birds of a feather


Whilst I haven’t been able to run workshops during the pandemic, I have been using the little time I have between homeschooling and work to experiment with pattern making and all things creative. It keeps me afloat!

One of the challenges of production in participatory design workshops is creating a visually coherent outcome. Bringing all the visual elements together in a cohesive way in co-designing a fabric involves many small decisions, iterations and plenty of visual intuition.

 

 

 

Sometimes the block print patterns we produce in the workshops sit well together and are enough. Sometimes, adding a framework (meta-narrative) to unite the patterns brings it all together.

Inspired by flocks of birds flying away for winter, I have been doing some drawings that I think would look great as a fabric and could act as ‘carriers’ for the block print patterns.

 

The birds are storks, hand drawn, outlined and painted with gouache. Here below they are form a framework for the block print patterns:

 

 

 

 

sharing goodmakes workshop feedback :)

This week we received feedback from participants who joined our goodmakes workshops at the Baytree Centre in Brixton.

This feedback highlights the positive impact of sharing experiences and working together creatively to design fabrics in helping to form new friendships, create a sense of community and improve mental health.

The mothers who participated in the goodmakes workshops expressed that they learned much more than they expected and overall the experience was very positive. 

Some of the comments were: 

‘’ I thought I would like this workshop but I had a really good and fun time. I was delighted to reflect of the love I have to for my children”

‘’ It help me as a person to share my experiences and draw (express) them in a pleasant way ‘’

 ‘’ It was really fun and I had a good time like I was a little girl’’ 

‘’This workshop was very interesting for me, I wasn’t expecting it. The facilitators explain and give guidance very well and had a lot of patience. ‘’

‘’This workshop helped me to work in a group’’

‘’I would like to work with more materials’’

‘’I like to come to Baytree and share my experiences – that makes me happy Baytree gives me the opportunities to learn new things’’

‘’I felt a lot of emotion expressing my inside feelings for been a mother in a very creative way’’

‘’I would like them to come more times with more activities’’

‘’I liked the workshop – everything was new to me’’

‘’I had a relaxed time and I would like to this activity with my daughter’’

‘’I wanted more material to create more things’’

‘’I had a relaxed time and enjoyed a lot. It helped me to change the way I was feeling. I made friends and want to do this activity more times’’ 

‘’I learned from this workshop that we can show our emotions through creative ways ‘’

‘’This session helped me to share with others. Nothing needs to improve everything is well organized’’

‘’This workshop is about moments of sharing happiness with other people and feeling good’’.

Goodmakes x Baytree Workshop in Photos

We had a great session at the Baytree Centre in Brixton with women from South America, Yemen, Sudan and Syria, designing stamps to be included in a fabric inspired by the shared stories of  motherhood during migration and their experiences of adjusting to life in London.

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