ISLANDERS are being encouraged to use their drawing skills in the next week to capture the wonder of nature.
ArtHouse Jersey’s Island drawing challenge – held over five weeks to coincide with a major exhibition of drawings from the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize exhibition – provides themes to stimulate the imagination of all those inspired to pick up a pencil and also links with five local charities working in the selected areas.
The choice of the first theme officially launched today – the wonder of nature – connects with the work of Trees for Life, whose chief executive, Alex Morel, described the challenge as ‘a fantastic opportunity for us to promote artistic creativity around nature’.
Inviting those of all ages and abilities to tear themselves away from digital life and instead explore ‘the calming and meditative practice of drawing at home’, ArtHouse Jersey will share a selection of drawings in the hope that this will encourage the practice and also highlight the work of their partner charities. Drawings can be shared via social media using the hashtag #islanddrawingchallenge while tagging ArtHouse Jersey and the charity of the week, or can be submitted by email to drawing@arts.je.
ArtHouse Jersey director Tom Dingle said that they knew there was an appetite for drawing at all sorts of levels and capabilities.
‘In a world full of stresses and constant demands for our attention the act of taking time out and doing a meditative task like drawing is a proven tonic to giving our brains a break and contributing towards a greater sense of wellbeing.
‘The challenge is not just for artists: it’s for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you think you draw well or not because it’s not a competition. The very act of doing it will be its own reward,’ he said.
Each Friday until 17 March, ArtHouse Jersey will use its social-media channels to promote the current week’s theme.
A week tomorrow [24 Feb] the focus shifts from nature to soul food, which the organisers say ‘could be quite literally food and eating, or perhaps something else in life that feeds a person’s soul, such as a sunset, music, books or rain on a window’. The partner organisation in the second week is the Beresford Street Kitchen, whose fundraising and marketing manager, Georgie Dodd, said they were delighted to be involved in an initiative which was fully accessible and inclusive.
Brighter Futures is the partner charity in the third week, when family and loved ones is the theme, a connection which the fundraising, events and partnerships manager at Brighter Futures, Sarah Nibbs, said was especially relevant to their wellbeing programmes supporting children from the age of six.
In week four, beginning on Friday 10 March, the theme ‘and relax…’ has been chosen by Jersey Mencap.
The final theme from 17 March is ‘anything goes’, offered jointly by ArtHouse Jersey and Art in the Frame.
ArtHouse Jersey’s drawing challenge is intended to complement the exhibition of work from the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize on display at Capital House until Sunday 26 March. It is open from10.30am to 6pm from Tuesday to Saturday, and from 10.30am to 5pm Sunday but closed on Monday.
