Since I last wrote, six creative sessions at the Kirkdale Neighbourhood Community Centre/Gordon have taken place, and one school workshop at St Lawrence primary school.
I decorated the meeting room at the KNC with my designs and photos of the gable end walls, so that we could easily refer to the particular flower of focus and explain the visual ideas for the murals. As expected, we didn’t have huge numbers of participants, but those who did come were very engaged and involved in exploring the meanings of the flowers and sharing personal connections to the streets.
Workshop 1: Daisy and Flowers as Gifts
For example, Joyce (third from left in photo above) shared how her grandmother and great-grandparents lived at 2 Daisy Street in the early 1900s.
Colin (second from left in photo) is based in the Liverpool area and wants to help me with the practicalities and painting aspects of the project. He is captivated by the whole idea and recognises the value and purpose of this creative community activity.
In this first workshop we discussed the idea of flowers as gifts, read and wrote poems about daisies. This one was written by 12-year-old Simone:
I am the daisy,
one of the common flowers,
humans tread on me,
I am often stepped upon
only to bounce back.
Overlooked by those
expressing love,
cast away for roses
only to bounce back.
Chosen by gods and true love
yet judged as a weed
to be exterminated
as I bounce back
As I sneak into every nook and cranny,
one of the common flowers,
I am the daisy.
Workshop 2: Woodbine and Flowers as Symbols of Love
This workshop was led again by Pauline Rowe. We did some shared reading of poems and words about woodbine (honeysuckle) and discussed the flower as a symbol of love, magic and power. I love this extract from John Clare’s ‘The Shepherd’s Calendar’:
…Round field hedge now flowers in full glory twine
Large bindweed bells wild hop and streak’d woodbine
That lift athirst their slender throated flowers
Agape for dew falls and for honey showers
These round each bush in sweet disorder run
And spread their wild hues to the sultry sun…
We were joined by some local girls on their half-term break, who I took on a little tour round the room and explained my plans for the walls.
Four of the girls chose ‘daisy’ as their favourite flower and one chose the rose. They sat with the rest of us and participated in the activities. Pauline gave everyone some seeds and asked us to imagine that we could choose what these seeds could grow into. We wrote down our thoughts and the girls drew theirs. We talked about Pal-entine’s/Gal-entine’s day as well, when best friends share messages of love and care for each other; that although it is a day when romantic love is celebrated, there are other kinds of care and affection that can be shared on 14th February.
Workshop 3: Pansy
It was my turn to lead this workshop, which was all about thinking and remembering - the name “pansy” comes from French pensée - “thought”.
In attendance was a lovely couple I met through an art group I teach in Ormskirk: Rod and Muir Simpson. They lived in the Kirkdale area as children - Rod even lived on Daisy St for a while - and it was fascinating to hear them talk about what the neighbourhood used to be like, and how life was on a day-to-day basis. Rod showed photos of them when they were young; they have been married 58 years! Muir talked about her memories as a professional florist - she and Rod had a flower shop in West Derby from 1973-2000.
Councillor Joe Hanson came to the session and there was a conversation about Kirkdale in the past and how it is now.
Used to be: tight-knit community, everyone knew everyone, cared for each other, walked to work (often at one of the factories which have now closed), looked after each other, in the same boat, sensitivity to those with mental health conditions, safe to leave a baby sleeping in a pram on the pavement!
Now: quality of property not good, not maintained by landlords, poor council services, no money. More cars when before there were more people walking around chatting to each other. More crimes and anti-social activities.
It’s really been an eye-opener for me to learn about this neighbourhood, both past and present. Can paintings of flowers solve all the problems this area has? Probably not, but I do believe in the power of art to bring comfort, hope and solace, and to give a space for thinking and contemplation.
Workshop 4 - Woodbine and Birds local to Liverpool and the Sefton coast
I wanted to include some paintings of birds in the second Woodbine mural, so I asked RSPB leader for Liverpool, Chris Tynan, to come and lead this workshop. He taught us all about birds, how adaptable they are, how they behave and how we can help them.
Chris is a Sefton Coast ranger, doing activities with people with special needs. As an expert on the local wildlife, he had considerable knowledge and enthusiasm to add to the flower streets project, with its focus on the life-giving aspects of nature.
Chris also mentioned these interesting facts:
Harebells grow wild on the Sefton coast
Sand lizards (lacerta agilus) are found on the Sefton coast – this could be one of the animals featured in the “treasure hunt”
Wild pansies grow in the dunes in Merseyside
Loads of moths, not just the elephant hawk moths, like honeysuckle
Workshop 5: Snowdrop
The workshop, led by Pauline Rowe, focused on creative writing and included discussion about the murals, the message and symbolism of snowdrops, participant experience of and interest in writing.
We all wrote individual poetic responses inspired by Louise Glück’s line “I did not expect to survive”.
From Anna:
A good foot down folded in on myself.
It was warm down there entombed in frost.
Imagine a small spot in a blackout blind,
A certain warmth coming through.
That’s how the sun seeped into that soil.
Pied Pipering me out slowly and ever so sweetly
until the breakthrough. Poking up, peeking out
like kids at a window waiting for their ma.
From Chris:
I pushed up through the soil
my green leaves showed me the way
as the first rays of sunshine helped
generate the energy, I felt the flush
wanting me to grow.
My flower had formed,
it pushed through the leaves.
My white petals said I’m Here
and early pollinators came for my nectar.
I did not expect to survive but now
I was giving my life to others.
My time was up, it was time to drop,
to droop, to die back
but my bulbs
had been recharged and spread.
Will I survive ‘til Winter? I do not know.
Workshop 6: Pansies, Precious Memories and People we have Loved
The workshop included discussion about the project and area, including family ties with the Flower Streets, ideas about flowers, shared reading of poems and some writing. We considered the symbolic relevance of pansies, as follows:
Pansy means thought or thoughtfulness/remembrance and it is used as a symbol of free-thinking, as well as being a symbol of love.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oberon, and Puck use pansies to make a love potion and put drops of it on the sleeping Demetrius's eyes to make him fall in love with the first person he sees when he wakes.
We also discussed links ideas of pensiveness, grief and empathy and read some more poems that considered the flower as ‘Heartsease’.
Rod said, ‘everything to do with flowers is a gift.’ Muir said they used the phrase ‘Flowers whisper what words cannot say’ for their floristry business.
“Springtime”
The hardest time of year to expect flowers to show their beautiful shapes and colours.
Yet after a long hard winter they appear, almost unannounced.
Their arrival brings joy to the soul and hope to the heart.
MuirThere is a flower I love to see
the snowdrop is the one that pleases me.
When the window is frozen and ice on the tree
the snowdrop pushes its head through the snow
and shouts: ‘I am free.’
Rod
Daisy Workshop - Kirkdale St Lawrence primary school
This workshop was a perfect opportunity for local children to explore the names and meanings and purposes of the flowers that the streets are named after. I started the session by asking a series of questions to get them generating ideas, such as “Why do people give each other flowers?.. Why are so many things decorated with flowers?” They came up with brilliant answers! All of the images used in my presentation were paintings that I have done of flowers throughout my life.
They filled in my hand-made flower worksheet designed to teach pupils to identify and correctly name 7 flowers common in the UK. This folds to make a mini-book and I hope they took them home to show their parents!
I then taught each child to draw, cut out and colour a daisy template. The idea is that when the time comes to paint a wonderful daisy meadow at the end of Daisy Street, they will be able to draw round it and paint their own daisy on the wall. It’s really important to me to have input from all ages of people, young and old.
I provided a model (above) - I think they did really well, don’t you? It just makes me smile to look at these. A couple of people from the BBC popped in and filmed a little bit - if you watch BBC North West Tonight, keep a look-out for mention of the flower streets project!
Letter to Residents
We have hand-delivered an update letter to the residents of the streets and I’ve managed to speak to more local people. I’ve had to underline the fact that the ends of the streets will be cleaned by the council before painting starts, so that’s happening soon. I hope to start in April.
I can’t claim to be the solution to every challenge in this community. But I do know that painting can bring people together and give opportunities to make new friends and do something meaningful.
In recent years, people have been thrown one demoralising crisis after another. I think it's time they were given the opposite of a crisis… the visual equivalent of a breakthrough. Something that symbolises an enduring spirit, a voice of hope and a new season.
Thank you all for reading; I will try to write shorter and more frequent updates in future!
The depth of artistic creativity, imagination, thought and planning already given to this Project is awesome! I wish its total success.