What to do during lockdown? Make Art off course!!
I hear students telling me time and again how making art relieves stress, tension, pain and just makes them feel happier!
In my solo show last year at O N C A gallery in Brighton called Movement Makes Marks co-curated with Dr Julia Winckler from the University of Brighton, I held a workshop and talks exploring mark making and connections to drawing, process, materials, performance and print making in relation to health and well-being. The then Lead of Arts and Health at the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Joanna Stevens was invited to talk about her project, which helped inspire the exhibition, Movement Makes Marks Joanna and fellow artist Jane Fox and senior lecturer Dr Philippa Lyon talked about their work and project, entitled: Year of Drawing – participatory drawing, partnership and mental health.
The overriding conclusion gained from my exhibition, Movement Makes Marks – through the visitors statements at the exhibition, the talks and participant feedback at the workshops, was that art makes a huge difference to the health and well being of the lives it touches.
That was last year pre COVID-19, who was to foresee what was just around the corner in 2020!
This current pandemic has brought such change and uncertainty and where health and well-being are brought into stark focus. All of us have been made shockingly aware of our own fragility. It is at these times when Art can play such a vital role to help alleviate stress and tension, which we know in turn benefits our health and well being.
When the virus hit i had to stop teaching my normal classes due to the inevitable lockdown. So I decided to investigate running art sessions online. I emailed some students and friends who i thought would really benefit from the contact (I must add here, I also needed the contact!) and now run weekly sessions on Zoom at 10am GMT, here’s the link below.
I am planning some evening sessions for anyone at work during the day or EST time zone fellows. If your interested message me – i’m looking at starting around 7pm GMT, 3pm EST Monday evenings.
Here’s the link for this coming morning session on Monday 11th May 2020.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5757055776?pwd=bFVTNmpvU2hjR1dNWlNuR3lLM1lvZz09
Each week I set a different theme. This week we are working with collage and looking at the work of Robert Rauschenberg.
Bring acrylic paints if you have them (watercolour or other media will work too), brushes (or old sponges) ends of fabric or newspaper, pva glue, pencils, biro’s and some paper.
The header image for this blog and the one below are mixed media paintings i made after seeing the Rauschenberg exhibition at the Tate Modern.
Can’t wait to see you
