The Beltane weekend
Join us for a celebration of creativity
“Thank you, Beltane, for such an enchanting retreat; dreamy, creative, nurturing, soulful, nourishing, uplifting escapism”
I am a floral artist hugely inspired by the seasons and the native flora growing in the Dartmoor lanes surrounding my home and studio. I worked for many years in event floristry and when looking to move away from that and explore my own creativity I searched for a way to do that with other like minded people. I knew I wanted to create a space where we could gather together and enjoy the beauty of our surroundings, feel inspired and then be able to act on that inspiration with the gentle guidance of a team of established artists.
While on holiday in Cornwall I discovered the perfect venue at Trewartha Farm, Prussia Cove. It was important to me to make these weekends uniquely collaborative and so with that in mind I asked three other brilliant creatives I admire to join me: Bex Partridge Britt Willoughby and Jacky Mills and the wonderful Grace Alexander as our resident creative coach - available to book for a 1:1 session during the weekend.
April 2023 with barns full of beautiful British spring flowers we held our first Beltane retreat and every hope and dream I had for the weekend materialised. Three barns, each full of lovely things our guests needed to take them back to the childlike excitement found in a box of coloured pencils and a fresh clean page. Delicious seasonal food at every meal, and wildflower strewn paths leading you to azure Cornish coves. We filled handmade vases with flowers, empty sheets of paper with art, and memory sticks with images. Each morning Bex led a swim in the beautiful clear waters of Prussia Cove and as we walked back to the barns we foraged for wild flowers to add to our arrangements. One of the barns is set aside to collaboratively build the most beautiful installation to sit beneath for our final feast - a process that takes the whole weekend to complete and is added to by us all. It really was magical and we now come together on the last weekend in April each year to do it all again. The Beltane weekend is for everyone who has a desire to lean into their creativity and loves flowers and the natural world. All are welcome and everyone who comes leaves richer with a better understanding of their creativity and how best to put themselves in a place to help it flow.
The weekend begins on the Friday evening with an opportunity to meet everyone and explore the barns and then Saturday and Sunday are for our guests to freely choose how they would like to spend their time. There are three areas in the main barn for botanical art, photography and floristry, and a second barn is for the installation, which is added to all weekend. All our meals are together and deliciously seasonal, and each day is peppered with foraging walks, outdoor photography and swims which you can choose to take part in or not!
To see more of this beautiful weekend you can visit the gallery and book here. For further information about next year’s weekend and all other creative days sign up to the newsletter below.
