Textile designer, Sarah Campbell was the co-founder of the renowned design partnership Collier Campbell with her sister Susan Collier. We were fortunate to have her hosting a 4-day workshop in 2025 and are excited about her return to teach again in June 2026.
She will be teaching two workshops running over two consecutive weeks. This first week, an ‘Introduction to Fabric Painting” is a prequel to the second week. that was such a success last year. The second week (see more details here) will be a follow on from the Introduction; developing ideas and designs to produce a large piece of painted fabric to use in a project.
The “Introduction to Fabric Painting” June 2026 workshops will be running on Monday 1st to Friday 5th. There will be a day off on Wednesday 3rd to explore the local area, relax at the house and think about your creative ideas. Sunday 31st May and Saturday 6th become travel days to and from Malbosc.
All abilities welcomed, all materials provided.
Sarah says, “I'll be teaching about pattern and painting on fabric at Malbosc, a grand old farmhouse in rural SW France. Please join me in discussing, inventing, understanding, painting and making pattern and colour on cloth, as well as having time to explore and enjoy the extensive grounds and locality. Join me for a week of hand painting on fabric, where I'll be sharing the techniques I have learnt and invented during my long career painting patterns for textiles. Rather than following rigid rules, we will be explore ideas, possibilities, examples, with the freedom to understand the rhythms of design and to embrace the happy accidents along the way.
I will be helping participants to build confidence in mark making and composition rather than focusing on drawing skills. If you love pattern and cloth and want to learn hand painting techniques this is the workshop for you!
All equipment will be provided including a selection of fabric paints, paper, fabric to practice on, and either a tote bag, fabric bunting or a length of fabric for the finished piece. Participants are welcome to bring any references that personally inspire them or take inspiration from my collection of past work.
“Please join me at this fully catered residential retreat to discuss, invent, understand, paint and make pattern and colour on cloth, as well as have time to explore and enjoy the extensive naturally conserved grounds and locality around Malbosc, a grand old farmhouse and hamlet in SW France. Just lolling about in the evenings is also an option!
This retreat is costed in an unusually imaginative way; here is what our hosts have to say:
“Malbosc is a large old house built at the end of the 19th century and formerly used as a summer home for a wealthy wine growing family escaping the heat of the Mediterranean plain. Its lavishly styled beginnings are still a feature of the house with wood panelled rooms, elegant mosaic floors and fabric covered walls. Its peaceful, rural setting adds to the magic of the place.
It is important to us that the house has some purpose. ‘Cultural centre’ is rather too grand a name but we decided to invite people - artists, writers, musicians, yoga teachers - to run workshops, hold concerts, lead groups of any kind either for the day or for several days which bring people together to share the space and the activity. In order to make the workshops accessible to as many people as possible we decided not to charge for the accommodation.
So if you join one of the workshops here all we ask for the ‘hotel services’ is a contribution towards the costs of running the place during your stay (electricity, insurance, laundry, any cleaning necessary etc). You will, of course, pay for the tuition, your meals, any trips out, and transport from local airports/stations.
Behind this decision to run Malbosc on a non-commercial basis lies the belief that sharing this magnificent place with others without seeking personal financial gain creates an atmosphere which helps bring out the better side of ourselves, be that expressed creatively, or in the warmth of the relationships which develop during the period of the workshops, or in something taken away and then shared with others. Each year we support a different charity and if, at the end of your stay, you feel like giving a donation you will already be spreading some good in the world.
A last word from Sarah “We humans are born creative and inquisitive creatures – otherwise why would we ever learn to crawl? Sadly that urge sometimes gets squashed by what seem like the practicalities of life. But my belief is that our creativity is the essence of being human: whether it's to think how to make the best cheese sandwich, or eke out the household budget, or mend a sock, or put the daisies in a jamjar prettily, or paint the fence or make a whole new dress – imagination and your own point of view are key. So get in touch with what you know you love, have faith in yourself, be courageous and go/grow from there.”
For further details, pease get in touch directly with Marguerite Paffard at marguerite.paffard@icloud.com
Both English and French spoken.