Creative Learning Café
Indian Woodblock Printing at On the Huh, Ipswich, UK
Fun planning never goes to waste.
“Children don’t grow up. They become adults and then they do” Lily, 4-years old.
Play is so valuable in our development as creative human beings. Why have so many adults forgotten it? Use it or lose it applies equally to our muscles, skills, and creativity. Everyone is naturally creative but if you haven’t played for a while, it’s likely you’ve got rusty. Kids don’t worry about how their picture looks or whether you’ll get what they’ve drawn. They say things like ‘I’m really good at colouring in”. Contrast this to adults playing with paints and woodblocks who are more likely to say “I’m no good at art” or “I’ll probably mess it up”. Since 2018, Professor of Play at the centre for research on Play Education and Learning at Cambridge University has been researching “the role of play in young people’s lives…to inform wider practice and policy”. During 2020’s pandemic, I spent two months in my sister’s household with my 6-year old nephew and 4-year old niece who reconnected me with play. I had so much fun playing ‘the polar bear game’, Thunderbirds, and being the Lego-bit spotter, I began feeling more playful at work too. Now I consciously make and take all opportunities to play. I wonder, what is the role and value of play in older people’s lives?
A global pandemic makes organising even a beginner’s art workshop a little complex. When I saw Charlotte Harwood’s Indian woodblock designs on aprons, baby suits and wrapping paper, I wanted to join in the fun so I suggested we organise a small workshop at a local café. We acknowledged that anything we organise in 2020 had high chances of not happening and carried on anyway because fun planning is never wasted! Originally I wanted to publicise with a Facebook event or on Meetup, but I was unable to keep up with what the UK rules allowed so we kept it to a maximum of five participants and no publicity. Charlotte confirmed with her insurer that the art workshop was permitted. We checked all participants’ temperatures, each completed a health check form and made contact tracing records for both the café owner and Charlotte. We wore protective aprons and gloves against paint — or virus — on our clothes and fingers. Less natural were the masks but these days people are getting used to wearing them inside. Quite a lot of careful preparation for a few hours play time.
Creative learning together is fun and heals. Charlotte shared her woodblocks of animals, ocean dwellers, trees-leaves-and-flowers, and patterns. We started with card because it sits flatter than fabric and being cheap, less worry about mistakes. She showed us how to dab the acrylic paint onto a block with a sponge and firmly press on the card. I found it very soothing creating something so beautiful and simple — often one woodblock print on a card was enough. When I didn’t put enough paint on my block, Charlotte guided me to try to reprint exactly on top of the first, resulting in a multicolour butterfly. We each made 12 cards before moving onto wrapping paper. Like exercise, creativity can be practiced daily by oneself. But there is something special engaging with community and sharing the gift together. We connect with people more deeply when we play instead of consume together.
It’s important to reflect on what the pandemic has changed in life and what remains for us to change ourselves. The ongoing uncertainty has been an incredible teacher in letting go of product and focusing on process instead. I find myself wanting to use my hands more — when I returned from Micronesia I longed to plunge my hands into the soil and discovered I love weeding. Painting a wall was so satisfying, an important tangible counterpoint to my professional work whose results might not be felt for weeks, months, or years. Organising a workshop to connect and creatively learn with community remains a valuable experience, regardless of whether there were more safety aspects to consider or relatively few participants. People will continue to enjoy receiving hand-crafted beautiful items and I plan to keep experimenting with making things trying new techniques… next up, beginner pottery?! Colour, creativity, caring and community will continue to heal and bring joy.
If you enjoyed reading, you can show your appreciation by clapping up to 50 times on the hands below or sharing with people who might be interested. I love receiving feedback (good or bad), comments, questions (especially those that prompt me to write more) and suggestions.
