Community
Wall Mural for The Old School, Frenchay
I painted this wall mural in August 2024, for a new preschool opening in Bristol.
The green open common is central to Frenchay, an unusual and valuable space to protect in a busy city, providing a restorative area where people can reconnect with nature. This open space together with the ouline trees are key characteristics of the area. Each tree in the painting represents an actual tree growing in Frenchay common. The trees are of different types, shapes and colour; some are evergreen and others deciduous, representing diversity growing side by side in healthy community.
The nursery leader suggested that the mural include hot air balloons, since Bristol has a famous balloon festival taking place in August every year. These balloons display the motto from the preschool, "Play, Learn, Grow". The backdrop is a sunrise to symbolise hope and new life that we are breathing in to the building. This provides the parents and children with cheerful sunshine to greet them every day, whatever the weather.
I painted from a child's perspective low down in the grass, looking up to the sky. Birds in the sky are flying in the direction of the preschool door, representing the children arriving excited to play and learn at the start of the day.
Art & Mind Mental Health Exhibition
Art & Mind was a community art exhibition made out of cardboard, the output of several sessions over a period of 6 months in 2023, working with a group of 10 people exploring the topic of mental health. Opening speeches included talks by myself (Jamila Hanan), Dr Sarah Wollaston (chair of NHS Devon), Penny Calvert (Creative Health Associate for South West England) and Cherry Lawrence (sculptor and art therapist).
Tactile Workshop for the RNIB
This was a creative workshop that I ran for the volunteers of the Royal National Institute for the Blind.
The workshop was an exciting challenge to find a way of making art that was inclusive for all, especially those who are visually impaired. I included collage of different textured materials including natural objects and also herbs. The topic for this collaborative piece was ‘Dartmoor'.
The feedback from the coordinator of the event at the RNIB was “a brilliant activity.. wonderfully inclusive.. enabled everyone, artists, beginners, sighted and visually impaired, to all be a part of it.”
The Art Playground
This was a free community event which I ran with several volunteers. It was held monthly in the big warehouse at The Clay Factory in Ivybridge, from 2022 through to the end of 2023. It provided a place where people of all ages could come to make art together, using art materials donated by the community. We would have up to 100 people attending, making all kinds of spontaneous and fun creations using lots of different mediums and recycled materials.
Walk, Meditate, Create
I ran this day retreat up to twice monthly between 2022 and 2024, during which I would take a group for a walk on Dartmoor, to the top of Western Beacon, where we would do some outdoors meditation and mark making. We would then head back to The Clay Factory to enjoy one of William's flavoursome vegan meals in the RedPod cafe, followed by collaborative art making in my studio. The positive benefits on wellbeing were noticed by everyone attending and many new friendships were made on the day retreats. For several people the day opened the door to a new creative practice and they went on to join the weekly art club as a result.
Textile Art Club
These are just some of the artwork produced by the textile club which met weekly at Artmoor Haven Art Club from 2023 to 2024. We made artwork out of recycled donated materials. Most work was individual although some work was collaborative. General themes were chosen together with inspiration drawn from Pinterest. People were free to make the work that they wanted, with encouragement from each other. There was no obligation to sew, since pictures could be made simply through cutting and glueing, although increasingly people would opt to sew. Most of the sewing was done by hand although a sewing machine was available. Sewing did not have to be precise; any type of stitching was fine. The most important elements of the club were the conversations and friendships that developed whilst making and also everyone's individual creative confidence that developed over time.