June, Caroline and I ran a family workshop in the Glanfa area of Wales Millennium Centre yesterday as part of the Diwali celebrations in partnership with Wales Tamil Sangam. Many families came to have a go at making cards using beautiful autumn leaves, bubble wrap to print borders, and styrofoam to etch images decorating with glitter … More Diwali Workshop
Just some of the beautiful words printed on the last day of the Llenyddiaeth Cymru project at The Share Centre in Newport. The momentum has built from session to session, with some people returning to make another artwork, and new folk joining. Some of the participants chose words to reflect their faith and the celebration of … More Peace, Grace and Wisdom
The after-school Creative Writing and Art course at Llanover Hall finally started again on Thursday after months of lockdown with three new participants and three returning, aged between 8 and 11. A while ago, a friend (see her blog here), showed me how to make an eight page mini book, and it was great to … More Dragon Bloom and Other Magical Tales
I have been paired with a primary school in the Caerphilly County Borough to work with Year 4 and 5 children and their teacher on the Arts Council of Wales Cynefin project. After an exciting online planning session, the teacher and I formulated a question to encompass the school’s priorities and the requirements of the … More Mapping our Journey: Cynefin – Week One
The restrictions of lockdown have yielded up some rich treasures. Events that may have been inaccessible due to time/travel/other commitments, have become available online. The New Suns Feminist Literary festival at The Barbican this year took inspiration from themes in American science fiction author Octavia Butler’s writing, in particular the Earthseed series. Prophetic, and increasingly prescient over … More windows and worlds
Today, for the Romani Arts after-school session, the children designed and printed their own flags. Paint was used to colour the background, and either a lino stamp or stencil used for the centre print, reflecting designs traditionally painted onto vardos, or horse-drawn wagons. Some of the children decided to print their version of the Roma flag. … More Flag Printing
For Week 3 of the Children’s Art and Writing course, the children listened to three stories from the Dreamtime creation myths of Aboriginal culture: How the kangeroo got her pouch, Barramundi, (how the fish came to be in the waters), and a Kunwinjku Dreamtime Story of the long-necked turtle and the echidna, telling why they live … More Stories from the Dreamtime
A wonderful day with lots of visitors taking up our expressive drawing challenge for Made in Roath festival. We rolled out long sheets of paper, and invited participants to use paint, charcoal and pastels to experiment and have fun.
I’m very excited to have been chosen to work as a creative practitioner in a local primary school as part of the Lead Creative Schools Scheme, an extensive five-year plan to embed the arts and creativity into the Welsh curriculum. I and a fellow practitioner, Lowri will be working with a group of about twelve … More Creative Practitioner Project
‘Children are remarkable for their intelligence and ardour, for their curiosity, their intolerance of shames, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision.’ — Aldous Huxley We began the session drawing faces, practicing on tracing paper before transferring to the styrofoam. The children quickly got the hang of etching into it, creating wonderfully detailed characters. … More Children’s Printmaking Day
Sarah J Featherstone 