Introduction to Natural Inks & Paints Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

Jenny reviewed: Introduction to Natural Inks & Paints Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"Really enjoyed (another) day with Claudia. The natural pigment and paint making course was very well designed and structured for a manageable in a day. A small group is always a plus especially when they are such a lovely bunch. Claudia is a wonderful, knowledgeable and calm tutor. We learnt a lot, came home with many samples, an informative booklet and a goodie bag.what’s not to love! "

Elka responded:

"Thank you Jenny for taking the time to leave this lovely review! I'm so glad you enjoyed the day and got a lot out of it."

Deborah Evans reviewed: Introduction to Natural Dyeing Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"An excellent introductory day to natural dyeing. Lovely welcome and an immersive day. It can be quite technical but don't let that put you off - you need to understand the basics in order to get the best results."

Elka responded:

"Thank you for the lovely review Deborah! It was a pleasure to meet you. Best wishes, Claudia x"

D.S.Taylor reviewed: Introduction to Natural Dyeing Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"Natural Dyeing Course taught by Claudia was informative and creative. I left with clearly written handouts and samples of items for reference. I am definitely inspired! Thank you. "

Elka responded:

"I'm so glad that you enjoyed the workshop and are feeling inspired! Thank you for the lovely review. Best wishes, Claudia x "

Bella reviewed: Introduction to Natural Inks & Paints Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"Very well prepared and structured. I came away enthused to do more in my own. "

Elka responded:

"Thank you for taking the time to leave a review Bella. Very happy to hear that you enjoyed the workshop! Best wishes, Claudia"

Gwen reviewed: Introduction to Natural Dyeing Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"Spent an interesting, informative and exciting six hours with Claudia and the other participants on Saturday, learning about natural dyeing. Came away totally inspired and eager to try. "

Elka responded:

"Thank you so much for the lovely review Gwen. It was a pleasure to meet you and I'm so glad you enjoyed the day!"

Steve Brookes reviewed: Introduction to Natural Inks & Paints Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"The recent workshop I attended—making inks & pigments—was amazing! I signed up as I thought it sounded interesting. Wow! It was FAR more than that! Claudia is a fantastic teacher and the day was nothing short of magical. My background is in horticulture and science. The course tapped into all my interests and then some! Either just a small number of participants, you get a chance to ask as many questions as you want and Claudia’s knowledge is brilliant. We made inks in the morning and pigments for oil & watercolour paints in the afternoon. We left enthused and enlightened and with little pots of handmade paints! We have just moved into our new house in Wales and now have plans to start foraging for and growing plants to make pigments. We can't wait! I can’t recommend the course enough. It will show you the wonder of plants & minerals and just what incredible uses they can have. "

Elka responded:

"Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a lovely and detailed review Steve, it is hugely appreciated! We're so gad that you enjoyed the workshop and will really look forward to following your journey with natural dyes in Wales :) X"

Nicola reviewed: Introduction to Natural Inks & Paints Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"I attended this day course in September and it was an absolute joy. The host was so friendly, professional and what she doesn't know about making inks and dyes from botanicals isn't worth knowing. It was actually really relaxing too, nothing was rushed, which was great and the class size is small and intimate so you can ask as many questions as you like without feeling you're holding things up. The colours were magnificent, making oil and watercolour paint, although the process from start to finish would have taken over 24hrs, there was lots of stuff already prepared, yet we were still shown each step and talked it over. We were supplied wit booklet full of all the step by step notes was perfect so I feel comfortable doing it at home. Although I was reassured I could email questions at any time. Equipment was very professional quality and clean too It was fun, we had some laughs, it was just magical. I can not recommend highly enough. Well worth the long drive!"

Elka responded:

"Thank you for leaving such a wonderful review Nicola! We're so glad you loved the workshop and it's great to hear that you feel confident to start making natural paints at home. Thank you for travelling such a long way to join us :) X"

Stephanie Lester reviewed: Introduction to Natural Inks & Paints Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"I loved the introduction to natural inks and paints course. Firstly the setting was perfect and Claudia is a very welcoming and knowlegable host and teacher. The course numbers are limited so you get very personal tuition. We made ink, oil paint and watercolour and we took samples away with us. I feel so inspired to equally grow plants and forage in our new home. I want to have jars of pigment on my shelf which represent my local area. I was the only one on the course that currently paints, so this course is not just for artists, it really is for anyone who is interested in their surroundings and how to naturally create inks, paints and pigments. Congratulations on such a wonderful course."

Elka responded:

"Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a lovely and detailed review Stephanie (and to Steve for his posts on social media), it is hugely appreciated and so valuable to us, especially in these early days of introducing a new workshop. It was a pleasure to meet you, we’re delighted that you enjoyed the day and will really look forward to following progress with your new adventure! We’ve been busy saving seeds from our dye garden this year so do let us know if you’d like any and we can pop them in the post. Best wishes, Ellie & Claudia "

Alex S reviewed: Introduction to Natural Inks & Paints Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"In recent years I've become increasingly aware of the chemicals in my conventional paints, and have been curious about learning how to make my own natural inks and paints. This workshop covered everything I wanted to learn and much more, from the equipment needed and sourcing the plants and minerals, through to the various different processes for creating inks, water colour and oil paints. I have to say that making oil paints from pigments was my favourite process, deeply satisfying! I'm amazed at the vibrancy and range of colours we produced in one day and would highly recommend this workshop to anyone with an interest in painting, colour or natural art materials. It is clear that Claudia has a background in teaching, the day was meticulously planned yet relaxed and friendly and we had a very useful handout of information to take home with us, along with all our colour experiments. I can't wait to start foraging for colour and can feel my artwork heading in a new direction. Thank you Claudia for a wonderful day!"

Elka responded:

"Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a lovely, detailed review Alex, it is hugely appreciated. I'm delighted that you got so much out of the workshop, it was a pleasure to meet you, and to see you paining with the natural colours. I'm looking forward to seeing your new work! Very best wishes, Claudia."

Nicola reviewed: Introduction to Natural Dyeing Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"A really informative introduction to natural dyeing, I learnt a lot and really enjoyed my day! The venue was lovely and we had endless cups of tea. A bonus was having a mini booklet to take home, a mini shibori dyed bag (that we dyed ourselves) and dye samples."

Elka responded:

"Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review Nicola. We're delighted that you enjoyed the day and feel that you've learnt a lot! "

Helen T reviewed: Introduction to Natural Dyeing Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"The workshop was wonderful, Claudia was a great teacher and we were gently immersed into the world of natural dyeing. I learnt so much and feel I have now gained confidence to experiment at home with Natural dyeing . Totally recommend this workshop 😊"

Elka responded:

"Thank you so much for the lovely review Helen. We’re really glad you enjoyed the workshop, and that you feel confident to start experimenting at home 😊"

Wendy reviewed: Introduction to Natural Dyeing Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"Really wonderful day. It was extremely informative and also extremely practical and made simple to understand so that by the time I left I felt I could confidently embark on using natural dyes at home. The tutor was so warm, kind and friendly and the Workshop was held in a beautiful location. There was also only a small group which meant the tuition felt personal. Thank you so much..I recommend 100% ( and 5 stars ) "

Elka responded:

"Hi Wendy, thank you for taking the time to leave such a lovely review! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the day and you feel confident to get started at home. Very best wishes, Claudia."

Niamh Macleod reviewed: Introduction to Natural Dyeing Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"This course has given me a great understanding of the possibilities of natural dyeing. We covered a lot of ground with the time we had and I left feeling inspired. Not only does Claudia give you materials/ notes to bring back with you but she also gives you resources to guide you if you want to learn more. She answered all of our many questions and provided a relaxed environment for us to learn in. I would 100% recommend this course to anyone who feels curious about the topic. "

Cherry Goddard reviewed: Introduction to Natural Dyeing Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"A lovely day and well organised. I learnt so much about the process of dyeing with hands on experience and information handouts to take home. Claudia is a wonderful teacher with vast knowledge and I would recommend the course to anyone wishing to start natural dyeing."

Vicki reviewed: Introduction to Natural Dyeing Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"A lovely day in a beautiful environment which was informative and fun , taking away any uncertainty I had about natural dying. Claudia is a natural teacher with vast knowledge and I would totally recommend "

Shelley Powell reviewed: Introduction to Natural Dyeing Workshop, Mere, Wiltshire

"I thoroughly enjoyed this course. It was very well organised with lots of hands on experience. I learnt so much and took home lots of samples for reference. We also had handouts with all the information in them which is great for looking back on as I know I would forget some of it. Claudia is a wonderful teacher with a vast knowledge of natural dyeing and really helps you to understand the process. I recommend this course for anyone, you will love it."