Colouring for Calm & Connection Story

2020 - The Colouring for Calm & Connection story begins at a time when much of the country grinds to a halt as Boris Johnson pronounces that we must 'Stay At Home'. A time of isolation, no work, looking for things to do. Many of us baked, knitted, caught up on DIY, took up a new hobby, walked, read & gardened in the sunshine. I chose to go for walks along the country lane where I live, the lane is rich & diverse with nature. My phone & I venturing out with an open mind, curious to what we might find, looking & noticing. Generally practicing the techniques that I usually use with clients & for my own health & wellbeing. Many of my clients past & present follow me on Facebook so I started to share my finds in the form of photographs, nature crafts, studies of nature shapes & patterns, artwork, short videos, anything that I thought may help us through lockdown.

Lockdown was a surreal time, sheltered away, returning to more simple times often reminding me of my childhood. Then Covid impacted our family. My grandad (96) was the first to test positive in the care home where he, my nan & my great aunt lived. My grandad passed away & not long after that my great aunt who had just celebrated her 99th Birthday. Covid’s impact on the country became real & the enforced isolation became far more difficult. My husband (a keyworker & print finisher) took 2 weeks off to support & keep me company. Realising I needed something positive to focus & occupy my mind he set me a challenge. The challenge involved producing a set of postcards based on my nature designs that he would print, I would colour & we could offer people to colour along.

The 'Organic series' postcard pack was born. I added an information postcard detailing how to get started with pencil colouring and describing why doodling & colouring is not only a beautiful way to be creative but is good for our health & wellbeing too. I sold the packs with the option to buy & donate, these were sent out to people who wanted one. Each week I chose one of the designs & filled it in in 2 different ways using a variety of pencil colouring techniques & nature doodles. I then shared the finished artwork (with details of where the inspiration behind the colours & patterns had come from that day) on my Facebook page until all 9 designs had been completed.

It didn't take away the pains of loss but it definitely helped.

2021 - As the lockdown restrictions eased I was introduced to Treverbyn Community Hall as a possible venue for some of my group sessions. I wasn't expecting to meet such amazing dedicated people who run this venue or uncover all the incredible work they do to support their community. It was soon after my initial visit that I started to run Mindfulness sessions there.Sara Marsh (chief executive at Treverbyn Hall) asked me whether I was working on any other projects & I mentioned my colouring skills & postcard pack. To my complete surprise Sara asked if I would run a colouring course at the hall. So I went away & designed a programme based around my colouring knowledge & experience & my love of studying nature forms, shapes & patterns. I also designed a colouring 'kit' to accompany the course. We discussed how the sessions would be a good, gentle way to re-introduce people back to the hall & back to interacting with other people again. Sara secured funding from the Cornwall Community Foundation & we were able to run 2 x 6 week courses for women including a colouring kit.

We thought 'Colouring for Calm & Connection' was a fitting name. The places soon filled with 10 people in our first group, sitting socially distanced, windows opened, anti bac at the ready in the main hall. We knew people would arrive feeling nervous, anxious & unsure. So we did what we could to make the sessions comfortable, fun & interactive & everyone settled in really well. At the end of the programme several attendees expressed a wish for the group to continue. Again Sara arranged for us to be able to start a monthly meet up initially partially funded by the hall. We have just finished the 2nd year of this monthly group & decided to celebrate this & all the support we have received from Treverbyn Community Hall by putting together an exhibition.

2022 - In September 2021 I had the opportunity to work with the lovely Emma Tolley from Nature's Way social prescribing programme at the Eden Project. We worked on various nature based projects together & one was to design a specific postcard pack to accompany a colouring programme which would run there. This was an incredible experience for me having the opportunity to speak with Emma & various members of the gardening team about the wonderful plants that live at the Eden Project. We were looking for plants that had both a fascinating story & would be interesting to draw & colour. Participants on the course would get the addition of being able to be 'up close & personal' with the chosen plants providing a unique sensory experience to their sessions.

As you can imagine it was extremely difficult to narrow all of the plants featured at the Eden Project to just 8! Once the designs were drawn they were matched to specific colouring & doodling techniques. With the new additions to the original colouring programme it encompassed the '5 ways to Wellbeing', and the known benefits of being in nature & being creative. A win win situation. Connecting with nature increases our creativity helping us to generate ideas & increase our ability to focus. With the colouring kits being designed to be small, light & portable they can be taken out in nature which takes advantage of what is known as 'soft fascination' and Attention Restoration Theory aptly shortened to ART!

Emma & the Nature's Way team found funding for 4 x 6 week 'Colouring for Calm & Connection' programmes which we ran in 2022.

From 2021 - During the two years that we've held our monthly meet ups

we’ve:-

* explored Cornwall through its plants, folklore, labyrinths & rock art.

* travelled virtually around the world visiting Japanese gardens, enjoying the colours & patterns of African art & produced cheerful Rangoli from India.

* studied various artists & complemented our pencil colouring with a variety of other mediums from creative writing, cyanotype printing, watercolours & more.

* celebrated Diwali, the Queens 70th Jubilee, the summer equinox, Christmas  & now our 2nd CCC anniversary & all the good things that happen at Treverbyn.

We meet on the 3rd Saturday of each month here at the Hall & anyone that has been through one of our colouring programmes is able to join us. We are a small, friendly, gentle & welcoming group.

2021+   The Coral Reef

*This large colouring artwork is the culmination of 40x individual pieces of pencil colouring.

* Each piece takes approx. 2 hours to complete as it’s built up of at least 7 layers of pencil colour which produces the rich vibrant end result.

*What a difference a day makes - as we change in mood, inspiration, energy levels etc. so does our art & although each piece is completed with the same colours & pencils no two pieces will be the same.

* What mark making strokes feel good one day may not be the case on another.

* I colour one piece at a time enjoying the journey & the process of colouring, creating & building.

*I enjoy the rhythm, flow & relaxed state of mind created by the task.

* The piece was created using 5 colours plus the white of the paper.

*I have used the same pencils as I provide in my colouring kits.

* Creating an artwork of this size can seem a daunting challenge. I approached this challenge by adding each completed piece to my initial black & white drawing which I pinned onto a wall. This way I could watch the artwork burst into colour piece by piece

The Colouring for Calm & Connection Programme & Packs.

The CCC programme is built around a set of specially designed postcards & on the complete course you will:-

* Learn & practice over 25 different colouring pencil techniques.

* Try out at least 10 ways to produce a simple sketch or doodle.

* Explore various mindful exercises including creative writing & sensory experiences.

* Make observations of nature shapes, patterns, forms & colours that surround us.

* The potential for discussions on the benefits of colouring for our health & wellbeing.

* Opportunities to play with mixed media to complement the pencil colouring.

*With a strong focus on building an individual’s creativity, self-expression,& confidence

*Time to be part of the gentle & supportive sessions.

* Overall I hope you learn a new skill that you love, feel encouraged to take your colouring outside with you to spend more time in nature & find community with the CCC.

* The courses have been described as fun, enjoyable, relaxing & calming. Participants have felt more mindful, more confident. For some it has reignited their creativity & others more motivated to go out for walks in nature to 'notice' & 'be curious'.

A Massive Thank you to everyone who has made this journey possible. 

With a special mention to the following people:-

* The incredible staff both past & present at Treverbyn Community Hall.  

* All of the amazing people who have come along & taken part in our programme. 

* My husband Gav & my Mum Carol

* Fiona Hunt for introducing me to the Hall 

* Emma Tolley & the Nature's Way team at the Eden Project

* Cornwall Community Foundation

* St. Austell Printing Company

* Amy Gosney with Cornwall Wildlife Trust

* To everyone who bought & donated packs in 2020.