves to do their work. After unwrapping, the cooked leaves are returned to the environment as mulch.

Joan Morris began making shibori* in 1983, after many years of working with dyes, paint, and fabric. That year also marked the beginning of her work as master-dyer for the Theater Department at Dartmouth College, where she has dyed textiles for more than sixty productions. Her shibori textiles have been exhibited and awarded prizes nationally and internationally, and she has received grants for her work from the Asian Cultural Council, the Vermont Arts Council, the Vermont Community Foundation, Dartmouth College and private foundations. Her shaped-resist textile work is in the permanent collections of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (Smithsonian Institution) in New York, the Museum of Art at RISD and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. Barney's New York featured her one-of-a-kind shaped-resist dyed shawls and scarves in the fall-winter collections of 1990 and 1991.

In 1996 Joan Morris completed a shibori project for The US Army Corps of Engineers. The five-year project involved translating four environmentally significant remote-sensed images into shibori imagery using stitched, pole-wrapped, and capped shaped-resists, as well as newly invented forms. An image from this series was selected as the cover art for Memory on Cloth: Shibori Now, by Yoshiko I. Wada (Kodansha International, 2002). Ms. Morris's paper on this translation project was presented at the International Textile and Science Conference in the Czech Republic. A paper on the diffusion of shaped-resist dye methods was delivered at the 3rd International Textile Symposium in the Republic of Georgia in 2001, and her work in the field of textile modification for theater has been presented internationally. Joan Morris has been a panelist and invited artist at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th International Shibori Symposia in India, Chile, England, and Japan, and was an invited artist in the Kimono Project at ISS '92, in Nagoya, Japan. In recent years, she has designed and fabricated the shaped-resist textiles for "The Lion King" on Broadway as well as for the Japanese, UK-Continental Europe, Canadian, Los Angeles, and road show productions.

In 1995 Joan Morris began research on the incorporation of mechanical resist and precious metal application into the shaped-resist process. She continues to work at making textiles that merge these methods, and collaborated with fellow textile artist Michèle Ratté on a washable, precious and base metal printing invention for textiles and other substrates. They own the United States patent for their invention. In her own studio work, Ms. Morris creates shaped-resist dyed art works and mono-prints in high karat gold on shaped-resist substrates.

*The Japanese word shibori means "to compress" or "to squeeze." Shibori is a 1400-year-old Japanese shaped-resist dyeing process whereby cloth is shaped by stitching, folding, wrapping, or pleating, and bound into those shapes by tying or clamping. Once dyed, the cloth visually registers the shape it was in before it is returned to flat form. Many cultures worldwide have developed methods for shaped-resist dyeing. The earliest extant samples are from the ChavÌn culture of the Andes (c. 700- c. 200 BC).

Nancy Zeller of Long Ridge Farm is celebrating ten years of raising sheep and particularly the most rare and endangered CVM/Romeldale. Long Ridge Farm has won numerous prize ribbons for raw fleeces, is recognized nationally for their involvement with CVM/Romeldales and continues to produce breeding stock lambs from their flock of CVM/Romeldale sheep.

Nancy received a BA in Art from UNH at Keene, NH and has been immersed in natural dyeing since 2005. In 2007 she studied Khiva traditional crafts, in partnership with artisans of Khiva, Uzbekistan and American artisan mentors, focusing on natural dyeing. Nancy studied in France in 2010 with Denise Lambert, owner of Bleu de Pastel de Lectoure, and Michel Garcia, founder of Couleur Garance and of the Botanical Garden of Dye Plants and has studied extensively with Michele Wipplinger, owner of Earthues, Seattle, WA. In April 2011 she attended ISEND 2011, the International Symposium and Exposition on Natural Dyes in La Rochelle, France. Long Ridge Farm is host to natural dyeing and related topics with internationally known artists each summer. Nancy teaches natural dyeing by request throughout the country, produces and naturally dyes her own line of fibers, custom dyes for Green Mountain Spinnery and other individual requests. You can visit her at fiber shows through the year in the Northeast or by visiting her studio at Long Ridge Farm.

Michele Wipplinger is an author, educator, photographer and master dyer and designer with over thirty years experience in natural dyes. Michele trained in France and Switzerland with noted natural master dyes, and developed her style of dyeing that yields beautiful, repeatable hues using only non-toxic alum mordants. In 1992 she introduced the concept of natural dye extracts that yielded brilliant, consistent, lightfast hues that were safe and easy to use. To this day, Earthues does not use any heavy metal mordants that are dangerous to human health and the planet.

Earthues is committed to working with artisans of other cultures, and Michele frequently consults around the world to support the revival and innovation in traditional textiles and crafts. As well, she works with cottage industries and cooperatives to develop markets for natural dyestuffs that sustain rural populations and respect their local resources.

Refund policy: for Classes Taught By Nancy Zeller the registration fee must be paid within 30 days of beginning of class. All fees will be returned if you cancel prior to 14 days before class begins. Otherwise, you will only be refunded if your space can be filled by another student prior to class. A full refund will be issued if Long Ridge Farm must cancel a class for any reason.

Lodging Options nearby to Long Ridge Farm

Inns and B&Bs in NH, within 1/2 hour:

1. The Chesterfield Inn www.chesterfieldinn.com
2. The Walpole Inn www.walpoleinn.com but they do not serve dinner.
3. General Amos Shepherd B&B www.ashepardbb.net
4. Inn at Valley Farms B&B, Walpole, NH www.innatvalleyfarms.com

Hotels and motels, within 20 minutes:

1. Latchis Hotel www.latchis.com This is in downtown Brattleboro, VT with many restaurants, natural food coop and shopping within walking distance
2. Riverside Hotel riversidehotelnh.com, 913 Gulf Road, West Chesterfield, NH 603-256-4200
3. Days Inn, Putney Rd, Brattleboro, VT 1-800-329-7466
4. Quality Inn, 1380 Putney Rd 1-866-254-8701
5. Colonial Motel and Spa, Putney Rd 1-800-239-0032 they offer spa services, an outdoor and indoor pool, sauna, hot tub, cardio equipment and massage by appointment
6. Super 8, Putney Rd, Brattleboro, VT 1-802-254- 8889