Cultivator Mixers!
The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that I have been fortunate enough to receive arts council funding to support my business. This came from Cultivator Cornwall, a thriving artistic community which has been a pillar of support for local creatives. Sadly, Cultivator is winding its operations down as funding revenues change. Rather than organising a farewell party the good folk at Cultivator invited everyone it had ever supported to a series of ‘mixers’. I was able to attend four of these wonderful workshops which brought Cultivator clients together.
The mixers were a range of workshops that were run by the diverse creative community that thrives in Cornwall. They ranged from arts and crafts, to performance, to writing and each one included a sit-down meal to bring people together. I chose making orientated workshops and was able to learn some new skills while getting to know fellow creatives. The first event was an electronic automata workshop with Discover42. Then came an illustration session, a lesson in darning and finally a beautiful morning spent painting outdoors. Each workshop was so enriching that I’m compelled to go into details about them all, however, that’s too much information for one post so I’ll just make a start with the first two: automata making and illustration.
The workshop at Discovering42 - electronics, discarded toys, good company and good food!
Disccovering42 is an amazing privately run museum in Bodmin. It is situated in an old park pavilion and is crammed full of the most exciting contraptions that explain how things work - the forces of gravity, nature and electronics etc. (the name refers to the infamous question about the meaning from Douglas Adams’ ‘The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’). Our workshop taught us how to wire up lights and motors to make an automaton move at the flick of a switch. Obviously, I was keen to learn more about making automata but I was delighted to have someone show me how to wire up a switch. My early education was great, lots of art and music but, as a girl at school in the 80s I was not allowed anywhere near a metal, wood or electronics workshop. I was always so impressed when boys in my class managed to wire up lights and make things work. It seemed like dark magic. So, it was with a sense of betrayal that I discovered just how straightforward it is to wire a motor up to a switch and make things move! I felt rather let down my gendered education. Happily, with the help of Discovering 42 and Cultivator I had the best fun constructing a bunch of toy sausages with a tiny bit of electronics to make a wild automata that worked at the flick of a switch. Definitely food for thought! You’ll get a feel for the atmosphere of the workshop in this video…
If you are ever anywhere near Bodmin then be sure to book a slot at Discovering42 and take kids with you!
The second workshop came courtesy of Freya Moses, a multi talented illustrator who brought out my inner child as we revelled in shocking colours and bold shapes. Definitely not my usual place to be so it was thrilling to get involved in a new experience. Freya encouraged us to play with colour, texture and pattern. I learnt new ways of putting things together and new funky ways of making cards. If any of you have been in the Guild of Ten lately, you’ll know that I make one off papercut cards that sell only in this gallery. Freya gave me some great tips on making cards in slightly different ways. I have yet to put these into practise but they’re on my list!
More next time on painting and darning!