The Imperfect Circle · Screveton
Into the Dark: a solstice afternoon of willow ink and charcoal
Into the Dark: a solstice afternoon of willow ink and charcoal
Three hours, four seats. Coming with a friend? You can change the number at the basket.
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Full refund up to 7 days before. Up to 48 hours before, you can move to another date or send someone in your place. Nothing inside 48 hours. If I have to cancel, you choose a full refund or a free move.
Giving a seat to someone? A gift card for the amount works on any available date.
This one is for the solstice, and it's all willow. Holly and mistletoe stand for life carrying on through the winter, but willow drops its leaves and stands stark, resting. And when a willow falls, it grows again from where it fell.
We'll be working with the darker materials willow gives us: ink from the bark, charcoal, and ink made from the charcoal. I'll make the base of the ink beforehand, and there'll be sticks and reeds to draw with. You'll make the final colours and grind the charcoal, and you can even prep the next batch of ink if you want to. Then we make art with the dark, focusing on contrast.
As the lighter days come back, we'll think about the year ahead, and what has been in the shadows that we want to bring into the light. You make something with the willow, a poem, a picture or just a few words, and then we burn it at a little solstice altar out the front.
You take home the ink you made, some charcoal sticks, and a little gum arabic so you can make your own charcoal paint. The willow sticks you made or drew with are yours to keep, and so is a tote bag. You also take the artwork you didn't burn at the altar, and the intentions you've set.
There are only four seats because the studio is small, just the one table. It makes for an unhurried afternoon, and there's time to sit with each of you as you work.
Who it's for
Who it's for
No experience needed; if you haven't drawn in years, this is the afternoon for it. Under-18s are welcome with a parent or guardian who books a seat too and stays with them: one child per adult, around eight and up, but you know your child. A child's seat costs the same as any other.
Willow bark contains salicin, the plant compound aspirin was first made from. If you're allergic or sensitive to aspirin, please tell me when you book, by replying to your booking confirmation, so we can talk it through before the day.
If you end up the only one booked, I'll email you two days before and you choose: move to another date for nothing, or come anyway and it'll be just the two of us. Either way the seat you've paid for is yours.
Tell me about any other allergies or access needs the same way.
What to bring
What to bring
Nothing but yourself, and clothes that don't mind ink. The materials are all here, including ink from the hedge.
Finding us
Finding us
Pod 3, The Eco Centre, Home Farm, Screveton, NG13 8JL. Directly opposite Caffe Velo Verde, with free parking on the farm by the café.
Five minutes from Bingham, a quarter of an hour from Newark, about twenty-five from Nottingham by car; the nearest station is Bingham, a short taxi ride away. The café is there for lunch before.
There's no step into the studio, and it's heated. There are toilets on site, including an accessible one with a ramp by the Eco Centre. I'll send you the rest of the details when you book.
Changing your date
Changing your date
Can't come? Cancel at least 7 days before for a full refund. Up to 48 hours before, you can move to another date instead, or send someone in your place. Reply to your confirmation email and I'll sort it. Inside 48 hours the seat can't be moved or refunded. If I have to cancel, you choose: a full refund or a free move to another date.
Because this is a booking for a specific date, the usual 14-day right to cancel doesn't apply, so this is how it works instead.
Can't make any of the dates listed? Tell me which days would work: louise@louiseclark.art. New dates go to the list two days before they appear here.
Photographs
Photographs
I sometimes take photographs during workshops. If you'd rather not be in them, just say on the day.
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