May 2nd 2024- Matisse Cut-outs
To get everyone up to speed on what we’ve been up to for the rest of 2024, here’s a quick summary of what else we got up to in 2024!
After getting stuck into Persian poetry for a workshop, we had a couple of quiet weeks at Art For Fun. On quiet weeks, we usually don’t have a theme to follow, unlike our artist-led, People Powered Places-funded workshops. However, we did have a lot of spare patterned and coloured paper which are great to use in collages- this mixed with the fact that our next big workshop was on the subject of Mattise cut-outs we decided to use the workshops on 18th and 25th of April to to focus on making collages- which would give us some skills to use for the big workshop on 2nd May.
The Matisse Cut-Outs workshop on the 2nd May 2024 explored the works of Henri Matisse, a visual artist known for his use of colour (without shading) and fluid shapes. In our workshop, we were ‘Painting with Scissors’. Participants had a handout for a visual guide- alongside a demo and 1:1 help where needed. We began our exploration of Matisse by choosing contrasting colours and cutting the paper into organic, flowing shapes. Once participants had a variety of cut-outs to choose from, they could begin sticking them onto a bigger piece of paper- focusing on composition. We created many pieces that had inventive uses of shape and colour.
Many enjoyed the workshop, stating: “(I liked) Making the composition, everything.” And ” I enjoyed all of it.”
We’re glad so many participants liked the workshop!
Links to our Instagram posts about the workshop are here; you can find out more about Matisse’s Cut-outs here.
May 30th- Eritrean Fabric Art Workshop
Our next People Powered Places workshop was led by guest artist Feven, who showed us the basics of Eritrean fabrics. We used handwoven Eritrean fabric, which we cut, sewed, and painted to create our desired textiles! With Feven’s help, we were able to create a variety of items from bags to pillowcases and even scarves.
Alongside the brilliant artistry, we also had a spread of home-cooked dishes, including Injera, a traditional sourdough flatbread, as well as freshly brewed Tea and Coffee.
This workshop was very popular! In fact, participants were still using the leftover fabric and designing bags with fabric paint after this workshop.
Here’s the link to a video of the day on our Instagram.
June 13th-June 27th- Printing and Collagraph with Mary Ward Centre
Mary Ward Centre returned to Art For Fun for three weeks. The workshops were based on printing and various printing practices. As the three weeks progressed, Marie and Zoe increased the difficulty and intricacy of the printing process we would be working with, moving us up to Collagraphing for the third session.
In week 1, we looked at how to print using everyday, easy-to-find items such as leaves, bubble wrap and plastic containers
For week 2, we started to include words and created stamps out of foam- we just have to remember not to print the stamps with words backwards!
In week 3, we learned how to Collagraph: start by creating a design, trace it onto foam, cut it out, add designs and texture, glue it down, then apply your ink. Once that’s done, line up and apply pressure to the paper. We got many fun designs from patterns, to cats and an angel.
You can view the Instagram posts here, here and here.
July 4th- Starry Night Workshop
We welcomed Marie back to Art For Fun to lead that month’s People Powered Places workshop. In which we recreated one of my favourite Vincent Van Gogh pieces, The Starry Night, using supplies such as sequins, buttons and string. Many enjoyed the variety of supplies and the opportunity to learn something new, or about Vincent Van Gogh.
Here’s the reel on Instagram.
August 1st- Pattern workshop inspired by Turkish Rugs
Our next big workshop was on the 1st August 2024. Artist Maryam taught us about the history of Turkish rugs and the importance and meanings of their intricate, colourful designs. Armed with this knowledge, the group then used stencils, fabric pens and paint to apply designs to our own Tote bags. Some even layered their patterns, creating one-of-a-kind designs!
As always, we have food and drink alongside the art. For this workshop, we had a spread of Turkish tea, pastries and biscuits.
You can view Maryam’s beautiful work on Instagram. And you can find our reel about the workshop here.
September 5th- Still Life Workshop
Joining us for September’s People Powered Places Workshop was artist Hanelle Levine. For this workshop, we were focusing on Still Life. We had various fruits for participants to draw using whatever medium they felt comfortable using. Every artwork from this session was unique with different compositions, mediums and viewpoints informing how each still life piece was interpreted on paper.
You can view a reel of the session here.
October 3rd- Hand Tracing Workshop
Dynamic Artist Duo Robert and Colin from Art in the Docks joined as our workshop leaders on October 3rd. For this workshop, we were tasked with tracing our hands and drawing patterns within them. We could either cut it out or leave it be. If, after reading that description, you felt the activity was inspired by Mehndi, aka Henna, then you’d be right!
Mehndi, or Henna, is used during celebrations such as weddings or before Eid to wish good luck and prosperity. We also had Ethiopian coffee and tea available for refreshments.
You can see more Photos of the session here. And here are links to Robert and Colin’s Instagram.
October 31st- Halloween Hatcrafting + Nov 21st Tissue Paper Hats
At our Halloween Workshop, we had our regulars and a huge group of families join us as part of a collaboration with another group that also won People Powered Places funding. At least 80 people were booked onto the event.
Robert and Colin were joining us for the workshop, and they had to find something Halloween-themed that would entertain our regulars and the people joining from the wider event. We agreed on making Halloween-inspired hats out of paper plates and coloured card. Some of us used stencils and others created their own 3D elements. Food was catered by Food4me cafe.
The event was a roaring success with over 70 brilliant hats made that afternoon.
Here’s a reel showing you behind the scenes.
The skills we learned from Robert and Colin on this day came in handy when the Mary Ward Centre returned. As on the 21st November, their workshop was all about hat making! However, instead of using Paper plates and Card we went one step further and used Cardboard, Tissue Paper and Coloured Crepe Paper to bring these hats to life! Some people also decided to use these materials to make stunning flowers!
There’s more photos of these lovely hats on our Instagram.
28th November- Fused Glass Workshop
Our Workshop on the 28th was a special one, funded through the People Powered Places grant. Usually, Art For Fun doesn’t have the funds to go on outings. However, because we had the grant, we could plan a trip out for a workshop near the Christmas period.
The trip took a huge amount of planning on Sue, Frankie, and Rose’s parts to ensure it was accessible and that everyone could get there. One of the things we initially struggled to book was the transport to the venue, and it took at least three vendors to secure accessible transport.
For our trip, we went to Chisenhale Art Place for a Fused Glass workshop run by Nadine. One group went in for the morning slot, and another for the afternoon slot, to ensure we had enough room for everyone in the venue. We had the opportunity to work with pre-cut glass, accessory glass, and brass and copper sheets. Which we used to create designs for coasters, bowls, tealight trees, and hanging ornaments!
We also had small nibbley bits for lunch, like Samosas and small finger-sized wraps.
It was an incredible experience, it was the perfect workshop to have near the festive season! And everyone at Art For Fun loved it and was so grateful that the People Powered Places grant gave us this opportunity.
You can view more images of our creations here, and the link to E3 Creative Glass here.
13th December and 19th December- Christmas workshops
For the Christmas workshops, we did something special. On the 13th, we collaborated with the same people who ran the big event for the Halloween workshop. However, with some big differences! This time, it was based on the ground level of Beckton Globe Library, and we brought in some more help to lead different stations.
This event was Christmas-themed, so we had different stations for different arts and crafts. Zoe was leading the Salt Dough Ornament section, where you paint non-edible dough, and the ornaments can be used as Christmas tree decorations once they dry. And Robert and Colin were leading the 3D ornament section, where you could decorate things like hearts and wreaths with different strips of paper and other crafty elements.
The food was provided by Food4me cafe, and there were things like Victoria Sponge Cake available and Mac and Cheese.
For the final workshop of 2024, one of our volunteers, Frankie, led the session. Because it was christmas she wanted to teach us how to make Christmas Baubles out of Paper or card. It was easy to understand, and as someone who is terrible with paper crafts, it was easy to complete. I’ll use this trick when I don’t feel like buying ornaments for my Christmas tree!
Thank you for reading Art For Fun’s Year in Review for 2024! As you can see, we got up to loads of awesome artsy adventures. But it doesn’t end there because we had plenty more fun workshops and collaborations in 2025- just you wait and see!
Until next week’s updates, why don’t you check out our Instagram?
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