Women’s Wild Pottery
We gather at Beltane, a vibrant and potent moment in the cycle of the year, and the time of ancient fire festivals
This two-day woodland workshop has emerged from being the caretaker, since 2018, of a number of genuine prehistoric female figurines. It’s been an inspiring and creative experience that has enriched a long-standing interest in Palaeolithic art and stimulated a lot of reflection about the feminine, about being a woman.
Our ancestors (and some peoples in the world still today) understood life to be a feminine force, embodied through the human female form, but also expressed through plants, animals, the waters and the earth itself. These forms also reflect our personal experiences of being a woman, the various expressions of who we are.
By connecting with an inner sense of this generative principle, we reflect on how we express it in the world. Perhaps more than ever we feel a need for nurturing our feminine energy and wisdom, to help redress the imbalances we see; to feel more resilient, resourced, effective.
It was such a powerful and enriching experience that it’s hard to talk about, but part of me wants to rush back to those woods and continue to deepen into what I connected with there, something deeply feminine and wonderful that I had lost touch with. VL (participant)
What to expect
On these immersive, hands-on days on the land together, two of the prehistoric figurines will be with us. We’ll journey inwards, with a drumbeat, to explore and connect with what the feminine principle may mean to each of us.
This inner journeying is also an opportunity to connect more deeply with whatever phase of womanhood you find yourself in.
Working with clay dug from Mother Earth, you’ll make it into a form that expresses your experience of the (timeless) feminine. I will offer any technical assistance needed to support you in the making.
On the second day we’ll give our clay forms to the fire, in the same way our distant ancestors would have done. A fire which will transmute them into ceramic.
It can be very meaningful to make pottery in a circle of women. Perhaps because of our innate connection to the earth, perhaps because we have a sense of the intense transformation that the body of the clay goes through in the fire.
Making with the clay in this way we tap into a lineage of ancestors: intimate with earth and fire, immersed in nature with the trees and birds around us.
There will be support for you to integrate what you create. And we’ll look at how you can continue the connection with what you’ve made, to have a living relationship with it that’s meaningful to you.
My intention is for this to be a grounded, supportive and heartful time. No previous experience of pottery is needed, just an open mind and the desire to reflect and connect.
We nurture the wisdom and love to both care for the inner world, and contribute to the outer world, and know them as the same. Martin Aylward
Practicals
May 1 / 2 (Fri/Sat)
10.30am-5pm both days
£290
We’ll be tucked away in private woodland on Dernwood Farm Nr Heathfield, East Sussex. A simple but hearty and delicious organic vegetarian lunch (cooked on the campfire) is provided. We’ll also have a kettle on the fire with tea, biscuits and fresh fruit available all day.
To Book: please get in touch and include a few words about your interest in attending
This may not be suitable for you if you’re interested in gaining a technical understanding of gathering wild clay and the ceramic processes involved in wild pottery. If that’s where your interest lies, Wild Pottery: Smoke Cloud is the course for you.
The focus of Women’s Wild Pottery is reflective and doesn’t cover the technical processes.
Accommodation: camping & glamping is available at the farm venue and details will be sent to you when you book. Glamping options include cosy bell tents and cabins with wood-burners. Please note the cost of staying at the farm is not included in the course. Read about accommodation options.
Any questions? Please have a look at the FAQ page
