Felt Fantastic and More Fun Filled Adventures

So the schools are way, but the cat will still play! I've been making the most of the school's Easter holidays by touching up on my own artistic skill, I've now added a whole new dimension, felt making!

That's right, roll up your sleeves, grab your squirty ecover and pop the bubble wrap, because all are vital tools in the felt making process! On Saturday 27th March I joined Jo Gornall, the expert felt maker for a day of creative construction. And some squidding, soaping, rolling, foaming hours later, hay presto! I'd produced my own fantastic felt masterpiece.

Keen to put my new found talent into practice I have incorporated felt making into the next big Art.Works commission. In May I will be working with the delightful pupils at All Saints's Primary School, Rochdale, to create two gigantic wall hangings which will transform their school's entrance. The work will include felt formed by the pupils, perfect dove prints, ceramic fish, and a little tile mosaicing too. Just another fun filled, soap spilled, messy Art.Works session then! And I can't wait!

As well as indulging in this organized chaos I've now designed Art.Works new 'Art in a Box' resources for schools, been approached with the idea to run holiday workshops for Hollingworth Lake Visitors Centre, and just today, won the tender to work at Abby Acre Care Home in Oldham to create a tasty mural for their new dinning area. Details of all these exciting new projects will soon feature on the blog, so keep your eyes peeled!

If you're interested in any of the work Art.Works offers, or want more information why not drop me a line? email: art.works.coop@gmail.com or phone: 07816168981, I like nothing more than a good gossip!

New Eco Schools Workshops with Art.Works and Touchstones

It might have been all quiet on the blog front but rest assured, the keys on this keyboard have been going like the clappers, all in the name of art!

Last week was an exciting week for Art.Works as we got ourselves in gear for the next school year. Thanks to the extraordinarily generous Education Co-ordinator at Touchstones, Rochdale, Art.Works will soon be featured in their school's programme! Karen Vine, Touchstone's Education Co-ordinator said she was 'looking forward to adding a new eco dimension to the schools programme', not as much as I am Karen!

I've been busy creating innovative workshops to inspire pupils to engage with art, drama and even a bit of eco warrior-ism, all in 2 new ninety minute workshops. From April schools can book, through Karen at Touchstones, the Art.Works sessions 'Fruity Fairtrade' and 'Re-work it'. They will enjoy hands on workshops in the inspiring surroundings of Rochdale's impressive heritage centre, Touchstones. The sessions will be a snip, at around £68 each (this price will be finalised later in the month).

So, to any environmentally aware teachers out there, it's a great opportunity to get out of the class room and into the museum of inventive disarray (that's the Art.Works sessions, not Touchstones in general!)

Celebrating Book Week With Bowlee Primary

What do you get if you mix 60 place mats, 60 felt picnic lunches, 60 cat masks, 10 table clothes and 60 T-shirts? a very big lunch of course! and that's exactly what Browlee Primary created last week during National children's Book Week.

Kicking off with an interactive performance of 'The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch', there was no shortage of pupils willing take centre stage and become characters from the tale. From the industrious Mr Grinling, polishing his lamp and sweeping the deck, to Mrs Grinling, the most dextrous baker near the seven seas, pupils lit up the story with their animated acting skills. But let's not forget those pesky seagulls, what, you might ask, does a hall full of pupils screeching like seagulls sound like? music to my ears of course!

Pupils then sprung into action taking part in drama games and arts activities with Art.Works. On Monday Reception children painted the bobbly side of the broccoli to create inspired place mats. Year one were transformed from kids to kittens creating funky cat masks to prowl around the school in. We created some scrummy picnics with year two, crisps, cakes and sumptuous chocolate bars, unfortunately they were carved from felt, not too tasty then!

Key stage two pupils shone brightly as they continued to make and create on the theme of The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch on Friday. Year three's wonderfully wooly 3-D fruits looked good enough to eat. year four printed the perfect picnic blankets to display Monday's felt foods on. They designed their printing block, cut their stamp and formulated a pattern, what a gifted and inventive bunch!

And it seems Brimrod Primary might just be harbouring Britain's fashion designers of the future. Year 5 swapped the studio for a sweatshop as they designed and printed nearly 60 T-shirts illustrating key characters from the lighthouse Keeper's Lunch.

What productive pupils, what cheerful staff and, of course, what an amazing adventure. Art.Works couldn't be happier after celebrating Book Week with Brimrod , so thanks to all who took part, and remember, next time you hear a seagull, just whip out the mustard...

Splashing paints in the library

It might have raining outside, but in All Saints CE Primary the sun was shining, in fact it was gleaming, a huge circumference of a solar grin splashed across Ebony Wormald's canvas.

Art.Works has had a most enjoyable afternoon today, working with an artistic trio in All Saints school, Rochdale. Adam Hussain, Hannah Hussain and Ebony Wormald sparkled as they spalshed their winning designs for the school's library onto huge canvases.

The talented threesome got to work straight way, selected the particular paints for their palette, choosing the right brushes and creating bursts of colour, shape and texture. Their master pieces are sure to make their library buzz with animation and creation. Indeed, so intent were the pupils on producing the perfect picture, I had trouble getting a word out of them! Only my terrible singing finally raised a few cries of horror and disbelief!

I'm looking forward to finishing off the edges (that's like crossing the t's and dotting the i's in teacher terms) and taking the canvases back to the imaginative students next week.

Art.Works in Africa!

There might be snow on the ground here in Littleborough, but in Africa there's a mosaic to be made! While the rest of us are stamping our feet and rubbing our fingers to keep warm Trish is busy getting creative in Aru, in the Congo. Not deterred by the lack of conventional materails, or indeed the searing heat, Trish has been working with the community to make a fantastic floor mosaic. They've been using stones, pebbles and a curious mix of Tuff Bond and water, how's that for creative thinking?!

I'm hoping Trish's French has improved a little since she flew out over a week ago as the last I heard she was 'going to have to rely on the art and drama of pulling of funny faces!!' to teach the pupils at the local school. oh, dear... but I can't wait to hear about her African adventures, spreading Art.Works to the furthest most points of the Atlas.

Back in frost bitten Blighty I've been busy taking bookings for book week, creating an awesome resource pack (if you've ever wanted to know how to screen print a t-shirt with sticky fingered seven year olds nows your chance!) and freelancing at Touchstones.

I left lots of smily faces puckering up with a huge cheesy grin on Saturday as I facilitated at the family fun day in Rochdale's inspiring museum, Touchstones. We created a pop up paper camera, perfect for capturing all those moments so vivid in the imagination, but the conventional camera lens doesn't always see. Everyone say cheeeeeeeeeese!

Summer will sparkle in Failinge

We are chuffed to bits at Art.Works this week. Following on from our success a few years ago working with Failinge Youth Group to create their stylish mosaic; a prominent feature which welcomes visitors to their estate, we're at it again! and this time it's bigger and better than before.

We have just received confirmation of funding to work with some of Failinge's exciting new community groups such as the over 50s group, the parents group and, of course the youth group. Jackie Robinson, Failinge's Priority Area Worker, said she was looking forward to working with Art.Works on this new project.

In Summer 2010, the tenants and residents of Failinge will be rolling back their sleeves to create 10 large scale murals illustrating their fantastic thoughts on life on their estate. I can't wait to work with the groups and help their imaginative ideas turn into an eye catching wall of colour and vibrancy. It'll be an adventure, all group members will be armed with a brush and a paint pot, working together to add a little sparkle and transform their community space.

And if that's not enough, we'll be giving the community centre a bit of a facelift too! The youth group have decided to revamp the dull grey shutters on their building and add a splash of colour to make the structure shine.

So roll on the summer, roll back the rain clouds and get ready to be dazzled as Art.Works and Failinge paint the town red! (or green..or yellow...or blue..)

lighthouses, lunches and a lot of art.work!

Another first from Art.Works! Because we're just big kids that can't grow up we've decided to launch a book week extravaganza! Excited? you should be!

We're celebrating world book day (4th March) in style. think big, big butties, big seagulls, big characters. What am I talking about? why 'The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch' of course!

Fresh off the press Art.Works has created a fun filled day to explore the themes of this classic children's tale. What did Mr Grinling do at the Lighthouse all day? How do you deter a screeching seagull? Is Hamish a courageous kitten or a real scaredy cat?

Through role play, mosaic making and a little bit of printing too pupils in and around Rochdale will be taking part in the most animated book day this side of the book's deep blue sea (at least I hope so...)