STICKS AND STONES AT THE NATIONAL TRUST'S GIBSON MILL

Working with visual artist Vanessa Stewart and writer Susan Wood at Gibson Mill in Hardcastle Crags we delivered an experience in drawing and writing for young people in Calderdale as part of The July Project.

The recently restored mill and the exceptional natural environment of the Crags provided the inspiration for the creation of artwork including a large organic map expressing the sensations, sights and feelings of all the participants during an unusually rainy Summer's day.

The completed artwork was exhibited at Square Chapel in Halifax during the festival.

The map of Gibson Mill was created by a team of participants working collaboratively to produce images by a variety of means including drawing in graphite, pen and wax crayon, oil pastel rubbings from textured surfaces and washes of dye on tissue papers. Individual pieces were collaged together on a large sheet of heavy duty card that had been pre-treated with dilute PVA glue and crumpled tissue paper to create an interesting surface. The map evolved and changed as work progressed and fragments of poetry and text were added