The Ancient Colours Beneath Our Feet

This experience is about creating beautifully rich colours from beneath our feet. We will forage, harvest, and refine them using natural principles to make natural colours.

Let us delve deep into the earth’s embrace, where time is inscribed in ochres, umbers, and mineral pigments formed millions of years ago. A range of yellows and oranges from alluvial clay laid down as sediment in ancient river estuaries and lakes and at the foot of tropical coral reefs many hundreds of feet high. 

Molehills are often great for creating a palette of umbers. The fossilised sand dunes around Appleby and Cumbria can be transformed into various red and brown ochres.

Just a few miles away, Westmorland slate, mined and quarried at Honister, is prized for its unique greenish gray colour and exported worldwide.

These colours are living relics, each echoing the enduring tales of ancient landscapes and lost civilizations, connecting you to the historical significance of the materials.

We then turn these natural pigments into the world's finest watercolours and paints that you can take home.

To choose this alchemy experience (1), please go to the shop, select your date and book as these workshops fill quickly and are limited to a maximum of four spaces.