‘In Our Space’ – Newcastle Carers Artist Residency final exhibition.

From October 18 to March 19, I worked as Artist in Residence at Newcastle Carers as part of Newcastle City Council’s Arts Team’s residency program. I have blogged a few times about this residency – which I have really enjoyed. It has been a privilege to have worked with such a great and supportive organisation and the people who took part in the creative workshops and who, as you’ll be able to see below, produced some amazing artworks which are now on display at Shields Road in Byker.

It was also a lovely surprise to find out that I had been nominated for an award as part of the work I had done with Newcastle Carers during the residency. What made it even more special was the lovely nomination letter I received stating the reasons why:

“Having Louise in the Café really helped us to relax and take our minds off our caring roles for a couple of hours. We always had a lot of fun and constantly laughing. We loved learning new skills that we can share with our family/friends. It helped us to open up and strengthen our friendships with each other. She also made all of us believe in our selves more and that we can try new things. We are extremely proud of all of our work we created with Louise, thank you for everything.”

Three of the artworks on display at Newcastle Carers.

Over six months, I worked with four groups who meet regularly at one of the ‘cafes’ which are available to carers within the city to meet peers, talk to volunteers who are able to offer advice and support, as well as support workers who are able to provide further help. The individual cafes normally meet once a month, so we decided to add in extra sessions so that we were able to meet each group at least once a fortnight – as members of the café were really enjoying the creative project work they were doing within the cafes. Below, you can see the fabulous finished artworks and quotes that came out of the project, which are now on display in one of the rooms that is regularly used by these groups.

‘A comfy pair of slippers’ made by Byker Carer Café.

“When I first started coming to Newcastle Carers, it was like putting on a comfy pair of slippers or a blanket on.”

Many of the group at Newcastle Carers either already enjoyed knitting and crochet, or were keen to learn. This project has given the group a chance to learn and share skills with each other, from the simple, colourful squares to the flowers around the edge. Traditionally such techniques would have been used to make pieces for loved ones or for practical purposes. The heart shape has been inspired by tattoo designs.

‘Laughing, Caring, Sharing’ made by Gosforth Carers.

The imagery of the jigsaw puzzle reflects both a relaxing activity we might do but also the interlocking pieces symbolise the support given to members or visitors to the group by the volunteers and carers. Some of the pieces have been decorated with images of special places we visit in our minds and others the results of opportunities of experimentation with colour and form. Others have been made to represent important things the carers would like to say: the crocheted flowers say ‘Thank you’ to the people who originally set up the group and the knitted cakes represent having a cuppa with understanding friends.

During the workshops at Gosforth Carers, we have been using inks and fabric paints to decorate the jigsaw pieces, then using beading, knitting and crochet to further embellish the surface.

‘Life has layers’ by Young Adult Carers Café at Byker.

“We can be who we are.”

During the workshops at Newcastle Young Adult Carers, the young people have been learning a number of different creative techniques. These included lino printing, batik, weaving and fabric painting. This piece reflects many of the different aspects of a young carer’s life: school/college/work, friends and socialising, family and caring. The cogs of time continue turning in the background, with the occasional spanner in the works that might slow things down. However, the ‘Tree of Life’ keeps growing, providing new opportunities and experiences – including being part of the group.

A big part of the weekly sessions, besides the creative activities, has been the banter that flows, talking with friends about films and music (listening to Rag’n’Bone Man quoted here); this has fed into the piece that has been created.

“I am giant.”

B.M.E. Carers Group – ‘Time for Me’

Self-care is essential for all of us, but particularly for people who care for others. This piece reflects upon some of the simple things that we could do every day that make us feel happier and more relaxed. These things may not even take long like being creative. The group made these hand pictures and wrote things they enjoyed within them which gave them time to switch off and stop thinking about other things for a while.

Textile books made by Newcastle Young Adult Carers and Newcastle Carer Café.

‘In Our Space’ – Newcastle City Artist in Residency exhibition logo.

‘Green Pledges’ in the Northumberlandia woodland.

This summer I have felt very privileged and excited to have been one of the two Artists in Residence at Northumberlandia. It has given me the opportunity to work on a beautiful site, looking at a subject I am very passionate about: our natural surroundings, the environment and climate change. I have previously shared images of the pieces I have made in response to visitors pledges and the work of local children. Here are just a few more images of the pieces on-site in September, 2018.

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• 8.3 Billion metric tonnes of plastic produced since the 1950’s
• Plastic can take 500 years to fully decompose.
• Only 9% of plastic is recycled (79% goes to landfill and 12% is incinerated).

 

‘We pledge to do a litter pick every time we visit the beach’.

‘We pledge to plant flowers for the bees’.

‘I will try and make ecobricks’

Damselfly ‘We will try and use less plastic’

‘Reducing food waste around the World would help curb emissions of planet warming gasses’.

‘I pledge to recycle more items, buy less groceries and throw away less food’

 

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‘To use no more plastic folks’, Green Pledge.

After four months working Northumberland Wildlife Trust at Northumberlandia, over 120 Green Pledges were made with local families and school children and 17 large pledges were made in response to the pledges made by local visitors. I am hoping to be able to work again with the NWT and other organisations on similar projects encouraging people to think about the positive actions they can take to help their local environment and the World’s climate.

Needlecase community workshop

Needlecase project and ‘maker’ essential equipment.

Last year I worked on a large project to create the Shipley Art Gallery Centenary Quilt, whilst doing that I worked with a small, lovely group of women who were part of the ‘Syrian Family Group’ who met up regularly in Gateshead. The women made about 10 of the hand stitched patchwork squares for the quilt that is now on display at the Shipley Art Gallery.

Hand stitching a needlecase.

Recently, the women have asked if I could work on developing some other projects with them, to help them get back into sewing. We decided it would be helpful to make up ‘sewing maker packs’, so that everyone had the essential equipment to get them going back at home. The pack included and pair of scissors, needles, thread and pins. So it was decided to make a needlecase as the first sewing project, to keep the needles and pins safe.

Sewing flower designs onto the needlecase.

The needlecase was made with felt, so that it was practical, versatile and gave a lovely finish. The cases could also be further embellished with buttons and extra stitching.

We meet this Saturday at the Shipley Art Gallery and had a very busy afternoon. When crafting in groups, I always love the social aspect of it: lots of nattering, laughing and cups of tea!

Here are some of the finished hand stitched felt needlecases made by the group on Saturday.

Fruit and Veg inspired

Beautiful, bright button needlecase.

Flowers in bloom.

Hearts and flowers needlecase.

 

New interactive pieces for The Sill, Northumberland.

The Sill, is a new landscape discovery centre in beautiful Northumberland, very close to many of the famous Roman sites along Hadrian’s Wall. The Sill helps visitors to look deeper into the landscape, culture, history and heritage of Northumberland.

View from The Sill roof

Last year, whilst The Sill was still being built, I was asked by the Education Team to work with them on creating some interactive bags for schools and community groups to use whilst visiting their building and galleries.

Inside The Sill’s gallery, which explains many of the uses of the landscape, materials and habitats found in the area.

A large part of last year I spent working on the Shipley Art Galleries Centenary Quilt but as soon as that was finished, we started planning in more detail what interactive materials The Sill would benefit from first and how they would like them to look. So the first two interactive bags I worked on was the Moorland Curlew Bag and the Geology bag.

Curlew Children’s mask

The Moorland Curlew bag was great fun to make. The bag itself is large enough to carry all the interactive pieces in plus room for teachers notes. I always find children love as much opportunity to dress up – so any chance to make wings and masks is great!

Curlew wings, child size.

The Curlew bag also had a crochet nest, with eggs plus worms for the Curlew to eat!

Curlew nest and eggs.

Habitat bags always need a predator and what better than a fox – great fun for interactive role play!

Fox mask.

The Moorland Curlew bag itself had two sides, as the curlews nest in the moorland building their nests on the floor and they also spend their time at the seaside amongst the mudflats – which you may have seen, with their long, curled, distinctive beaks.

Moorland Curlew (mudflat side) and Geology bag being used at The Sill.

The geology bag looked at how the stone and the Whin Sill had been created over thousands of years. The bag itself illustrates very simply how the stratigraphic layers in the area have built up to create the landscape and stone in the area.

Geology bag cover, textile illustration of the stratigraphic layers in Northumberland.

To help illustrate to children visiting with schools and community groups, small textile panels were made to show how the local stone is used in Hadrian’s Wall, making roads, sandstone walls and limestone kilns.

This bag was also quilted so that rocks and stones, plus other materials could safely be placed inside.

Four textile panels illustrating the use of stone in the area: top left – road building, top right – sandstone walls, bottom left – limestone kilns and how limestone enriches the ground and bottom right – Hadrian’s Wall.

These bags have now been delivered and I am now working on a ‘Dark Skies and Mythology’ bag plus a large, layered map which will be used up on the grassed roof, to assist discussions about how the landscape has changed over the last two thousand years.