Join textiles artist Sophie Bowen for a two-day workshop exploring embroidery as a form of drawing, using stitch to create line, rhythm and movement across the surface.

Working with seasonal dye plants, you will begin by dyeing a selection of yarns and threads, developing a subtle palette that reflects the qualities of plant-based colour. Simple drawing exercises will be used to gather marks and visual ideas, encouraging an intuitive and observational approach to making.

These marks will then be translated into stitch, using simple techniques to build line, rhythm and texture. Working on paper, you will explore its unique qualities as a surface, building layered compositions through repeated stitches, with the option to incorporate natural dye inks. By varying spacing, direction and density, stitch becomes a way of drawing, allowing forms to emerge gradually through the process.

Across the two days, you will develop a small stitched piece on paper, guided by your own marks and responses. The workshop encourages a slower, more reflective way of working, offering space to experiment, build confidence and explore the relationship between drawing, natural dye and hand embroidery.

You will leave this workshop with the skills of working with natural dyes to develop a considered colour palette for stitch on paper. You will have experienced a more open and exploratory way of working, having gained confidence in developing your own ideas through making.

Tutor: Sophie Bowen
Date & Time: Thursday 13th and Friday 14th August, 10am - 4pm
Venue: Brush Studio, New Brewery Arts
PRICE: £180.00 (£0.00 VAT)

Please note that this workshop is for those aged 18 and over.

You are welcome to bring a lidded bottle of water with you but we kindly ask that you do not bring food into the studio.

Our on-site café Blend is open until 4pm each day.

For more information:
Visit our FAQ page

Who is this workshop for?
The workshop is suitable for beginners.

What you will need:
Please bring an apron or wear clothes that you don’t mind getting messy.

Accommodation:
Residential option available. Find out about our accommodation, costs and how to book here.

Meet Your Tutor - Sophie bowen

Sophie Bowen is a textile artist from Somerset whose practice brings together natural dyes, drawing and hand stitch. She studied BA Drawing at Falmouth University and later completed an MA in Textiles at Bath Spa University.

Her work is a contemplation on nature, shaped by observing seasonal shifts, patterns of regrowth, irregularity and impermanence. This is intertwined with a process-led approach to making that embraces slowness, allowing materials to guide each piece as it unfolds.

Drawing sits at the heart of her practice. She uses mark-making as an intuitive way to explore movement and flow, with marks initially made using brush and ink later translated through a range of textile processes.

Sophie runs workshops sharing her processes in natural dyeing, drawing and hand embroidery.