The Language of the Land:
Place · Material · Memory
6 Part Group Series
A year-long guided practice in observing, walking, making and recording the land around you. Develop a sustained relationship with place, working directly with soil, plants and natural materials as collaborator, subject and guide.
‘The name of our proper connection to the earth is good work, for good work involves much giving of honor. It honors the source of its materials; it honors the place where it is done; it honors the art by which it is done; it honors the thing that it makes and the user of the made thing.’
Wendell Berry, 1993
A guided year of listening to the language of the land around you.
Whether your chosen place is a balcony, a local park, a field or deep wilderness, this course invites you into a slow, attentive relationship with the land through the seasons. Together we will walk, gather, listen, write, make, observe and reflect - forming an ongoing land diary practice that deepens your connection to place, soil and nature.
We will explore how our choices and presence become part of the landscape’s memory - how we mark the land and in turn are marked by it. Through knowledge gathering and experimentation, you will keep visual and written records, noticing not only what we see but also what we don’t see - what lies beneath the surface.
Following the rhythm of the year, we will experiment, make and connect through materials - charcoal, ink, pigments, plant fibres and soil. Each material marks a moment in the cycle of the year with its own qualities and characteristics - often changing over time, unpredictable and alive. Each material becomes a tool for observation and experimentation.
Walking is treated as a working method - a creative act, a way of noticing and testing ideas. You will develop an attentive, precise way of seeing, noticing patterns, shifts and repetitions in the land. Moments of awe and discovery will arise naturally through sustained observation, connecting us to the instinctual and the irrational.
Full Series
£240
payment plans available upon request hello@landartagency.com
all welcome.
This course is suitable for artists, makers, landworkers and anyone interested in developing a serious creative practice rooted in land and material. No previous experience is necessary - just a willingness to work experimentally, attentively and consistently over time.
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Create a body of work and a year-long land archive
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Develop practical skills in natural material making and manipulation
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Become familiar with processing place-based practice independently
At its core, this course is rooted in the belief that we need to re-learn how to interpret and appreciate the land - not as a resource but as a living presence. You cannot truthfully care for something that you do not appreciate. This is not about interpretation or symbolism - it is about working directly with land as material, subject and collaborator.
SESSION DATES:
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Part I
Tuesday 3rd March
6–8pm GMTEarly Spring: Renewal & Awakening
As the soil warms up and the Earth awakens, a time for having ideas and sowing seeds.
Focus:
Introduction to my practice and approachIndividual introductions
Setting intentions for the year
Establishing a creative relationship with land and place
Lesson:
Starting with the soil - Earth pigment making
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Part II
Wednesday 6th May
6–8pm BSTLate Spring: Emergence & Possibility
A time of inspiration and future hope, a time for making plans.
Focus:
Walking as a creative actNoticing, wandering, intuition and attention
Mapping, counting, repetition and specificity
Seeing possibility in what we encounter
Lesson:
Dandelion processing and weaving -
Part III
Saturday 5th July
10am–12pm BSTSummer: Growth & Abundance
As the sun is high and the days long, the energy of growing and making is in full force.
Focus:
Materials as guidesTruth-seeking through material
Working in conversation with the past
Lesson:
Nettle harvesting and processing -
Part IV
A choice of
Thursday 10th Sept
6–8pm & Saturday
OR
12th Sept
10am–12pm
ORSummer: Focus & Development
A moment to pause and bring clarity to individual creative directions.
Focus:1:1 Mentoring (approx. 30 minutes per person)
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Part V
Wednesday 18th Nov
7–9pm GMTAutumn: Truth & Transition
A time of harvest, bounty and reflection – what have we gathered, noticed, learned?Focus:
Print as an exploratory processPrint as memory
Experimenting with trace, pressure and surface
Lesson:
Ink making from oak galls and acorns or directly from materials in your own surroundings -
Part VI
Saturday 9th Jan
10am–12pm GMTWinter: Rest & Return
A time of stillness, restoration and returning to oneself
Focus:Closing reflections
Sharing of work
Setting intentions
Lesson:
Charcoal making
After this course you will have:
Practical, transferable skills in sourcing, making and working with natural materials
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A system for observing, recording and extracting insight from land, materials and process
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Increased clarity in your creative direction through guided experimentation and reflection
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A tangible body of work and documented archive demonstrating sustained & ecological practice
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The confidence to work independently with land as material, subject and collaborator
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A long-term way of thinking and working that deepens attention, originality and creative authority
+ enjoy the myriads of opportunities and learning that arise through a group of creatives working together and this connection, alongside 1:1 support.
Full Series
£240
Tamsin Loxley
My work is a dialogue with the land. It sits alongside a regenerative farming project on a 34-acre site in Devon, where the increasing wilderness and agroecological practices shape my work and in turn, my work deepens my understanding of the land and its future.
This ongoing, diaristic land archive pays close attention to our unseen relationship with soil, land and nature. I reflect on how the decisions we make become part of the landscape’s memory and the wilderness it supports. I ask whether there is a symbiotic relationship between artistic and land-based practices - and how this might affect the way I steward the land.
Knowledge gathering and experimentation guide my approach. I photograph the land monthly, keeping a visual and written diary. I make ink from oak galls, charcoal from willow, birch and bone and gather plants, wool and soil to work with. These materials - unpredictable and alive - carry the essence of the place and change over time.
Though often abstract in form, my work evokes land and landscape, nature and wilderness, light and dark. Echoing one particular place, whilst reminiscent of many, it connects to the soil that sustains us and land we walk on, reflecting the passing of time and our connection to the earth. This work aims to honour the land, the tree, the soil, the maker and the viewer.
In the end we are all earth.