A Postcard From the Barn - February 2026 - courses & exhibitions

Su France
Feb 24
2 min read

snowdrops &

places to go

The cold comes up through your jeans, the smell of the leaf litter fills your nose — dark and sweet and ancient, faintly mushroomy but not unpleasant, the quiet proof that the ground has been working away beneath the frost all along. Old bark and decomposing leaves lie right there in front of the lens, all russet and amber, last year's colours. While just beyond them snowdrops stand clean and white and entirely new.

Looking through the viewfinder with the light behind the flowers, the petals simply glow. They go translucent, paper-thin, the outer ones lifting and separating as though they might drift off altogether. And that green, at the base of each stem, in every new shoot, vibrant against all that white. There's no other green quite like it. It only exists in February and it only means one thing.

A goldcrest was a surprise, a flash of restlessness in the branches overhead that turned out to be the tiniest bird, working the bare branches with joyful energy, that little stripe of gold catching the light for a second before it vanished. I have some very blurred photos, but a sweet memory. They're not common in these woods.

Seeing one felt like a small treasure slipped into an already good day.

Leicester Print Works - a workshop with me...

The places for my From Plant to Print Summer School at the brilliant inky venue of Leicester Print Works have now been released..

Botanical printing with Gelli plates is endlessly surprising — no two prints are ever quite the same.

Working in a small, relaxed group, you'll build up layers of colour and texture, experiment with different plants and foliage, and find your own palette along the way. We'll talk about foraging responsibly, but mostly this course is about playing, discovering what happens, and taking real pleasure in the process.

By the end you'll have a collection of prints to take home, worked into collages and mounted pieces you'll actually want to put on a wall.

Suitable for beginners and those with some experience.

Taking place at Leicester Print Works, where I'm a member.

Find out more

The Light in Winter

I've added some prints using plants from my garden again. Winter Light shows those bare stems of fennel which until recently stood outside of my window giving insects and birds winter homes and food. If you'd like a closer look, click below.

Winter Light - Solar Plate Print 1/20

£55.00

First Light - Solar Plate Print AP

£55.00

Growth A Design Nation Group Exhibition

I'm delighted to share news of Growth, a new group exhibition by members of Design Nation Nottinghamshire (DN Notts).

Design Nation is a not-for-profit organisation connecting and championing UK craft and design since 1999. Regional groups like DN Notts bring creatives together to collaborate and develop new work.

As subscribers you're more than welcome to come to the private view, details below.