In February, our Visual Art and Printing Workshop with Create came to a close. The six-session course led by professional artist, Sam Haynes, was a great success! Participants explored poster design, printmaking and collage, producing beautiful artwork and connecting with one another.
Sandra, who cares for her mother with dementia, signed up for the workshops to introduce more creativity into her life. “I always knew that when I gave up work, I wanted to try and find time to do something a bit more creative, but I just never got the time to do it,” she said. “I thought, right, I’m going to sign up and make the time just be there and see what happens.”
While experimenting with different printing forms, Sandra let loose, expressing herself through her artwork. “I didn’t worry about making mistakes or not knowing how to do it. I thought that was really good and enabled some really creative ideas to come out. People came out with some brilliant images.”
She also found a release from everyday life. “It was just so relaxing,” she said. “On the last day we had to write down words that we thought summarised what the course was about. One of the main words for me was “escape”, because I felt it was just an escape from the day to day.”
Another word that Sandra and other carers chose was “identity”. She shared, “It’s really hard adjusting to doing something like looking after somebody. You don’t necessarily know what to do. I didn’t necessarily understand dementia, and this was a way to just find out what I like to do again and going back to the kind of things that I was interested in.”
The sessions inspired Sandra to work on some creative projects with her mother, including putting old photographs together into a life story book. “My mum was quite creative,” she said. “This was just a perfect opportunity to mix a lot of things I’ve always wanted to do and be proactive in helping my mum, to do something with her and help her bring back her creative skin.”
To participate in experiences like this one and connect with other carers, join us at our upcoming carers events! For more information and to book, visit Events & News – Islington Carers Hub.
