The theme for Crich Well Dressings this year is Myths and Legends, and so our Learning Department decided to re-create a well dressing of The Green Man (which can be found as a wooden sculpture on our Woodland Walk and Sculpture Trail).
We like to think of the Green Man as the keeper of the woodland, awakening each spring, to bring new life to the plants and trees he cares for, and sleeping through the winter as the woodland rests.
The process of well dressing starts by soaking the clay for a week, following by ‘puddling’ the clay for a couple of hours to make it pliable and ready for working on.
A drawing was then made of the design required, and the outline pricked out into the clay, using a cocktail stick (or similar). The outline was then made visible using peppercorns and cloves.
Once the outline of the design is visible, the process of adding colour and texture with various petals and foliage begins.
Given that it is a ‘Green Man’ it was a challenge to try to introduce shades to show the lines of the face. Brighter colour was used for the background and the corporate logo colours of red and white were used to identify the well dressing.
The final stages included creating the logo with authentic colours and the whole well dressing was ready for display at Town End.
This will feature as part of the well dressing trail around Crich. You can purchase a trail booklet, containing details about where all the Crich well dressings are situated, from some of the local shops in Crich.
