To mark the end of the Wild Ways project in partnership with Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Carbon Landscape Partnership and Wigan Council, we threw a big family celebration event at Pennington Flash to show off some of the artists' project outcomes and give families and passers-by the chance to get involved with their workshops.
Wild Ways artists Jayne Seddon, Natalie Linney, Sally Gilford and Joe Ford set up temporary art workshops at Pennington Flash, and gave participants the opportunity to get creative in ways they may have never tried before!
Jayne Seddon
Jayne Seddon's workshop gave participants the chance to have a go at specimen drawing and closely observing natural, found objects by using a smartphone microscope. Jayne helped people to observe leaves, flowers and feathers so they could draw or trace their own interpretation of them. Jayne encouraged people to draw around their specimens using line drawing, using a magnifying glass to detail the close up lines and to try out pointillism. Jayne also brought along to the workshop cyanotype which is a slow - reacting photographic, printing formulation, for the public to explore.
Sally Gilford
Sally Gilford brought a pop-up Smitten with Bitterns workshop to show participants how to screen-print their own wooden bitterns in the form of keyrings and decorations. These were then placed around the flash for other walkers to find, hidden in bushes and next to trees! Participants were given the option of using many different colours to design their Smitten with Bitterns wooden cut outs.
Natalie Linney
Natalie Linney introduced our participants to Hapa Zome printing - hammering natural forms over white fabric to leave an imprint - to create their own mini Bickershaw Moth wings before trying on her Day & Night fabric Bickershaw Moth wings, with a print inspired by Hapa Zome workshops with Bickershaw Primary School.
Joe Ford
Joe Ford encouraged participants to write a poem based upon film photographs taken during the Through the Lens Workshop at Amberswood, using Indian Ink, quills and paintbrushes! Joe had multiple copies of the photographs taken by the local community in Amberswood which were then offered for the public to take home and use however they like, from using as postcards or for people to use as decorations in their homes.
The biggest thank you to Jayne Seddon, Sally Gilford, Natalie Linney and Joe Ford, our four Wild Ways artists, who have engaged with around 586 participants across Wigan over the last few months, leaving people feeling inspired by their local green spaces! We've loved getting involved with your workshops and seeing your projects progress.
If you missed any of the workshops and would like to get involved yourself, click below to download our free children's activity pack to inspire you to get out into your local green spaces! 🌿
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Part of Wanderland, in partnership with Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Carbon Landscape Partnership and Wigan Council. Funded by The Deal and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. #TheDeal #NationalLotteryHeritageFund #Wanderland