Welcome to Dancing Leaf Farm and to the Dalis Davidson Interview at Spin Artiste!
Located in the foothills of Sugarloaf Mountain in rural Maryland, Dancing Leaf Farm is a small sheep farm owned and operated by Dalis Davidson. The property includes a studio/shop filled with spinning and knitting items, hand-crafted jewelry and other gift items.
Dalis is shepherdess to a ‘spinner’s’ flock, consisting of various sheep breeds which graze the nearby fields.
I met Dalis at a small fiber festival and fell in love with her line of vibrantly dyed hand-painted yarns with deep, rich saturated colors. What immediately struck me about Dalis was her “can do” attitude…read on to find out more about this inspirational lady…
Spin Artiste (SA): So…shepherdess, spinner, dyer, felter, knitter, weaver, jewelry-maker…what has been your journey to get here?
Dalis: My fiber journey began with getting a lone sheep in my pasture, Clarabelle. She was a pet who grew very nice wool. Sheep have to be sheared, so I had all this lovely wool. Luckily for me, there are a number of women shepherds in my area who were very generous of their time in teaching me how to raise sheep, how to spin, how to knit and how to weave. I soon had too much wool, so I learned how to dye it, then spin it.
With all this colorful yarn, I then learned how to knit. A passion was born!
SA: The story of your journey has such a sense of unfolding. What perspective has guided you along the way?
Never does a day go by that I take the beautiful area that I live in for granted. Every sunrise, sunset, moonrise, rainy day, snowy day, foggy day, makes me glad I live where I do. My colors are inspired from the simple things I see daily; the soybean and corn fields across the way, the sunset behind the barn, my zinnia patch, the view of Sugarloaf Mountain, the butterflies on my butterfly bush. It’s a never-ending parade of inspiration.
My main love is for fiber, the natural, organic feel of fresh wool in my hands. I use the wool as a canvas for color. I see colors that complement, that clash, and that just look great together. I use this innate sense of color in the painting of my yarns, watching colors emerge and overlap. When knitted or felted, the colors flow gracefully and resemble an impressionistic painting.
Felting has been an interest to me for years now. I like abstract, multi-colored pieces with texture, body and undulating colors. I ‘paint’ pictures using my hand dyed wool and felting needles.
I am passionate about color, light, illumination, laughter, magic and making everyday a joy to live. Don’t just sit there, make something!
I guess my approach to my work is to just get out there and do it. I don’t know if I have a philosophy. I simply like to work hard because I love what I do.
SA: Your use of color in dyeing is incredible…What is it about this medium that fuels your passion?
Dalis: My main medium is the liquid dyes I use to ‘paint’ my yarns. I must first mix the powdered dye into a liquid form, sometimes mixing two colors together to get just the right hue. When I lay on the liquid dye onto the white yarn and magically see the yarn take up all the color, it makes me smile. I experiment with new colorways and it never ceases to amaze me how the colors react to each other. I usually use three main colors, squirting on the dye in six ‘stripes’ (for example, green, purple, turquoise, green, purple, turquoise). I overlap each color slightly and another color is made between the two colors.
SA: Which materials do you like to work with and why?
Dalis: I work mainly with animal fibers — wool, mohair, alpaca, and silk. But, I also dye nylon which takes the dye like the animal fibers. I don’t dye vegetable fibers like cotton, and hemp because this is a different dye process.
I also make fused glass buttons to complement my yarns. I use beautiful glass, especially dichroic glass which adds sparkle and depth to the pieces.
Jewelry making is another passion, assembling various beads consisting of glass and felt beads. I make the felt beads myself.
In the last couple of years, I’ve been experimenting with making felt. For that medium, I use lots of bubble wrap, wool – of course -, and very sharp felting needles. I also have a needle felting machine.
SA: Lucky you…a needle felting machine is at the top of my wish list! What other equipment do you use?
Dalis: For the dyeing, I use a stove and various hot plates and a washing machine to spin out the water. In the studio, I use a Patrick Green carding machine to blend different fibers together for making novelty yarn. A spinning wheel is essential for spinning the wool into yarn. I use a Fricke production electric wheel.
For the fused glass work, I have a small kiln that fires glass up to 2,000 degrees.For the jewelry, I use the usual cutters, crimpers, files and pliers but also use a jeweler’s saw and tumbler.
SA: You have so many realms in which to express your talent — what’s on the horizon for your work?
Dalis: I usually pack up my studio and go to several shows on the east coast, but this summer, I’m taking the studio to the west coast for a yarn show in Portland, Oregon. I’m trying to grow my business by using social media like my website, Facebook and a monthly newsletter.
SA: Ah, the business side of art! For some that is not something they enjoy or find very inspiring — aside from being inspired to work on the business side, where do you find inspiration?
Dalis: To say that any one thing inspires me is hard. I have lots of energy and wake up to the day, filled with excitement to create. I can choose from dyeing, spinning, knitting, making jewelry, fusing glass, felting or just being crafty. Some days, it’s all of the above. I live in the country, on a beautiful small farm with spectacular views of fields and hills. We have gorgeous sunrises and sunsets and many of my colorways reflect my environment. I also have a large network of very creative women who inspire me endlessly.
Also, I belong to the ‘Countryside Artisans’, a group of 14 rural artists who host three tours a year. We feature glass blowers, furniture makers, sculptors, fine artists, felters, potters and even a wine maker. Their work inspires me to create and carry on!
SA: You strike me as very upbeat — which comes through in your work — what does happiness mean to you?
Dalis: I’m the happiest person I know, so my dream of happiness is to just keep doing what I’m doing. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful life, perfect health, a loving husband and three great boys (all my real life heroes along with my mom and my girlfriends) who all help out in the business when needed. I have a darling studio that I can fill with colorful work that I create and a beautiful setting to do that in.
SA: Dalis, you have such great energy and spark! What is your motto?
Dalis: It might be crass, but “Sleep When You’re Dead!” I have a lot of living to do, a lot to create and thankfully the energy to pull it off.
SA: I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Dalis as much as I have. You can find her on the web at Dancing Leaf Farm. She will also be vending at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this year — Dalis says to stop by and say “Hi!”.
I look forward to visiting Dancing Leaf Farm’s display at The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. What an inspiring, energizing interview — and beautiful photos!
Beautiful article Dalis. I’ll look for you at Sheep and Wool next weekend..I want one of those shawl kits!
Thanks, Deb! The shawl kits are great. I am going for the “Biggie” yarn…:-)