Last saturday I was asked to hold an informal, fun workshop as an alternative event for a ‘hen party’. I’m calling it a ‘bird party’! This pre wedding party brought together a lovely group of girls (7 and 11 years old) and women who were all family, friends and neighbours. They grew up together and had close bonds with the bride to be and many memories of her growing up.
I decided if we created a group piece we could make it a very personal experience and produce an unique artwork to hold memories. The mother of the bride to be supplied me with a photo of their house, which was the starting point for the piece. The house was created with a stitched outline and then painted inside. I added 2 little birds on trees to represent the couple to be married and the rest of the artwork would be made up of collaged images placed by each member of the group.
Each person was represented in the piece. We cut images of their heads from photos and placed on the paper background. It was a very relaxed session with much chat and laughter as we cut images out of magazines and took time out for tea and cake!
The image above is the work in progress and after the addition of collage pieces. The girls added the bride and grooms initials and a pile of books as the bride loves to read. The bride is a fan of disney and Minnie mouse so the group added ears and bow to bride! She lives in London so ‘London calling’ was quite apt and as a child she enjoyed jumping on beds so the little girl on her bed represents this. The wedding will take place in Scotland so hence the tartan trousers and a lovely subtle addition is the doves in the sky! Our daffodil in the personalised artwork suggests new beginnings and the beach water marks the West of Ireland where the group live.
My work is not done though! I plan to complete piece; to add paint to merge the piece together, balance composition and make references stand out!
I was delighted with how the day went. To be honest I was a little nervous about it as it was a first for me, but the day couldn’t have been better. Aswell as having a great time together and creating a personalised keepsake artwork, the groups also learnt a new craft and the girls got to experience free motion embroidery on the day!
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