The joy of making an illustrated village

Lots of exciting progress on the advent calendar class!

This month’s workshop is ticking along SO nicely!

We had a work-a-long last week which was an absolute joy because, for the whole hour, people shared the most brilliant ideas and methods of adapting the advent village workshop.

This is where the art magic happens, my friend, and you can actually feel it buzzing about in the air during these sessions (it sounds like a combination of rustling paper and the squidge of a paintbrush on damp paint… it smells like fresh pencil sharpenings).

I think of it like a playing a game of catch with an idea that gets thrown around and added to. It grows and changes, as one person passes it to another. Isn’t that exciting?!!

It triggers small ideas, big ideas and, if you listen carefully enough, quiet ideas (these are especially good).

I design my workshops like recipes which you can follow to the letter OR add your own ingredients and experiment with. Sometimes, it really helps to start with a recipe doesn’t it? The ‘method’ to help you get started and then, when you start cooking you are away! I am endlessly inspired by the results and delighted to share some with you, here’s a small selection…

Beautiful adaptations of the advent village project

Phyllis came up with two fantastic ideas which she shared during the work-a-long (pictured below). The first image is her advent village collage, a work of art in its own right, I think you’ll agree, and the second & third image is her Christmas card variation, a mini layered village, and such a nice idea if you don’t finish the project or don’t have enough time to complete a whole village.

Phyllis King, Christmas Card Advent Village

There were great ideas shared during the work-a-long for alternative mounting if you didn’t want to create a backboard; old tins, decorated boxes, a lovely idea to fill a sketchbook with a pocket a day from Heather and look at Eithna’s decorated wreath around a calligraphic number…

There’s still time to potter along with this project, if you need a gentle filler for the darker evenings and two more work-a-longs on 14th November 7-8pm GMT and 28th November 10-11am GMT if you’d like some creative company.

Make your own Christmas cards!

Traditionally, the Wild Ink Workshops end the creative year in December with a Christmas card workshop and this year is no exception with an absolute cracker!! No, really, it actually is a cracker…a paper cracker…with a surprise!

Join me for the Wild Ink Christmas party, pay what you can, make a card, eat a mince pie, wear your Christmas jumper, get a little bit tipsy on mulled wine and have some gentle, well earned respite from this busy time of year with a lovely group of artists and makers x

Thursday 5th December 7-9pm GMT (London) Live on Zoom (+ recording)

Over the coming weeks I’ll be in touch to chat a bit about rewilding your Christmas…or rather reclaiming it and connecting with the more merry, traditional and soulful side of the festive season. In the meantime, here’s some more lovely advent villages.

Karla Kay Hull and Anna Jane Designs

Thank you so much to all of you who kindly let me share your work and I’m really sorry if I have got a bit muddled with the screen shots, downloads and credits. I have really loved seeing all your villages via instagram and my inbox!