Tomorrow's work - welldressing, a derbyshire tradition

.....or should I say a bit later on today I will load the bigger frame into my car and drive over to my colleague"s house where we will fill the frame with clay - after we have "puddled" it. This makes it an easier consistency to work with. After filling the frame we smooth the surface of the clay and draw the design onto it. On Wednesday we will take it to a primary school where 2 classes are going to learn about welldressing and help us to decorate the design using, flower petals, leves, seeds, berries. small cones, gravel etc. You can find more out about welldressing on this site and see the Derby welldressing from last year
http://www.welldressing.com/photo.php?year=2008&id=37
ready for puddling clay

taken last year - one of the Tissington welldressings
A close up- if you click on this photo you can see how the individual petals are placed on the clay overlapping each other like roof tiles, a labour of love I can tell you.
Traditionally pictures depicted religious themes, but modern ones often celebrate some anniversary or theme. The one we are doing with the school is celebrating the Nottingham tram system - Tram travellers.