I was fortunate to be selected to work with artist Gemma Latham for this week’s Family Art Club session. The art club is now running regular fortnightly sessions in the activity space of St Mary’s Market in St Helens.

Gemma‘s practice is not concerned with producing finished artworks but rather with encouraging public participation in making and creating using traditional crafts.

I met Gemma earlier in the week to look around The World of Glass museum in St Helens for ideas and inspiration. She was interested in developing an activity that drew upon the town’s history of glass innovation and production. There are a few examples of beautiful stained glass in the museum’s collection and Gemma had the idea to recreate stained glass patterns on the floor of the activity space using stencils and coloured sand (sand being a key ingredient in glass production).

When Saturday arrived Gemma had prepared a few stencils and brought along lots of different coloured sands. Gemma demonstrated the activity and myself and the other assistant Jacqui both created repeat patterns using the stencils and sand.

This started to create interest before we were due to open at 12pm so despite the town centre being especially quiet we had a few excited participants eager to start. We introduced them to the idea of stained glass and our intention to reflect this in the patterns on the floor. As usual, the children grasped the method and ideas very quickly and began making their own creations.

We had several returners who had attended and enjoyed previous Family Art Club sessions and stated they would definitely be back in the future. It was a successful and very enjoyable day for all involved. The children and their parents all had fun with the activity and were thrilled with the results. I love participating in the art club sessions. They are always good fun, rewarding and a learning experience for me. I hope I get to do more in the future.