SAP EXPO

Over Kellet Village Hall Saturday 05.11.22 (51 visitors)

Four table top activities: Hapa Zome (leaf/flower bashing ) clay (a tree to the forest) mark making with natural inks & rag rugging.

The event enabled me to share some of the outcomes from the forages and workshops for the first time. It was great to see familiar and some unfamiliar faces joining in the conversation. We talked about foraging, natural dyes, the changing climate, wild spaces, the history of the village, maps and map making, sustainable art making and how we can challenge cultural myths and more...

artwork by SAP workshop attendee

Reflections- It's sad to think we wont be meeting as SAP in the woods anymore - we experienced the site in so many different ways; through taste, smell, sound, noticing and touching. 

And shared many stories and knowledge... 

Residual highlights for me include: the first forage with Abi Barton (@abigailbarton64) in January when we found velvet-like jelly ears on elder bark, experienced the taste of pine needle tea and made a nature altar as an offering to the woods. 

February's forage with guest artist Amy Stretch-Parker (@amy_stretch_parker) where we lay on our backs in the drizzle and soaked up the damp like mosses. In April we made spirals and dandelion cordage with Suzie Grieve (@foragedfibres) and decorated a tree as an offering. 

In May we explored the plants and wildlife of the hedgerows with Russ Hedley (@woodland_russ) The sun came out through ragged clouds and we examined beetles and caterpillar webs through magnifying glasses, we found gypsy wort and water hemlock. We drank wild strawberry and mint tea from leaves foraged from the tarns edge. 

We travelled to Humphrey Head in June with guest artist Julia Parks (@juliaemilyparks). The scent of bedstraw, the sound of swifts overhead - it was all about the light, we made lumen prints and drank meadowsweet tea. 

And in July Carolyn Morton (@camocarolynmorton) took us on a wild flower pilgrimage through waist high grasses. We found blue fungi and scrambled back to the path up a steep incline with me clinging to a tree with one hand and hauling unsteady foragers up with the other. We drank tea made with rose bay willow syrup (from Jeni) and  blackberry leaves. We took a detour on the way back passing a brownfield site - now a thriving wild space. 

In September we lay on the grass in unseasonal heat, made random poetry with Jacqui Symons (@studioslowlane) and found charcoal in a fire pit to make marks in handmade books. For the final event in October we foraged for fungi with Rema and Dave (@myceliumthinking) read poetry, sang to a drum and I sensed the interconnectedness between all things.

artwork by SAP workshop attendee