ARTISAN BUSINESSES
Kick-start the new year with a workshop led by one of our favourite artisans
BECOME A WHIZZ AT…
Will St Clair, pictured with his partner Penny Tasker, and Yoav Elkayam head up Woodland Makers, a collective of craftspeople making plates, baskets and chairs out of local materials in an open-air workshop near Bromyard, Herefordshire. The woodworkers, who each have their own specialism and often use traditional tools, eat together and care for the space. Some of them live on site, too, with camping available for visitors. Funded places for people interested in woodwork who can’t afford a course or belong to a marginalised group may be available.
Carve aspoon (£115), turn abowl (£210) or build atimber frame (£500). woodlandmakers.com
Sarah’s concern for the environment extends from her dye ingredients to her textiles
TURN YOUR HAND TO…
Sarah Burns spends her days walking on the South Downs, foraging for plants for her homemade dyes, before mixing them in her West Sussex studio and using them to transform fabric, bags and cushions. “No plant is without its purpose,” says Sarah. “Whatever the season, nature gives us pattern, movement and balance.” Sarah’s concern for the environment extends from her dye ingredients to her textiles – she uses only 100 per cent natural linen. The playful blockprint style that makes Sarah Burns Patterns stand out is inspired by the ancient Indian craft of chintz making and pioneering 20th-century British designers.
Make your own book cloth and paste papers (£60) or take part in a one-day block-printing workshop (£ 160). sarahburnspatterns.com
BECOME PROFICIENT AT…
Rachel Siegfried (near left) looks after five fragrant acres of peonies, sweet peas and delphiniums with her partner Ashley Pearson in Little Stoke, Oxfordshire. Over the past 15 years, her flower growing and floristry business, Green &Gorgeous, has won a stellar reputation for its bouquets, artfully arranged in a relaxed, ‘just-gathered’ style. Brides swoon over her creations, but you don’t have to be getting married to buy a bunch – on Saturdays from April to October, anyone can drop by to pick one up, or you could get more involved and have a go at floristry yourself.
Learn flower arranging (£ 90), floral photography (£ 190) or the foundations for starting your own floristry business (£220). greenandgorgeousflowers.co.uk
IMMERSE YOURSELF IN…
Kate Holland can spend 150 hours painstakingly rebinding an old book in her Somerset studio. First, to get ideas for the design, she reads the complete paperback version: “The only way to convey an author’s nuances is to immerse yourself in their world.” Then, working from her sketches, she picks up her tools, folding and pre
