nancy-violet downs

My creative practice extends into shared spaces for gathering, connection, and collective care. Through workshops, reading groups, and events, I invite participants to explore, create, and reflect together. These offerings are grounded in intuition, feminist ecologies, and the rhythms of the seasons, with a focus on social connection and wellbeing through creativity.

Each session is designed to be accessible and inclusive, creating opportunities for social connection and wellbeing through creativity. Whether exploring ancient rituals, crafting with natural materials, or engaging with thought-provoking texts, these gatherings offer a chance to pause, reflect, and reconnect—both with ourselves and the world around us. All events are offered on a pay-as-you-can basis, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to join, regardless of their circumstances.

I welcome you to join this ongoing journey of collective creativity and connection.

This workshop was an offering of care, creativity, and connection, rooted in the shifting rhythms of the seasons. We opened with a heart-centre meditation led by experienced practitioner Anna, with the resonance of singing bowls guiding participants into stillness before moving into making.

Using materials I dyed by hand with natural pigments, participants explored tactile processes such as flower pounding, embroidery, and automatic writing—acts of devotion, reflection, and storytelling. Creativity became a site of shared presence, where making together nurtured both individual and collective wellbeing.

The workshop, like all my offerings, was made accessible through a pay-as-you-can structure, ensuring that community and connection remain at the heart of the practice.

Marking the longest night of the year, this gathering wove together ritual, creativity, and community in an intimate space of reflection and renewal. We began with a guided meditation and drumming session led by an experienced practitioner, grounding ourselves in the turning of the seasons before moving into collective making.

Participants worked with naturally dyed fabric—prepared by hand through slow, alchemical processes—to create amulet tapestries using flower pounding, embroidery, and automatic writing. These small talismans held personal intentions for the cycle ahead, bridging ancient traditions with contemporary ritual.

The evening unfolded around a shared space of warmth and connection, with live music evoking the spirit of a winter fire-side gathering.

As we walked across Hackney Marshes at a misty 5.39am, 20th March, dark and light delicately balanced behind pink clouds and 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 was activated through sunrise parade for the 2025 spring equinox. 

Made for wedontknowwhatthisis sunrise gathering (taking place every equinox and solstice on Hackney Marshes), the flag invites ritual of holding up to the sun to allow it to pass through, honouring the cycle and marking our journey in the rhythm of the cosmos. Echoing the alignment of stone henge with the solstice sun, suncatcher allows us to reconnect with the seasons and each other, working together to hold the flag up to the sky in a simple act of re-enchantment. 

Something ancient within us, invites us to gather, look at that star, and be together. 

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Learn more about wedontknowwhatthisis here

See Tom Price's photography here

A space for collective thought, conversation, and slow, embodied learning.

We explore texts on folklore, feminist ecologies, and contemporary spiritualities, grounding discussions in the rhythms of the seasons and our own lived experiences. Rather than traditional academic analysis, we approach reading as an intuitive and communal act—allowing ideas to unfold through shared reflection, storytelling, and creative response.

I first organised this reading group in my final year of my Fine Art degree in Bournemouth, and it has since moved to London, continuing as a free and open gathering for all. This is an open space for anyone looking to engage with ideas in a welcoming, conversational setting, where learning and connection remain at the heart of the practice.