Beatrice Searle and Ellie Evelyn Orrell Chaired by David Isaac

Writer, artist and stonemason Beatrice Searle and artist and designer Ellie Orrell reflect on their work and the transformative and healing power of art and craft.

Searle’s Stone Will Answer is centred around a 1,300-mile journey she made at the age of 26 from Orkney across Norway and back with a 40kg piece of Orkney stone. She talks of the people she met along the way, about the craft of stonemasonry and about solidity and transience, resilience, nomadism, belonging, and our desire to put down roots. Searle is originally from Cardiff but is now an artist and stone mason based in Scotland.

Orrell’s An Indigo Summer is a lyrical memoir of a summer spent in Wales with her mother following the death of a father and grandfather. It was a summer spent learning to work with indigo dye and seeing the power and process of creativity in times of mourning and recovery and how the patterns and routine of daily life are an important backdrop to the art we create. Orrell is an artist and designer who grew up in a small village in Wales.

Discussions will be chaired by the Provost of Worcester College David Isaac.