Makers Retreats
Sculptural basketry, loom weaving workshops, metal & wood crafting, artisanal production
10-day Retreats Immersed in Traditional French Crafts
loom Weaving workshop
multi-shaft loom
practice and theory
learn and create
smithing + Carpentry
Shou sugi ban
2 days forging
3 days woodworking
Basketry workshop
sculptural fibre art
foraged plant material
lots of braiding techniques
May 9 - May 19, 2022
Basket Weaving Workshop Retreat
Led by Myriam Roux
9 spots only
*price excludes VAT and accommodation
Learn the art of basketry using foraged plant material alongside fellow makers at a restored ancient watermill, deep in the French countryside. Eat delicious food, visit beautiful architecture, and learn French savoir-faire.
Join us for this 10-day retreat and workshop led by revered fibre artist, Myriam Roux. You’ll spend harmonious days working in our giant atelier with a view of the water mill weaving and transforming foraged fibres into sculptural art. Maybe it's time you took a sabbatical in a magical place in France!
FIND INSPIRATION
Your stay is sprinkled with leisurely visits and excursions to historical sites of cultural significance. You'll visit Villaines-les-Rochers and its basketry cooperative – one of the last in France. It's a productive learning center dedicated to the craft of cultivating and creating with willow. Switching to another plant-based product – rope – you'll visit the Corderie Royale in Rochefort, which used to supply the French Navy with rigging rope or "cordage."
Course description:
33 hours of classes with Myriam Roux, renowned natural fibre and installation artist whose career spans over 20 years.
Classes are structured for beginners but experienced basket-weavers are encouraged to come and be lifted to new creative levels. Experiment with Myriam's guidance.
All tools and materials are supplied.
You'll make pieces every day to take home.
What you'll practice and create over 5.5 days:
Plant prep, understanding materials and their qualities: willow, bark, strap leaves, reeds, grasses and more
Traditional and contemporary braiding, knotting, weaving techniques
Nest forms using reeds and willow
Weaving willow balls
Willow ring art with a Spanish technique
Bark braiding
Bark netting
Spiral forms woven from moor grass and willow, Burkina Faso technique
Leave room in your suitcase for the fruits of your labor!
Feel joy in the harmonious hum of crafting inside a community spirit.
The Details
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Myriam Roux is a revered fibre artist known for crafting unusual, timeless and contemporary works using foraged plant material that she knots, braids, weaves and shapes using traditional French and international basketry techniques.
She's known for her collection of natural art installations, produced over a 20+-year career.
Read about Myriam in this blog post.
Visit her website at http://www.myriamroux.com/
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COURSE WORK, TEACHING & MATERIALS
5.5 days of learning new techniques, creating a new sculptural form every day from natural fibres and foraged plant materials
braiding and weaving techniques from France, Spain and Burkina Faso
includes all materials
take home what you create
MEALS
10 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 7 dinners
All meals prepared onsite by Chef Pierre use local, seasonal ingredients and are served family style.
Special diet? No problem. Send us the info when you book.
Not included: 3 excursion lunches* and 3 excursion dinners* (see below).
SIGHT-SEEING EXCURSIONS
Nature hikes
Stroll from Mill on the Rock to historic Nieul-sur-l'Autise for dinner*
Day-trip to La Corderie Royale historic rope factory in Rochefort, then to the chic island of Île de Ré for lunch*, then to La Rochelle for a guided tour and dinner*. Transportation, guide and admission included.
Sunday Farmers' Market day trip and lunch* in Niort, followed by a gentle, guided barge ride on the scenic canals of the Marais Poitevin. Transportation included.
Day trip to the breath-taking Château d'Azay-le-Rideau for a tour and lunch*, then on to one of France's last remaining basketry cooperatives located in Villaines-les-Rochers. Stop for dinner* on the way home. Transportation and admission included.
PICK-UP AND DROP-OFF
Pick-up and drop-off to Niort Train station only.
We don’t do airport pick-up or drop-off. Contact Tara if you need help figuring that out.
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The base price of 2,080 € per person does not include value added tax (VAT) at 20% or accommodation.
ACCOMMODATION for 10 NIGHTS
Accommodation for 10 nights is automatically added to your package price after you select which type of accommodation you prefer. Mill on the Rock has three sleeping arrangements to choose from:
The Attic Dormitory
The River Room
The Wheel House Loft
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED IN THE BASE PRICE
3 excursion dinners, 3 excursion lunches
Airfare to France
Travel insurance
Airport pick-up and drop-off
On-site massages (reserve when you book)
Off-site hammam (reserve when you book)
Base price of 2,080€ excludes accommodation & VAT
May 23 - June 02, 2022
Loom Weaving Workshop
from La Maison Des Fibres
only 9 spots
*price excludes VAT and accommodation
Longing to take a sabbatical and dive into a craft like weaving? Imagine working in a giant atelier, weaving alongside fellow makers at a picturesque watermill, deep in the French countryside. Dreamy huh?
This comprehensive workshop is an immersive experience for learning multi-shaft weaving on a 4-shaft table loom. Even if you know absolutely nothing about weaving or yarn, this is an excellent place for you to start.
Don’t worry if you don’t know the terminology. It will all be explained, and pretty soon you’ll be dropping “sley,” “heddles” and “setts” like a pro.
If you’re already familiar with knitting looms or rigid heddle looms - even inkle weaving - then multi-shaft weaving is your next stop. So get on the bus! (plane or train).
This retreat includes day trips and excursions too, so you can discover the scenery, history and culture that make this part of France so unique. And you’ll have time to relax, journal, and stroll around the farm and village.
Over the course of this 10-day retreat and workshop, you’ll spend 33 hours broken down into 3-hour units, learning from Lauren Back, founder of La Maison Des Fibres. You’ll create two pieces to take home.
Units 1-5 - Introduction to weaving. Learn about the loom, how it works and the basic tools required. You'll learn about weaving, color, and an array of patterns.
You’ll prepare your first warp and put it on the loom using the front to back warping method. As you create a cotton gamp, you'll learn how to dress the loom and throw the shuttle. You'll learn the difference between plain weave and twill. You'll also learn basic finishing techniques like washing and fringing.
Unit 6 - Basic theory. How to work out sett and yarn quantities, and how to read a weaving draft (pattern).
Units 7-11 - Design. Apply what you’ve learned to dress the loom and create your own project, like a scarf.
The base price of this package includes yarn. We order it well in advance for you. You choose your own colors. Note: silk and cotton are available but for an additional cost.
Laines Paysannes supplies the yarn.
Make memories with wool and a bunch of nice people.
The Details
+ Your Teacher
Born in the U.K and raised in France, Lauren Back is the bi-lingual creator behind La Maison des Fibres, an internationally recognized producer of custom woven pieces and hand-dyed yarns and fibres for knitting, weaving and spinning. Lauren has worked with natural fibres most of her life. Her mother is a weaver, and her family used to raise sheep. Lauren spent her youth transforming fleece into yarn.
As a teacher and mentor, Lauren helped establish an artisanal wool industry on the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. She taught local communities how to weave, empowering a new generation of weavers and entrepreneurs on the island. This also served to put to productive use all the fleeces shorn annually from the sheep raised there.
Additionally, Lauren teaches at the Ecole de la Laine (School of Wool) in western France. This learning center is dedicated to traditional and modern processes for transforming sheep's wool. It is one of two schools still in existence in France today that continues to teach traditional crafts and skills like fleece sorting, spinning, dyeing, felting, weaving and more.
+ What's Included
COURSE WORK, TEACHING & MATERIALS
- 5.5 days learning theory and practice of 4-shaft table loom weaving including: wind and warp, dress the loom, sley the reed, thread the heddles, wind and tie on, tension, read a draft, work out the sett, throw the shuttle, finishing techniques
- Includes all materials and yarn (except if you want silk or cotton. These are available but at an additional cost.)
- one table loom per person
MEALS
- 10 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 7 dinners
- All meals prepared on site by Chef Pierre use local, seasonal ingredients and are served family style.
- Special diet? No problem. Send us the info when you book.
Not included: 3 excursion lunches* and 3 excursion dinners**, see below.
SIGHT-SEEING EXCURSIONS
- Stroll from Mill on the Rock to historic Nieul-sur-l'Autise for dinner*
- Day-trip/lunch* to École de la Laine, Vasles, a learning center dedicated to traditional and modern processes for transforming sheep's wool. Dinner** at Alexandra Palace. Transportation and admission included.
- Day-trip including a tour of The Corderie Royale of Rochefort, followed by lunch* on the chic island of Île de Ré, then to La Rochelle for a guided tour and dinner**. Transportation and admission included.
- Sunday Farmers' Market/lunch* in Niort, followed by a gentle, guided barge ride on the scenic canals of the Marais Poitevin. Transportation included.
PICK-UP AND DROP-OFF
- Pick-up and drop-off to Niort Train station only.
- We don't do airport pick-up or drop-off. Contact Tara for help arranging this.
+ What's Not Included
The base price of 1,975€ per person does not include Value Added Tax (VAT) at 20% or accommodation.
ACCOMMODATION FOR 10 NIGHTS Accommodation for 10 nights is automatically added to your package during the booking process after you've selected which type of accommodation you prefer. Mill on the Rock has three sleeping arrangements to choose from:
- The Attic Dormitory
- The River Room
- The Wheel House Loft
WHAT'S NOT INCLUDED
- 3 excursion dinners, 3 excursion lunches
- Air fare to France
- Travel insurance
- Airport pick-up and drop-off
- on-site massages (reserve when you book)
- off-site hammam (reserve when you book)
Base price (1,975€) excludes accommodation & VAT.
september 26 - october 6, 2022
Smithing + Carpentry Retreat
(7 – 11 people)
This retreat may well bring out the steampunk in you! Certainly, if you're a do-it-yourselfer, a homesteader, or gardener you'll relate to the skills you can practice or learn over the course of 10 days.
And if you're feeling the need to escape to the French countryside, all the more reason to visit. You'll feel right at home surrounded by farmland, farriers, blacksmiths, leatherworkers, horses, and circus people. (Yes, there's a circus school nearby!)
Medieval Crafts Still Thrive
This part of France is rich with crafts and skills dating back to medieval times. Increasingly, a new generation of artisans is keeping those crafts alive. It is this new talent that will accompany you during 6 days of workshops.
2 days of blacksmithing
Forging and anvil work, e.g horseshoes
1 day of basketry and archery
Day trip to crazy Puy du Fou
3 days of Shou Sugi Ban and carpentry
Build a nesting house
Pick up some new skills in this home away from home sabbatical. Spend community time with fellow makers and take time out for yourself. Enjoy the peaceful tranquility of Mill on the Rock, meditating at one of our numerous "Be" spots dotted around the property. Apart from workshopping and relaxing, we've organized a few exciting culinary experiences for you too!
Learning new stuff makes you strong.
The Details
Side trips and activities are included with your booking!
+ Your Teacher
Keep an eye on this section for more detials.
+ MEALS
Hearty meals served to nourish you at Mill on the Rock use locally sourced, nutritious and organic ingredients. Everything is freshly prepared on-site by our local chef. Salads come from our kitchen garden!
We’re conscious of different dietary needs, just let us know what they are when booking so we can properly accommodate you.
You'll eat out a few times at local restaurants. All meals - including those enjoyed on and off-site during this 10-day retreat - are included in the cost.
+ DAY TRIPS
- Puy du Fou
The second largest theme park in France and totally unique. We'll visit the reconstructed medieval village and 18th century farm where you can wander around different houses and watch different artisans work: blacksmiths, bakers, leather workers and clog makers, etc.
+ SIDE TRIPS
- Local Farms & Producers
– Visit local farms, including an orchard and cheese-makers to meet their beloved goats.
– Learn about the Mill's ancient bread oven and meet Tara's neighbor, Thierry, who mills certified organic stone-ground flour and supplies all the best local bakeries (and Mill on the Rock, of course!)
- Nieul sur l'Autize
Stroll to the local village not far from the Mill, Nieul sur l'Autize, a beautiful place where Eleanor of Aquitaine, once Queen of France, was born in 1122. She was a powerful and influential woman during the Middle Ages. Discover the Abbey built in 1068, with its gorgeous architecture, parts of which are still intact!
- Niort Market
Soak in the intriguing atmosphere of Niort's gorgeous indoor/outdoor food market, designed by Victor Baltard, who's famous for Les Halles in Paris.
- Dinner at Alexandra Palace
Rounding out the fun, we'll go for cocktails and dinner at glitzy Alexandra Palace, a chateaux renovated by a Los Angeles businessman.
+ OTHER ACTIVITIES
- Wine Tasting
Your 10-day stay includes a wine tasting event led by a “caviste” wine professional specialized in local, independent, organic, and biodynamic labels.
- Yoga Practice
Morning practices start the day with our local professional yoga instructor.
- *Massage Treatments/Hammam
We can arrange for on-site massages at the Mill. And we can also arrange for a visit to a nearby Hammam, but they must be booked well in advance.
*Not included in the retreat cost.