The Open Door Project - Conversations in Colour

A lovely first session with a group of interesting, intelligent and creative women!  Some participants I knew from previous projects, others Milena knew and still others were new to us.  Most have been involved with Artlink projects before and all have a lot to offer the project.  

After a bit of form filling, we played a name game in which we had to say something we liked that began with the first inital of our names.  Then we shared our hopes and worries about the project and passed them on to others via my handy purple hat.  Reading them out, we found that lots of the hopes were shared - to reconnect with writing, to make exciting art work, to learn new skills, and to experience the pleasure of creating.  Worries also had a lot in common - of not being good at or used to writing, of not living up to high expectations, of not being able to loosen up, of not being able to produce anything. 'We'll see,' Milena said, and we got down to it.

Getting down to it involved splitting the group and swapping at half time - a bit like a game of footy but not quite.  Writing and visual art are very much about observing and responding to the world around us. So, with me, participants explored the building with all their senses, noting images such as the 'rushing of the wind through chimneys', 'Calpol coloured walls', 'the textures in the stained glass windows' and 'the smell of a room that has been left'.  They also asked questions such as 'Can I build a den?' and 'What caused the holes in the door?' and 'Why so many gunboats?' (in the paintings). Next week we will return to some of these ideas and build on them.

This is what Milena said about what the participants did with her:
'I chose stencilling as a first visual activity because it is a fast and simple technique that can then be made into complex designs. Nobody in the group had done any stencilling before, but soon they were working on their designs with some ready-made stencils. After they sampled the technique they made their own greeting cards. 

Everybody enjoyed the activity. We discussed the future sessions and discovered that printing, tie-dying, batik and generally working with textiles would be appreciated by everybody. So, we decided that next week we’ll start printing!

Then Amarjit produced wool and knitting needles and asked for advice on how to knit a ruffle scarf.  With a quick demonstration and a promise to show her cable stitch technique next time, everybody went home happy! This is a fantastic start – with so much talent, enthusiasm and commitment we’ll have to open a shop! Can’t wait for next time!'

some of the cards we made

Overall the group were so enthusiastic and open to trying new things that it felt warm despite the cool air of the basement.  And, as for those hopes and worries, over the next few weeks Milena and I aim to help our artists fulfil and exceed those hopes and to obliterate their worries.

Becky Cherriman