I do a lot of prep for workshops, so that the day isn’t compromised by something I could have planned for and didn’t. But every single workshop I am taken completely by surprise…
💚✨: Not by running out of paper or not having enough X, Y, Z — that’s the stuff I can see coming and prepare for. But I’m blindsided every time by the absolute joy of sharing raw materials and my experience-so-far with other people, and then watching their own diverse lives and creativity explode all over it!
🌱✨: I love handing a medievalist(?!) a pen I whittled from sumac and watch him illuminate his ‘scrap’ paper. I want to know more about Marigold the cat, and I love seeing someone take buckthorn green and wild grape purple and paint aliens 😂 I can’t hold in my delight at seeing a dozen owls and turtles painted a dozen different ways. From psychedelic to realistic and everything in between. I am chuffed to be told by an actual entomologist that I’m not butchering my aphid story. I’m stoked to be the site of a mother-daughter outing. I want to learn more about the healing powers of plants, and the food forests-in-progress, and what the talented block printers and natural dyers are up to. I’m jealous of that badass vest printed with squirrels and owls, and I’m honoured by the former summer students who wanted to volunteer their Saturday just because they thought this sounded cool.
🏞️✨: Thank you to @lowertrentconservation for hosting this ‘Painting With Plants’ workshop (with a special thank you to Nicholas and Ewa!), and to every single participant for making it as lovely as it was — and supporting beautiful places like Seymour in the process!
See you next time! 💚✒️🌱