Archive for the ‘community’ Category

Willow fish project

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

As part of the AONB ‘Changing Landscapes’ project in the Stour Valley (Suffolk), I was invited to run a workshop last Saturday. 

The workshop participants used materials from the landscape weaving them into a large fish.  The fish represented
a)  the ‘unseen’ segment of the landscape
b)  the Stour Valley which inspired both Sir Alfred Munnings and Constable
c) the current work that the AONB have been undertaking in controlling invasive plant species
d) the sensitivity of the aquatic enviornment to change

It was a fantastic day, full of laughter, creativity and sunshine.

for more information about the Apricot Centre visit
www.apricotcentre.co.uk

Weaving in the woods

Saturday, December 1st, 2012

This morning I worked with an enthusiastic group of children in the woods  making willow Christmas decorations.   We were at the Holly and Hawthorne Forest School near Shepton Mallet, it was a very cold morning, the puddles were frozen and the crispy leaves outlined by tiny icicles but we all kept warm thanks to the fire, hot chocolate and toasted marsh mallows.  Every one made lots of Christmas wreaths and willow stars experimenting with different coloured willows, it was great for the children to be out in the woods weaving with natural materials.

East Pennard Gardeners

Sunday, November 18th, 2012

Pylle village hall was a great venue for a willow wigwam weaving workshop on Saturday.  I was commissioned by East Pennard Gardeners to run a workshop just for them, it was day full of fun and banter interspersed by silent moments of deep concentration!  Everyone made beautiful wigwams, some people experimented with different weaving techniques  and the refreshments were plentiful with the most fantastic cakes baked by members of the group.

Hampshire Welcomes the World

Saturday, July 7th, 2012

A project inspired by London 2012 Olympics, funded by Hampshire Council, managed by Making Space, Havant.

Hampshire Welcomes the World is a year long exploration and celebration of world cultures and music and an exploration of some of the extraordinary heritage sites in Hampshire.

Five rings, five continents & five different schools.  Each school working on projects linked to each of the 5 continents.  Front Lawn Junior School’s project was based on Oceania. 

Five days of weaving… one day per group of children.

Museums at Night – Bishops Palace, Wells

Sunday, May 20th, 2012

5  lantern making workshops spanning from Easter weekend and through another bank holiday weekend culminated in a fantastic evening on 19th May.  There was story telling, stilt walkers, choral singing, a very amusing jester, harp playing ending the evening with a lantern parade to the beat of Samba Sulis and fire dancing.  It was, yet again, a pleasure to work at the Palace.

 

Dragons nests – Bishops Palace

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

I spent the weekend in the peaceful gardens of the Bishops Palace in Wells trying to control unruly sticks and twigs to create two large nests.   The nests are closely guarded by the dragon I made last summer and form the end of a children’s trail through the Palace gardens.  As I was working nearby I was delighted to see how many people posed for photographs by the dragon, maybe the nests will be the same particularly as children are allowed to climb into the structures.

Art day at a Church school

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

A productive day in a lovely school, I was asked if we could make a cross (amongst other things!) and it came out very well indeed with some lovely detailing in brightly coloured fresh willows and dogwood. 

Willow workshops at Castle Gardens

Friday, February 24th, 2012

The sweet peas will be looking good this year on these beautiful supports which were made during a workshop at Castle Gardens Centre in Sherborne, a superb location for a creative afternoon!

Willow bird houses – Sherborne

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

It was another sunny day at Castle Gardens!  I have put together a short series of willow workshops at Castle Gardens in order to keep me in touch with the gardening ‘world’ over the next few weeks and yesterday was a great start to the series with us making willow birds nests.  

I am grateful to Mike Burks and the team at Castle Gardens who have very kindly allowed me  to use the Butterfly House for the workshops, it is a great space at the heart of this superb garden centre.

Winter Solstice Lantern Parade – Shepton Mallet

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

The lantern parade that Martin and I organise, now in its second year, was a huge success, over 200 participants on the night, Bath Samba Sulis band and 4 days of lantern making workshops through December.  A great community building event for Shepton Mallet, noted by the local paper who gave us 2 pages cover (including front page!).

And a great video on Youtube thanks to Adam:    http://bit.ly/rwYvEj