New Year 2023 update – Flower Streets project
Workshop planning, birds, Daisy Street connections, the wisdom of snowdrops...
Thank you so much…
…to you all for being so positive in your reaction to this opportunity, which I described in my 1st December introduction.
I had hoped to write another post before Christmas, but it was quite a lengthy process detaching myself from English teaching commitments, an important meeting got delayed and my online cards/prints shop was going haywire in the run-up to Christmas. And, to be perfectly honest, I was really quite overwhelmed with the enormity of this project and all it entails.
A new year’s reflection on worry
The first days of every new year are always a particularly soul-searching time for me because they coincide with my birthday.
Recently I read an interesting article about how much we worry about things: upcoming events, decisions that need to be made, the potential out workings of various potential decisions, the “what-ifs”…it can be paralysing!
“We suffer more in our imagination more often than in reality.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Being an artist, imagination is not just very helpful but essential to the work! Sometimes, though, imagining and visualising myriad scenarios that don’t actually exist can be a hindrance. Our brains are incredible, but overthinking can sometimes make life harder than it needs to be!
As I have shared about this project with friends and others involved in it, it has really helped to hear them say things like:
“Once you start, you’ll get into it, like all your other paintings.”
“The more I hear about this project, the more I just feel and believe that all will work out very well.”
“It’s normal for you to do completely new and unknown things. You've always dealt with whatever challenge is in front of you: you will continue to in the future too.”
Looking back, looking forward
At the beginning of a project there are so many things to anticipate, organise and put into place.
Fortunately for me, I have three outstanding women from Dot-Art, Culture Liverpool and Liverpool Council helping me with the arrangements, including things like health and safety, permissions, terrain inspection etc. We are currently working out scheduling the art and word sessions that will take place at the community centre in Kirkdale. I’ll be meeting the local councillor and the community centre manager later this week, and we’ve got some door-knocking days planned for the week after, with a leaflet announcing the project and community sessions.
Forming good relationships and getting the local people engaged is critical to the project’s success. I heard someone say recently:
Anything truly meaningful is almost always relational…Meaning emerges from engagement with the world, not from abstract contemplation of it.” - Iain McGilchrist
People matter, and so do the places where they live.
Interesting coincidences with people
As it happens, in the past couple of months I have happened to meet two people who have connections to the streets. Both are regular participants of an art class I teach on a weekly basis near Liverpool. One lady’s grandmother grew up on Daisy Street, in the house at the end of the gable where I will be painting! The other lived on Daisy Street until he was 10, when the area was cleared for rebuilding. It’s remarkable that I have happened to meet these people already and they are enthusiastic about helping out later on and perhaps telling their stories from the past.
History
I’ve been doing some research into the history of this area and the areas around it. As I’ve just mentioned, there were some relocations of residents during the late 50s and 60s because the living standards were pretty bad in the post-war years and many buildings were demolished and rebuilt. It appears that the Flower Streets survived total demolition.
Photo number 17 in this rather disturbing Echo article/photo essay is captioned "... known as the Flower Streets".
Birds
I’ve also found someone to lead a workshop about birds, the RSPB Liverpool leader. It’s great to be having different people contribute. I’d like there to be an extravaganza of British birds attracted to honeysuckle berries! on one of the murals for Woodbine Street. Participants will learn how to identify garden birds, do some fun image-based activities, and help me cut out giant templates of birds to use for the mural!
And finally…
I haven’t included many pictures in here, have I? I hope the next update will have more, but to sign off for today, I will leave you with this mock-up design for one of the Daisy Street murals.
I’ve never been so anxious for the return of real-life daisies! And all the spring and summertime flowers.
At least it won’t be too long before we see the first flower of the year: the snowdrop. These are hardy little plants, with a natural anti-freeze in their sap that enables them to grow in sub-zero temperatures. The tips of their leaves are especially hardened for breaking through frozen ground. In France, they are more commonly known as perce-neige; snow piercer.
Being the philosopher that I am, I’ll sign off with a wish that 2023 shall be a good year for all of you,
that like the snowdrop,
you will “pierce through” all the hard or hostile surroundings that might be around you at certain times in life,
that you will bloom even in cloudy conditions,
and that you will be ready to welcome the sun’s return.