Welcome to
the Asterion Journal
Inspired by heritage.
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Curious about what endures.
What is worth carrying forward?
We explore the people, places and ideas that continue to enrich modern life, helping us work well, make well and live well. Together.
What is worth carrying forward?
What an old house taught me about leadership, stewardship and the responsibility we have to leave the people, places and organisations entrusted to us stronger than we found them.
The Quiet Strength of Camaraderie
What fifteen years in a remarkable global community of founders taught me about leadership, generosity and the emotional heart of every great organisation.
Two meetings, thirty years apart, that shaped how I think about leadership
Some leadership lessons stay with us for a lifetime. Two meetings, nearly thirty years apart, taught me that the best leaders aren't defined by always having the answer, but by creating the conditions where better answers can emerge together.
In conversation with Julia Blaker, Cut-Out Artist, Mixed-Media Painter, Folk-Art Storyteller
Julia talks about her creative process, working with paper and paint, and finding beauty in the overlooked details of home and harvest. A reflection on slowness, craft and seeing afresh.
Join us for a Special Book Club Evening: A Frome Boyhood with Caroline Greenman
Join us on 7 July for a free evening exploring Edwardian Frome through the memoir of Arthur Crocker, presented by his granddaughter Caroline Greenman.
Asterion in a China Shop | Coming Soon
From rich cobalt blues and soft sage greens to dramatic black Jasperware, these sculptural ceramic forms once defined the height of neoclassical taste. At Asterion & Co., we’re exploring these extraordinary objects not as museum pieces, but as atmosphere: layered with candlelight, wood panelling, scent, colour and contemporary interiors.
The collection will launch soon through a dedicated Asterion shop, alongside editorial features exploring the history, symbolism, modellers and stories behind the pieces themselves.
Botanical Casting: Where Science Meets Craft
Botanical casting sits at the meeting point of science and craft, translating fleeting plant forms into enduring plaster reliefs. From ancient traditions to contemporary practice, the article traces a quiet lineage of observation, material exchange and making. At Asterion & Co., this history continues through hands-on workshops that invite close looking, patience and care.
In conversation with Clare Mahoney, Ceramic Artist and Botanical Casting Tutor
In Clare Mahoney’s work, fragility and resilience are held in careful tension. Through botanical casting and porcelain, delicate natural forms are translated into objects of quiet strength — inviting us to slow down, look closely, and make with attention.
Getting Ahead in the Vegetable Garden: The Ancient Art of Spring Preparation
Soil, structure and timing sit at the heart of the spring garden. Long before the first sowings take hold, there is a quieter, more deliberate phase of preparation that determines everything that follows. This is the moment to read the ground, to understand its readiness, and to shape the season ahead with intent rather than urgency.
Soft Fruit in Britain: Lineage, Movement and the Making of the Kitchen Garden
Soft fruit in Britain is a layered inheritance, from woodland plants gathered in the wild to carefully refined crops of the kitchen garden. What we grow today reflects centuries of selection, exchange and deliberate care.
Planting Potatoes: Reading the Season, Not the Calendar
You can plant potatoes into early May, extending your cropping season. It all depends on your soil conditions. Let Chris Smith explain…
The Watching Sky: Birds of Prey in Art Across Time
With our upcoming bird of prey painting course, we return to this subject not only through practice, but through its lineage in art. Alongside working from life, we trace how artists across centuries have approached the raptor, from the precision of early natural history to the charged atmospheres of Romantic painting and the distilled forms of modernism. It offers a way of situating your own work within a longer tradition, understanding not just how to paint the bird, but how it has been seen, interpreted and reimagined over time.
Stitching Time Back into Cloth: Sashiko, Denim, and the Philosophy of Repair
An exploration of Japanese Sashiko as a philosophy of repair rather than decoration — tracing its rural origins, its meeting with denim, and what it can teach us about care, longevity and attention. A meditation on mending as stewardship, and on learning to see wear not as failure, but as history.
In conversation with Emilie Ma, Textile Artist & Sashiko Practitioner
Textile artist and sashiko practitioner Emilie Ma reflects on the culture of repair, the lessons she absorbed while living in Beijing, and why the simple act of stitching can become an expression of care, patience and renewal. Her work reminds us that every stitch strengthens not only the fabric in our hands, but the attention we bring to making.
Join Us Each Month for Our Free Book Circle or Poetry Circle
Join us at The Old Vicarage in Leigh-on-Mendip, Somerset, the home of Asterion & Co. for our monthly Book or Poetry Circle.
The Evergreens of Christmas: A Heritage of Greenery and Symbolism
Asterion & Co. invites you to bring the green indoors — craft wreaths, paint your own seasonal botanicals Christmas card, all honouring Christmas traditions.
Neil Crump — Founder, Asterion & Co.
Neil Crump, Founder of Asterion & Co., blends a background in biology, art, and communications to create meaningful experiences in Somerset. Rooted in craftsmanship and connection, his story inspires Asterion’s philosophy of living, making and doing things well.
In conversation with Kate Charlton, Botanical Illustrator & Greeting Card Business Owner
Botanical illustrator and card designer Kate Charlton brings her painter’s eye and florist’s sensitivity to every petal she paints. From her Somerset studio to The Old Vicarage in Leigh-on-Mendip, she shares how emotion, craftsmanship, and quiet confidence shape her work — and her upcoming Asterion & Co. Christmas Card Course.
Our Heritage-Inspired Learning™ Manifesto and Guilds
Heritage-Inspired Learning™ is Asterion & Co.’s signature way of sharing knowledge and experiences — taking the best of traditional skills, practices and aesthetics and pairing them with contemporary insights, techniques and thinking. It’s learning rooted in the wisdom of the past, yet shaped for the needs and creativity of today.
Recipe: Grape and Cucamelon Chutney
What do you go when the kitchen garden produces a mini mountain of produce? A preserve is my go to. Grapes and cucamelons make a delicious rich chutney that smells and tastes like heaven.
Upcoming Courses at Asterion & Co. in Leigh-on-Mendip, Somerset
Places are limited and each course is carefully prepared. We encourage you to review our Terms & Conditions before booking. By booking, you agree to them and to the principles that shape our courses.
Seated lunch | Afternoon tea | Small-group
Led by Julia Blaker, Folk Artist and Painter specialising in cut-out and sculptural painted forms, with heritage context from Neil Crump, Founder of Asterion & Co.
Create a bold sculptural fruit triptych inspired by colour, rhythm and summer abundance.
Design and paint three connected fruit forms that will be laser-cut and box framed as a single artwork.
Take home a finished sculptural piece shaped by confident colour, pattern and composition.
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Spend the day moving between studio, conversation and creative play in this immersive mixed-media masterclass at The Old Vicarage.
Working from the rich visual language of summer fruit, you’ll explore still life as a subject filled with symbolism, pleasure and form. Guided by Julia Blaker’s distinctive folk-inspired approach, you’ll design and paint three separate but connected fruit forms conceived together as one sculptural composition.
Working on pre-gessoed wooden boards, you’ll be encouraged to move intuitively between the pieces, allowing colour, shape and pattern to echo across the set. The emphasis throughout is not realism, but character: simplified silhouettes, confident mark-making and a strong visual dialogue between the forms.
Asterion & Co. will frame the day with a short contextual session exploring fruit in historical still life painting and decorative arts, from abundance and symbolism to colour, domesticity and display. After the workshop, your painted forms will be professionally laser-cut and assembled into a single box-frame triptych.
What you will learn
Explore fruit as a still-life subject rich in symbolism and form
Develop confidence in colour, pattern and simplified composition
Learn how to create visual rhythm across multiple connected pieces
Work intuitively with shape, silhouette and painted surface
Understand how sculptural painted forms are developed and assembled
Create a coherent triptych designed for box-frame presentation
How the day unfolds
Warm welcome and introduction
Contextual session on fruit in still life and decorative art
Introduction to composition, colour and sculptural form
Morning studio session developing painted fruit panels
Seated seasonal lunch and time to pause
Afternoon refinement and compositional development
Final finishing touches and preparation for laser cutting and framing
What you’ll leave with
A completed painted fruit triptych professionally laser-cut and framed
Greater confidence in colour, composition and sculptural painting
A deeper understanding of still life and decorative form
A playful and restorative day of creative making
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Workshop Details
Date: Wednesday 9th September 2026
Time: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location: The Old Vicarage, Leigh-on-Mendip, Somerset
Price: £295 per person
Includes: Full tuition, all prepared materials, laser cutting, box-frame presentation of your finished triptych, refreshments throughout the day, a seated seasonal lunch and afternoon tea
Booking terms
By booking, you are entering into an agreement with Asterion & Co. in accordance with our Terms & Conditions, including our cancellation policy and course guidelines.
This masterclass combines Julia Blaker’s distinctive folk-art practice with Asterion’s Heritage-Inspired Learning™ philosophy, creating a day of thoughtful making, colour exploration and sculptural creativity.
About Julia Blaker
Julia Blaker is a painter and folk artist known for her distinctive cut-out works that sit between painting, sculpture and illustration. Her practice is rooted in simplicity of form, strong colour relationships and a playful yet considered approach to subject matter.
Drawing on traditions of folk art, modernist abstraction and narrative still life, Julia encourages intuitive decision-making and confident expression through layered colour, shape and composition.
Read more about Julia in The Asterion Journal.
Need accommodation nearby?
Click here for a list of places to stay overnight before or after your course that we know well and would recommend.
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Still Have a Question?
Our Workshop FAQs explain what to expect during the day, who our workshops are for, and practical details including refreshments, accessibility and parking.
→ Workshop FAQs: Your Questions Answered