I was delighted to be chosen as Assistant Artist to Robyn Woolston on this project. I have been aware of Robyn’s work since 2012 when she was nominated and subsequently won the Liverpool Art Prize. I researched her work further in the week prior to the workshop.

“Last” ©Robyn Woolston

Robyn has developed artwork and projects around themes such as ecology, waste, immigration and language with imaginative and exciting use of installation, sculpture, photography and filmmaking. Although I am primarily a painter, both Robyn and I share an interest in the theme of landscape and the tension between modern urban living and the natural environment.

As Assistant Artist I hoped to discover new ways of working that could inspire my own work in the future, I hoped to gain experience and skills to allow me to lead workshops myself and I was looking forward to talking to and learning from an established artist whose work I admire.

Robyn’s plan for the day was that participants would explore mark-making, collage and maps to create a ‘solar system’ of their family and surroundings. She arrived with lots of fun materials and interesting objects, which were arranged on the tables to entice and inspire our potential participants.

There were three main activities for participants to get involved with, each encouraging them to think about who they are, their home and surroundings, family, friends, pets and their favourite things and activities. The first activity was to make a paper sphere from strips of printed papers and maps, decorating the inside with stickers, drawings and words. The second activity was a paper house to be decorated to reflect the participant’s life and surroundings. The third activity was a 2D circular book made from a paper plate and illustrated with collaged, hand-drawn and sticker images.

After helping set up, I began my day by walking around the market trying to round up some participants. The market was still quiet at 12 pm but I found a couple shopping at one of the stalls with two young children who were very keen to join us. When I returned to the art space, Robyn had already set to work with her first participant, a young boy, who ended up spending the entire afternoon with us.

The children spent thoughtful minutes choosing their own printed papers and materials. Butterflies, birds and polka-dots in purple and pink were popular choices throughout the day.

We began making the paper spheres, and then suddenly more and more children started to appear. We had already filled one table so I took the new arrivals over to another table. We very quickly had two full tables of children. Things did get a little hectic for a while. At one point I was working with six participants, four of whom were very young and needed lots of help and guidance. Although some of the parents and grandparents were keen to get involved and helped out, a few children had difficulty with using scissors and needed extra assistance. However, this didn’t dampen their enthusiasm at all. Several times I was asked, “Can I take this home with me?” and was met with excited beaming smiles when I replied, “Of course you can!”

Next we started making the paper houses. Robyn and I cut out the templates for the children to decorate before assembling them into houses. One young girl, working quietly by herself, decided to create a garden for her house. She made a tree by sticking a lolly stick upright in a paper plate and attaching a sticker to it. I was working with her little brother and after watching his sister he decided he was going to create a forest from lolly sticks and tree stickers. He then drew a pond and found some duck stickers that he managed to attach so they were also upright, creating a mini diorama.

We had a steady stream of participants throughout the day. A few of the older children who arrived with younger siblings were initially too cool to join in but soon found themselves drawn into helping out and making things too. How could they resist when they saw how much fun everyone else was having?

We didn’t get to make any 2D books. Everyone wanted to make the 3D objects. Also, because most of the children were very young and because of the short time we had, the themes of the project sometimes got lost in the practicalities of making. We also would have benefited from an additional assistant during the busiest part of the day.

I think both the adults and children that participated appreciated and enjoyed the workshop. Not only did they make artwork that they could take home but they also took away creative ideas and knowledge that they could use again. Many of them said they had participated in previous art events in the market and would be very keen to attend workshops in the future. This demonstrates that there is an interest in arts participation in St Helens but we need regular events and good publicity to attract newcomers.

I really enjoyed the day and learned a lot. Robyn has a warm, open manner and is a very knowledgeable and skilled artist. It was a pleasure to work with her.