wallington – The Consulting Artist

The Free Art Project : Week 101

The free art project was a group effort this week, in the form of an art workshop in The Wallington Arms. We had a full house and after a short art game to encourage our inner artists, we experimented with a range of activities.

I brought along some 10cm square wood panels which people decorated, here’s an excellent daughter and mother combo.

People made large works and small works, landscapes, abstract works, greeting cards and more. I love this 3D panel.

There were luggage tags available for people to add good wishes to. At the end of the session, we tied all the wishes to some bunting hanging up in the pub, leaving the place full of good thoughts for everyone to enjoy.

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One of the artworks made during the day was subsequently auctioned to help raise funds for MacMillan Cancer Research, and as I packed up the workshop, I spotted someone elsewhere in the pub celebrating their 18th birthday. During the workshop I made a panel with a silver and blue leaf design on a white background. I signed the piece and gave it to the person as a small token of celebration. I don’t have a photo of the art work but I consider it, and the workshop itself, to be the 101st week of the free art project.

Thank you to everyone who came along and helped make the event a success, it was lovely to see so many smiling faces throughout the afternoon. Thanks also to The Wallington Arms for hosting us – I couldn’t run these events without their support.

Thank You

After some encouragement from good people in my network, I designed a 2018 calendar featuring some of my free art project work. Over 40 were sold, thanks to everyone who purchased a copy.

In today’s post – I received an important piece of paper, namely the receipt for a charitable donation of £176, paid to the good people of Wallington Animal Rescue, which was made possible through sales of the aforementioned calendar.

This has been a fun thing to do. Curating the art work itself, compiling a set of notes telling the story of the art, and finding a way to make the product has been an enjoyable challenge. On the last point, I learned enough to ensure that if I repeat the experience, I should be able to deliver a similarly good quality product, at a slightly lower cost. That means I can offer the calendar slightly cheaper, or alternatively, raise more for a charity next time.

Thank you to everyone who supported the calendar project, and thank you Wallington Animal Rescue for the excellent work you do.

We Are All Artists : 2018 Calendar

Eighteen months ago, someone who follows the free art project suggested I make a calendar. It was a good idea, and I didn’t get round to it. Wind forward a year and the same person kindly offered up the suggestion again. This time, I paid attention, and after several hours of curating, and playing with various online layout tools, I ordered a few proofs. My intention was to use the calendar as a fund raising opportunity, and because of this – the price of the finished product was a factor.

This version looks lovely, it is really well made and gave me a lot of design flexibility, however the price per unit was over £20 – well beyond what I figured people would pay. In the end I settled for a calendar which is good quality, and even though the layout design was fiddly, I managed to select twelve artworks which captured the local area and the spirit of the free art project.

I’m selling the calendar as above, in my Etsy shop for £17 plus P&P with a donation of £4 to Wallington Animal Rescue. Each calendar is signed and accompanied by a set of art notes to give each image more context. So far we’ve raised £148 for the charity, and I have a few calendars remaining. If you want some cool art on your wall and you’d like to support an excellent small charity doing great work – feel free to place an order. Thank you.

And what will become of the proof I showed you? That is being given away as part of the free art project, so if you live locally, keep an eye out for it.