Hearth and Home with Well-City Salisbury

Earlier this year I was delighted to deliver a 10-week online creative course, Hearth and Home, with Well-City Salisbury and Wessex Archaeology.

Well-City Salisbury supports people with low to medium mental health needs in the Salisbury area through free, 10-week creative courses and other artistic opportunities. It was a privilege to contribute to work that places creativity at the heart of wellbeing.

Hearth and Home invited participants to explore stories of the past through online art journaling workshops, inspired by fascinating insights from experts at Wessex Archaeology.

We were treated to brilliant presentations from:

• Sander Aerts, Head of Post Excavation Specialist Services

• Katie Marsden, Pottery and Metalwork expert

• Phil Harding, Fieldwork Archaeologist and renowned prehistoric flint-knapping expert - who even demonstrated his craft for us live on Zoom.

  
  
  
  

Participants discovered the hidden stories behind remarkable artefacts from the Wessex Archaeology collection, while also reflecting on their own everyday objects from the home, kitchen and garden - exploring their personal meaning through a creative lens.

Through playful, drawing-based exercises, we explored motifs, mark-making, materials, story, place and time. At the start of the course, everyone received a resource box filled with pens, pencils, charcoal, papers, a sketchbook, and essential drinks and snacks. Unboxing these together in our first session was a real highlight, and they were put to excellent use throughout.

By the end of the course, each participant had created a rich and deeply personal art journal, a visual narrative capturing their responses to the archaeology of Wessex and the world around them.

For me, Hearth and Home was the highlight of my week from start to finish. I felt incredibly supported by the Wessex Archaeology team, including completing two days of Mental Health First Aid training ahead of the programme.

Creatively, I loved the depth of engagement that came with working with the group for 2.5 hours each week across 10 weeks - collaboratively shaping sessions and guiding drawing exercises that responded to what we learnt together. I was inspired by the participants’ work and by the expertise generously shared with us.

We explored contemporary and archaeological objects connected to daily life and routines - trade, food production, food preparation and cooking, decorative and functional metalwork such as brooches, buckles and knives, and prehistoric flints, arrowheads and axes.

In November I am delivering 'Wild Winter' a new Well-City Salisbury online course with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust - I can't wait for it to unfold. Find out more here.