3:00 pm | Arrival and settle into accommodations
7:30 pm | Aperitivo & dinner at Case Vecchie
9:00 am | Breakfast
9:50 am | Garden tour
10:30 am | Introduction to Juncus/fine rush and making cordage
1:00 pm | Lunch
3:00 pm | Making ink from local plants
4:00 pm | Visit the winery Tasca d’Almerita, optional walk back through the vineyards
7:00 pm | Aperitivo & dinner at Case Vecchie
8:00 am | Optional early morning walk to collect Asphodel
9:00 am | Breakfast
10:30 am | Weaving small rush cheese moulds
12:30 pm | Aperitivo and lunch
Free time for rest or painting with inks
4:30 pm | Continue weaving rush cheese moulds
5:30 pm | Brush Binding
6:00 pm | Making ink from local plants
7:30 pm | Aperitivo & dinner at Case Vecchie
8:45 am | Departure to visit Filippo the local shepherd
12:30 pm | Sicilian Cheese Tasting and lunch at Case Vecchie
Free time for rest or painting with inks
4:30 pm | Ink making using local plants
6:00 pm | Weaving pasta boards
7:00 pm | Aperitivo & dinner at Case Vecchie
9:00 am | Breakfast
10:00 am | Painting the tablecloth with plant inks
10:30 am | Sicilian Cooking Lesson, Pasta making
12:30 pm | Aperitivo and lunch
Free afternoon for painting with inks
7:30 pm | Final Dinner
9:00 am | Breakfast
10:00 am | Goodbyes and departure
Planned activities and schedules may change at short notice due to seasonal rhythms of life in Sicily.
Accommodation
5-night stay at Case Vecchie or in one of the nearby cottages.
Shuttle Transfer
Group shuttle service from/to Roccapalumba train station, upon request.
Meals
All meals are included. Lunch and dinner are served with wines from the Tasca d’Almerita estate. Typical menus and cooking lessons feature three or four courses.
Excursions
Guided visits and local experiences as indicated in the program.
Lessons
All cooking classes and other activities specified in the course schedule.
Transportation
Private transportation to and from Case Vecchie is not included. Take a look here to know what is the best way to reach us.
Flight
Airfare is not included.
Insurance
Travel insurance must be arranged independently by participants.
Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate guests with celiac disease or a vegan diet due to the limited availability of specific ingredients in our rural and isolated location.
Spend a gentle, immersive week on the beautiful island of Sicily exploring two intertwined traditions: simple basketmaking techniques and the art of making inks from foraged plants.
While Sicily is well known for its culinary heritage, this workshop also invites you to discover how plants have long supported both craft and cooking.
Each day, we’ll ease into relaxed, hands-on taster sessions. You’ll learn simple basketmaking processes such as making cordage, plaiting, and sewing, and you’ll create small bottomless rush cheese-moulds along with a series of sample pieces. Alongside this, we’ll explore the alchemy of natural colour, gathering local plants and turning them into a palette of inks. Over the week you’ll make several inks, experimenting with mark-making and playful surface design.
Food remains at the heart of our time together. We’ll walk the land and spend time in the garden observing edible and useful plants, weave our own pasta-making boards, and enjoy the patterns they imprint on fresh dough. A visit to a local cheesemaker will bring your handmade moulds to life and invite conversations around traditional versus modern food practices.
This is an unhurried week with room for curiosity and self-directed exploration. In the quieter unstructured moments, you’re free to wander, experiment further with your inks, revisit a technique, or simply rest and take in the landscape.
By the end of our time together, you will leave with a rich collection of samples, handmade inks, impressions, and experiences—evidence of a playful, exploratory journey into the plants and traditions that shape Sicilian craft and cooking.
Please read through the full schedule to get a sense of the range and rhythm of the activities offered throughout the week.
Studio AMOS is a small but mighty craft studio in the South East of England, founded by Annemarie O’Sullivan and Tom McWalter. Together they grow, harvest, and work with local materials to create pieces ranging from functional baskets and statement lighting to large-scale installations. Annemarie is an Irish basketmaker whose work is rooted in traditional techniques and the natural materials she cultivates by hand. Growing multiple varieties of willow and working with coppiced wood, she creates baskets, lighting, and sculptural forms shaped by the landscape and agricultural craft traditions. Tom works closely with Annemarie to develop new forms and turn ideas into finished objects. His design approach blends drawing, curiosity, and practical problem-solving, with a strong interest in how materials behave. His explorations also include natural ink making as another way to understand the landscape. Together as Studio Amos, Annemarie and Tom create work that emerges directly from place, material, and tradition—objects that carry the quiet strength of the land from which they are made.
The majority of the website showcases the beautiful photography of Anne Embrun. Other photos are done by the Anna Tasca Lanza team and staff.
The visual identity and website were designed by StudioForward.