From late January to April 2026, as winter settled in, the Community Making Space here at SSW continued to offer a place for people to gather, make, and spend time together. We worked closely with our Community Advisers to shape the programme, building on what we had learned in the previous season and introducing changes in response to this. These included longer two part sessions and a continued focus on outdoor, seasonal activity. Despite, or because of, the colder weather, the space remained active and welcoming, with familiar faces returning each week alongside new neighbours joining for the first time. The result was a season that created space for warmth, creativity and connection, where making provided a way to connect with materials, with each other, and with the rhythms of the season.
Mid-Week Make
Mid Week Makes continued as a regular Wednesday evening space, offering time to explore materials and processes in a relaxed and supportive environment. This season introduced a series of two part sessions, allowing folks to spend longer developing skills and building confidence. From glass fusing and wheel throwing to drawing and mark making, people were able to return, pick up where they left off, and deepen their engagement with each process. The sessions balanced focused making with conversation, creating a moment in the middle of the week where people could pause, take time for themselves, and focus on making.
Throughout the programme, participants were introduced to a range of different processes and materials, supported by artists and facilitators who created a warm and encouraging environment for trying new things. Holly Cowie’s drawing sessions encouraged people to let go of expectations and explore more expressive approaches to mark making, using natural materials alongside charcoal and ink. In the ceramics sessions, people were introduced to throwing on the wheel and handbuilding, growing confidence over time and creating a range of vessels with guidance from SSW’s Ceramics Technician, Amy Benzie. A raku firing session offered more hands-on and experimental ways of working, with objects transformed through smoke and flame. Glass fusing, led by Hazel MacLennan, introduced a new material for many, with participants learning how to cut, layer and design with glass to create a range of colourful and individual tile pieces.
Thusday Club and the Materials Garden
Thursday Club continued as a weekly daytime space based in the Materials Garden, where participants came together to work, learn and spend time outdoors. Over the course of the Thursdays, there was a noticeable shift from planning what to do to the Materials Garden land, to observing and responding to what was already growing. This way of working was introduced early on through a session with Idle Women, who shared their approach to the development of a physic garden and the importance of slowing down, observing closely and working alongside the land. Guided by the question What Grows Here? each session built on the last, with the garden gradually taking shape through shared effort and ongoing care.
Artist Jessica Crisp worked with us to get to know the soil, carrying out sampling and learning more about soil health before identifying areas to support and enrich. This led to the beginnings of a renewed composting system, alongside plans for a shaded area to introduce a worm farm. The group also began harvesting woad, gathering leaves to build a supply for future dyeing.
Working with Jimmy and Kate from Cults Croft, our Thursday Club were introduced to dead hedging and created a sheltered area for composting and helping to shape a more sheltered area within the garden. It was striking how quickly the structure took shape over two sessions, with everyone contributing to its build.
Ellie Ballantine, our SGSAH Resdiency Artist, worked with the group to continue exploring what grows well in the garden, using red cabbage to test soil pH levels and work with these same samples as ink for a garden planning session. Later in the programme, Deeside Willow taught us how to make willow obelisks, which are now in place ready to support climbing plants as the growing season begins.
Alongside these sessions, folks carried out a range of winter tasks to prepare the garden for spring, planning what to grow and beginning to see the first signs of seasonal change, from early bulbs planted in the Autumn programme starting to emerge. The final session coincided with the time to tap our local birch for sap, with Thursday Club regular sharing his knowledge and guiding the group through different approaches to harvesting.
Each session was followed by a shared lunch, bringing together participants, artists and the SSW team. As the season shifted, we were able to enjoy our first outdoor lunch of the year, sitting in the sunshine, wrapped up in plenty of layers.
Clay Socials
Clay Socials continued as a monthly evening space for Lumsden residents to come together, offering a relaxed and sociable environment to spend time with neighbours while working with clay.
January began with making vessels, in February we introduced glazing, learning how to apply different finishes, experiment with oxides and understand the practical side of the process, including plenty of reminders about the importance of clean bottoms!
The preciseness of glazing was coupled with one of the messiest and most memorable moments of the programme, as we had a go at foot wedging. Clay quickly covered the floor of the studio, hands and feet and filled the space with mess, fun and energy – also giving a great way to get a feel for the material in a completely new way.
The final Social turned towards making for and with our local community, with people creating medals for the upcoming Run Lumsden event as part of the Mary Fair. With more entries expected this year, the space filled with activity as everyone worked together to produce a large number of medals for everyone who would complete the run in May.
Easter Holiday Kids Club
The Easter Holiday Kids Club brought days of making, exploring and spending time outdoors, with artist Ellie Ballantine joining the SSW team to think more about our neighbours – looking beyond the humans in Lumsden and into the wider natural world around us.
A lot of time was spent in the woods, getting out and really looking closely at what was there. Using lenses, the group zoomed in on tiny details, uncovering the complexity and beauty of plants, textures and small living things that could go unnoticed. We introduced cyanotype printing, using sunlight and gathered materials to create beautiful blue artwork. The club finished with a scavenger hunt, where clues led to making and decorating Easter wreaths for everyone to take home.
A massive thank you to all the artists and local knowledge holders who led sessions throughout the Winter Programme and to everyone to attended the sessions – it was great to spend time together during the colder days and darker evenings.
Looking ahead
We have been busy pulling together everyone’s ideas and planning the the Spring/Summer programme with our Community Advisors. The new programme starts in May and will be announced very soon, so keep a look out on our socials and the Community Making Space page here to find out more and get involved.
