In this post, Leigh talks about the Blood Bags project; a textile based project that she delivered at Gomersal Primary School in collaboration with specialist art teacher Mandy Barrett.

Leigh Bowser is a textile artist, specialising in free-motion machine embroidery. She facilitates projects with artists with learning disabilities; children; students; and local communities to produce textile-based outcomes. Her motivation lies within craftivism: using textiles for positive change. Leigh is working on her an MA in illustration, continuing to use textiles as her medium.

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AccessArt is a UK Charity and we believe everyone has the right to be creative. AccessArt provides inspiration to help us all reach our creative potential.

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What We Like About This Resource…

“It’s really nice to see that although Rachel Parker works quite digitally, her process from the beginning is very tactile. Rachels books act as a really great source of inspiration, helping to break down the creative blocks that we all get from time to time. Having a sketchbook dedicated to colour means that as well as working with colours that you already love, you can test new colour palettes and see colours from a new perspective. I especially love how Rachel picks up on the different tones in colours by looking at the way light hits it in order build her colour palette around those supporting tones as well as big statement colours.” – Tobi, AccessArt

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What We Like About This Resource…

“It’s great to see how a simple exercise such as colour collecting, which can be done in a classroom setting, is also used in a professional capacity. This gives the activity a clear context and purpose. It’s nice to see Rachel’s  decisions being made in real time, it demonstrates how artists are constantly reflecting on and self evaluating their own decisions. Rachel also shows us that she sometimes gets colour palettes from photos that she’s taken herself, this is really exciting because it demonstrates how the artists experience is central to their work. Students will be able to bring their own experience and personality to this activity by having complete control over what their colour moodboard becomes.” – Tobi, AccessArt

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Which Artists: Rachel Parker

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Make Repeat Patterns

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What We Like About This Resource…

“Rachel’s work is so vibrant and full of joy, it’s really exciting to see how she starts to form creative ideas around colour. Rachel highlights the importance of colour trends but also gives herself the opportunity to create her own trends which adds a level of playfulness and personality to her colour exploration. Seeing her colour books translate into fabric demonstrates a real clarity in her decision making process.” – Tobi, AccessArt.

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Which Artists: Rachel Parker

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‘This resource really demonstrates how art can successfully bring awareness to important humanitarian issues, promote inclusivity and can give a platform to those who otherwise wouldn’t be heard. The links between text, photos and drawings are really strong and demonstrate the creative process used by Olivier from start to finish. I really like the inclusion of suggestions for students within the post, which encourage students to learn more about their community and to understand the experience of being displaced. This is turn will hopefully inspire the next generation to be part of an inclusive and empathetic society.‘ – Tobi, AccessArt

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“This activity highlights how visual communication can be used to convey emotion. When artwork is relatable in a human and emotive way it can be really powerful. Learning how to translate feeling into mark-making is a really important skill and can help children break down the essence of a range of their own emotions, and communicate it to others. Explore colour and a range of materials to enrich this experience.” – Tobi, AccessArt.

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“I love this resource because I can picture the energy in the classroom whilst students enjoy the process of mark-making using their feet. Creating drawings with parts of the body other than hands can be really freeing; students will hopefully look at their drawings in a less critical way, with the emphasis of the activity being more about the process than the outcome. It might be a nice addition to use a viewfinder to zoom in on areas where the marks collide in interesting ways” – Tobi, AccessArt.