During lockdown, I have run a series of #BeCreative art workshops remotely, on Zoom. Participants enter as strangers, and then we make art together in a way that supplies synergy and replenishment, from our mutually connecting imaginations. 

I start the workshops off by presenting a stimulus or idea (e.g. a mandala, a haiku poem, a potato print, images from art history), then I guide participants through the practical process of accessing their imaginations and responding to the stimulus. Participants ‘go with it’, and create. What results is a warm, nourishing fraternity, made from our reciprocal, interactive art-making. We learn, grow and feed ourselves from what we create. 

A variety of people attend these virtual events: adults, kids, families, mental health service users. I also work with a charity for people who have eating disorders (‘First Steps ED’). The workshops provide connection, replenishment and fun.  

Topics are endless, they include: poetry in lockdown, construct your favourite place, ‘Fantastic Patterns’ with shaving foam, design your own theatre scene, road trip, Ancient Egypt (or Greece or Rome), Dada, Surrealism, Impressionism, Cubism, Aztecs, or ADVENTURE! (and more). Creativity has no limits.

The colourful consequences of these workshops contain pictures, writing, costumes and happy faces. As one person said: ‘This is the most motivated and happy that I’ve felt since the lockdown.’