May Day Greetings and News
Plus 'Materials of Earth', the next video for paid subscribers
The rites, rights and writes of spring
Happy Beltane / May Day to all! I have celebrated by visiting the library I loved as a kid in preparation for doing a free local workshop there, eating delicious leftover sourdough pizza from last night for my lunch, and staring gently into the middle distance, which at my writing desk means a beautiful lime (linden) tree. That might not sound like much, but I am incredibly busy preparing for the publication of my second book with Search Press, Drawn From the Wild. So for me, a simple lunch and some quiet time is really a joy. Tomorrow I will head to the beach at the end of the road, I’ll go see what the tide has brought, but right now I must write you this newsletter. What are you doing to mark the day?
News
Book Launch: You are all invited to come to the free online launch of the book, hosted by Lucy Mayes of London Pigment , featuring artists from both of my books and plenty of time for questions. Here is the link for registering for the online launch , there’s no charge, it’s just a way to make sure we don’t go over the allowed Zoom guests amount.
Publication day is 12th June, but you can order the book now direct from the publisher. I can’t wait to share this with you.
In June I will be doing my first proper art residency over at the Imaginal Field Project, near Peterborough, England. It was an honour to be asked and I am looking forward to spending time with the land and with these great people. I’ll be running a public movement workshop one morning and am looking forward to being part of the group show at the end of the residency year.
I am redesigning my website and attempting to find a way to sell my new art prints and cards that is not too unwieldy. More next time, hopefully in time for the book launch!
Scroll down to the bottom of this newsletter for this month’s video to say thanks to all my paid subscribers.
Courses and classes
I have lots of courses coming up both online and in the UK in-person, but none abroad this year, as I am both attempting to reduce my carbon footprint again, and also responding to the interesting times we all find ourselves in. Here are all the courses currently booking.
In Person:
The brand new visionary painting course created by Rima Staines and myself, This Painted Earth, is booking up and we still have places. Read more about it and book here. I have been ordering pigments, foraging haematite and researching variations on my favourite gessoes in preparation. Join us!
Natural Paints and Inks one-day workshops were sold out on all three dates but we will almost certainly be adding one on 7th August, so get in touch with Butser after this weekend, (as they have a huge Beltane fire festival on until then). Butser Ancient Farm is near Waterlooville, Hampshire, England and I’ll be doing lots there next year, including special courses based on the materials native to the area.
Fish Skin Tanning, Dyeing and Sewing will be running at Butser 8th - 10th August 2026. The link is not yet live as we have only just announced it, it should be booking from Monday next week. This is the first UK outing for Dr Theresa Emmerich Kamper and my new offering. You’ll learn how to make beautiful leathers from waste fish skins, dye them a rainbow of colours and then learn how to pattern, cut and sew a pouch. I’ve been posting about how to make good seams with leather over on Instagram, too, after some ace questions from a friend. This really is my favourite ‘hobby’. (Is it still a hobby if one also does it for work? Discuss.)
I’ll also be assisting Theresa on her Deer Skin Tanning course at Butser 2nd - 4th August. It’s a fantastic way to learn this ancient craft, one that clothed and shod our ancestors since time immemorial. Theresa is a superb teacher and her sample collection alone is worth travelling for.
Found and Ground level one has only one space left on the 23rd - 27th June 2025 session. It will also run in 2026 on these dates: 16th - 20th March and 22nd - 26th June. This last date will allow people to stay on for the second week which will be Drawn From The Wild, the ‘level 2’ course focusing on semi-precious pigments, mastering natural art materials techniques and making works with our materials. More details and booking for all Found and Ground options here.
Online:
Natural Colour Making for Artists. I am part of an incredible faculty for this year-long course. All the previous live sessions have been recorded and are available to all who continue to sign up. Last month I taught egg paints, traditional media and Vegan alternatives. This month I’ll be teaching pastel making and preparation of pigments for pastels. My approach to pastel making is very easy to learn, requires almost no special equipment and keeps costs low. I hope you’ll enjoy it, as well as the wealth of information you get from all the other tutors.
There will be a wonderful new year-long course which I will be part of next year for Plants and Colour. Hopefully I will be able to tell you all about it next month. For now, think about using natural inks and paints for drawing and painting on leather, suede and canvas rather than just paper.
Further ahead:
I have been invited to teach at West Dean 16-19th February 2026 which is a dream come true. You may know it already as the home of The Repair Shop, the TV programme featuring old and broken belongings lovingly brought back to life by skilful artisans. I’ll be part of a special pigment week, with great colleagues including Lucy Mayes and Peter Ward. The details are not yet online but you’ll be first to know if you join the West Dean Mailing list here.
Now I’d like to point you towards a few great things by other people.
My partner, Film-maker Jonny Randall, and folk woman extraordinaire Lucy Wright have a film Mirie It Is showing in the Offbeat Folk Film Festival. I’ll be there in a couple of weeks and can’t wait to immerse myself in great films. Come and join us, the schedule of films is amazing and I can’t wait to finally see The Nettle Dress. Their new film came out today, you can watch it here.
I’d like to recommend a wonderful, unclassifiable Substack by Rosie Whinray called Dear Magician. This recent post was a corker where she talks about art and shares drawings and stories. I always enjoy her posts, I hope you will too.
The new Dark Mountain book number 27 is out this week. It’s a hugely rich issue all about bodies, in every sense, the Earth, celestial, humans and the more than human worlds. I was over in East Anglia two weeks ago helping post it out to all the subscribers. There are no faceless machines involved in the DM production, nor any *mazon warehouses, just real people, in Hodmedod’s depot, drinking coffee and packing hundreds of books with lots of love and care. I am part of the editorial team for issue 28, which will be all about Uncivilised Art.
are also finally on Substack.
If you can’t afford a paid subscription to this Substack but would like to support my work, I would be delighted if you’d like to buy me a coffee. (I sometimes actually spend it on tea.) Also, if you want to watch one video you should be able to use the week’s free trial that Substack offers. Get in touch if you need a hand.
Lastly, below there’s the next video to say thanks to paid subscribers. It’s suitable for anyone, even if you are totally new to earth arts or to pigments. Your subscriptions mean I can concentrate on materials research, making art, books and courses and save my energy for teaching to the very best of my ability. I hugely appreciate your support.
This video’s pretty personal and there’s a story behind it. My excellent Dark Mountain colleague, artist and writer Hannah Close has put together a wonderful course for Advaya called Wild Imagination. I was due to be teaching on it but due to some sad family events, I felt that I wasn’t able to record at that time at the quality I would want. Luckily, it meant that I could recommend wonderful Lucy Mayes (yes, her again!) and so she is now part of the course alongside other great colleagues current and past such as Hanna Tuulikki, Charlotte DuCann and Mirella Salamé.
I also learned that even though I absolutely love teaching live online, (which I have been doing since the first lockdown), I totally don’t love recording alone in an empty room. It’s all about connection, for me. Respect to those who can do it! I have decided to share the video I did make, as I am really happy with the actual content of what I was sharing, which was a simple Earth-based practice for connection using pigments found in your own locale. I improvised the whole thing, and I think it does actually capture something of the essence of what I am up to with my life and work. I put it together very simply on my usual editing software, but didn’t try to make it perfect, so forgive the thoughtful pauses and little jumps due to the cuts.
I cover foraging materials, testing them, preparation of simple pigments, brushing them out with water, refinement, storage and uses. I also talk about their ancestral uses, their meaning and resonance for me personally, plus ways in which they can enrich your life and connection to the Earth.
I hope you enjoy it.
Warmest wishes to all who read this. See you next month, just before the book launch, I hope! Caro.
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