Nature & Nurture: Sheep Ranching and Fiber Artistry

Lorna Marchington is a member of a fifth-generation Park County ranching family, residing on the flats of Mill Creek in the heart of Paradise Valley at Barely *A* Sheep Ranch. She cut her teeth in the lambing shed on her parents’ ranch, where she now resides and raises a small flock of Columbia-Lincoln cross sheep. Growing up with 4-H, Lorna was always fascinated with sheep, winning many awards with her animals. Lorna enjoying sharing her knowledge at various venues. She has brought bum lambs to Ag Days for Park County Schools during the fall as well as to the museum during Living History Day in June.
The sheep she raises provides locals with farm-to-fork fresh lamb. A portion of the wool is sent to a mill in New York that uses refurbished traditional milling machinery suitable for Renaissance re-enactors for weaving traditional clothing.
Lifelong fiber artist Helen Harris beautifully weaves together agriculture and artistry. Helen grew up learning to mend and stitch at her grandmother’s knee, turning a weekly task into a master’s degree when she graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Textile Design and Studio Art from Northern Illinois University in 1981. She moved to Ennis, Montana in 2014 and if she isn’t wandering the foothills of her home looking for colors, patterns, and textures in nature to inspire her elaborate weavings, she’s creatively mending jeans and recycling fibers.