Study Groups
Monthly online study groups for those who are exploring natural colour making and seek to be part of a supportive creative community. These are small informal peer groups meeting up to share explorations, ideas, and questions.
Study groups are available as part of our long 2026 programmes.
Once you join the programme, you can then enrol in a study group.
Printing & Painting On Textiles - Registration Open - Starting in 2026
Lake Pigment Making Deep Dive - Starting in 2026
Making & Working With Natural Art Materials - Starting in 2026
General Study Groups
There are also ongoing study groups that are not associated with specific courses, spaces come up in these groups every 6 months.
When spaces are available, they are listed on this page. You can also add your email below to be the first to find out when spaces become available
Format:
Groups meet up monthly for a two hour meeting on Zoom. The monthly two hour zoom call is an informal open space for emergent discussion and conversation. Members are invited to share questions with the group, explorations, and artwork in process or completed. This is supported by ongoing conversation and photo sharing online.
Purpose:
Connection with a global community of plant dye, ink, & paint making enthusiasts.
An opportunity to share your work and insights.
To get feedback around your creative explorations.
To hear about what others are exploring, and be inspired by this.
Commitment:
These are ongoing groups, where you can build relationships and support each other as you develop your creative practice throughout the seasons. To join the group, you have to commit to join a term of six monthly sessions. There are two terms per year.
Choose A Group
Timing: Wednesdays 9.30-11.30am (GMT+1 for the first session, and then GMT)
Term Dates: 1st Wednesday of each month: October 1st 2025, Nov 5th 2025, Dec 3rd 2025, Jan 7th 2026, Feb 4th 2026, March 4th 2026
Payment: £65 for 6 months for six sessions.
These sessions are not recorded. The group is limited to 12 people
Facilitated by Annie Hogg
Annie Hogg is a visual artist based in Co. Tipperary, Ireland, where she lives and works with Archy, a Hound.
Her work explores power relations and resources. Aiming to see both human and other than human responses and outcomes in human led situations.
She works with natural materials in traditional and innovative ways within her studio based practice predominantly through sculpture and installation, and has recently begun to incorporate social engagement, sound and moving image.
After receiving a BA in sculpture from Aki College of Art, The Netherlands, she worked on environmental campaigns, studied organic horticulture returning to a full time creative practice in recent years. These tendrils remain important within her visual language.
Annie enjoys delivering engaging workshops, talks and lectures on materials and processes within her own practice and the greater realm of natural colour and material use.
Timing: Wednesdays 6.00pm - 8.00pm (UK time) (11.00am-1.00pm PST)
Term Dates: September 17th 2025, October 15th 2025, November 12th 2025, December 10th 2025, January 14th 2026, February 11th 2026
Payment: £65 for 6 months for six sessions.
These sessions are recorded. The group is limited to 12 people.
Facilitated by Carolyn Sweeney.
Carolyn handcrafts ink in Portland, Oregon under the name, Strata Ink. She has been making her own ink and watercolours for many years. The particular qualities and colours of natural ink inspire her on a daily basis. Carolyn has a B.A in Fine Art from Whitman College and a background in a wide array of textile arts. www.strataink.com
Timing: Wednesdays 6-8pm (GMT+1 for the first session, and then GMT )
Term Dates: 1st Wednesday of each month: September 3rd 2025, October 1st 2025, Nov 5th 2025, Dec 3rd 2025, Jan 7th 2026, Feb 4th 2026,
Payment: £65 for 6 months for six sessions.
These sessions are recorded. The group is limited to 12 people
Facilitated by Isobel Denton
Issy is a textile artist specialising in traditional practices creating natural inks & dyes for textile & paper applications. She works from her studio in West Yorkshire under the name of ‘abitmoreink’. She became interested in dyes, and dyeing techniques whilst originally working in theatre, film and television, as a costumier. For the last 3 years she has been creating an extensive dye garden - growing plants for use in her own practice. Presently, she is focussed on developing a 3D sculptural work using various traditional craft practices and making paper using plants such as flax and other materials she either grows, or forages locally. In addition to her own practice she regularly delivers workshops at various venues. She also works with many arts based organisations and in schools, to create pieces for exhibitions that explore the narrative of natural dyeing and related processes.
I'm focused on growing my dye plants, as I have a large dye garden. I'm more of a generalist when it comes to using the materials I grow and a general experimentalist. Sustainability is at the core of my practice, and more recently my work has been exploring paper-making and sculptural forms. I’ve just co-created an exhibition with children from @makerworldhudds called Biophilic Sculptures as part of the Woven Festival, made entirely from sustainable materials—recycled paper and textiles, naturally dyed with plants from my garden.
Learn more about Plants & Colour Study Groups. During 2020 lockdown, Flora Arbuthnott of Plants & Colour gave a call out for a new Study Group series based around plants and colour, obviously enough! We began as we continue today, with each term or round running for a 6 month period and meeting once a month for a two hour Zoom call. Having signed up out of interest to connect with like-minded folks, I could not possibly have fore seen then just how important these monthly meet ups were to become to me.