2015 - 2016 Catch Up (Part 1)

Sadly ignored for too many months, I am now returning to mull over and savour the many  wonderful outcomes of 2015 with a view to building something equally satisfying and surprising on their foundations ...

It is now obvious that when life gets busy blogging hasn't been my greatest strength.  FB and Flickr no problem. I think that possibly my feeling that a degree of analysis and more detailed explanation is needed has led to a snowballing effect, which has left me with a  mountain of things to show and say, creating a blockage that obviously needs to be flushed away with the beginning of a new year.

I will therefore purge myself with a cross section of the tastiest delights from a memorable year that involved working with many wonderful people.  Thought I might group things together unexpectedly to bring some new order of enlightenment but seem to be trying to make things more difficult before I even start!  It might be best to just begin wherever the feeling takes me and end when I have nothing more to show or say. Could take all year or just a few posts with a sprinkling of detail where absolutely necessary ....

Lets start with a joyous video of the Garratt Park School students enjoying the music section of Balham Library, preparing for our first 'Out of Place' iPad session early last year ...

.. and then maybe Pocklington Arts Group having a round of applause for libraries directed by film maker Stephanie Webber.  Can't help but love them!

Some wonderful iPad drawings by Sally Booth ...

    

Bill from Pocklington pacing words to stairs and the beautiful voice of his wife.

Handprint Theatre working with children from Oak Lodge School at Balham library.

And maybe finally from Balham a video by Tahmina, a year 11 student from Oak Lodge School capturing the sound and movement of our first visit to the library (when it was closed to the public), working with musician Antonio Testa exploring the space through rhythm.

Transitions Art Group - Light and Sound

 In October and November of last year I had the pleasure of working again with the Transitions Art Group based at Orleans House Gallery in Richmond who meet every Monday afternoon.  The group had welcomed a number of new members since the previous year, now totalling ten participants, all with learning disabilities and some with additional needs.  

The theme for the workshops was light and sound and I was keen to make use of the iPads, exploring some new apps such as the sound activated Waves and animation app iMotion.

We started by making some light sculptures with a variety of materials, and continued on to develop the work, introducing sound and performance.  At the end of the four workshops we presented our work in the form of a large installation, with pop up performances as the audience were guided around the space.

Took me back to some of my early interdisciplinary work with learning disabled groups, with many special moments, some of which we captured within the project video.

STEP BEYOND Word Art Trail, Wandsworth Festival and Fringe, 3rd - 19th May 2013

A TRAIL OF WORDS INSPIRED BY CHILDREN'S ASPIRATIONAL JOURNEYS ...

An event based in Earlsfield, South London, beyond my hopes and expectations!  Proud to be creating art in the environment working with local communities, considering our dreams for the future.  

A joy to work with writer Sarah Butler, showing the true value of collaborative multi-disciplinary partnerships.   

Loving 'soft signage', temporary installations and local, reliable contractor 'Time Signs'.  

Well done to all the Year 4 children at Beatrix Potter ad Earlsfield Primary Schools for their imaginative aspirational art!

Thanking all the businesses and local people that supported this project, as well as Wandsworth Arts Team and sponsors Barnard Marcus for helping to make it happen.  Not forgetting to thank Kevin Ricks for some great photos of the trail!

https://www.facebook.com/STEPBEYONDEarlsfield

Flower stall, 
Magdalen Road
SW18

Garratt Lane Phone Box, SW18

Simon Warwick of Time Signs installing mirror stickers at MDM Hair, Garratt Lane

  Peri Peri chicken boxes used to create 'be fearless', 'get dreamy' collages

St Andrew's Church Garden, Garratt Lane

Thanks to Earlsfield Station and South West Trains 

for letting us install our uplifting message! 

  

We love Fara Children's Charity Shop! 

Thanks to Commuknitting for 

their upcycled house!

STEP BEYOND School Workshops

In the last few weeks I have been working with Year 4 children from Earlsfield and Beatrix Potter Primary Schools, creating word artworks on the theme of 'aspirational journeys'.  As mentioned previously, this project is leading up to the STEP BEYOND temporary public art trail in Earlsfield which will be part of the Wandsworth Arts Festival and Fringe in May.  

Collaborating with the very talented writer Sarah Butler (who recently published her first novel 'Ten Things I've Learnt About Love'), this project has brought together creative writing and mixed media art, taking a fresh perspective on words, while considering their relationship to space.   

Following an introductory workshop looking at word artworks in public spaces by a range of artists, experimenting with font design and stenciling, the children were encouraged to think about aspirations, for themselves, for the world and for others.  

They developed their ideas into a series of poems that included 'My Aspiration to be a Paleontologist', 'The Ice Cream Adventure' and 'If Everyone was Happy'.















Using a range of different materials suitable for outside including letter based toys from Fara charity shop and Sugar Bay Blue gift shop in Earlsfield, they then went on to construct their own word artworks for each school playground.  

Activities have also included chalking selected phrases and creating short films documenting their work.  In the last series of workshops they created temporary food artworks and collages using fast food packaging for two of the trail venues.

This has been a great experience for me, both in terms of working in my local area on a project that I have devised myself, and as an exciting opportunity to work alongside a writer.  While I believe art should be all about breaking down perceived barriers, interdisciplinary projects such as this provide a unique opportunity to make learning a truly exciting experience.  The real world is not divided into subjects with a sliding scale of accomplishment.  As one boy said, it has taught him:

' You don't have to be good at art to be good at art'.  

While I don't want to do myself out of a job - how right he is!