About:  Willowbrook  Creative Club

Working with Willowbrook over the last 9 months has given me the opportunity to explore different themes and mediums with the residents, linking in with the exhibitions at WAC.

I’ve been impressed at how the participants have grown in confidence over the time and become more expressive in their work.

Before Christmas, we explored the natural world, using leaves and foliage to create gel prints and screen prints that were transferred onto textiles and products.

The spring sessions have been exploring shape and form in sculpture and we have used clay, wire, paper, found objects and photography to create sculptures and installations.

Participants have said that they 'like exploring different artists work and reading about them in the sessions', and particularly enjoy 'having a takeaway sheet so we can learn more in our own time.'

These sculpture sessions in particular have helped residents’ journey from art activities that are outcome based into experimental abstract art.

My personal favourite moments were working with the group to create patterns with leaves in water whilst photographing the movement and creating installations out of found objects.

Working with elders’ who have no background in the arts is a real pleasure, as you see them begin to engage with being playful, which too often gets lost in adulthood.

One of the residents is an artist but has enjoyed using mediums which are new.

He relishes the sessions and will often return each week having tweaked the sculpture he made the week before or having researched the artists referenced.

It’s great to see his enthusiasm and he is a great advocate for the arts with the other residents.

This participant commented that "it’s great to have a refresher of things I did years ago. I like to add to the pieces at home and bring it back to show the group to see what they think."