I’ve been meaning to write a little update for a few days, but I’ve been busy with lots of little creative projects of my own during the last full week of the summer holidays, so it dropped a little in my list of things to do. Don’t you love when you find a sudden burst of inspiration?
Last Saturday, I finally got back to running the Adult Art Club at Trinity Methodist Church – part of the regular programming I’m doing for art workshops in Kirkby-in-Ashfield with Ashfield Creates.
For August’s workshop, I decided to focus on oil pastels as the main medium. I adore oil pastels because they feel so blocky – it makes it easy to get stuck in, to worry less about the finer details of drawing something, and I also love that you can carve into them like wet paint.
We spent some time just figuring out the feel of the materials on paper, before seeing where our minds wandered to and making different things while having a chat.
I am actually terrible at taking pictures of people doing things at workshops – I always get so caught up in the moment and the delivery that I forget to do it. But I did manage to get a few this time, as well as pictures of the finished artwork – so a bit of progress!
I really enjoy running this ‘club’ of sorts. It stemmed from the notion that everyone not only can be creative, but that everyone should be creative. A big thing we were discussing during the workshop was that there does seem to be a lack of activities for adults in Kirkby-in-Ashfield. I know there are plenty of arts and craft workshops in Nottinghamshire, especially in the city centre, but less so in the peripheral districts. Similarly, I love my local library and appreciate everything they do, and have really enjoyed being involved in some projects there and different workshops, but not everything is suitable for those of us without children.
This was a big part of the conversation around the table this time around – that sometimes it is nice to have a kind of childish activity, that creative freedom that we afford kids but not ourselves – without having to feel like we’re crashing an event that’s just for kids and young families. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, why not join us for one of the upcoming Adult Art Club sessions?
Key Details
All Adult Art Club sessions that are supported by Ashfield Creates are FREE to attend. I do ask that people book/reserve a spot via Ashfield Creates, as we do have limited capacity in the venue.
Upcoming Dates:
Saturday 5th September: Art Journals and Collage
We’ll be looking at ways to combine writing, cutting, sticking, painting, and drawing to explore and record thoughts and ideas..
Saturday 3rd October: UV + Glow Painting
Exploring one of the most interesting mediums I’ve experimented with, we’ll look at transforming pictures and adding hidden layers with glow-in-the-dark and UV reactive paints.
Saturday 7th November: Theme TBC
I haven’t decided on a theme for November yet, as I like to respond to feedback from participants before deciding too far out. Whatever it ends up being, it’ll be some form of messy mixed media!
The above dates are all in Trinity Methodist Church, Kirkby-in-Ashfield and run from 11am–12:30pm.
If Kirkby-in-Ashfield is too much of a journey away for you, you can always stay tuned here or on my social media. I have videos and posts upcoming with some creative ideas – especially now we’re finally getting rain again, making me want to stay indoors to make things.
This activity was delivered with the support of Ashfield Creates – a programme designed to bring arts to Ashfield District, delivered by Nonsuch Studios. It is supported by Ashfield District Council and Arts Council England.
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