Creative, therapeutic work with plants and the voice:
basketry, herbalism, song

Amy Rose Cox

I am a singer, cellist, voice work practitioner, folk herbalist, basket maker and educator passionate about bringing people together to work with plants and the voice in therapeutic ways.

My work is a remembering that we are wild and part of the wild world, that we have hands and voices to create something of beauty and meaning. This creative process offers a way to connect with ancestral wisdom - to remember who we are and where we have come from.

Plants and nature are firmly woven into my life..in foraging for medicinal herbs and plant fibers, in the baskets that I craft and in the songs I am inspired to write and teach. These practices  have greatly supported my healing journey and nudged me to share this work with others. My hope is that in holding space to explore these therapeutic pathways, others feel empowered to nurture their own relationships with the wild world and their voice. 

My journey into this work 

I have a background in nature connection and have been facilitating groups and workshops for 17 years. Growing up with my Dad as a violin maker, craft and music have always been a part of my life. Over the last decade, I have dedicated myself to building on these ancestral skills; learning how to work with natural materials, food and medicine that surround us. Sparked by my apprenticeship in forestry and craft at The Cherry Wood Project, I made my own yurt that I lived in for 8 years, a host of greenwood furniture, baskets and herbal medicines. And all my adult life, I have gathered around fires with friends to sing and share songs. 

I have supported and performed with a range of artists including Martha Tilston and Julie Abbe and I feature on the Land Workers Alliance’ album Stand Up Now. I am a singer-songwriter and write solo material and songs for my groups. I am also in Hawkmoth, a funky cello/ percussive guitar and vocal duo with my partner Pat creating original songs inspired by the wild world. For the past 4 years I have been on an inquiry into the voice, song writing, body percussion, circle music and vocal improvisation as tools for personal and collective joy and healing.

Over the years, I have worked on various inspiring nature connection and youth work projects including On the Hill, St Werburghs City Farm, Off the Record, Change in Nature's Wild Song camp and co-running Fireside home ed forest school. Wanting to share this work with more people who typically face barriers to accessing nature and creativity, I co-founded The Birch Collective in 2020, a CIC working therapeutically alongside 16-25 year olds in their transition to adulthood by offering group experiences in the natural world. 

Testimonials

  • Amy has such a deep connection with nature and that comes through so strongly in the sessions she facilitates. Transformative, creative, emergent, caring and nurturing.

    Andy Raingold, Change in Nature

  • I attended a plant journey with Amy which was profound as well as beautifully and skillfully held. It was wonderful to learn how to connect more deeply with hawthorn in a way I had never experienced before in my years working with plants as a medical herbalist. I loved the variety of mediums used to explore this plant including the voice as well as dropping deeply into our sense impressions and our emotional response to the plant. Just beautiful!

    Jessie Martelhof, Medical Herbalist

  • I deeply appreciate the days I spent with Amy. Tending to my voice with the support of the herbs. Somehow her gentle guidance and support was exactly the medicine my voice has been craving for a lifetime. Simply being shown how to make sound, how to express. I would recommend this work to anyone struggling to find their voice.

    1:1 voice work client

  • I have really enjoyed the 2 days with Amy - the best bit was making a basket, harder than it looks but so rewarding. Learning about the plants we have around us and learning about how we can use them to support us physically and mentally has been fascinating. You have sparked my joy and love of nature and the gifts that she brings us! Thank you Amy

    Make a foraging basket/ Autumn Forage and Potion Making