A look back | The Listening Line Artist’s Retreat
Earlier this month, we welcomed artist and teacher Julianne Ross Allcorn to Rockley for The Listening Line – a three-day workshop exploring drawing, observation and the practice of paying closer attention.
Autumn was at its most generous. Poplars turning gold along the creek. Maple leaves catching fire in the afternoon light. Fallen leaves gathering beneath old trees and the air carrying that unmistakable scent of wood smoke and the season turning.
At first glance it was a workshop about drawing. In reality, it was something quieter than that.
Julianne's invitation was simple: slow down. Look longer. Notice shape before detail, light before certainty and the relationships between things that often go unseen in the rush of daily life.
For three days, sketchbooks travelled between the Atelier, the village streets and the autumn landscape surrounding us. Participants wandered beneath avenues of yellowing elms, paused beside creeks edged with fallen leaves and settled into corners of the village to record what they saw.
There was no pressure to create finished work. Instead, the focus was on curiosity, observation and learning to trust the hand to follow the eye.
Back in the Atelier, long tables filled with sketchbooks, charcoal, watercolours and conversation. Colour studies sat alongside loose marks and written notes. Drawings emerged slowly, each one a record not only of place, but of attention.
A highlight of the weekend was an extended life drawing session in the Rockley School of Arts. Under Julianne's gentle guidance, participants explored gesture, composition and form, learning how observation can deepen when we allow ourselves time to truly look.
As always, gathering around the table formed part of the experience. Lunch beneath the trees, shared platters, cake, tea and conversation became an extension of the workshop itself – another opportunity to pause, connect and pay attention to the moment at hand.
What emerged over the weekend was not simply a collection of drawings, but a deeper engagement with place. A reminder that creativity often begins with noticing: the curve of a branch, the colour of a weathered wall, the way light moves across a landscape, or the shape of a shadow falling across a page.
By the end of the workshop, sketchbooks were fuller, observations sharper and autumn a little more deeply seen.
The leaves continue to fall now. The season is folding itself away for another year. But the practice remains – to slow down, look carefully and listen for what the landscape might be trying to tell us.
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If this sounds like your kind of weekend, we'd love you to join us sometime. Subscribe to our mailing list for first access to future workshops, retreats and gatherings in Rockley.
With thanks to the team at The Rockley Pub for the beautiful catering throughout the weekend and to Geri Mangrai for her generous help behind the scenes.
