October Fruitfulness
Come join me on my last teaching adventures of the year, plus an instructional paint-making video for paid subscribers.
Happy autumn, fellow northern hemisphere readers, and spring greetings to those down under. This week, all the photos of my work and sessions were taken by my wonderful friends Artisans of Now.
Paid subscribers have a special video this month, it’s the last of my Covid-era Wild Twins Course videos shot aboard my old boat Crabapple. Scroll down for a how-to film for making watercolour, egg paints, both glair and tempera, and and all kinds of tips and tricks from making the most basic, gritty earthy paints to the most refined washes and glazes. You’ll have to excuse me sounding as though I had a bad cold. But the information in it still holds true, even tough my teaching style, equipment and hair style have all grown and changed! To watch all my videos, which I think are well worth $6 / a fiver to view, just take out a paid subscription (even for one month if you are having hard times, I understand). If you feel like supporting me in making future videos now that my lovely film maker is very close at hand, then feel free to join up for a year. We’d both massively appreciate it.
I have moved safely and happily to the north of England and am writing to you from my provisional desk, a camping table. My sister has a huge old-fashioned 1970s school teacher’s desk for me up in Scotland, all metal legs, mahogany top and lockable drawers, which we will go and pick up in a rental van as soon as we have the time. I love the patina and clean lines of those work-horse desks and look forward to writing, drawing and sewing on it, in future. For now, here’s the news from the jiggly plastic-topped aluminium table, which is serving me well.
Venice, Italy, 7-11 November 2025: Wild Pigments, Foraged Paints & Primitive Art Tools
Only a few of places remain on my last five-day course of the year, to be held near Venice next month. I’d love you to join us. The main difference between this course, and those I run anywhere else, is the incredible atmosphere created by my hosts Ludo and Simone, with help from Giulia who also took the photos you can see today. Expert artisans in their own right, creators of antique and novel natural pigment painted surfaces and walls, interiors and objects, Ludo and Simone pay the same attention to detail with the food, accommodation and ambiance so that everyone learns in a beautiful, inspiring environment. If you’ve never treated yourself to time in Venice or the nearby Dolomites, an art workshop abroad, or just wanted to spend and in-depth 5 day workshop learning how to make natural art materials, then this is for you.
Dinner conversations are a joy. Coffee on the terrace between making, say, fine pigments and pastels, is a must. Simone will be teaching us how to make unique palettes for our watercolour paints from natural wood he has sourced specially. Personally, I found learning how to use hand tools and small electric tools to make the perfect receptacles for colour to be a really empowering experience, when I first did this with him two years ago. Now I carve my own palettes from drift wood, fallen bark from maritime pines and discarded vintage wooden pieces, which all make deligtful homes for special paints.
We’ll cover pigments, paints, pastels, fixatives, quill pens and tannin inks, palette making and expressive use of natural art media. Nearest airport is Venice and transit to the venue is easy, your hosts will help you arrange it all and offer lifts to and from the nearest train station.
I won’t be returning to Italy to teach until autumn 2027 at the very earliest, so take the chance to join us now.
Booking and more details are here.
Butser Ancient Farm, Hants, UK, 19th November 2025: book launch and mini workshop
Next weekend I’ll be selling books, prints and ink and quill sets as well as launching Drawn From the Wild in person at Butser Ancient Farm so do come and join me. The talk about my books and work is on Sunday 19th November at 14.45 for 45 mins, it’s free but you’ll need to book a place here.
I’ll also be running an hour long workshop called Write Like a Saxon! We’ll look at oak ink, quill pens and how Saxon-era scribes would have prepared their parchment before writing. My partner is a Saxon and Viking era history buff and is currently preparing a list of our favourite Old English kennings for workshop participants to write on strips of parchment for book marks to take home from the workshop. They will also receive a ready-cut goose or swan feather pen made by me.
What’s a kenning? It’s a metaphorical or roundabout figure of speech used instead of a straight forward noun. For instance, the famous ‘whale-road’ meaning ‘the sea’, or ‘bone-house’ for skeleton. Reading about them recently, I saw that ‘sky-scraper’ (for ‘very tall building’) is a modern kenning, too. Now I see them everywhere in English: muck-raker, head-banger, ice-breaker… What are your favourites?
Booking for the Write like a Saxon session is here and gives you entry to the whole amazing site.
West Dean, Sussex UK, 15-19 February 2026: Make a set of artist quality watercolour paints and pastels
West Dean have put together a great pigments themed week in February 2026 with excellent tutors including Lucy Mayes and Pete Ward. My new 4-day course is called ‘Make a set of Artists Quality Paints and Pastels’.
We will be focussing on gauging then refining the quality of our pigments, whether bought, foraged, gifted, or swapped, learning how to source and assess our raw materials to make the finest quality art tools. We will make pastels of several kinds and the two paints we will specialise in will be watercolours in half pans and gouache, which can also be stored wet, in jars or tubes. We will focus on natural pigments during the week, but all the methods will be applicable to any safe synthetic pigment you may later wish to explore.
I am pleased to be offering this ‘box-sets’ class, as the colour choices students may concentrate on could vary widely. Someone may want to produce a ‘plein air’ watercolour set, with lots of greens and natural hues. Another person may want to spend a day making a set of hard conte style pastels, ranging from deep browns to palest creams, for a truly inclusive skin tone set of life-drawing crayons. I can’t wait to help you make exactly what your art practice calls out for. Also, you need never buy hugely expensive sets again after this, and can make big batches of the colours you often use. All tools and materials are provided, apart from your usual notepad and sketchbooks, etc. You will go home with two unique, individually tailored beautiful sets of materials.
Details and Booking here.
Plants and Colour will be hosting me for 121 mentoring and as part of the faculty for two wonderful year-long courses
I’ll write about it all more next month, but in case you want to sign up or have a deeper look, head over to Plants and Colour to read all about these upcoming courses, 121 mentoring and more.
Click any of these three links below for more details and booking.
Making & Working With Natural Art Materials
Printing and Painting on Textiles with Natural Colour
Mentoring Members of the long course programmes taking place in 2026 will be able to access 1-1 mentoring from faculty teachers.
Remember, there’s 20% off my books for you or for gifts
I asked my publisher for a discount code for my newsletter subscribers, so that they could get something off the books via Search Press. They impressed me by offering you 20% off books and free shipping. The code should work at both the UK and USA websites, both of which can be accessed here, just toggle country at the top right corner.
Discount code: CARO20
Signed Found and Ground & Drawn From the Wild books
Books are available from me for postage within the UK at £15 each with postage at cost (usually £4-5).
You can order my titles easily from booksellers worldwide. I can send signed copies abroad but the postage is quite expensive, and varies country to country. However, get in touch if you really want a signed one, as there is now an online way for me to pay for postage and do all the customs details myself, and I can get a cheaper rate than regular Post Office rates.
If you’d like a signed A6 size art postcard or two from me to put inside your book, I sell them at £2 each plus postage, worldwide, as it still seems just about possible to post cards and letters at an affordable rate. The first book was translated into French, German and Spanish and the current book will shortly be published in German and Spanish. Reply to this email if you’d like more details about any of it, or use the contact form on my website.
Thanks for reading my newsletter. below the paywall is this month’s vintage video for paid subscribers. From December we’ll be filming new short films for you, so keep an eye out. Warmest wishes, Caro.
