LifewithArt is very pleased to again be working with clients from Dreamcatcher PSP after so long. We were sad to say good-bye to the group when our North-Shields Charity Arts Centre closed in December 2012. It was nice to see some familiar faces when the group, from Bishop Aukland, took part in a series of workshops in our brand new charity arts centre in Stockton-on-Tees throughout March and April.

During their first workshop service users from Dreamcatcher PSP enjoyed a tour of the LifewithArt exhibitions where they took inspiration for their own artworks. Each participant chose a theme and then produced a hand drawn design on canvas. The designs varied from international landscapes to animal portraits to abstract flower compositions. Next came a lesson on mixing colours and then the group were ready to add paint to their canvases. The results were amazing and everyone had a great time.

Lorraine said “Can we stay here all day?” Another participant said “I don’t want to go home because it’s such good fun!” Suzanne commented, “I’m so proud of myself! I’m really happy with my painting!”

Arts tutors Pui Lee and Allan Barnfather continued the fun with a range of different arts projects with Dreamcatcher PSP and other local groups. Clients from Action on Impulse worked on decorating their very own ‘Box of Secrets’ with a range of colourful papers. Little Mason especially enjoyed the project and chose a blue theme – his favourite colour! Later on in the session he took his new ‘treasure chest’ around an exploration of the LifewithArt exhibition and collected some mysterious items that he discovered along the way.

Children from local school – Westgate Primary- wanted to create something for a school display exploring the theme of British values and what it means to them. The children drew side-on portraits of a friend in the class onto black card, added a crown, and then imagined them as the queen or king of England. Each silhouette was glued onto brown paper transforming the art into giant stamps. The children then considered how much they thought their stamp should be worth whilst thinking about what they would do if they were king or queen of the country!

Pui Lee said “All the groups achieved so much and everyone had a wonderful time. We really can’t wait for the next occupation!”