A HUGE THANK YOU to all the women who came to the join us over the weekend. We hope that the clay workshop gave each you time to explore your expression in a new creative way. We absolutely loved having you with us, can’t wait for the next one! Read more about the workshop here...
]]>We teamed up with the RED Collective for a third time! We had a beautiful group of 36 women join us over the weekend, beginning with a Friday evening session, followed by Saturday morning & afternoon sessions. It was a heart filled 24 hours.
We had the studio space decorated by some amazing local talent. Newcastle artist Brittany Ferns, shared some of her latest framed prints, which were complimented so beautifully by flowers thanks to Natalie of Blooms on Darby. This time the space felt really dreamy & feminine.
We had the most delicious & generous catering thanks to local ladies at Spodeli Catering. Each session was brimming with incredibly variety, plus quality vegan & gluten free options. I’ll let these photos speak for themselves. We were also thankful to have nourishing tasty treats thanks to local honey Sally, of Healthy Nourished Soul — if you like the look of her treats she has also just released her first book brimming with dozens of delicious recipes for raw treats, tea blends and toxic-free beauty products, as well as beautiful quote pages & thought-provoking journaling prompts. Women supporting women is what we hope each workshop celebrates — we choose collaboration over competition every time!
No matter the workshop of the retreat, we want each RED event to make space for Rest, Expression & Delight. After all that is what RED is an acronym for. Once everyone had settled into their seats we had some moments of quite & refocusing on being present — we know how many things can be on our minds at once during the week! We also learnt the creative expression of making with clay & intentionally created space for delight — delicious food delighting your tastebuds, beautiful art & blooms delighting your eyes & easy listening tunes for your ears.
Hannah taught two clay hand building methods; — The Pinch Technique: Inspired by MayClay’s pinch plates, we rolled our portion of clay into a ball and then proceeded to use our fingers and thumbs to pinch outwards creating a flat round plate. — The Coiling Technique: This method placed coils on top of each other to create a bud vase. Even though we all started with the same lump of clay and used the same technique - our pieces all looked completely different (I personally love this about the workshop)!
This workshops gift was a hand crafted soap by Kalea Body. We specifically chose this gift because it supported a creative soul in Melbourne, Victoria who’s business had been set back due to Covid-19. Liana’s products are proudly Australian made & hand in small batches, which are also palm oil free, vegan friendly & 100% natural — using the finest Australian plant based oils and pure essential oils. We really love that we were able to support her small business because 36 women supported us & came to the workshop.
Each session had its own unique flavour depending on the energy that each group of women brought to the space. We had daughters & mums, gal pals, sisters, ladies flying solo & some honeys who returned from previous sessions. We felt so honoured to be able to hold a space for these special women to take a break & get creative.
A HUGE THANK YOU to all the women who came to the join us over the weekend. We hope that the clay workshop gave each you time to explore your expression in a new creative way. We absolutely loved having you with us, can’t wait for the next one!
]]>Back after popular demand the RED Collective teamed up with local creative Hannah of MayClay Ceramics for a second time! This time the three sessions booked out quick meaning we had 36 beautiful women join us over the span of the past weekend. Hannah’s home studio space was decorated in gorgeous ceramics (nothing unusual about that) & fresh blooms thanks to Natalie of Blooms on Darby. And as always a delicious array of yummy treats & a warm hug greeted the women that came to attend each session. Special thanks to Sally of Healthy Nourished Treats for treating us with nothing but the best raw desserts.
A warm hug, beautiful space and delicious treats greeted each woman as they walked in the door. With lots of beautiful women working behind the scenes to make this workshop memorable. A huge thank you to Lauren (@thefaithfulflorist) for generously bringing her art to the workshop and filling the space with amazing floral arrangements, Sally (@healthynourishedtreats) for delicious treats, Rochelle (@villalane) for sharing your bespoke wall hangings with us and special thanks to Kristan and Cheryelle (@muskhairco) for making us feel extra special and doing our hair the morning of the workshop - what a way to start such a beautiful day! Women supporting women - our favourite way of doing life.
The RED Collective is based on an acronym. RED stands for Rest, Express and Delight. Part of the RED Collectives heart is that the women who come to our creative workshops have moments to REST without distraction, EXPRESS themselves and DELIGHT in what lights them up! We started our workshop with a moment of mindfulness. We know how easy it is for our minds to wander into worry and places elsewhere, so we reminded our ladies that they didn’t need to be anywhere except for right here, in this moment, for a few hours 100% responsibility free!
Next up was the expression part. Hannah was our creative teacher and guide and led us on the most brilliant journey. She shared her heart with us, why she started working with clay, why she loves it and gave us all such beautiful insight into her soulful creative journey. During the clay workshop the ladies were taught two clay hand building methods. I won’t go into all the fun things we learnt but here’s a good little snapshot of the two techniques.
PINCH TECHNIQUE: Initially inspired by Hans pinch bowls, we rolled our portion of clay into a ball and then proceeded to use our fingers and thumbs to pinch outwards creating a curved vessel shape. Even though we all started with the same lump of clay and used the same technique - our pinch pots all looked completely different (which I loved).
COILING TECHNIQUE: This method taught us how rolling long rolls (or coils) out of clay, then placing them on top of each other could create different shaped vessels. We created coil planters, perfect size pot for a house plant.
We had moments of calm, pinching and smoothing mindfully and also moments of LOUD whacking and slapping our big clay lumps (this was both scary and hilarious haha).
This workshop had a unique messages that we hoped would shine through in our words, in our actions and ultimately reflect in our lives. This special note was handwritten by me, Brooke (@brookeartstudio), which said “There is beauty in the imperfections - may we have eyes to see the beauty in all”. In the lead up to this workshop Han and I had spoken a lot about how perfectionism can be so counter productive to creativity and authentic expression. We realised that our journeys had taught us to accept and embrace all parts of life - including the imperfections, and by embracing those less than perfect aspects of ourselves and life we were actually way more empowered to live a life not controlled by fear.
That was our heart for the women who came to our Clay Workshop, that they would have a moment to practice enjoying the journey - even if imperfections pop up along the way, that they would have a moment to Rest, a moment to explore Expression in a new creative way, and that they would have a moment to Delight in their senses - tasting delicious treats, seeing beautiful spaces, feeling the clay as something artful emerged, listening to other women and chill tunes.
To all the women who came, we treasure you and are so thankful that you would invest in this experience, invest in yourself and say yes to growing your creativity in a safe space with Hannah and the RED Collective.