workshops

Books and news

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Bookmaking, not for the new tax year, but for the Wild Twins students and friends. 13 made, 8 to do when I get home from work tonight. Strelizia turns out to be a wonderful fibre with which to sew, whether stranded or reverse-wrapped into two-ply.
Sadly it seems two people who applied for the extra bursary both can’t seem to make travel plans fit in with work commitments. This happens sometimes in modern busy life. So the bursary is available again! In exactly one month’s time we will be meeting just a few feet from the very western edge of Europe. Can you come? Writers and artists of every kind are welcome to join me and writer Paul Kingsnorth, co-founder of #darkmountainproject . Everything you need to know is at wyrdschool.ie . I really hope someone will benefit from this reduction of the fees from €950 to €699. If you have a question about it email me via the contact page. I have become very knowledgeable about the travel options!
Together we make books, ink, quills, paint, brushes, charcoal, stories, paintings, artworks, poems, conversations, questions, discoveries, dreaming methods, wild walks, fireside songs, story journeys, connections with nature, friends. . There isn’t anything else like this we’ve spent 3 years working on it…

Wild Twins bursary newsflash

The Wild Twins course I run in Ireland in early May with writer Paul Kingsnorth has one more bursary place, as a student had to drop out, and the non-refundable deposit means we can reduce the price for someone on lower means, it is 699 Euros rather than 950 Euros. All the details are here. If you or a friend you know would like to come, get in touch.  Please feel free to pass this info on.

The venue Sherkin Island North Shore is amazing… Great food, wonderful hosts, wild Atlantic beauty.

 

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New courses coming soon

I will be teaching short courses on natural materials over the coming winter and into the spring. These will teach you how to make oak gall ink, quills, brushes and tools from feathers and sticks, natural watercolours, gouache, distemper, glair an tempera paints, how to source and grind natural pigments, how to sew books to paint in, and so much more. I also aim to offer classes on birch and ash bark box making (great for storing those natural materials and tools), charcoal making for drawing, natural cordage making, pouch and bag making with buckskin, and how to paint on buckskin to decorate it. Alongside these ancient skills, I also offer life drawing tuition, colour theory classes and bespoke art sessions for young and old, details to follow soon. Get in touch if you are interested. Classes will take place on The River Thames, near Hampton Court. There is nearby free parking, and great local public transport.

Life drawing class

I’ll be teaching life drawing at the great art club at Café Canela @Canelacafeartclub in Hampton Court, starting this month on 20th October 2018. Come along for drinks, cake, a great model and tuition from me to get you drawing, cost £12. No experience is necessary, just bring a drawing pad and something to draw with. We will have exercises to get started followed by some longer poses. As soon as I get on Instagram I will link there, I know I am late to the party but I tend to live life in the real world rather than online, so bear with me. For now, have a look here. Contact canelacafeevents@gmail.com to come along.

3 mins

3 minute drawing, warm up.

Wild Twins head home

Thanks to all who came and made this course so great. There’ll be much more on this website soon, but for now here’s a few pictures. Paul’s Wyrd School is launched, and Wild Twins was everything we’d hoped for and more, as the folks who attended brought so much expertise, enthusiasm and openness. Paul brought his wild writing, and I brought a very large bag of rocks and feathers… and we worked all week in a light-filled room 12 feet from the edge of the ocean, pulling apart our old notions, listening to the land and water speak, watching the sea otters watch us back, and responding freshly with our materials of earth.

Wild Twins

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Go to Paulkingsnorth.net/course for more details, price and venue. We’ll be out in nature and waist deep in story, myth, beauty and radical connection to the land. Artists will respond to writers and vice versa. Image and text will re-join as they should, twins who are too often split apart in the world of adult books. This course will suit any one who writes, paints or draws, at what ever level, who sincerely wants to reconnect to land, wild nature (inner and outer) and to the deep red thread of story in their work.

Welcome to the blog

Welcome to the blog. This will be updated often with the natural materials, news and workshops being made here on the river, and on my travels.

In Spring and Autumn 2017 I taught on Fire and Shadow, an eight month long Dark Mountain course. We made archaic materials out in the wild, and took as much time in making them around the camp fire as using them. I have put great pictures and more info on the Workshops page.