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Inks and Ochres:

An introduction to foraged colour

Just wonderful ! Clarissa Grandi - Autumn 2021

with Daniel Docherty and Vija Docherty 

24 - 26 May 2024

10:00-17:00   Cost: £245  Book Today​​ 

SAOG Studios 

Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK

A practical and participatory three-day introductory course for anyone wanting to develop a deeper relationship to ink and ochre. We will walk in the beautiful Ashdown Forest and High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; we will reverently forage minerals and materials which we will transform - through various alchemical processes - into pigment, paint and ink. These endeavours will be accompanied by exercises in contemplative pattern making and nature inspired studies in various mediums including traditional watercolour and egg tempera.

This course has been utter joy. 

Connecting Mother Earth's gifts - to heavenly precision and motion ...

The facilitators a constant source of support and inspiration.

I can thoroughly recommend this course.

Jo - Spring 2023 

A sanctuary of inspiration ... 

it's been a revelation. Thank you so much for this rich, heartfelt and generous time.

Such a meaningful three days.

Ruby Taylor - Spring 2023 

Thanks so much for these wonderful days. Another outstanding course with exceptional teachers!

It was relaxing and full of precious information and doing at the same time.

Monika - Spring 2023 

The Inks and Ochres course has been a wonderfully nourishing, joyful and dynamic learning experience for me.

I absolutely enjoyed the experiential interactive and nature-oriented elements of the course.

Thank you so much.

Niloufar - Autumn 2022 

Thank you both for a weekend of gentle yet industrious interaction with many important soul feeding forces, exploration and wonder, relationships and contribution, creation and contemplation  ... Sarah Francis - Autumn 2021

a HUGE THANK YOU for the weekend Ink and Ochres course at SAOG Studios ...

 I LOVED everything about it! It felt a real privilege to have both Daniel and Vija teaching at the same time! ... The foraging walk was fab! Making the inks and Ochres brilliant, and my favourite bit ... playing with the paint and especially the egg as the medium was absolutely wonderful.

Sara Hall - Autumn 2021

Handmade Paints at SAOG Studios

From Genesis to Revelation:

Chartres, Story and Sacred Geometry

with Daniel Docherty and Roi Gal-Or
Bookings closed7 - 18 June 2023 
SAOG Studios (Ruskin East) and Chartres, France 
  Cost: £970  
Details/Bookings

Join Daniel Docherty (SAOG Studios co-founder and senior tutor),

Roi Gal-Or (International School of Storytelling co-founder) and guests, for this inspirational course/pilgrimage. The initial six days of the course will be held at

Emerson College, UK. The culminating five/six days of the programme

will take place in and around the Cathedral of Chartres, France.

Alchemy of Pigment and Pattern
with David Cranswick PhD and Daniel Docherty

3 - 7 July 2023


SAOG Studios 

Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
  Cost: £385  Details/bookings

I’m so grateful for this week. I’m leaving feeling alive, centred, and present. It’s incredibly inspiring;

the amount of opportunities to expand my awareness that this course provides and encourages.

I have learned so much and my confidence in working with pigments has developed beyond any expectation;

and my love affair with geometry has been kindled … Rebecca Gilling Dec. 2022

Alchemy of Pigment and Pattern

Learn the alchemy and processes involved in making your own set of watercolour and gouache paints.

The roots, berries and minerals that we will be precipitating, grinding and binding, all have

layered correspondences that link to the planetary archetypes.

Using compasses and straight-edge we will create mandalas that also resonate with the planetary patterns.

The symbolism and character of colour in different traditions will be explored as we apply our paints to patterns to reveal works of dazzling beauty to adorn the home and nourish the soul.

'I leaned more in five days than in three years of Art at university'  June 2018 course participant

Feedback past course

'... beyond expectations ...'

'What a wonderful couple of days!

Thanks so much. You hit the "beginners" note perfectly.

So much fascinating information. I really hope to be back for more ...'

'Heartfelt philosophy that resonates with our deepest wish expressed through design, colour and skilled instruction.

Who could not feel gratitude at this sharing.'

'Absolutely amazing and fantastic. I had a great weekend. I’ve been exploring geometry for just over a year now and this was a wonderful weekend of getting my foundation stones in a better order, sorted and a little more settled. I think it’s always good to revisit the fundamentals. I learnt so much and was reminded of a lot I had forgotten. I feel much more confident in my skills after the weekend. I’ll definitely be back to do another, it helped me put some of the pieces of the puzzle together. For me, it’s essential to remember the sacredness of these images every time I draw a pattern. It’s an adventure and an initiation into something magical and this weekend really brought that home to me. As ever Daniel, I’m truly grateful to you ... thank you so much for remaining open ... for holding the light and offering a portal to the divine for those who wish to step through it ...

It’s heaven on Earth! '

"I was astounded at how wonderful the sacred geometry weekend was! I had a feeling it would be magical, but we explored far more than I had expected we would, and feel so much more excited and confident in my ability to play with elegantly simple and intricately complex shapes and patterns.

Daniel is a fantastic teacher, with whimsical humour, simple instructions for all levels, excellent baking and coffee-making skills, and so much generosity of spirit and wisdom.

The SAOG studio is warmly inviting, and exquisite with its mix of timeless beauty in the form of books, art and natural art materials, tea and snack selection and large windows with natural light streaming in throughout the day. I would be content to live in such a space.

Who knew numbers and geometry could be so much fun? This weekend has opened my eyes to the awe-inspiring designs of Life and expressions of Love in ways that I didn't know existed!"

Click for further details and to view images from previous
 Alchemy of Pigment and Pattern courses
'I feel on the Alchemy of Pigment and Pattern course that I was really entering into a deep organic process that was steeped in tradition and spiritually. I found it tremendously inspiring, nurturing and a deeply powerful experience - amazingly good!'  Dec. 2017 course participant
Flowers in Stone
Stone Carving inspired by the Beauty of Nature and Medieval Foliage Designs
with Nicholas G Durnan

14 - 16 July 2023 

10:00-17:00   Cost: £285  bookings


SAOG Studios 

Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK

Stone Carving courses at SAOG Studios
Stone Carving courses at SAOG Studios
Stone Carving courses at SAOG Studios
Stone Carving courses at SAOG Studios

Explore the hidden geometry of flowers through the medium of stone. Our inspiration will be drawn from the living rhythms, forms and numbers expressed within the flower realm. The beauty of nature and medieval foliage designs and the rose rhythms and forms of Venus' dance around earth will also serve as our guide ...

Art and Craft of Labyrinth

with Daniel Docherty

17 - 21 July 2023 

SAOG Studios (Ruskin East)

Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK

10:00-17:00   Cost: £385  Last few places

Details/bookings
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Labyrinths have intrigued and inspired people the world over for several millennia.

During this week-long course we will undertake a deep dive into the mysteries of the labyrinth ... Our exploration will be philosophical and practical and by the end of the course participants will have drawn, using compasses and straightedge (and freehand!) several labyrinth designs both ancient and modern.

Mandalas of the World

with Daniel Docherty 

28 August - 1 September 2023

10:00-17:00   Cost: £385  Last few places

SAOG Studios 
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
Details/Bookings
New Jerusalem Diagram
Kiss of Venus at SAOG Studios
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Sacred Art of Geometry
Mandalas of the World at SAOG Studios

Mandalas, in essence, can be understood to be diagrams, patterns and pictures that are distillations

of cosmic wisdom and harmony; repositories of archetypal intelligence.

Mandalas offer a potentially powerful means of deepening one’s spiritual and contemplative practice.

This is especially true when they are constructed - using the traditional tools of compass and

straightedge - in a considered and contemplative manner.

During this week-long course, Daniel Docherty will guide participants through the construction of a number of mandalas from different traditions including mandalas that embody significant planetary patterns. We will explore their inherent symbolism and cosmic correspondences. Participants will

also make their our own inks and paints from plant and mineral in

order to colour and ensoul their designs. 

Soul Gardening

with Daniel Docherty​ and guest tutors

Further details forthcoming ...

6 - 10 September 2023

10:00-17:00   Cost: £385  Bookings

SAOG Studios (Ruskin East)

Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK

A week-long journey of re-attunement and resilience building through nature connection and creative soul craft, including: Art of Fermenting, Foraging, Wild Colour, Poetry, Paper Making, Book Binding, Basketry, Story, Sacred Geometry, Song and so much more ...

Islamic Geometry and Tile-Making

with Daniel Docherty

 18 - 22 Sept. 2023

10:00-17:00   Cost: £385  Bookings

SAOG Studios (Ruskin East)

Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK

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