My first Project Happiness blog!….I`m so excited to be finally starting this project thanks to a lot of hard work and Arts Council funding. Throughout the project I am going to be working different adult groups around the Bolton area and schools as well, to create a large scale Mandala. The Mandala will be inspired by Bolton Museums` amazing collections. I am also going to make my own artwork as part of this funding, I`ll let you know more about that as it unfolds.
My first series of workshops is with Inspire in Blackburn….I`ve planned lots of doodling activities….I really want to approach this project in a different way than previous ones; there will be an outcome, but I want it to feel almost like it happened by accident! I want the process to be the focus and I am hoping to free the participants up, so that their doodles are celebrated as works of art and the creation of the Mandala feels like a natural journey.This process of ‘freeing up,’ is no easy task and something I struggle with,(and always will probably), so it will be a real challenge. I have found it can sometimes be met with resistance; even some children can find it very difficult. It seems to me to take more confidence, (for want of a better word), to allow yourself to just ‘be’ creatively. Not to mention the difficulties in facilitating this approach…but, I am hoping this challenge will bring a richness to the project.
I love this quote from Carl Rogers (1981) ” I have come to feel that the only learning which significantly influences behaviour is self-discovered.” For me there is nothing better than experimentation for some self-discovery; it`s like discovering through playing with the art materials.
A glimpse of some things from Bolton Museum that will be inspiring the workshops….
