Ceramics inspired by nature

Create your own Green Man tile in this hands-on ceramic workshop. Sculpt foliage and features in clay, exploring ancient nature symbolism.

Includes all materials, glazing and kiln firing!

In this ceramic workshop, we’ll bring the ancient spirit of nature to life by crafting our own Green Man tile. You’ll learn basic tile-forming techniques and how to sculpt expressive foliage and facial features, blending leaves and vines into a face that feels both wild and wise.

This hands-on, earthy process is perfect for beginners and experienced makers alike. As part of Ōtautahi’s Heritage Festival in October, we’ll explore the Green Man’s symbolism as a guardian of the natural world.

Jane will take care of glazing and firing, and two weeks later you’ll collect your finished tile—glazed, imprinted with botanical patterns, and ready to display in your home or garden.

Tutor Jane McCulla

A ceramic artist, Jane McCulla graduated as a mature student with a 1st Class BA Hons in Fine & Applied Art at the University of Ulster, Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2006. Immigrating to NZ with her family in 2009, she established a home based studio in Riverton, Southland, supplying galleries with her ceramic pieces. A year later, she moved north to Christchurch.

Jane creates textured, stretched, stoneware clay vessels and forms at her home-based studio in Diamond Harbour, Canterbury. She imbues fluid textures on her stoneware pieces, suggesting geology, archaeology, and mankind’s marks on the landscape, fluxed over time.

Teaching classes and workshops throughout NZ, she also undertakes both private and public commissions, including the Lyttel People Land Art Mandala in Albion Square, Lyttelton. For over 7 years, she was involved as a Regional Council Member and Vice President of Ceramics Association of NZ.

In 2017, Jane completed a seven-week residency at The Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of the world in China.

Her ceramics have been featured in various publications and exhibited in both solo and national shows in London, UK, Ireland, and NZ. Her pieces are held in both private and public collections worldwide, and she has received several awards, including a Portage Merit Award in 2013.

Take a peek at some of Jane’s creations on her facebook page

Dates

Thursday 22 October 2026 6 - 8.30pm (NEW DATE)

Pricing

$85 Members & Friends of the Christchurch Botanic Gardens
$105 Non-Members
$150 Bundled with a CHS Membership

Your glazed and fired Green Man Tile will be available for collection from the Kiosk approximately 2-3 weeks following the workshop.

A CHS Membership can save you up to 30% off workshops and courses AND provides great discounts at local retailers as well as FREE attendance at our Monthly Meeting, Garden Life.

Green Man Tile

Choose your tickets

General Admission ticket

CHS Members ticket

Bundled with a CHS Membership ticket