The day we took inspiration from Scottie Wilson

Today we looked at the life and work of Scottie Wilson. He did amazing ink drawings with colour washes over the top. As we had no waterproof inks we did this in reverse. We sketched out a rough outline of our pictures. Then we used watercolours to add different blocks of colour. Then we used a range of marker pens and fine liners to add in our designs over the top.

The day we made tin can wind chimes

Jo had this idea. Simply keep some food cans, empty and well washed of course. Knock a hole in the top to take a piece of knotted string. Paint the cans with your favourite designs, acrylic will cover well over the tin cans. Hang from an old wooden spoon or other utensil no longer needed. We put ours up in the Workbase garden.

The Day We Made A Three Headed Whatyoumacallit.

Well, once again as we sat there with the question in the air, "Is there anything anyone would like to try?", of course the suggestion of paper mache heads was seen as a challenge. We used balloons and then newsprint and glue to create the shapes. When they had dried we added features and hair (kindly donated from the print workshop downstairs, it was packing from a box!). Not totally impressed the heads were attached by wire to a dressmakers dummy and then arranged. We affectionately called it Cerberetta.

The day we messed about with pipe cleaners!

Often for the WellArt group we ask if there is anything anyone fancies having a go at. Of course you get the ironic or sarcastic suggestions but then somebody says something and everyone in the room goes "YES!". That is how we ended up with pipe cleaners.

What really surprised me was the way they were used to express some serious issues for the people involved.

One person had been suffering with pains in their limbs and had been struggling with understanding what it was about and getting information from their doctor. They created two pieces entitled "Limbo" to express the state they felt in.

Another member who makes jewellery from recycled materials saw the opportunity to create some bodily adornment. I think it may have started as being a small piece but once you start messing with the pipe cleaners it is very hard to stop!

I also was a little carried away. I used the pipe cleaners to explore a nightmare I had recently suffered with relating to problems with neuropathy about losing all senses except pain (I apologise for the uncheerful nature of this!). I combined text about senses with the spiky arranged pipe cleaners representing pain.

Sometimes when you create artwork in groups like this you get moments where people open up and confront issues by making something that allows them to express how they are feeling about an issues that really effects their lives. Once having let it out they feel better or more able to describe it to others.