Community Interconnections – with Christeve the Cat – 2

My morning with the children at St. Mary’s Primary School, Hampton was lovely.   Actually it was better than that….it was exactly what I needed.

There were sixty children in total broken up into two groups.   I painted a large watercolour for each group.

Some of the lovely children with one of the Christeve paintings.

The children will now paint their own pictures inspired by the book ‘Christeve the Cat Finds Her Home’ – in preparation for an exhibition of their work on November 21st.   Their paintings will be for sale, and proceeds will go to Shooting Star Chase Children’s Hospice. 

Christeve the Cat dreaming of magical Hummingbirds.

I haven’t worked with young children for a while, and was reminded yesterday of how important it is for all age groups to interact with one another.     Personal experience has taught me that there is no better way to do this than through the power of art – in all its many forms.

Christeve in her garden in the Magical Town of Crickadoon. 

Yesterday came about because of a ‘Self Expression and Leadership Programme’ I recently completed through Landmark Education.     The key element of the programme is for participants to design a not for profit community project.

I cheated a little in that my project, Community Interconnections, has been tried and tested. and so it was more a case of revitalising than creating something new.

When I first came up with this idea in 1999, non of the social media that we now take for granted was in place.       it meant that I had to physically travel to schools and could only reach one small audience at a time.       However, through technology I can now see this project having a much wider impact.

Christeve the Cat with Magical Hummingbird – this print is available through HummingbirdHQ.com

The message in the story – Christeve the Cat Finds Her New Home – is to trust and have faith in the unseen, and to never give up.   

And to always remember that non of us is ever creative enough to know how things will actually turn out………

http://www.janetweightreed.co.uk

A Bientôt

 

 

 

 

 

Community Interconnections with Christeve the Cat

From the spring of 1993 til October 2005, I lived and worked in the Magical Town of Crickadoon – also known as (Crickhowell, Wales)

On Christmas Eve 1996, during a terrible storm, a little cat arrived at my door and of course I welcomed her with open arms.   I called her Christeve the Cat.

This photograph shows the little cottage where Christeve found her new home with Janet the Artist.

Christeve was a source of inspiration for me from the moment she arrived.   I wrote this little book about her  – ‘Christeve the Cat Finds her Home’.

I  read the book and painted pictures of Christeve the Cat for children in many different schools.   The children then painted their own pictures of Christeve which were shown at a special exhibition.   Family and friends were invited to purchase the children’s paintings.    Proceeds from the sales were used for a special community project.

These children raised funds to build a sensory garden.

Today I will be working with the children of St. Mary’s Primary School, Hampton.    I will paint two big pictures of Christeve the Cat, and then after I leave, the children will paint their own pictures.

Christeve the Cat in the Magical Town of Crickadoon, after she found her home with Janet the Artist:)

On November 21st, the children’s pictures will be exhibited at Hampton Care Nursing Home, and proceeds raised from the exhibition will go to Shooting Star Chase Children’s Hospice.    I am calling this little project – Community Interconnections. 

Where Christeve the Cat lived in the Magical Town of Crickadoon. 

I will write more tomorrow about the project…meanwhile, just as the Magical Hummingbirds watch over Crickadoon and Christeve the Cat….they continue to weave their magic right here:)

http://www.janetweightreed.co.uk

HummingbirdHQ.com

A Bientôt