A Lammas Gathering | Ara’s first pop up

As I make to order and primarily operate as an online business, I hadn’t intended to venture into having my own physical presence for quite some time. Whilst Ara pieces have appeared at other brands’ pop ups and in-store, I hadn’t created my own display before. I knew that prepping a set up for Ara would be a pretty hefty undertaking, particularly mindful that it would be important to me to ensure the brand’s values were reflected in the right way, and with minimal environmental impact along the way.

BUT when the lovely Blue of Dohm Shop invited me to join her first collaborative pop up ‘A Lammas Gathering’, in her home town of Nottingham, I knew without doubt it would be the perfect setting for Ara, and it felt like the right time to dip my toe into this real life interaction malarkey.

A Lammas Gathering brought together a careful selection of women owned brands to hold a relaxed event with a focus on sustainability, self-care and pleasure, with donations accepted upon entry for Nottingham Women’s Centre.

Sacred ceramics by Blue Firth of Dohm Shop

Hand grown blooms by Elder & Wild

The prep

Although I had a limited timeframe within which to prepare, I design for longevity and wanted to extend the same approach to the planning of my set up. It was important to me to create a display that I would be able to use again and again, that would easily adapt to different spaces. So I did a little research and gave myself a brief, to create a display that:

i) was first and foremost low impact

ii) was reflective of the brand and its values

iii) was practical for its purpose (and hopefully inviting)

The backdrop

To lay the table, utilising what I already had, I used the same linen and GOTS certified organic cotton that Ara’s low waste bags are made from. This provided a natural base from which to build the rest of my display.

Jewellery display

I wanted to create a few main areas for my pieces to sit. On this occasion I only planned to display two styles but to ensure flexibility for the future I designed and made a series of blocks using FSC wood that could be used singularly, or stacked to create variation. For Lammas, I created a little set of ‘stairs’ on which to place or drape the Molten samples (to the right), and used a single large block to display the Phase adornment (to the left).

To add a little distinction between the offerings, I painted the boards different colours - the stairs a pale grey, and the remaining blocks a warmer blush colour, using water based paint, made in the UK.

Playing around with the set up at home

Coat #1 of 2

A few practical things

I had a good think about what else might be helpful to have close by on the day. I packed a ring sizer (which came in really useful as I ended up taking three rings back to the workshop to resize), a sign-up board for anyone wishing to join the Letters of Ara newsletter, and small mallet and ring mandrel to make rings a little bigger in case the need arose.

Newsletter sign up sheets, a few resizing tools & my trusty fountain pen

Figuring out a lovely customer’s ring size to resize this rose gold Full Moon Ring

Artemis

As I decided to take a few gold pieces with me, I wanted something a little special on which to display one of the full moon pendants. Rather than buying something ‘new’ I was over the moon to find a pre-loved bust of Artemis (complete with a chip at the back) who I knew would make the perfect accompaniment. Interesting fact - when exploring brand names many moons ago, I toyed with the idea of ‘Artemis the Hunter’, with the notion of Artemis, goddess of the hunt, sourcing beautiful objects for the offering.

The altar

I knew I would need to have some kind of branding on the stall and, without question, it had to be an altar. David helped me to make one -again from FSC wood- using dimensions that follow the golden ratio (1:1.6...) which goes back to Euclid and was employed by the Roman architect Vitruvius. It was since used in Georgian and Neo Classical building, and also portrayed in Art (e.g. by Dali). So I knew my little altar would be in good company with this approach.

To incorporate my branding into the altar, we created a cloth overlay from European grown hemp, and the folks at one69a in Manchester screen printed my logo with soil association approved ink. To finish, I added a little offering of found natural objects to the top of the altar.

A little detail

I also took along the amphora that features in some Ara photography, which I found via EESOME and some postcards. To communicate Ara’s offering, prices, and an overview of the brand, I also made some little display cards using FSC accredited paper.

The offering

Mindful of the time that I had to prepare for Lammas alongside other projects -and very conscious to keep to my slow making approach- I made a small offering of recycled silver & gold Phase pieces and dusted off a pile of molten samples that, about 18 months earlier, I had created as part of the development of a collection that ended up taking a slightly different turn (keep your eyes peeled for that one).

The molten samples were all completely one of a kind, made using recycled silver scrap from my workbench, carefully positioned and heated until melting and solidifying into a molten form. They were really well received so -after some feedback- I might begin offering some molten pieces online.

The community

The community was so welcoming, upon arrival the fellow women business owners were so lovely, we passed some Incasua incense around each of our spaces and I felt right at home in-between my lovely neighbours.

The same community feel was consistent throughout all of the folk visiting the pop up. It was such a pleasure to meet lots of like minded people, some of whom already knew about Ara which really made my day; it was so lovely to chat with customers in real life. I get so used to working in my own bubble so it was really encouraging to know there’s a place for Ara at this kind of event.

Keeping low impact

As usual, I took my water bottle and insulated pint pot with me to top up on the tea (it also helped that we were situated above a pub so were able to stay ‘hydrated’).

As I wasn’t sure what the food situation would be, I made a vegan grilled cheese sandwich to take with me which ensured I wasn’t creating any rubbish. In the end I was glad I’d done a little prep as once things were underway I didn’t want to leave my stall and miss out on chatting with the lovely Nottingham folk!

Logistics wise, I packaged all of my display things in some wooden crates, using blankets to protect the breakables.

The day absolutely flew by and the whole experience was such a pleasure. After a long day with a trip back to Manchester ahead of me, I grabbed some dinner with one of my lovely neighbours - the perfect end to the day.

I’m so grateful to Blue for inviting me to play, to the fellow women brands who made me feel so welcome, and to everyone who chatted with me about Ara, joined the newsletter or took a piece of adornment home with them.

Thanks so much for having me, Nottingham.

Lauren

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Anti Waste Hair Accessories

Images by Sarah Victoria Bates for Bug x Glasshouse

I love to see thoughtful, independent businesses come together to create something considered, beautiful and purposeful, so I was over the moon to learn that Bug Clothing and Glasshouse Salon were combining their resources and skills to create a collection of dreamy anti-waste hair accessories.

Looking for a reason to use the abundance of linen scraps as a result of the production process in the Bug Hackney Wick studio, Bug worked together with Glasshouse to dream up and create a selection of three timeless accessories:

• the classic scrunchie

• a head wrap - perfect for the beach or days when you don’t want to wash or deal with your hair

• a hair ribbon - for low pony-tails, low buns, or tying your hair up in a new way

Handmade by Bug founder, Amy Ward and her team, the scrunchie, head wrap and hair ribbon come in a beautiful range of linen colours and weights, available to purchase from both Bug Clothing and Glasshouse Shop.

When this collaboration launched last year I knew it was something I wanted to support. I love the idea of repurposing scraps that would otherwise become waste, together with knowing that the pieces are made from linen, a sustainable, natural material with little reliance on pesticides or water. I have fine, wavy hair that never sits quite right in a pony tail and I chose the hair ribbon in Cardamom. I love using it to tie my locks in a low knot or up in a high pony. It looks effortless and is an easy way to introduce a little pop of colour. I’ve still got my eye on a terracotta scrunchie..

Bug Clothing produce beautiful garments on a small scale using only natural fibres from deadstock designer factory waste. Bug make use of existing excess, rather than contributing to the production of new materials. Bug’s garments ‘reflect the ideology that we should all buy less and admire quality and consideration over quantity’ and they believe that ‘clothing should be comfortable and purposeful, without faulting on style, so we design garments that can be worn for years to come’. I love that Bug creates with longevity in mind, and I have fallen for their Earl jumpsuit.

Glasshouse Salon seek to make natural, organic and ethical hair and beauty more accessible. With a focus on long-term condition of hair, Glasshouse use only products that contain gentle, nourishing, natural ingredients. Their sister shop, Glasshouse Shop, combines the salon’s know-how with the Glasshouse aesthetic, offering unique, professional products that encompass all aspects of beauty - hair, skin and body. The shop takes care to approach hair and beauty needs with high regard to sustainability, considering every brand they stock from a sustainable and ethical perspective.

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Low Waste Washing Up

Our low waste dish washing set up

As part of Plastic Free July last year, one of the things I shared was our low waste dish washing set up and this little collection of tools that my partner and I gradually built up over the years. When taking steps to live more consciously, whilst it can be tempting to replace existing plastic items with more sustainable ones, I’m very much an advocate of first using up what we have. When the time does come to replace any items, we can be sure that we have gotten the most out of them and can feel good about our choice to replace them with something less environmentally impactful.

Whilst these tools all have their uses, the one I reach for most is the coconut scrubbing brush (top left). It’s the perfect size for cups and mugs but it makes cleaning bowls super simple too. Replacement brush heads are available for the wooden handled brush on the right so when the heads reach the end of their life they can go straight into the compost. We also have a large bottle brush that’s great for our reusable water bottles and a less than appealing, old, slightly abrasive cloth that’s useful for the surfaces etc.

One of the more recent additions to our little collection, and the biggest step away from a daily reliance on plastic, was this block of olive soap from Savon de Marseille. As I have a skin contact allergy to fragrance, before I found this, I sourced fragrance free washing up liquid in a plastic bottle. So, to find this fragrance free bar of soap suitable for washing dishes made me very happy. When I posted about this in July 2018 it was still early days but, eight months on and this block of soap has very much become part of our daily habit. Given how well it’s lasted, I expect to get at least 3 more months out of it before we’ll need to replace it. When the time comes, we’ll be looking for another block of soap - we’re definitely converted. For anyone who can’t part with liquid soap, Elsa Lindholm has written a helpful blog post about making your own plastic free dish soap.

Being a natural avoider of dish washing responsibility (!) I do find that using these tactile tools that use natural materials such as wood and coconut fibre make tasks like doing the dishes a little less painful, and a little more mindful.

A few things I’ve learnt along the way:

• to help prolong the life of wooden brushes, it’s worth taking a little time to oil them before first use, and to let them air and dry out throughly after each use - we repurposed a cracked class tumbler to keep them in by the sink but something that would allow them to drain better would be more sensible!

• if you want to give the brushes a good clean, you can do so by soaking them in a little organic white vinegar

• keep the block of soap on a soap dish - we found that it quickly stuck quite firmly to our wooden soap dish (pictured), making it more solid and preventing it from sliding around

• to use the block of soap - rub your brush on it and swish it in the water or apply straight to the dishes. Or, to get the water really soapy for a good soak, hold the block under the tap and run the water over it straight into the basin

• watch out for block soap that has been made using palm oil - there are palm oil free versions available like this one

If you have any tips or recommendations for low waste washing up I’d love to hear them.

Happy dish washing!

Lauren

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Exploring Nature in Art with Hannah Clare

‘Totem’ & ‘Dart’ by Hannah Clare

I sometimes think the demands and distraction that go hand in hand with adulthood cause us to navigate far away from many of the creative endeavours often enjoyed in our earlier days. In my youth I adored drawing and painting but as I grew older and began to focus my education towards a particular career pathway (shoot production), I unintentionally drifted away from the other creative practices with which I was once so absorbed. Now, in trying to adopt a slower, more mindful way of life, I can see the importance in committing a little time to create something.

For a while, my partner and I have been talking about making our own pigments from natural materials (something far outside our wheelhouse). With this in mind, I was delighted to learn that artist, Hannah Clare -who’s work I have admired for some time- had begun exploring with natural ink. Collecting and interacting with the natural landscape is an important part of Hannah’s work which communicates organic forms, patterns and textures using a beautiful, calming tonal palette. With a view to encouraging others to reengage with the creative outlets of their earlier days, and to learn more about the process of working with nature in art, I spent a little time speaking with Hannah to explore her approach and practice.

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Hello, Hannah – Thank you so much for spending some time with me and Letters of Ara. For anyone new to your work, please tell us a little about yourself and how you found your path as an artist?

Hello all! Thanks very much for having me Lauren, I'm so glad to be part of this beautiful project. 

I am Hannah, I am an artist, I live in sunny, blustery Brighton. I have loved making for art as long as I can remember but I suppose it became a really significant part of my life as a teenager, I loved art at school and creativity was how I expressed myself in my own time too. After leaving school I took a BTEC in Art & Design for 2 years, It felt like a dream to go straight into studying art full time. Then I fell in love with Brighton and got a place to study illustration at the University of Brighton 2006. I chose illustration because my work always fell somewhere between fine art and design, and I liked the idea of developing my own visual language and being able to respond to anything in this way. These were an amazing, immersive and playful few years but I struggled with where my work fit in the illustration world and being an introverted person, I ended up feeling a bit burnt out by education by the end. So I've spent the years since then slowly finding my voice and confidence as an artist, realising my love for abstract work and honing a practice which combines my love of art and nature. 

How would you summarise your work? 

My works are mixed-media collages, arrangements of mark-making, drawing, printed and found material, and more recently, natural inks. I have always thought of these pieces as visual poems or microcosms. They are culminations of time spent walking, gathering, reading, making marks, creating colours, printmaking, responding to an experience or something I've collected. The final piece captures a place, season, time and memory. My work has always been informed by the natural world; since I was a child I have loved immersing myself in nature and I have always found joy in gathering things, noticing small creatures, textures, colours and being aware of the changes each season brings.

I start by working freely on making marks, shapes, colours and patterns, working intuitively. Then I create carefully considered compositions, thinking about how the elements communicate with each other, how they balance as a whole, this process can be meditative for me, it's like finding order in the chaos.

I really like that you described my pieces as using a calming palette, as people have often considered me to be a calming influence as a person, and spending time in nature has always had a calming affect on me, so it's nice to think of my artwork as being a continuation of that and having that affect on others too. 

From where do you find yourself taking influence and inspiration? 

I collect and gather things from my walks; grasses, lichen, seed pods, shells, pebbles, feathers... I might physically use these in mark-making, printing or making ink, or they might find their way into my work in some abstract form, the shape, colour or texture. 

I've always loved the work of the land artists, contemporary artists and sculptors working with nature and landscape, I love the aesthetics of working with natural materials, as well as the ephemeral nature of some of their work. 

I also find inspiration in poetry, nature-writing, folklore and music, I'm drawn to things that balance beauty, poetry and darkness. I love the duality of things, nature can be beautiful and terrifying, life is funny and tragic, a person can be wonderful and awful. Firm favourites have been Tove Jansson, Alice Oswald, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes. I make lists of words that I like when reading, these often end up being used as titles for my pieces too. 

One aspect to which I am particularly drawn is the presence of natural ink in your work, ink that you make yourself. Please can you explain a little about how you were drawn to this method, and what this process involves? 

I became interested in the process of natural dyeing a couple of years ago, I loved the idea of foraging or growing your own colours and physically linking a piece back to a place, time and a part of nature. After experimenting together with my Mum (who also makes plant dyed textiles) we took a course with Jane Meredith in Herefordshire and spent a weekend at her cottage on the beautiful riverbanks of the Wye, picking plants from her garden, dyeing, felting and weaving, surrounded by willows and kingfishers. I was really taken with the process but it took me until the last few months really to turn this knowledge into ink making and work similar processes into my own practice. I also recently discovered the work of Jason Logan of The Toronto Ink Company and his book 'Make Ink' which has been a huge inspiration, and in turn led me to discover lots of other artists creating really beautiful things with natural inks and pigments. 

There are a few ways to make ink, but it's hard to go wrong as it's an experimental process. Simply put, you can steep or boil plant matter in water for as long as it takes to get a colour you are happy with, you can use a fixative to help preserve the colour, and if needed, a thickener to create a good texture for drawing or writing. If you are foraging you need to know about what you are handling, if things are poisonous, do your research and remember the golden rules of foraging: if you can't name it, don't pick it and only pick what you need. There are also lots of things you can use to create natural colour which you'll find in your own kitchen - coffee, red cabbage, avocado pits, onion skins, this is a good place to start, and a great way to use waste!

Do you find that there are challenges to working with natural materials?

The blessings can also be a curse, but that's what makes it exciting. Most natural inks are fugitive, which means they will change and fade over time and they can go off, it's part of working with something that is organic. You also have to be aware that if you find a plant that works or makes a colour you really love, it might only be available for a couple of weeks of the year, so you have to be in tune with what is in season or you might miss it! This is all still an ongoing learning process for me but I have always enjoyed that element of serendipity. I love that you don't quite know what you're going to get, and that you might never make the same colour twice. 

‘Flint’ & ‘Nacre’ by Hannah Clare

What can we look forward to seeing from Hannah Clare in the future, and is there a particular direction in which you might like to see your practice develop or take you? 

I am excited about spending the forthcoming year exploring natural ink-making and seeing what the seasons bring me. I've just decided to create a series of seasonal prints over the next year so I'm working on that at the moment. I’d love to bring more printmaking elements into my work, so maybe I’ll make than an aim for the next year or so!

What do you do to invite slower, more mindful practice into your life and work? 

Spending time outdoors and time by myself is a big part of my creative process and important to me in general, as doing these things also help me to recharge and keep balanced. I've learnt that as an introverted person, I function better in all aspects of my life when I have given myself the time to just walk and think, or sit and write. I live by writing lists and journalling, I have found for a long time that this practice helps me organise my thoughts, focus on what I want to achieve, visualise my ideas and reflect on things I've done or things I've learnt about myself. I also keep a 'good things' list for every month, to take moments to acknowledge little things I have found joy in, my version of the gratitude journal. 

Finally, do you have any advice for anyone thinking of trying or revisiting a creative outlet? 

Just enjoy the doing, trust your instincts and try not to compare yourself to others. The more you 'do' the more you learn, build momentum and confidence.

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I am so grateful to Hannah for sharing this insight into her practice. You can find Hannah’s beautiful artwork here and follow more of Hannah’s ink making process via Instagram.

Welcome to Letters of Ara

Artwork from my January newsletter - subscribe here

Welcome to my very first Letters of Ara journal post as we embark on a shiny new year. Thank you so much to anyone who has shared my journey so far, and to anyone joining me now. I’m over the moon to share this space with you as 2019 begins to unfold.

For anyone who didn’t catch my A Responsible Brand #aresponsiblebrand Sunday Series on Instagram throughout the end of 2018, Letters of Ara will be comprised of this online journal along with a monthly e-mail newsletter that together will create a space in which to explore areas of influence and interest for Ara the altar. As well as providing a space for me to communicate more regularly with this community, Letters of Ara will also give space to others via interviews that will feature in the newsletters and here on the journal.

As my intention to live my life with minimal environmental impact is so intrinsically linked to the way I run my small business, I’ll also begin sharing a little more of my own approach to slow, more considered living. For every newsletter on the first Sunday of each month, I will gather together seasonal information and ideas for living in a slower, more earth-aware way. I’ll share insights into what goes on behind the brand and the ethical and sustainable considerations that feed into Ara the altar, as well as personal recommendations for like-minded brands, creating beautiful objects with respect for people and the planet.

Every newsletter will explore five key sections:

• On the altar | a closer look at a featured product or collection

• Behind the altar | an insight into what’s going on behind the brand

• Earth-aware | ideas & information for sustainable living

• Share | recommendations for like minded, responsible brands

• Slow | ideas for slowing down and embracing a more mindful way of living

The first newsletter, to be released on Sunday 6th January 2019, is intended to ease you into the new year, exploring the month and highlighting a few key astronomical points in the calendar, sharing product recommendations including ethical underwear and a simple but enjoyable swap to help live a little more sustainably. The January letter will also explore the meaning behind Ara the altar’s branding and a particular form of self-care practice via an interview with an individual who’s path has previously crossed with Ara the altar. If you have yet to subscribe to my mailing list you can join here.

I would love for this space to be something that feels really valuable to you and for this to be a two way conversation. If there’s ever anything in particular that you’d like me to explore in a journal post or as part of the newsletter, I would absolutely love to hear from you - please comment below, send me an e-mail or DM me via Instagram.

If, in the meantime, you’d like to explore more of my ethical and sustainable approach, you can do so here and you can learn a little more about me and Ara the altar here.

For now, have a lovely day.

Lauren

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