Inaugural WiP Art Day 2016!

Jo McNicholls writes:

On February 28th 2016 a small group of WIP women gathered for a day in a city farm community building in Bristol. Our aim was to get creative, to lightly and playfully explore our artistic expression and to connect in to our selves – whilst also raising money for the bursary fund!
We spent time at the beginning checking in, and speaking our hopes for the day. Many of us spoke of a fear of not being any good at ‘Art’, a fear of judging our creations as inferior to other peoples, of somehow getting it wrong, and of not creating anything we liked or a beautiful finished piece at the end. So many predator voices to inhibit our true self expression and enjoyment!

But we were guided and encouraged to play freely, to explore different materials, colours and textures, and to let go of any expectations and just enjoy the unfolding process. There was quietness, laughter, deep sighs of concentration, sleep….beautiful pictures were made….and cut up into many pieces….and reformed into new creations….sweet wrappers, printed words, book illustrations, beads and threads were woven between colour and form.

There was a delicious ease and flow of our own explorations and our enjoyment and appreciation of each other. Our predator voices stayed quiet as it turned out that nothing we did could be ‘not good enough’.
It was a richly nourishing and fulfilling day and left us all quietly inspired by the potential for more creativity and art in our day to day lives.

You can view some of the photos here

Many thanks to Clare Davis and Lizzie Rothschild for facilitating this wonderful day!