The Art of Well Dressing

A Well Dressing is a picture wholly made up of natural materials on a base of clay housed within a wooden frame.The picture is a collage of flower petals, leaves, moss, bark, seeds etc. Of varying colours and textures which with the skill of the dressers bring the subject matter to life. Each Community has slight variations in the method used to make a dressing but the general principles are the same.The Wells are constructed of three main components:

1)The Wooden Frame - This gives the dressing its shape and structure. Each Well is made from a number of pieces, the frames are trays about 1 inch or 2.5cms deep. Each tray has hundreds of protruding nails onto which the clay is keyed to help prevent it falling out as it dries. In order to slow the drying process the boards may be soaked in a river or pond before the clay is loaded.

2) The Clay - is dug locally and “puddled” or mixed with water until it is of a smooth, plastic consistence. Some villages add salt to slow the drying out of the clay, then once the puddling is complete the clay is put into the wooden frame and the surface smoothed.

3) The Picture - A full scale outline drawing of the design is prepared on paper, this is laid onto the surface of the clay and the design transferred by cutting along the lines with a knife, awl or dressmakers wheel, the paper is then removed leaving the outline of the design on the clay.

Now the design is filled in, in some places all the outlines are emphasised with tiny alder cones, reeds bark or seeds, then, the longest lasting materials such as moss bark or dried petals are positioned and lastly the flowers. Some times whole heads are used but more often a mosiac of individual petals are individually applied to the clay.

Today many commercially grown flowers are used, each petal is laid onto the clay and fixed into place with slight pressure. The design is dressed from the bottom upwards with petals arranged like slates on a roof, overlapping to cover all the clay. The flowers are selected for their colour and lasting quality, some are too delicate and bruise easily. The favourite flower of all Well Dressers is the hydrangea with its lovely shades of blue, pink and white. Other flowers used are Gerbera, Chrysanthemums and Carnations eucalyptus, senecio and berberis leaves, parsley, crushed flouspar sweet cicerly seeds, sweet corn, sheep’s wool and hair.
For the finishing touches and to really bring any figures to life, in Buxton, one of the team dressers models all the faces, hands and feet out of clay.

The dressing usually lasts about a week but much depends on the weather conditions. A hot, dry week will soon take its toll on the dressing, causing it to crack and the colour to fade, but as nature takes its course, we soon look forward to next year and starting the process all over again.