Students from Walworth Academy share their thoughts on herbal remedies, Baldwins and their art project with The Roots in this series of interviews. A lovely collection of views and voices!
Thank you to all the students from Walworth who have been involved in The Roots. Find out more about their contributions here and here.
We came, we watered, we weeded, we planted and sowed.
The herb and heart gardeners are growing, amongst other things, beetroot for the Pasley Park Fair on Saturday 7th September from 12-4pm.
The beautiful aloe artwork by students of Walworth Academy has been completed! The students crafted their art from thick sheets of copper cut into the shape of leaves. Some were etched with ferric chloride and others were textured with hammers and punches.
Find out more about the creative progress and what else the students have been up to here.
On July 9th we had a small celebration and an exhibition of their work at Art in the Park, where it was made. Well done and congratulations to all involved – it looks wonderful!
Students from Walworth have been taking part in art activities relating to The Roots Story with artists at Art in the Park studios. Initially they listened to some of the interviews that had been recorded and we discussed these and whether the students and their families had any particular anecdotes about herbal tonics and remedies. Whilst from a variety of cultures, many of the students had used Aloe Vera for their skin, either raw or in lotions and had also enjoyed Aloe Vera drinks.
We looked at images of the forms of the plants that had come up most frequently in interviews eg Aloe Vera, Sarsparilla, Banana Leaf and Cerassie and also cross-sections and microscopic details of these plants, which gave a different perspective and interesting textures. From these images the students began to draw designs, which would be the starting point of their work on metal.
From their drawn designs they made embossed copper artworks in thin copper sheet, to prepare them for working in much thicker, heavier copper later on in the project.
The final artwork that the students are creating for the exhibition was discussed by the group. The students decided that using the Aloe Vera plant as inspiration was most appropriate, as it was the one that they had most personal experience of and interest in. It was also one that many of the interviewees mentioned. Thus, the final artwork will be in etched and embossed copper in the relief form of a very large Aloe Vera plant! The students worked together to create a large template of an Aloe Vera plant.
The students started work on the final artwork, referring to their initial designs on form and the microscopic textures. Their first pieces were made with etching onto thicker copper sheet in the form of Aloe Vera leaves. This process involves painting a resist varnish onto the copper then scratching the designs into the varnish with special tools. The finished pieces are then put into ferric chloride, with the resulting designs etched permanently into the surface.
During the Easter Holidays we ran a special session for the students, where they could come and create personalised t-shirts; silk-screen-printing their own designs (based on the plants) onto them. They students created lovely designs to wear.
The next phase of the artwork is creating heavily textured, embossed copper, on thick sheets, in the form of Aloe Vera leaves. These will go with the etched leaves. The students have to work outside, as they have to use heating on the copper and heavy tools such as hammers and punches, which make too much noise inside the studio. They also have to wear cumbersome but essential safety equipment such as goggles and gloves. They have really enjoyed this part of the project; bashing metal outside!
The final part of the project will be to put the artwork together for hanging.
It’s feeling a little more like spring every day now – and we’ve been back in the herb garden at Art in the Park getting ready for it, clearing the beds for planting.
Inspired by The Roots project and the herbs and plants we have been learning about, an older artists’ group at Art in The Park have created these bright and beautiful paintings.
Some really beautiful works of art everyone!
And we’ll be running some more herb gardening workshops with Art in the Park over the next few month.
Some more herb gardening at Art in the Park back in September!
In August, for the second workshop with Art in the Park we went on a Wild Herb Walk around Burgess Park.
Burgess Park in Walworth is a beautiful space filled with wild herbs and plants which can be used for both cooking and healing. As we wandered through the park we learnt about some of the different plants growing in the park, what they can be used for and how to spot them!
Thank you again to all involved, it was a lovely (and very informative!) day.
Back in July, the Medical Herbalist and the Cuming Museum Youth Panel came to Art in the Park to share some herbal remedies and recipes with young people from Southwark. It was a great chance to get ‘hands on’ with some of the ingredients and techniques used in herbal beauty remedies, soothing creams and bath bombs!
Thank you to everyone involved!
The first of The Root’s events was held on a (rather wet!) day in July, with an introduction to herb gardening and wild herbs in the lush gardens at Art in the Park in Burgess Park. (more…)
