The Textile Hedge Comes to Life

After a productive planting season, CPRE Hampshire is encouraging people to put aside their gardening tools and explore their artistic flair and creativity in a print workshop, using natural dyeing and leaf printing techniques.

With funding from the Tree Council, CPRE Hampshire is collaborating with textile artist Caroline Bell to celebrate the beauty of Hampshire’s hedgerows, which burst into life over the summer months.

The workshops, which are suitable for beginners, will be held at various locations in the Hampshire Hedge project area between the South Downs and New Forest National Parks. They are designed to encourage people to have fun, whilst trying something new and gaining a new perspective on hedgerows.

Caroline explains more about her collaboration with the countryside charity; “It’s been great to see a diverse range of people coming together to celebrate the beauty of Hampshire’s Hedgerows. So far, we’ve welcomed adults with learning disabilities, teenagers, visually impaired participants, and even people in their 80s who haven’t done art since school. It’s been a real joy to share my eco-printing techniques with people so that they can create intricate prints using leaves and flowers.”

The print workshops celebrate CPRE Hampshire’s commitment to restore Hampshire’s hedgerows

CPRE Hampshire is currently on a mission to connect the two National Parks in Hampshire, the South Downs National Park and the New Forest National Park, with a nature recovery corridor of hedgerow. The Hampshire Hedge will wind its way through the central heart of Hampshire parishes and link woodlands, meadows, local nature reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).

About the eco-printing workshops

Eco-printing is a natural printing technique which transfers colour from leaves and plants to another surface. It uses heat and moisture combined with plant material to create unique patterns on fabric. During these workshops, participants work exclusively with silk as this provides the best results for beginners.

In the workshops, people have the opportunity to:

• Start by learning simple printing techniques using onion skins, but soon progress to more complex processes
• Use a variety of different methods to tying bundles
• Use a range of ways of preparing the fabric
• Use a whole variety of leaves

Participants at Hillier’s workshop found the sessions therapeutic, inspirational, and amusing. Sarah tells us more, ‘It’s been a blast! I’m really looking forward to having a go at home and passing these skills on to my children and grandchildren, it gives a whole new dimension to the humble hedgerow’.

Julie and Jan, who work with children in Havant, appreciated Caroline’s knowledge and generosity. They found her advice on adapting activities for different age groups valuable, and the eco-friendly approach inspired them to create beautiful textile pieces. Jan explains ‘ We have to be so aware of Health & Safety in the classroom which can put teachers off trying out new creative ideas. Caroline was so aware of this and had loads of advice and tips on how we could adapt and set up activities to work for different age groups. It was impressive how eco-friendly the activities were, I am so inspired to make things with all the beautiful textile pieces we have created.’

About the artist, Caroline Bell

Caroline has worked as a textile artist for a number of years and has become increasingly concerned about how the textile industry impacts the environment. As a result, she decided to transform her own practice and began to research natural processes and more ethical ways of working.

After graduating with a degree in Stitched Textiles, she was rewarded an Embroiderers Guild Scholarship which she used to develop a body of work based on the dye and print potential of materials gathered from her local urban green space, namely Southampton Common.

Since then she has exhibited widely both in the UK and Europe as an individual and as part of two exhibiting groups; Room6 and Zero 9 textiles. In addition to producing her own work, Caroline regularly gives talks to a variety of groups and delivers workshops in eco-printing, natural dyeing and screen printing using natural dyes.

Take part in a workshop

Tuesday 13th August at Hiller Gardens – our second eco-printing workshop hosted at the impressive Hillier Gardens in Romsey in one of their workshop spaces. Currently sold out, but possible tickets may become available with cancellations.

Wednesday 28th August at Stanley’s Own Scout Hut in Copythorne – based at the local scout hut in Copythorne, Caroline will lead a day of eco-printing exploration.

Saturday 7th September at Cox Croft Farm just outside Winchester – spend the day creating eco-prints on Hampshire County Council’s beautiful Cox Croft Farm as part of CPRE Hampshire’s celebration of Countryside Day.

It’s not too late to get involved!

“These workshops are designed to provide students with the basic knowledge of the processes and techniques of eco-printing to allow them then to proceed with confidence to continue to experiment and develop at home. We will be working exclusively with silk since this provides the best results for the beginner but advice and guidance will be offered for those that might wish to experiment with other fibres at a later date. This workshop is suitable for the complete novice and for anyone who may have been experimenting at home but would like to know more.”