developing a creative practice
WITH annemarie o’sullivan & tom mcwalter
workshop details
NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
DESIGNED FOR 10 STUDENTS
Work with Tom and Annemarie to explore how connection with a landscape and materials can develop a practice and impact your life for the better. No experience is needed.
This retreat is all about play.
We’ll take you on an exploratory journey, walking, making, drawing, foraging, and eating. You’ll learn how you can create a palette of color, materials, and skills which is intimately connected to the land you are on. We aim to help you to think differently, to embrace failure, and to allow yourself the space to breathe.
Each day we will spend some time being guided by Tom and Annemarie walking, sensitively collecting plant material and inspiration from the land.
We’ll process the plants and examine what they might offer us. We will prepare simple inks and dyes. We will make basic brushes and mark-making tools. Tom will lead drawing, painting, and writing exercises, encouraging a sense of playfulness.
Annemarie will offer fiber skills sessions where you will learn weaving, binding, and wrapping techniques. These will bring a different kind of focus and will offer a deeper connection with the plants and the fibers they provide.
The retreat will support idea generation, analysis, and development. We will look at strategies to help when an idea gets stuck. Throughout the week we encourage you to write, draw, and collect materials in a sketchbook.
To culminate the retreat, participants will design a meal, making utensils and place settings to create a unique shared experience.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
Making cordage
Learning a simple weave-pairing
Wrapping techniques
Plaiting and braiding
Making pigments/ dyes
Making brushes and mark-making tools
Drawing and writing
Connecting with and collecting from the surrounding land
IN THE WORKSHOP SPACE:
Please wear practical clothes, ideally trousers. Covered shoes, no sandals please.
Knives should be sheathed when not in use.
All tools should be put safely away when not in use.
In an effort to create a sacred space for creativity and for our imaginations to emerge, we are highly encouraging students to leave their mobile phones behind and off during the retreat and to use them at the end of each day to record any parts of the process.
MATERIALS PROVIDED:
Natural material from the farm
Sketchbook
A sketch box (a shoebox or similar to store your making samples)
Tools for mark-making & ink creation
WHAT TO BRING:
Your favorite writing utensil
Your wonderful imagination
ANNEMARIE 0’SULLIVAN & TOM MCWALTER
Studio AMOS is the partnership between Tom McWalter and Annemarie O’Sullivan.
Using weaving and binding techniques, which have been used for thousands of years, Tom and Annemarie make baskets, lighting, and woven objects, which are a response to the materials they gather from the land and waterways. They are passionate about seeing the making through from source to the finished piece. They grow more than twenty varieties of willow which they harvest in January every year.
Their work draws on the curves of the landscape and a deep respect for ancient crafts. They are inspired by the simple connections they have with basket-makers and weavers from the past who grew and harvested their material as they do today.
Their connection with nature draws us to site-specific, beautifully crafted works, which are steeped in history, landscape, and beauty.
They work with a small team of skilled makers in their home studio in East Sussex in the UK.
