Several Kent community clubs and groups came together vitually this week to celebrate the creative talents of their members during lockdown.
Since lockdown began, lots of us have been turning to creative hobbies to keep busy and also help us relax.
Folkestone and Hythe book club member, Cas Anstee, suggested putting on a virtual art exhibition to showcase a selection of the artwork produced by local community groups in Kent. Kent Libraries, who have hosted many Beyond Words book clubs across the county for years, loved the idea and set about creating a video to display people’s work.
On 16th and 21st November, members and volunteers from Beyond Words Folkestone and Hythe ‘Stay at Home’ book club, Cuppas and Life Skills Folkestone came together with artists, staff from Kent Libraries and the Turner Contemporary gallery and Councillor Mike Hill OBE to share their art.
Artist Lucy Bergonzi introduced the exhibition and launched it by cutting a ribbon, before Aisha Affejee from Kent Libraries interviewed book club member and artist Ray Waller. Ray explained how art has helped him to cope over recent difficult months: “I was watching a programme with a person painting every night and it encouraged me to do more […] It gave me something to do while we were in lockdown.”
The video exhibition displays artwork on several imaginative themes: decorated wellington boots inspired by Glastonbury music festival, beautiful landscapes, lots of fun fruit creations for International Watermelon Day, this year’s (cancelled) Olympic Games, French themed pictures to mark Bastille Day, and even some colourful collages! Watch it yourself, here:
Want to get creative?
We hope this has inspired you to get your pencils and paints out!
If you’re looking for somewhere to start, you can download and print some pictures from Ginger is a Hero to colour yourself.