What a privilege for me to be invited to the wonderful Newtown Town Hall to deliver a nature journal workshop centred around the nature of the nearby Newtown Nature Reserve. Many thanks to the National Trust for providing the venue and support. The Town Hall itself is such an interesting building and carries with it a depth of history. Imagine - we were working on a table that was used for meetings since the 1700s.
Newtown developed as a commercial centre and a borough in the 14th century, however, it failed to recover after a French raid in 1377 but Queen Elizabeth I awarded the town two parliamentary seats to try to stimulate economic development in 1584.
In the late 17th century, the mayor and burgesses decided to commission a town hall in order to be able to exercise the privileges afforded to them of holding dinners at which they would confirm the names of the candidates for the two seats.
Newtown Town Hall
I ran three workshops with the attendees being taken through my introduction about the “History of Monkeys” (don’t ask?), the love story that is the Sexton Beetle lifecycle and of course the three types of mucus that slugs are blessed with - Oh noble slug!.
After that it is the creation of the Chapbook form that I have made a specialism - this is a concertina journal allowing people who perhaps have that fear of paper to simply make a mark without fear!
A beautiful chapbook creation
Everyone who attends my workshops go away (I hope) with a new found confidence in their own ability as artists. My main aim is to bring this out so that the attendees can continue their journaling using their own unique style and voice. They are certainly not copying my work.
I love the different interpretations and charm that each artist brings to the workshops.
Some people are aware of their ability but some are not - my job is to tease and nurture this ability - I am not imposing my style on them but simply nudging a little bit. After that each person seems to flourish and their own joy of nature comes out.
