16/06/2020
I am currently planning a socially distanced one day mini -retreat in Glynde for late Summer/early Autumn. Here's the info. Date TBC once I have a venue. Message me if you're interested:
Journey Sticks Mini Retreat
This one day arts and mindfulness retreat is an opportunity to detox, unravel and restore, spending time mindfully in nature, reconnecting, walking and creating.
The workshop will include:
~Two guided meditations
~Silent walking in the beautiful local landscape
~Collecting found natural objects and talismen
~Creating your own beautiful piece of nature art – a journey stick as a keepsake of your experiences and reflections.
~A healthy vegan lunch, snacks and drinks.
~All materials apart from found nature/objects
Wooden sticks were used in ancient cultures in Britain and all over the world as symbols of power and enchantment and Journey Sticks were used to map the landscape and weave narratives. Tracing the landscape on foot is a way of deepening our care for and relationship with environment, the journey sticks increase a sense of connection and belonging. Each journey stick tells a story. Found objects are like collected charms, they hold a timeless, enchanting quality characterised by the Sussex landscape.
The process of walking, collecting and binding is joyful, meditative and therapeutic and enhances engagement with nature and the wild self, allowing for a focused and held space in which to really listen in.
The idea for these workshops came out of a process based installation piece called 8 Journey’s Home that I created last year. 8 Journeys Home was exhibited at Glynde Place as part of the Matter show and again during Artwave 2019. The creation of the journey sticks was a very personal process which explored the longing for home. Each stick represents a different walk from Glynde and the experiences, reflections or small events connected to that journey. After years of renting and house moves, securing a tenancy in Glynde offered me the chance of a long term, stable home. The process of making the journey sticks was a celebration, a spell and a wish. For part two of the project also I created a series of cyanotype prints made from local flora and fauna and transparencies which deepened my story of home. I also made another set of journey sticks reflecting the Devonshire coastline, on a mindful walking retreat at Sharpham House.
This one day workshop will run from 10am until 4pm and will observe socially distancing at all times. Tables will be set up with the appropriate space between them and participants will be asked to wash and disinfect hands on entry and exit of the workshop space. All surfaces will be disinfected prior to participants arrival. You may wear face masks if you wish.
Maximum 6 participants. £63 each including lunch, snacks, drinks and materials for making.
Feedback from my last Journey Sticks workshop:
“Tara's Journey Stick making workshop was a light, experiential day full of connection and renewed wonder to my local surroundings. I loved being with fellow lovers of natural objects found and felt I was connected to a greater golden thread of making and telling stories together. I loved feeling the weight of the bare stick in my hands and then slowly, intuitively choosing and weaving my found objects into the awaiting life of the Journey Stick. I found the day to be deeply therapeutic and a few weeks afterwards I continue to feel the joy arise when I pick my Journey Stick up and remember the playful day in early Summer when I wove a unique story out of flint and bone, sheep's wool and sycamore skeleton leaves.”
Wendy Spencer
“A deeply gentle way to connect with the landscape and to those who may have walked before you. Gather, think, breathe, walk, reflect, create,share in a way that anyone can engage with regardless of artistic or literary skills. Tara welcomes, engages and gently guides your own personal journey through the day and the landscape”
Catherine Cridland
“The workshop really resonated with me not only in terms of the aesthetic and symbolic qualities of the Journey Sticks we made but also because the connecting with a sense of place and home is something very poignant in my life, especially at the moment. I enjoyed being out in nature walking and tuning into collecting objects for our sticks. I also enjoyed the solidarity of being with a group of people in this way.”
Sarah Holloway
