Taking inspiration from John Ruskin's architectural drawings, and the lines and textures of the Lancaster’s historic castle, families at these half-term workshops created a colourful collaborative wall piece and their own images to take home. Commissioned by The Ruskin, Lancaster University.

All photos: The Ruskin/Ryan Yates

Stop. Line was a collaborative artwork created for Something’s Happening Here, an event to mark the beginning of Lancaster Arts’ three-year cultural programme, ‘Mill Race: Flow of Change’ that will explore the Mill Race area of Lancaster.

Participants painted their own road markings on the tarmac to create a big outdoor artwork that encouraged them to think about the everyday marks in the area that often go unnoticed.

Other artist participating in the event: GRAFT, Jamie Jenkinson, Maja Bugge, Steph Edwards, Unfolding Theatre, Emma Rucastle and David Boultbee.

A workshop at Galeri Caernarfon as part of the Raising the Bar scheme for A-Level students looking to study a Foundation Course and/or a degree in art. The programmes offers masterclasses with professional artists to children and young people in North Wales. These masterclasses are opportunities for them to get inspired, learn new techniques and work closely with artists and think more about what a future in art could look like.

I worked with the young people to create their own postcards and collaborative wallpaper designs over one day using collage and mark-making techniques. There was loads of talent in the room, and I was so impressed by how confidently they all took part.

A workshop to teach participants how to make their own repeat pattern designs based on sketches they did of the Harris Museum & Art Gallery building and its collection. Everyone learnt how to make their own pattern motif and put it into into repeat. This is one of my favourite techniques, as it’s really simple and satisfying, with endless creative possibilities. 

We started by looking at and sketching shapes and details around the building that could be used as motifs. Once the sketches were done, we developed these through drawing, painting or collage and thought about texture, scale and mark-making. We then learnt how to make these into repeat patterns by hand, using a photocopier to repeat the designs and then added colour to the designs.

This workshop was inspired by the Harris Museum & Art Gallery collections of Horrockses Fashions 1950s textiles.

There were some brilliant designs and ideas that came out of the workshop, and it was a pleasure to teach everyone how to make their own pattern designs.

In 2017–2019, I worked with first year textiles students at the University of Central Lancashire on a brief that aimed to teach the students how to screen print, help them get to know Preston, explore ways of working collaboratively and do some really playful and experimental printing. We had loads of fun in the sessions, and all the students picked up the techniques really quickly.

By the end of the module, they had worked in two groups to design and print two lengths of wallpaper that showed their print designs based on images of Preston.

You can see lots of the students’ work from the textiles courses on their instagram page.

A two-day experimental screenprinting workshop at the Regional Print Centre in Wrexham.

Participants experimented with using screenprinting to play with colour, shape, composition, texture and pattern.

The workshop took a creative and playful approach to screen-printing using techniques including layering, masking, overprinting, gradients and collage to create unique and expressive prints. We looked at how use the screen as an image-making and mark-making tool, and explored screenprinting as an experimental process.

Participants all made their own prints, as well as working collaboratively on both separate prints and a huge print that we all made together. 

Three days of workshops for the Art Market York Interactive Area in 2016. Visitors helped to paper a whole wall in the venue with their own wallpaper designs created from patterns, textures, shapes, block printing and tape. Whole families took part and lots of people teamed up to make a sheet of wallpaper together. The Interactive Area was funded by Arts Council England. 

A day-long workshop was held as part of the Lancashire Science Festival in which around 400 visitors to the festival created their own large-scale star formation artwork on the floor of the gallery. The workshop was based on my print-based collaboration with astrophysicist, Professor Derek Ward-Thompson. 

Produced for Lancashire Science Festival and supported by In Certain Places. 

Pattern workshops for users of the Future Business Centre in Cambridge to generate ideas and discussion around what kind of artwork they would like to see in their building, how they use the building, why they work there and what they do. 

A day-long drop-in workshop at the Wellcome Collection as part of the Saturday Studio youth programme for 14–19 year olds. The workshop was linked to the Tibet’s Secret Temple exhibition which looked at Tibetan Buddhist yoga and meditation and how they link to physical and mental wellbeing. 

The young people who took part all made their own mandala designs based on pattern, shape and colour. On the day of the workshop Tibetan Buddhist monks were finishing a sand mandala as part of the exhibition, so we got to meet the monks and learn about their own approach to mandala making. 

Illuminated City was a trail of cardboard sculptures installed in shop windows across Lancaster’s city centre for Light up Lancaster created in collaboration with Jenny McCabe. 

Local school children drew pictures of buildings in Lancaster and objects in shops and then worked with the artists printing these images onto hundreds of pieces cardboard so they could be cut out and folded into tiny houses.

Thanks to the pupils and teachers at Bowerham Primary and Nursery School and Cathedral Catholic Primary School for their drawings and help with printing the sculptures, and thanks to everyone who helped with the printing at the First Friday workshop in October. 

Three days of workshops for visitors to the Art Market York 2015. Everyone made their own pattern tile on greyboard from precut geometric shapes. The tiles were displayed as they were made, spreading out across the walls of the venue over the course of the weekend, and finishing with a big wall piece that 150 had contributed to.