Cyanotype Workshops · Swansea, Wales
Intimate cyanotype workshops on the Gower Peninsula — guided by artist Nathalie Stone, using botanicals gathered from the shore.
In groups of three to six, you’ll coat paper with a 180-year-old photographic chemistry, arrange sea-gathered plants and ferns, and let Welsh sunlight burn the image into existence. Every print is unrepeatable. You take it home the same day. Workshops from £50 per person.
The Process
Cyanotype is one of the oldest photographic processes — invented in 1842. No darkroom. No chemicals you can’t pronounce. Just sunlight, water, and patience.
Walk the shoreline or woodland trail. Collect ferns, grasses, shells, feathers — whatever the coast offers today.
Coat watercolour paper with light-sensitive solution, lay your botanicals, and place the frame in direct Welsh sunlight.
Submerge the exposed sheet in water. Watch the unexposed chemistry wash away and Prussian blue appear before your eyes.
Your print darkens and deepens over 24 hours. Frame it, gift it, or keep it as proof the sun was there.
The Places
Every workshop is shaped by the landscape it happens in. Two locations, two moods — both unmistakably Gower.
“The Gower isn’t the backdrop. It’s the co‑author.”
Workshops
Both workshops include all materials, guided instruction, and prints to take home. No experience needed.
Penllergaer Woodland Centre
A half-day session in the woodland gardens. Forage for botanicals along the waterfall trail, then create 3–4 sun prints using traditional cyanotype chemistry. Suitable for complete beginners.
Art Cabin Studio
The most personal experience. Work in Nathalie’s private hillside studio with hand-picked materials, homemade Welsh cake, and unhurried creative guidance for up to three guests.
About Nathalie
Born in Switzerland, Nathalie Stone moved to Swansea in 1987 and found her creative home on the Gower Peninsula. The coastline, the light, the wildflowers — everything she prints begins with what the landscape offers.
She discovered cyanotype through a love of botanical illustration and never looked back. The process felt honest: no digital manipulation, no Photoshop, just chemistry and sunlight producing irreplaceable one-off prints.
Today she runs intimate workshops from Penllergaer Woodland Centre and her own Art Cabin studio, guiding small groups through the same process that captivated her years ago. She also creates original prints, scarves, notebooks, and gifts — all rooted in the Gower’s botanical palette.
What People Say
I came thinking I’d make a nice picture. I left feeling like I’d learned to see light differently. Nathalie is a wonderful teacher.
Sarah M.
Cyanotype Workshop, Penllergaer
We booked the Art Cabin for my mum’s birthday. The cake, the setting, the prints — all perfect. Mum cried. In a good way.
Jo & friends
Art Cabin Studio
I’ve done workshops all over the UK. This was different. It wasn’t just the technique — it was the place. The ferns. The light through the valley. Magical.
Rachel T.
Cyanotype Workshop, Penllergaer
What You Take Home
3–4 unique cyanotype prints made by your own hands with sunlight and botanical specimens.
All chemistry, watercolour paper, and pressing materials provided. Just bring yourself.
Learn enough to continue experimenting at home. The chemistry is available online for a few pounds.
"I made this with sunlight" is the kind of story people actually want to hear.
These are not prints you bought. They are prints you made.
Questions
Shop
Original cyanotype artwork, wearable prints, and botanical gifts — all made by Nathalie in her Gower studio.
Ready to Create?
Two locations. Two moods. Both end with prints only you could have made.
Up to 6 guests · £50/person
Half-day in the woodland gardens. Forage, print, and take home your own cyanotypes.
Claim My Woodland SeatUp to 3 guests · £150/group
Nathalie’s private hillside studio. Homemade cake, hand-picked materials, total creative freedom.
Reserve My Studio SessionThe Gower will still be there. The light changes daily. Come while it’s this exact light.
