Community Collage
By Gemma Pitman – Community Artist
My name’s Gemma, and I’m a local mixed media artist who enjoys linking ecology with creativity. I was asked to deliver some creative collage workshops that would focus on the Silk Wood Community Planting Project (SWCPP) at Westonbirt. They invited back a group (Bristol Hospital Education Service who had helped with the tree planting and maintenance this year) to engage in the project in a different way.
Documenting an element of this project through art was a fantastic way to engage young adults in nature and the issues facing our ecosystems in these current times. Plus, collage is a great medium to reduce peoples fear of making perfect art, and it allows for spontaneity and fun.
With this in mind, the participants engaged with the process quickly, having access to a huge range of magazines, hand painted papers and printed text. The first group focussed on the tree species being planted in the SWCPP, choosing a particular tree and collaging its leaves, berries or seeds. This highlighted the diversity of trees and why it is important to build resilience into the new woodland.
The second group worked on large collaborative ‘tapestrees’ that represented all trees, the services they provide and the plant and wildlife value that trees deliver within an ecosystem.
Both groups spent time outdoors taking in the beauty and diversity of the established trees here at Westonbirt. There was visible benefit in getting the participants outdoors, talking and walking up to trees and exploring their shapes, textures and colour.
One participant told us “I’ll never look at the tree in my garden in the same way again” - that is what it’s all about!
You can view more of Gemma’s work on her website:
