On a beautiful winter day, Georgina Stuart (host of Bimlow Cottage) opened up her own private residence so that we could host a hand-built ceramics workshop.
Georgie's home, garden and hosted property are an absolute dream and unsurprisingly have featured in several publications, including;
- Country Style - a historic, ever-evolving property brimming with cottage garden charm.
- 'Individual' by Jessica Bellef - a visual feast of 15 quirky Australian interiors brimming with the personality of their owners.
As the guests arrived, they were greeted with the warmth from the fireplace and the heavenly scent of the home cooked soups simmering away on the stove so that they would be ready for lunch later in the day.
One of Georgie's many talents is styling, and the table was so beautifully decorated with autumnal abundance. The workshop participants were also treated to a naturally dried, everlasting posy from Know The Rose.
This small-group workshop was designed to provide participants with an introductory overview of hand-building techniques to explore making functional ceramics for their own homes.
I provided demonstration and guidance and the participants made their own small platter and vessel using hand-building techniques.
It is a pleasure to teach something that brings me so much joy and a truly wonderful experience to witness participants embrace their creativity.
We have so much wonder and creativity hiding within our adult selves and the tactile sensation of building a vessel from clay with your own hands is something I hope everyone can experience at least once in their life.
To fuel our creative workshop participants, we were very fortunate that Georgie is not only an incredible host, she is also an accomplished cook - and the lunch and afternoon tea she lovingly prepared was absolutely a highlight of the day!
For lunch, guests enjoyed Georgie's lamb shank and pearl barley soup and a chicken harira soup (made from a recipe by Sophie Hansen, Local is Lovely). Both were served with home baked sourdough bread and just utterly comforting!
For afternoon tea, Georgie baked Stephanie Alexander's flourless chocolate cake, decorated with fresh flowers from her cottage garden, served with a dollop of fresh cream and so wonderfully delicious!
At the conclusion of the workshop, each of the handmade pieces were carefully transported back to my pottery studio where they slowly dried before being double fired and glazed, then delivered back to participants to use and enjoy in their daily rituals.
A truly special and creative way to spend a Saturday!
Image Credit: Bimlow Cottage
Photographer: Georgina Stuart
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