Fermynwoods Contemporary Art

Curious about creative coding?

Join artist Oswin Tickler and Fermynwoods Contemporary Art for an experimental workshop exploring creative coding.

Using the free, open-source software Processing, Oswin will introduce you to the basics of coding for printmaking. You’ll experiment with colour, pattern and repetition, generate your own digital images and transform them into a unique single-sheet publication.

No previous coding experience is needed—just curiosity and a willingness to experiment.

Afterwards, your images will be transformed into single-sheet printed editions and posted to you—giving you a professionally produced outcome from the day.

📅 Saturday 12th September 2026, 10am–2pm
📍 East Carlton Country Park Cabin, LE16 8YF
🎟 Full workshop value: £100
💛 Pay What You Can
Suggested minimum contribution: £25

Thanks to support from the Northamptonshire Community Foundation Corporate Giving Network, we can offer this specialist workshop at a price that works for you.

Places are still available. Come and try something new—creative coding is far more accessible than you might think.

Book at - https://fermynwoods.org/digital-print-coding-workshop-oswin-tickler/

Join us at East Carlton Country Park for an experimental workshop exploring the basics of creative coding for digital print, with artist Oswin Tickler.

Hosted by Fermynwoods Contemporary Art at East Carlton Country Park, this experimental workshop introduces the fundamentals of creative coding using the free, open-source software Processing. You'll explore how simple code can generate unexpected visual outcomes, creating unique digital images for print.

No previous coding or programming experience is needed — this workshop is designed for complete beginners, as well as those curious about creative technologies.

During the session you will:

- learn the basics of creative coding using Processing software
- explore artist Oswin Tickler's work and approach to coding for print
- experiment with generating unique visual compositions through code
- create digital images that will form the basis of colourful prints

Following the workshop, your generated images will be compiled into single-sheet editions and posted to all participants after the workshop.

When? 10am - 2pm, Saturday 12h September 2026
Where? East Carlton Country Park Cabin

Everyone is welcome to attend Fermynwoods Contemporary Art workshops.

Places are offered on a Pay What You Can basis, thanks to support from the Northamptonshire Community Foundation Corporate Giving Network.
Full workshop value: £100
Suggested minimum contribution: £25

For further details and to book -
https://fermynwoods.org/digital-print-coding-workshop-oswin-tickler/

Our First HAF Summer!

Last week we were delighted to deliver our very first Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, welcoming young people aged 9–16 to our Art & Nature Club at East Carlton Country Park.

Led by artist Jack Halford, the four-day programme invited participants to slow down, look closely and discover the creative possibilities of the natural world. Together they explored printmaking, painting, photography and collaborative zine-making, while spending time outdoors, making new friends, supporting one another and building confidence through creativity.

From collecting leaves for cyanotypes and carving lino prints to creating expressive self-portraits and exploring the park with microscopes and cameras, it was wonderful to see the group embrace every challenge with curiosity, kindness and imagination.

One participant summed the week up perfectly:

“I really enjoyed the session today, especially being out in nature. It was really nice and very inspiring.”

And the impact continued long after the workshops had finished. One parent told us:

“My daughter had the best time this week and wouldn’t stop talking about how much fun she had!”

A huge thank you to Jack Halford for leading such an inspiring week, to East Carlton Country Park for providing such a beautiful setting, and to the Northamptonshire Holiday Activities and Food Programme for making this opportunity possible.

We look forward to welcoming even more young people on future creative adventures.

East Carlton Country Park - Cafe and Shops
Northamptonshire Sport

The devastating forest fires we are witnessing around the world have reminded us of Tipping Point, our immersive installation with Luke Jerram in Hazel and Thoroughsale Woods, Corby, at the end of last summer.

One comment we heard time and again was that the work was both beautiful and devastating. It invited people to experience, for a moment, the fear, grief and uncertainty that communities living through wildfires know all too well. Seeing the reality of these fires unfold again during this year's extreme heatwaves has been heartbreaking.

If you haven't already, we encourage you to watch the People's Emergency Briefing or organise a screening in your community. It is one of the clearest and most compelling ways to understand both the scale of the climate crisis and the action we can take together.

You can also listen to our feature-length Tipping Point podcast, which revisits the installation through a powerful soundscape of voices responding to fire and forest.

The episode features:
🔥 Sounds from Dan Jones' extraordinary original soundtrack, created for Tipping Point.
🌲 Reflections from visitors experiencing the installation in the woods.
🎙️ Conversations with artist Luke Jerram and Fermynwoods Trustee and Climate Psychologist Dr Siobhan Currie about how art can help us process the emotional realities of climate change while inspiring hope, connection and action.

Listen on Spotify, your favourite podcast platform, or via https://fermynwoods.org/fermynwoods-podcast-31-luke-jerram-dan-jones-siobhan-currie/



Northamptonshire Community Foundation

Fermynwoods would like to wish photographer and longstanding Fermynwoods supporter Andy Eathorne a very Happy 70th Birthday!

Andy’s passion for the arts is longstanding - he was the very first person through the doors when Tate Modern opened in 2000! He remains a wonderful supporter of Fermynwoods, generously sharing his depth of photographic knowledge, skills and expertise with us and the young people who attend Fermynwoods Alternative Provision.

Thank you, Andy, for your friendship and continued support.

We hope that you have a fantastic 70th birthday Andy!

_eathorne._photography

Thank you to everyone who joined us in Oundle last night for our screening of the People's Emergency Briefing.

It was incredibly encouraging to welcome more than 100 people from across Northamptonshire and Peterborough for an evening of learning, reflection and conversation about climate change, nature loss and what these challenges mean for our communities.

A huge thank you to Dr Siobhan Currie from the Climate Psychology Alliance and Fermynwoods Contemporary Art for expertly facilitating the evening alongside Mark Felton from DOCS+.

We're also grateful to our guest contributors:

Stuart Dainton, Head of Land Management & Estate, The National Forest
Sarah Parr, Flood Innovation Project Manager, Resilience and Innovation Northants (RAIN)
Tom Martin, farmer, counsellor and public speaker

along with Oundle Mayor and Town Councillor Max Schurer, Cllr Simon Fairhall (North Northamptonshire Council) and Robert Foskett, representing Labour MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire, Lee Barron.

It was a moving evening, made all the more inspiring by the number of passionate people who came together wanting to understand more and play a part in creating positive change.

If you'd like to continue the conversation, we've gathered together a range of resources and ideas for taking action: https://fermynwoods.org/peoples-emergency-briefing.

Two of the most powerful things you can do next are:

Organise a screening of the People's Emergency Briefing in your own community, workplace or organisation.

Support the call for a live televised emergency briefing by asking your MP to join the Parliamentary Call and checking whether they have already signed.

Find out more and take action here: https://www.nebriefing.org/take-action

As the academic year closes, we are incredibly proud to look back at the immense creativity and growth our students have shown. From traditional, land-based crafts to cutting-edge digital spaces, the cohort has collaborated with an exceptional lineup of contemporary artists, built technical skills, and achieved fantastic milestones.

Highlights include...
Award Success & Exhibitions: Two students achieved their nationally recognised Silver Arts Award, and student Summer’s screen prints were selected for exhibition and sale at the Rugby Art Gallery and Museum.

Alternative Photography & Material Painting: Students learned the entire cyanotype process with Jack Halford, and explored abstract, texture-led painting with Dale Holmes.

Sonic Exploration & Spoken Word: The group built tracks with Daniel Johnson, created electronic soundscapes with David Birchall, and transformed personal thoughts into powerful lyrics with rapper Quinton Jones.

Tactile Making & Contemporary Painting: Students sculpted raw clay with Lisa Lovett and returned to work with Jack Halford to blend spray paint and acrylics into a large-scale collaborative painting.

Textiles, Foraging & Traditional Crafts: The cohort designed and printed t-shirts with Mae Berrisford, foraged for natural inks and pigments with Georgina Barney, and mastered traditional willow weaving with Karina Thornton.

Digital Innovation: Students pushed physical and virtual boundaries with John Whall, using 3D scanning to turn handmade playdough sculptures into animated characters via Mixamo.

Reflecting on Success: At East Carlton Country Park, the group worked with Jack Halford and Suzanne Oliver to curate photo narratives and record voiceovers documenting their creative journeys.

A massive thank you to all of our visiting artists and, most importantly, to our students for their curiosity, collaboration, and outstanding creativity across the entire academic year!

In our latest workshop, students worked with award-winning spoken word artist, youth mentor and West Northants Male Role Model 2024, Quinton Green aka Mr Milise. Drawing on his own lived experience and years of work alongside prisons, police forces, charities and youth organisations, Quinton creates safe, non-judgemental spaces where young people can explore identity, emotions and life experiences through the power of creative writing.

Using music-led icebreakers, live performance and a mock podcast studio, students were encouraged to find their own voice in a completely pressure-free environment. Through mind-mapping, freewriting and spoken word, they developed original ideas for the upcoming David Laing CBE Young People Poetry Award, discovering that poetry can be as much about honesty and conversation as perfect spelling or grammar.

With the warm weather, the day was carefully adapted to support wellbeing, with regular hydration breaks, calming walks through the grounds of East Carlton Park and opportunities to pause and reflect between activities. The session concluded with one-to-one coaching in microphone technique and performance, helping each student build the confidence to share even a single line of their own writing and celebrate the courage it takes to be heard.



Northamptonshire Community Foundation

In our latest workshop, students worked with Karina Thornton from Whittle & Weave, an experienced crafter and facilitator deeply inspired by the natural world. With a strong background in environmental education and conservation, Karina advocates for the slow, methodical processes involved in basketry as a means of fostering a genuine, mindful connection to nature, encouraging the cohort to find harmony in the rhythmic work of bending sticks and twisting leaves.

During the session, students developed their tactile skills through two distinct weaving projects. They first focused on completing their willow bird feeders, learning how to manipulate natural materials to create functional, structural forms.

Following this, the group transitioned to working with bulrushes. This allowed the students to explore the unique textures and pliability of different botanical materials, further refining their understanding of traditional weaving techniques and the versatility of natural resources.