We want to extend our warmest thanks to our two holiday family workshop artists, Annie Mackin and Amy Rose Barnes for designing and delivering a series of exciting creative workshops to children of all ages, families, and adults during the school holidays over the last year. Together, their efforts meant that the local community had plenty of opportunities to get creative and express themselves through a range of artistic techniques.
We caught up with them both to ask them about their experience and what their future plans are:
What made this opportunity significant to you?
Annie: Creating workshops for the local community in such a well-regarded gallery was such a great experience, and meeting such enthusiastic families that all came away with such lovely artworks.
Amy: This project was a great opportunity to collaborate and learn with and from another Artist over time, which is such a unique experience. I particularly enjoyed creating collaborative workshops for intergenerational families. It was wonderful to see grandparents making alongside their grandchildren. The opportunity to work across the year gave us the opportunity to respond to previous ideas, which supported us in creating a thread across the whole project.
In what ways did the program enhance your skills and professional practice?
Annie: Collaborating with Amy and seeing how she works in such an abstract way influenced and inspired my practice.
Amy: Learning from Annie’s practice taught me many new techniques and gave me the opportunity to practice with and teach new techniques and materials such as using modroc and brusho, which I will definitely use in the future.
The opportunity to work on a year- long project enhanced my skills and practice as there was so much opportunity for reflection and ideas to grow through collaboration- this is an experience I would recommend to other artists and hope to find similar
opportunities in the future.
How did consistently working with families differ from your usual practice?
Annie: It was a joy to see how the initial workshop instructions would evolve in so many ways with different families and the confidence children had when working alongside caregivers.
Amy: Whilst I have worked with Families before, I predominantly work with schools and community groups (such as mental health and neurodiverse groups) – this opportunity to work with families over time has taught me new skills in communication, having to
quickly adapt between encouraging children as well as their parents and grandparents to also feel comfortable to make. Adults are often resistant as they see the opportunity as just for the children but these moments of encouraging the whole family to make together have been particularly rewarding.
What was the highlight of your year or your favourite moment from the workshops?
Annie: I think the last two workshops, where Amy and I led workshops inspired by each other’s practice, were a wonderful way to show appreciation for each other’s work.
Amy: It is hard to choose a specific highlight as I truly enjoyed the whole project. After my first two workshops in the October half term, I felt so supported by Maya and Miguel and quickly developed a great relationship with Annie too. Since then, I have looked forward to each half term for the next round of workshops! Between each term, thinking and planning for the next workshop has had a large impact on my personal practice.
I really enjoyed the community feel amongst the Bexhill community from both the DLWP team and the local families. Throughout the project, I felt that my ideas were valued and celebrated, which made for such a great environment to collaborate to
produce such a wonderful year-long project.
What was your most significant challenge, and what changes would you make?
Annie: The most challenging part of the workshops was holding teenagers’ attention and encouraging them to keep their work and be proud of it. I think holding more workshops specifically aimed at older children/teenagers would have been useful for this.
Amy: I honestly can’t think of any challenges or things I would change. The only thing I can think of is perhaps more documentation of the project and the lead artists via DLWP instagram?Or an end of year exhibition could be a nice way to celebrate the project across the three organisations.
What are your future plans and goals as an artist?
Annie: To keep painting. I’m planning some projects with Babes in Arms, the local mother artists’ collective, alongside having a baby in July.
Amy: As an Artist Facilitator/Artist, I hope to work on more long-term engagement projects with diverse communities including children, young people, adult mental health and neurodiverse groups through leading workshops inspired by my practice and supporting introductions to abstract art that support people’s confidence and social interaction. My future plans also include expanding my personal practice by having more exhibitions. I also hope to relocate in the future to the Hastings/ Bexhill area as I have really enjoyed spending time in the local area, and would love to be a part of a supportive art community
Once again, a huge thank you to Annie and Amy for delivering such an incredible programme of holiday workshops, we wish you all the best for the future. Be sure to follow them both on Instagram to stay up-to-date with their latest projects!
Follow Annie on Instagram @anniemackinart
Follow Amy on Instagram @amyrosebarnes