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Can playing with fibres, collectovely spinning and twisting them togther and weaving them help people express experiences that are difficult to put into words?

Materials - a range of fibres, wool, flax, colorful, brushed, messy

Invite people to choose a handful of fibre that relates to or looks like how they feel right now

Spend 5 mins exploring, playing, pulling, squishing - don't worry you can't break it, be rough if needed

Whilst you are playing what words, thoughts feelings are coming up, how do you feel? Ask the fibre a question?

Leave time for quiet comtemplation no talking just playing

Think about what came up and ehag was siignificant

Bring this with you into the next part where we twist and spin those feelings into a thread together

Work in pairs - 1 person holds twists the other teases holds on and helps tease the fibres so they are easier to twist

Swap when you get to the end of your fibres and use the other persons

Once you come to the end we all join them together in a cirlce - twist the ends

Everyone holding on

Now step under or over between 2 people and say 1 word. Feeling, throught, noise that represents how you feel or what came up

End with a closing to say how much stronger fibres are together and how we created this together

The questions and prompts need a bit more work but everyone enjoyed the first exploration part

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The Art Reset blends breath, gentle movement, and art making to downshift stress, cultivate a repeatable calm-making routine, and nurture creative resilience online.

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From a former student:

Materials

Card - Cut to A5 or A6 size

Coloured paper

Old magazines and newspapers to cut

Scissors

Glue

Coloured markers, pens, pencils

We will start the activity by setting an intention. This could be a theme (e.g. ‘joy’ or ‘change’) or a question (e.g. ‘what do I need right now?’).

We will then collect images from the magazines to compose our oracle cards. We will gather images quickly and intuitively from the magazines and newspapers to then compose your oracle card.

We will then reflect on the meaning of the oracle cards. Do they hold any emotions? How do they answer your intention?

If you would like to learn more about oracle cards then please watch the following link:

https://youtu.be/rgAW6UY5d7o

If you enjoy the activity then it is optional to repeat this activity after the session to build your own deck of oracle cards.We will start the activity by setting an intention for your oracle card. This could be a theme (e.g. ‘change’ or ‘joy’ or ‘guidance’) or a question (e.g. ‘what do I need right now?’).

After creating the oracle card we will reflect on their meaning. This could include the emotions that the card carries or the significance of the images that you have chosen. How does your oracle card answer your intention?

If you enjoy the session then it is optional for you to repeat the activity in your own time to create a deck of oracle cards!

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Some of my favourite Spotify playlists as our Soundtrack to Creative Health & Wellbeing through Artmaking!

Instrumental Indie

Tycho Radio

Arabic Traditional Instrumental

Instrumental Jazz Mix

Chill Instrumental Mix

Piano Study

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"Sober People" Workshop by Tami O. Zafeiropoulou

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"Sober People" Workshop by Tami O. Zafeiropoulou

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This workshop is created to help individuals share their own story and find a creative way to express their feelings. The use of an item (alcohol bottle) that generates bad thoughts and memories can work as a medium to transform these memories and create new emotions through healing and creativity. Being in a safe space and sharing in a community with common experiences can stand as a key in order to find and feel a sense of belonging, empathy and understanding.

Materials

Empty Alcohol Bottle (preferably without the label)

Fabric, threads, or any other decoration you may think it can be useful

Any marker or paint that works on glass

White glue

Scissors

Please have your small script prepared! It will help you during the creative process.

Procedure

Write a creative story about personal experience

Create characters with the recycled bottles and the chosen materials

Animate the characters & share your story

Target Participants: People with alcohol use disorders

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Hiya! I'm run my own business as an artist & website guide, and collaborate on creative wellbeing projects with other artists & organisations. I'm particularly interested in supporting other creatives to care for their own wellbeing, and also in using the arts to explore the less tangible - but inevitable - things in life. I've particularly enjoyed working on The Dept of Kindness project (which began in Southmead Hospital Bristol & explored everyday kindness), and the Room 627 project with Bath Mind (which supported young people navigate the changes of moving from primary to secondary school through creativity).

I'd love to connect:

https://www.rhiannonadler.co.uk

https://www.instagram.com/rhiannon.adler

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhiannon-adler/

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Pina Bausch was a German dancer and choreographer known for her groundbreaking work in the field of dance theatre, which blends elements of dance, theatre, and performance art. A lot of her work in choreography was based on her own and her dancers’ past experiences and trauma, as she was asking them personal questions about their childhood, relationships, etc., and encouraging them to feel their deepest vulnerabilities and ‘feel their way into dance.’

“ Pina Bausch wasn’t interested in how people move, but rather, what moves them. “

“In rehearsals, Bausch was hands-on, provoking her dancers into movement by asking them to delve into their past experiences. Using psychological prompts such as, “Show me in movement the memory of the first time you laughed very hard,” or, “How do you behave when you’ve lost something?”, she then turned the dancer’s responses into choreography. By rejecting traditional narrative-led choreographic techniques in favour of this ontological approach to storytelling, she was able to capture the complexity of the self. “ (source: https://www.sleek-mag.com/article/pina-bausch/)

The following dancing workshop aims to make use of Pina Bausch’s approach with the purpose of making us express emotions, memories and trauma through body movement. Allowing ourselves to feel and express (painful) emotions through body movements, gestures and dance is unfamiliar to most and I am curious about the effects this may have on us. I hope that we may feel lighter after this exercise.

Instructions:

1. Recall an emotionally significant moment (or period) in your life. This could be a moment of joy, sadness, grief, gratitude, or something else. Don’t think about the memory but rather feel it. Feel it in your body for about 30s and as the music starts playing allow the emotion to move your body. Feel and move. You can move as little or as much as possible. Focus on allowing the emotional memory to take control of your movements.

The music: https://open.spotify.com/track/0K1j8UZQoEdjPhPmhACzHJ?si=fa128c653b6a4cd7

2.34 min long

2. Recall a time when you felt disappointed in something or someone. Remember what this disappointment felt like, allow the feeling and the emotions that this memory brings to your body. How does your body want to move now? Allow the feeling and emotions to move you to the music.

The music: https://open.spotify.com/track/1saUE9nU0Dog8PlKHlX9AY?si=fd784fdfa73d4fce

2.52 min

3. Think of a time when you felt a high sense of belonging, peace and love. Remember what this felt like, allow the feeling and the emotions that this memory brings to your body. How does your body want to move now? Allow your body to move.

https://open.spotify.com/track/6GUGZQ7sYacEfhDc1wTvM1?si=083945ec2f734c38

2.10 min

Optional if there is time: One person from the group recalls or imagines a time of feeling joyful and content (or a different emotion can be a personal choice (grief; sadness etc). This person connects to the feeling and starts moving to the music. The rest of the group need to copy the person’s movements as they witness them in real time, without knowing what the dance leader has chosen to feel.

https://open.spotify.com/track/4jNQkWhuzqrbqQuqanFFJ6?si=84da09411d5c4d46

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Here’s a nice new year one…

Students welcome in 2024 by drawing a fun comic strip each on their expected adventures in 2024. They can change the title to make it more fun with the same meaning.
(Similar words to adventure: Escapade, deed, feat, experience, incident, occurrence, event, happening, episode, affair, caper, romp, antic, quest, campaign, venture)

Each box square has a different adventure:
I want to learn….make….read….go….imagine….improve….do more….try….change….improve….be healthier by….etc.

Comics leverage visual elements, making them engaging, appealing and humorous. The combination of visuals and text allows for concise storytelling, conveying complex narratives and emotions efficiently.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2AmXvaMD2L/?igsh=MWswamp3MDZwMDJwOA==

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I'm an artist and eco-somatic researcher-through-experience with a background in environmental work and counselling.  I am especially interested in the knowledge and wisdom of experts-through-experience and the intelligences of the more-than-human.  For 18 years I lived in Aotearoa New Zealand (2004-2022) and immersion in the culture and landscapes there massively shaped and honed my practice. I have just become an Advisory Board Member for Broken Grey Wires, an arts organisation foregrounding work by those with experiences of mental ill health, disability and madness.

https://www.instagram.com/inchoate_beings/

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Tomorrow 6th December 4-6pm

From the official National Centre for Creative Health invite:
'Over the past twelve months the Review has held a series of online roundtables presenting evidence and examples of the powerful influence creative health can have on our health and wellbeing. Recordings of all the roundtables can be viewed via NCCH's YouTube channel

The Review has translated the findings from these Roundtable themes together with Contributions into recommendations for policymakers to encourage and inform the development of a cross-governmental creative health strategy, which will support creative health to flourish and maximise its potential across key policy areas.

We would be delighted if you wanted to join us for the Live Stream of the Creative Health Review Publication Launch on 6th December 4-6pm to discover more about these recommendations.

Register here :

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/creative-health-review-launch-live-stream-tickets-732681448937

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Shared as a Google slides presentation. All instructions in the presentation. If you wish to use any part of it please feel free but please read the notes on copyright at the end ;-)

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Nourishing Places - Louisa Chase 2023.pptx

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A solo artist when I have time off parenting duties, I've been reminded by Marcelo's course how much I love being with people, all creating in parallel.  Aside from hosting a casual series of craft evenings this Autumn, I'm not sure what I'll do next, but keen to hear what others are doing and to join any future group activities.

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Delivery Script

(15 mins exercise before 5 mins of individuals sharing their experience)

0-1:00 mins (intro)

Welcome to my session! This session is for YOU!  It is an opportunity to reflect, experiment and play with creativity and mind mapping! You will end this short session having created a personal image of a tree from the roots up.

With Forest sounds in the background, I’ll provide some prompts as we move from roots, to trunk, to branches.

If you’d like some inspiration, I’ve posted some images on Padlet.

But have fun making your drawing your own.  Allow your materials to guide you.  Use colour or don’t.  Use words, or don’t.  This is YOUR tree.  Each tree is as unique as you are.  No one can do this better than you.

1:00-2:30 (talk through); 2:30-5:30 (3 mins drawing - roots)

So, let’s start.

You need a piece of A4/A3 paper - oriented to portrait - and something to draw and/or write with.

Roughly divide your paper into three sections - perhaps drawing some faint horizontal lines, or folding the page in two places.

I’ll give you a few moments to do that.

Then, when you are ready, focus on the bottom third for your roots.  Use marks or words to reflect what gives you strength.  What can you rely on? Does your tree have a substantial root network?  Does it feel sturdy?  How intertwined are the roots?  Are the roots delicate? Do you want to use different colours to represent different things?

I’ll give you an example. [show and talk through eg.]

Go for it!  You have about 3 minutes for this part.

[Forest sounds go on]

…..

5:30-6:30 (talk through); 6:30-9:30 (3 mins drawing - trunk)

Alright, if you can, finish up with the roots and move on to the trunk in the middle section.

So for this section, use marks or words to represent how you feel now.  What’s working for you right now?  What’s not working?  How are you doing?  Is your trunk smooth or knobbly or does it have bits of both?  What’s your bark like?  Is the trunk tall and thin or short and wide? Is it straight, or does it bend to the side or twist around?  You might want to consider what type of tree it is - Oak, palm, fruit etc.

You have another 3 minutes.

…..

9:30-10:30 (talk through); 10:30-13:30 (3 mins drawing - branches etc)

Ok, it’s time to move to the branches.  These can be drawn in the top section but they can move into the area around your trunk if you wish.

For this part, we’re going to focus on our hopes.

What would you like to see happen next for you?  How would you like to feel when you wake up tomorrow?  Are your branches sweeping and wide?  Are they concentrated at the top?  What season is it?  Are there leaves?  What colour are the leaves?  Are there flowers or fruit?  Or chocolate?!  Are there any birds or other animals in your tree?  A treehouse?

A final 3 minutes for this part.

…..

13:30 - 15:00

[Forest sounds go off]

Ok.  Please use a few remaining moments to add any final touches. Perhaps add some annotations to remind yourself how you represented certain feelings.

Share your work with a friend or post it here - I’d love to see it.

You’ve just taken 10 minutes of your day to mindfully reflect and I do hope you feel even just a little lighter at the end of this session.

.....

15:00 - 20:00

Time allowing, ask participants in turn to talk through their work/share their experience.

—

Annabel Iglehart - annabeliglehart@hotmail.com

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After our most successful year so far, we have been recognised, again, by Cumbria Social Enterprise Partnership.

'Congratulations to Creative Wellbeing @cwellbeinguk Highly Commended in the Community Enterprise of the Year category at #CSEP19. Great achievement after some testing times! #socents #cumbria'
SE Cumbria (@SECumbria) March 5, 2019

In the meantime, please keep in touch and watch out for an imminent announcement of a springtime rejuvenation. Yay!

Creative Wellbeing is a multi-award-winning non-profit social enterprise working with individuals, communities and businesses to enhance personal and social wellbeing since 2013.

We know that creativity can enhance personal and community wellbeing, help people develop resilience and problem-solving skills, be a vehicle to meet new people, and to think about things differently.

We think everyone should have an opportunity to flourish and prosper-to thrive together.

We deliver nationally and we're looking forward to promoting creativity and wellbeing everywhere for a further five years, and beyond.
More about Creative Wellbeing
Contact & Legal

Creative Wellbeing
[email protected]
Text: 07719 143013

Company no. 08844605
Creative Wellbeing and logo are registered under the Trade Mark Act 1994: UK00003104440
©2012-present. All rights reserved.

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Creative Wellbeing | Wellbeing Through Creativity

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After our most successful year so far, we have been recognised, again, by Cumbria Social Enterprise Partnership. 'Congratulations to Creative Wellbeing @cwellbeinguk Highly Commended in the Community Enterprise of the Year category at #CSEP19. Great achievement after some testing times!

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Created by Marcelo during a workshop at UAL's Creativity, Care and the City.

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Completed in 1933, the Paimio Sanatorium is a former tuberculosis sanatorium designed by architect Alvar Aalto. The project has been canonized as an internationally recognized masterpiece of modern architecture, and it is often considered to be the breakthrough of Alvar Aalto. In 1960, the building was converted into a general hospital.

Paimio Sanatorium Technical Information

Building art is a synthesis of life in materialised form. We should try to bring in under the same hat not a splintered way of thinking, but all in harmony together.

- Alvar Aalto

Paimio Sanatorium Photographs

Aalto received the design commission at the age of 30 after winning the architectural competition for the project held in 1929. Nestled in the woods in southwestern Finland, the building was completed in 1933, and soon after received critical acclaim both in Finland and abroad. Though the building represents the 'modernist' period of Aalto's career and followed many of the tenets of Le Corbusier's pioneering ideas for modernist architecture (e.g. ribbon windows, roof terraces, machine aesthetic), it also carried the seeds of Aalto's later move towards a more synthetic approach. For instance, the main entrance is marked by a nebulous-shaped canopy unlike anything being designed at that time by the older generation of modernist architects.

The building was groundbreaking and was of key importance to the international career of the architect. Together with Vyborg (Viipuri) Library, completed two years later, it gave Aalto an international profile. Finnish architecture was no longer merely the receiver of influences from outside. A tuberculosis sanatorium was particularly suitable for a building that followed the tenets of the new Functionalism, where bold concrete structures and state-of-the-art building services were inseparable elements of architecture and practicality. Aalto's starting point for the design of the sanatorium was to make the building itself a contributor to the healing process. He liked to call the building a "medical instrument".

The architect-designed the interior color scheme, including the yellow floors in the main staircase, the colorful walls in the corridors, the dark ceilings in the patients' rooms, and the orange balcony rails, in conjunction with the decorative artist Eino Kauria.

The whole structure, grouped together in several sections according to use, was built in accordance with Aalto's philosophy, right down to the smallest details of the furniture. As far as the furniture was concerned, a good many items designed specifically for the sanatorium were used, as well as standard products that were already available. According to the idea of standardization, which belonged to the spirit of the times, these items were also planned for use elsewhere - for example, many of the light fittings ended up in the catalog of the Taito metalworks.

The pieces of furniture became key products for Artek, which was founded in 1935. For instance, the bent plywood Paimio chair has become an international design icon that is still in production nowadays. On the other hand, the three-legged stool, which is the same age as the sanatorium, was not included in the first phase of the furniture supplied by the Otto Korhonen furniture works. The furniture in the patients' rooms was dominated by tubular-steel construction, soon to be spurned by the Aaltos.

The patient bedrooms generally held two patients, each with his or her own cupboard and washbasin. Aalto designed special non-splash basins so that the patient would not disturb the other while washing.

The patients spent many hours lying down, and thus Aalto placed the lamps in the room out of the patients' line of vision and painted the ceiling a relaxing dark green so as to avoid glare. Each patient had their own specially designed cupboard, fixed to the wall and off the floor so as to aid in cleaning beneath it.

An operating theatre wing designed by Aalto's office was added to the main building in the late 1950s and new staff living-quarters were erected nearby in the 1960s. The sinuous, serpentine row of shared flats in the middle of the pine forest, known to the inmates as the 'Hall of Vipers, brought a new form of accommodation to the area.

Paimio Sanatorium Plans

Paimio Sanatorium Image Gallery

About Alvar Aalto

Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (1898 - 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles, and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings, though he never regarded himself as an artist, seeing painting and sculpture as "branches of the tree whose trunk is architecture." Aalto's early career ran in parallel with the rapid economic growth and industrialization of Finland during the first half of the 20th century. Many of his clients were industrialists.
Other works from Alvar Alto

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Alvar Aalto's Paimio Sanatorium / Hospital in Finland | ArchEyes

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Completed in 1933, the Paimio Sanatorium is a former tuberculosis sanatorium designed by architect Alvar Aalto. The project has been canonized as an internationally recognized masterpiece of modern architecture, and it is often considered to be the breakthrough of Alvar Aalto. In 1960, the building was converted into a general hospital.

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I am an enthusiastic and dedicated London based artist who is passionate about involving the community in the delivery of arts and working with grass roots cultural groups.

I design artistic activity tailored to suit the community setting and client need, enabling interaction, dialogue and collaboration with people who may not otherwise engage in the arts.

I have worked on multiple projects for over 20 years; therefore, I have relevant experience and training in a wide variety of community settings and services, including working extensively with young people, children and their families, pre-school children, older people, refugees and people experiencing mental health issues.

More recently in 2022, I designed and delivered a post-pandemic social art project in central London. The project, entitled ‘Renewal’ included ‘Art Mindfulness’ workshops, which encouraged people to share their experiences of the pandemic and form bonds with each other. This helped to rebuild the community after the pandemic, encouraging cooperation and empowering individuals.

The project culminated in an installation designed and created by the group based on their hopes for the future, using the Dolly Parton quote - “If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain”

https://www.instagram.com/luciajaffer_art/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucia-jaffer-07726a33/

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The audience I tried this project with were sex offenders at the end of group therapy.

Take a piece of paper and a pen. Write random words forming two simple complete sentences subject / verb / object.
The topic can be whatever but if lacking inspiration it can be useful to write something about the feelings following  the session end.

Therapists are included in the experience

Each participant would then read one of the words in order and choose the next participant to read the following word

Somebody writes down the two lines of “collective poetry” on a piece of paper. And decides what to do with it.

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I would like to describe myself as an art-oriented human being who accidentally has come to train as a doctor and work as a psychiatrist in Brussels. I am currently working part time in prison with people who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses, spending the rest of the time learning from my own toddler and thinking about the connections between mental health issues, discrimination, social and political awareness and empowerment and trying to implement art and creativity in all of this mess :-)

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Hey! I work as a mental health recovery worker and as an artist/designer. I also run a gardening for well-being group :)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyfranks

https://www.instagram.com/heysallyfaye/

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Running Stitch Journey
Items required;
A piece of material; your choice what size but could try 8x12cm or 8x8cm for first go
One or more threads; these can be embroidery threads or simple cotton
One needle
Target audience.The target participants for this session are busy people. Busy adults, teenagers and, possibly, children
Expected Benefit The expected benefit is a piece of focussed peace from which they become aware of the overall benefits of stopping the rush and focussing on a piece of creativity.
Setting the scene and the session I would prefer the piece to be done with a needle and thread and a piece of square or rectangular material but if people do not want to sew they can do the same with coloured pencils and  a larger piece of paper though it may not be as immersive.The lead in is to ask them to take themselves on a journey It can be a journey around the house, the garden, an office, to work, with the dog,on the beach, in their minds. I want them to imagine the shapes of the lines that they follow and how they may cross with others or how they may differ each day.The next step is to transpose this walk onto paper or material using three or five colours to represent routes taken ,by themselves or others, that may  cross or intertwine or just pass closely.
Completing the session discussion and potential outcome. The end piece will be how they see these journeys, long or short. It may lead them to have a more mindful walk next time they do it; noticing people, places etc on the way. It may lead to a simply pretty picture of lines showing their interactions.
Add on to the session; Running stitch lends itself to have a stitch woven back into it which can be used to highlight one path taken or all paths taken if you want to move the piece more into a piece of art which can then, if mounted on another piece of material or edges finished with blanket stitch can make a book mark if a long piece or a drinks mat if a square

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Hi everyone,
for my workshop "Self-transformation Portrait"you will need:
-  3 A4 sheets
- Chalk pastels
- Oil pastels
- Black marker

Disclaimer: portraits don't need to be perfect. Don't put any pressure on yourself because it is not the purpose of the workshop. Just draw your face as you feel at that moment, showing any significant details/expressions of your face.

Process:
You will draw 3 different portraits of your-self (5 mins each), write down each timeframe on the sheet with the marker to help you distinguish them:
- Past: Oil pastels (use strong, bright colours to define the shape of your face, add relevant details e.g. scars, smile, tears, etc)
- Present: Chalk pastels (same as before but allow yourself to add some shades, try to create a symphony of  colours which give you a sense of peace, try to give your face an expression)
- Future: mix of chalk and oil pastels (create the last portrait imaging how you'll look like in the future, add details like hair length, wrinkles, etc)

Put together the 3 portraits you created and check what changes you notice. You can keep them as a reminder of what you've went through and the person that you want to become.

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Currently working as an Art & Design Teacher specialising in SEN and Therapeutic practice. I have a passion for Wellbeing as well as Art and live to support others with both. Website is on it's way....

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Alice Kate Oakley - Art and Design Teacher - Wilds Lodge School | LinkedIn

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A conscientiousness and hard-working individual with a genuine passion for learning and developing creativity. Working as both part of a team and independently across visual, teaching & mentoring positions. I am keen to progress into a role that combines my passion for positive mental health and wel…

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For this clay workshop you will ideally use clay,  any will do but I would suggest air dry as you then have the option to keep and even decorate your reformed piece in the future!

For those who are unable to get hold of clay then salt dough or DIY clay would be a great alternative (I will post a recipe below). And as a worst case scenario, play dough can be used as it will allow you to go through the process in the same way but you may just have different outcomes.

Having a small vessel of water to hand would be useful, and some tools for mark making. If you do not have clay tools this is fine as it might feel more beneficial to use found objects - again to support the 'letting go' process. I would recommend brushes, cardboard, material scraps like lace and even objects from nature could be nice. This can be really personal to you so there is no right or wrong.

Do wear disposable gloves if you will be more comfortable as clay can be challenging for those with sensory difficulties or don't enjoy mess.

A table cloth or newspaper is recommended to support quick clean up.

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Materials you will need:
- 2-3 fruit or veg or different shapes/textures
- cartridge paper
- paint (acrylic/poster)

It is nice to start off with seeing the marks the fruit and vegetables create first before creating repeat pattern prints from them.

5 minutes of experimenting with seeing what marks you can create with the fruit and veg.

Break:
For her Windrush memorial, Veronica Ryan placed giant sculptures of Caribbean fruits on a street in Hackney, east London. Her winning works included the custard apple, breadfruit and soursop sculptures that were unveiled in Hackney in October 2021 in tribute to those who moved from the Caribbean to the UK after 1948. She said;

“I’m hoping that the community will recognise themselves through my choices. Through breadfruit, soursop, a custard apple, that the community will say: ‘Oh my goodness, oh I know those. Those are things we grew on trees back home,’”

So it is interesting to consider how the things we consume in this case eat play a part in our identity. So it might be interesting to have a think about why you chose your objects and if they hold any meaning or memories to you.

8 minutes creating repeat prints with fruit and veg. You could experiment with colour, different placement, layering.

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The first permanent artwork to honour the Windrush generation in the UK has been unveiled in the east London borough of Hackney, as councils across the country kick off the first day of Black History Month.

The work, created by the artist Veronica Ryan, is one of two permanent sculptures that symbolise the council's respect and commitment to the Windrush generation and their legacy and contribution to the area. The second, by Thomas J Price, will be unveiled next spring.

Ryan's three sculptures of Caribbean fruits - Custard Apple (Annonaceae), Breadfruit, (Moraceae) and Soursop (Annonaceae) - in bronze and marble were installed in Narrow Way Square on Mare Street on Friday morning.

"I was invited to make work about Windrush because it's so complex," Ryan said. "I grew up in the 1950s. My parents moved between London and Watford. I remember some of the complexities my parents had during the 1950s. I remembered my mum and some of her friends discovering Ridley Road market, and my mother bought fabrics and threads. I remembered some of the fruits and vegetables."

The use of fruits ties into the narrative of migration and movement, she added. She hopes the artwork will foster a sense of ownership among the local community and provide a vital public space to celebrate their cultural heritage.

"I'm hoping that the community will recognise themselves through my choices. Through breadfruit, soursop, a custard apple, that the community will say: 'Oh my goodness, oh I know those. Those are things we grew on trees back home,'" she said.

Carole Williams, the lead member for the council's response to the Windrush scandal, described the permanent artwork as "another step on the road to doing the work that we committed to do as a council when we passed the comprehensive Windrush motion back in 2018, which was the first of its kind in the country".

The motion has two strands: policy work that calls for an end to the hostile environment policies, challenging the impact it continues to have on the Windrush generation and their descendants; and celebrating and honouring the community.

The placement of the sculptures follows the removal and renaming of public statues and street names that were dedicated to slave traders, colonialists and racists across the UK. In Hackney, the council removed the road sign for Cassland Road Gardens - named after the slave trader John Cass - and renamed it Kit Crowley Gardens, after a "community stalwart" who spent six decades supporting her neighbours.

Williams said: "You can't have one without the other. You've got to challenge past practices whilst also making a conscious choice and a conscious decision to honour, celebrate and commemorate those who have made positive contributions to life in Hackney."

She was keen to stress that the consultations and renaming was "a real opportunity to retell the lost story of the history of Sir John Cass" and added: "We should not lose the piece on educating and re-educating about those stories because it is a valuable part of our history. By remembering it, we also are committed to not repeating that history as well."

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Fruit sculptures in Hackney honour Windrush generation

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Veronica Ryan creates UK's first permanent artwork dedicated to people affected by the scandal

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Getting to know each other (Intro session for a group)

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Getting to know each other (Intro session for a group)

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Intro session for a social prescribing group - getting to know each other (could also be used as a first session for any new group)

- Work with the person to your left
- Describe three things to that person that you like or you think are key elements of who you are e.g. i like cooking, i have a dog called Ted, I am a teacher
- The other person draws these in colour pencils on one sheet of paper
- after 10 minutes of this, do a blind continuous line drawing of the person over the top of the images, just looking at the face while drawing - try not to look at the paper!

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Materials:

2 - 3 pieces of paper

Pastels and a pen

Dice

PART ONE: 5 MINS

- You will need an A3 piece of paper or 2 pieces of A4 to make your instructions/key

Choose 6 colours and label them 1 - 6

Create 6 shapes/lines/patterns and label them 1 - 6

I would suggest keeping lines and shapes basic. Having a theme in mind works well e.g. 'organic shapes' or 'circles and dots’ or 'triangles and lines’

PART TWO: 10 MINS

- You will need a different piece of paper and your pastels

Roll the dice (or pick from the cup) The first number determines your colour and the second your shape. Create this shape in the chosen colour on the paper.

Repeat this process for 8 mins building the composition step-by-step. Work quickly and intuitively :)

Sometimes you will be forced to use a colour or shapes that you wouldn’t naturally pick. How can you problem solve? Can you change the scale, pressure or direction to make things fit?

Use the last 2 mins to study your artwork and add anything that will finish it off or bring the composition together.

Reading: Here is a MOMA article on Letting Go: Making Art with an element of chance
https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/393

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Draw your own super being/avatar. Choose whatever materials you like - markers, paint, pencils, pastels, crayons. Colour is the way to go here.
1. draw an outline of yourself as a superheroinx, you can use a template.
2. Add a cape, utility belt, insignia, special tools etc. What about your specs, hair, boots, clothes? Have fun.
3. You can label your avatar if you would like.
4. Give your super ego/avatar self a brilliant name that makes you feel strong, or laugh or both. Lean into the qualities you have or would like to have.
5. Give yourself a super human super power. Anything you like? Maybe you have this or would like to have it.

You can use this with pretty much any group. Sharing can promote self acceptance, a sense of how amazing people are and that may foster a sense of self worth and confidence.

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I work in the arts in health sector delivering creative engagements to people at bedside in hospitals and am a practicing artist. Please do connect!

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Garden Of Self

“A flower does not think of competing with flower next to it. It just blooms” Zen Shin (Buddhist quote)

Gardens are a beautiful metaphor of life. We are all on our own path, yet we need to be nurtured like a garden. You need to tend to your garden and this brings challenges and rewards.

Take five minutes to imagine a garden of self. Using chalk pastels draw your Garden Of Self.

Healthy full-grown plants = Represent positive strengths and attributes

Seeds or sprouting plants = Represent your goals and what you want to achieve
Weeds = Represent what is preventing you from achieving your goals.

Group chat

1. How would you describe your garden’s plants, seeds and weeds?

2. How can you maintain your garden?

3. What are your next steps to get rid of the weeds and nurture the seeds inn your life?

...and an interesting talk on the usefulness of weeds ensued.

The Dandelion – a useful weed.

Hello, I'm a dandelion

A lot of people call me a weed but I am a friend and I’ve come to help you.

When you see me remember that I am the ONLY one who wants and can grow in that particular spot.

This is because:

Either the soil is too compact / hard / stomped and I want to loosen it for you with my roots.

Or there is too little calcium in the soil. Don't worry - I will replenish that for you with the dying of my leaves.

Or the soil is too acidic. But I will also improve that for you if you give me the chance.

Or a mixture of all the above.

I'm here because your soil needs my help so best you let me grow without disturbing me! When everything is fixed, I will disappear again - I promise!

Are you trying to remove me prematurely with my root? However meticulous you are, I will return 2x as strong! Just until your soil is improved.

You can even tell by my growth at which stage my help is at.  If my leaves are flat on the ground then I'm far from ready but if they all reach up then I'm already almost done.

I am one of the first bloomers in spring so I will announce spring / summer for you.

During the day when it's hot, I open my flowers but in the evening when it cools off I close them again quickly. In fact, if it's not hot enough during the day I won't open them at all!

My flowers are the first food for insects after hibernation and unlike most other plants, I have pollen AND nectar, not merely one OR the other. And I am generous with them.

My flowers are even delicious for you people by the way, did you know? I used to be called Honey (or Gold) of the Poor because my flowers are so sweet. The internet is full of recipes - check them out.

But wait until the end of May or later before you start picking and even then - don't pick everything. The biodiversity and bees will be very grateful!

And lastly, when you see me standing instead of yellow petals I have a dandelion clock of fluff. Blow hard and make a wish....

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Asset Based Storytelling in Kingston was a project that took place in the Royal Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames between October 2021 and November 2022. It was delivered by Kingston Libraries and Kingston School of Art working in partnership with a range of community organisations in the borough.

The project involved collaborative storytelling sessions that were designed and delivered with staff and participants from our partner organisations, supporting members with varied needs.

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Asset Based Storytelling in Kingston was a project that took place in the Royal Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames between October 2021 and November 2022. It was delivered by Kingston Libraries and Kingston School of Art working in partnership with a range of community organisations in the borough.

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YOUR BRAIN ON ART: How the Arts Transform Us

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I do creative projects, help develop organisations, provide coaching & mentoring, and generally try to heal the world through art. :)

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This is a great project where you collect a series of words and use chance to write a poem.

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Dada Poetry: A World Of Chaotic Expression