Well Dressing at ‘Pennyworth Well’ – Radnorshire

well dressingTraditionally, oak and ash would be planted by a well as it was useful to have a tree alongside to hang rags upon when ‘well dressing’. Pennyworth Well is ‘dressed’ every third year with a different design.

In the previous autumn, natural materials – grasses, flowers, leaves, tree bark and seeds are collected ready to be added into a mosaic picture with the new summer flower petals and moss. We always combine some of the harvest of the previous year to remind us of the year-on-year supply of Nature’s water.

Our Original plan (Plan A !) was going to be this though :
Clay is to be dug from one of the HoBB fields and puddled into a grand messy state within an old bath then towelled out over a soaked frame to a depth of around 2cm. The design, on paper, created earlier in the year and will be enlarged to the same size as the frame. This is then transferred across to the surface of the clay with a small wooden spike, dot-by-dot through the paper pattern. We’ll then follow the resulting holes in the clay using our own black sheep wool , pushed into the clay surface to create an outline of the design.

From this point onwards, we’ll follow the colours on the original drawing and bit-by-bit, press each flower, each leaf and each seed into the clay by hand.”

The above was a bit involved so we changed it!

The themes for our well dressings are always Natural in nature. The completed well dressing usually stays in place for a fair while, so long as the weather plays its part in the longevity of the dressing.

If you want to do some future well dressing here or at your own well, let me know.

Throwing a coin in and making ~~~~~~~~~~ waves from Grant

BIG ARTS WEEK

BIG ARTS WEEKThe results of this year’s BIG Arts Week will be more than artistic smiles, for the efforts applied by a few to further the understanding of a few more will bear fruit in untold ways.

Those working hard to ensure young people think creatively about everything from Quantum Physics to Acorns are creating a valuable future full of many more young lateral thinkers. We all need to be flexible to work things out and communicate our thinking.

New Partnerships need to sprout in this Twenty-first Century as it needs to be the most remarkable century so far. We all need to juggle our thoughts a bit further because too many of us have pre-slotted them in deep dark historical grooves. It is not an unusual thing for people to do this, as we all find it easier not to confront changes and re-learn the Book (Whatever Book is your Bag!), but past writings can be baggage and heavy baggage too!

The originators of ‘Big Arts Week’ in the UK have created a fine annual focus, and from it, flow the opportunities for creatives to help bring about a lateral suppleness of thinking in others. The freedom of creative expression is something that needs to be grasped and held by everyone, and we all need to deepen our understanding of the ‘Energy’ it releases. Energy drives everything from the Sun to the spirit of a Formula One racing driver. The power of energy, is to connect all, and with more awareness and caring, we twenty-first century people can create a fine lasting influence for the twenty-second century people ever ahead of us (at the moment).

Waves from just within the de Sitter horizon ~~~~~~~~~ <+))))))))>< ~~~ Grant