“ “Yeah, I think the sessions are good. It would help a friend who’s having a tough time””

With a group of young people at St Machar Academy, the Creative Practitioners have worked together to discover different ways of self-expression through art. By looking at how colours, lines and shapes can help to convey feelings, the participants have learnt more about their emotions and how art can help with expression. It has also provided the young people with a fun space to help grow their confidence and where they are encouraged to work together. An activity where this came to show in particular was while paper marbling. In this process the young people had to work in pairs in order to place the paper carefully on the ink, without dunking it under the water. They were very excited with their swirly results. Activities such as this have been specifically developed in order to enhance the young peoples’ artistic and interpersonal skills. 

Another activity, was making ceramic bowls. First, the participants had fun with throwing the clay to remove any air pockets and making a lot of noise, a very beneficial for stress relief. Afterwards, the attitudes were a bit split towards the texture of the clay, however, they all soon got engrossed in the calming and repetitive motion of smoothing it out. Well done to all the participants for showing up and for bringing their creativity to the sessions. Over the 12 weeks the young people actively participated and were curious about the different creative processes, which resulted in them producing a lovely body of work.