‘Art in the Making’ has been designed to encourage capability in practical tasks and provide an in depth experience of what it can be like to live a more satisfying life using the environment of one’s house and garden as an arena of creative activity. We are essentially a place of peace and tranquillity, a place to rest and focus one’s mind and energies. But we recognise that it is not all about endless naval-gazing so our garden and studios provide the space and facilities for wide-ranging creative expression and we are happy when they are being put to good use.

For those who can imagine themselves wielding tools and materials, but have never had the chance, our Art in the Making program provides encouragement and guidance in exploring avenues that can kickstart a solid approach to ones own creative enrichment. It is tremendously empowering to be capable of undertaking practical tasks. To have familiarity with tools and techniques and the confidence to undertake projects of one’s own making and from there it is a quick step to involving the imagination.

You may never become a professional artist, but you can certainly be an Amateur acting from your heart, directing your own passion through your imagination and your hands. The key is in developing skills and the place to start is right at the beginning.

…The program is available during the months of June through to October and it is suitable for a wide cross section of people, from those who are interested in broadening their creative abilities to those interested in learning practical skills for the means of self employment or who may be about to embark on the adventure of a rural lifestyle.

Participants can expect a hands-on introduction to a variety of mediums of their choice, involving skills in the working of various natural materials, with a special emphasis on a confident approach, fast track learning, and the intelligence of hand and eye. They are then free to pursue any particular field of choice in their own good time…Instruction and guidance are readily available and encouragement and patience are forthcoming at all times.

  It is also gender friendly in that we have found that women are at least the equals of men when it comes to practical physical tasks and quite often manage a focus and enthusiasm which many men fail to achieve. However not to put off the boys, we mention it more to encourage the girls to have confidence in their unsung abilities…At the end of the day, of course, it’s up to the individual what he…..or she makes of it.

Mediums are related to the concept of Garden Arts and will include:

• • • Basic building in Stone; walls, steps, paths

    • Cement work; plastering of walls, thin-shell ferrocement and lightweight concrete construction

    • Decorative concrete floors; thin polymer enriched overlays, coloured pigments and acid stains

    • Wet carved concrete; planters and sculpted forms

    • Ceramic tile work; walls, floors, mosaic

    • Garden Design:

      • Earthworks for rain-harvesting; swales, infiltration pits, growing beds

      • Drystone terracing

      • Soil building; composting, mulch

      • Pond and wetland construction

ACCOMMODATION….is a loosely communal arrangement with two people sharing a comfortably equipped house providing both adequate personal privacy and a comfort level that reaches beyond the physical.

Everyone has the choice of cooking in their own kitchen or joining in with the main meals, creative activity makes for hungry people and a kitchen is always a busy place. In fact, cookery is an art that we hold in especially high regard and everyone has the opportunity to be involved in the day-to-day cooking if they wish.

 DATES…Since we place a strong emphasis on the individual attention we have decided to do away with the conventional group seminar structure in favour of a more experimental holistic approach. This means that subject to availability, people are free to negotiate their own time of arrival and length of stay. Participation will be limited to up to six people at any one time.

  Click here to….. CONTACT US….with any questions and we will be glad to fill in any gaps.

Art In the Making

  …… is this YOU???……It could easily be you, with a floor to renovate, the appropriate pair of pants and an adventurous spirit to boot. This in particular is the art of creative flooring, but it could as easily be culivating herbs, painting egg tempera or pursuing the ultimate in lightweight, longstanding, doghouse design…..

What do you have up there on your secret wish-list of things you’d love to be good at???….The point being that artistry of one type or another is within the reach of all. It is really only a matter of generating an attitude and then with a certain quality of focus one can become an artist in ones own life.

With passion one is on the road, you become your own adventure, and the horizon is the limit….Just how empowering is that???