These are the informations about India Flint’s workshop in Brittany in Autumn 2024.
» Follow your wild heart away from the hustle and bustle to Bretagne, a wonderful region of France that almost feels like an island (over two thirds of its perimeter is bathed by the Atlantic) and join India Flint (author of ‘Eco Colour’ and ‘Second Skin’) in a live-in retreat exploring the visual and sensory poetry of this beautiful locality.
This year our theme is the search for blue, and with that in mind several gardeners in the region have been approached to grow both woad and Japanese indigo for us.
We will of course also be making daily dye bundles using the lovely falling leaves of autumn, lighting a fire under our cauldrons each afternoon. As we dye and print our cloth fragments we will stitch them together to create a journeycloth with a twist, so that it becomes a never-ending story, to keep us warm on future wanderings.
It will be a particularly beautiful time to be in Bretagne, a season of red and gold leaves, fragrant apples, drifting mists and cooler days leading up to Samhain, the period that marks the beginning of the darker months of the year. Bring your favourite woolly jumper and stout waterproof footwear!
You may also wish to bring a pre-loved garment to embellish and stitch with text or patterns derived from the surrounding landscape.
We will be staying together at the delightful Gîtes de Couleurs, a brisk 3.7km walk to the ocean where fascinating piles of pebbles lie and the swimming is gloriously refreshing (but usually we manage to car pool our way there).
All meals will be lovingly prepared by our chef, Geraldine Desindes, who works tirelessly to nourish us in both body and soul, and shared at the long table in the beautiful Blue Room.
There will be opportunities to visit Brocantes nearby, but most of our hours will be spent around the gite and the surrounding countryside.
India Flint «
- Dates :
From Sunday the 29th of September to Saturday the 5th of October 2024.
This is a 5 days workshop from Monday 30th of September in the morning to Friday 4th of October afternoon. My advice is to arrive on Sunday 29th of September before dinner to enjoy 5 full days together ; we will have to leave on Saturday 5th of October after breakfast.
- Language :
The workshop will be taught in English.
- The place :
As in 2018, 2019 and 2023, we will stay at the « Gite des Couleurs » : you can visit their website and see the beautiful houses here :
I hope you will like the place as much as we do !
It is localed in Treogat (Finistère). The closest cities are Pont l’Abbé and Quimper.
- Travel :
The closest airports and train stations are Quimper, and Brest. Closer to the date we can arrange your travel to the Gite des Couleurs between participants. Living in Brest, I can easily help you organize your travel, and give you some advices on what to see and do in Brittany.
- Accommodation and pricing :
Géraldine Desindes will be our cook with fresh, local and organic ingredients as much as possible.
There are triple, double and single rooms available for a total of 12 students. Each bathroom will be shared by 4 students.
Pricing varies depending on your choice of accommodation.
Triple room : 2100€ (full)
Double room : 2300€Single room : 2500€ (full)
The price includes :
– 6 nights / 5 days accommodation : all breakfasts, lunches, dinners and refreshments from Sunday 29th (dinner) to Saturday 5th (breakfast),
– the 5 days workshop with India
– 1 handmade watercolors set by Deep Deep Light, 2 big sheets of handmade paper, persicaria tinctoria and woad (fresh leaves)
But it does not include your travel to and from the Gite des Couleurs, and our other supplies as scissors, needles, threads, dressmaking pins or safetypins, a notebook and the things you write and draw with, and no more than a shopping bag of mixed undyed natural fibre pieces.
- Enrollment, payment and cancellation :
To book your place, please send the enrollment form with your details to my email address :
contact@clairedesbruyeres.com
A 500€ non refundable deposit is required to secure your booking (bank transfer or Paypal, cheque from France only). The final payment is expected before June 29th 2024. After this date, no cancellation and refund is possible.
Please send me your questions and I will do my best to help you ! I hope to welcome you in 2024 in Brittany,
Claire
Update 16/03/2024
Since my last post / email India shared a new dress on her Substack, and we will create our owns during the retreat :
« Given the interest in the dress I posted in the edition that precedes this one I will be bringing it with me on the journey and sharing the construction trick for those participants who would like to transform their dye samples into something wearable. »https://indiaflint.substack.com/p/blues-in-bretagne
You can also see the dress here.
I am very happy to share that I was able to find local woad and indigo thanks to Livadenn, a local farm which specializes in growing plant dyes. We will work with fresh leaves and indigo paste.
If you speak french, you can check their website here.
I also recently met a papermaker, Thibaut, who makes amazing artistic papers from linen and seaweed : he agrees to make a custom order for the retreat.
Please check his Instagram account to see what he creates with linocut and paper, I think you will love his work :
https://www.instagram.com/thibautlinogravures/
Today there are only 2 places remaining : 1 in a double room, and 1 in a triple room. Update : the workshop is now full, but I began a waiting list, email me if you are interested.
I would love to welcome you in Brittany, please let me know if you have any question.
- Documents
– Workshop description by India Flint :
Enrollment form :
