A Week of Art, Fashion & Creativity in Brighton
After 1 year of living in Brighton, making sustainable clothes and handmade fashion, I wanted to show all the other work I create. Painting is my passion, and I’ve always done it alongside fashion design. I actually got into sustainable fashion because I found it hard to sell paintings, so I started painting on clothes instead. Then fell in love with sewing, textiles, and upcycled clothing.
I was quite nervous to do an art exhibition. I was worried no one would come, as I still feel quite new in this city. But I was so happy with how the exhibition launch night went, it was so lovely. A good number of people came, filled the space with music, chatting, drawing, just lovely supportive energy. I feel so lucky and grateful. It’s also such a privilege to be able to share my art and craft like that. From a pile of paintings in the corner of my house, slowly building up, to a whole immersive room tying all the work together for people to look at and enjoy. It gives my creative work a reason and gives me confidence and belief that I am an artist. It was a great space too, called Farm Art Space in Hove, a tucked away studio with cosy vibes and a lovely surrounding community.
We had some interactive art bits in the exhibition, like this big bit of abstract textile art that I made using my fabric scraps. I bought lots of second-hand frames so people could choose a frame, cut out a section of the fabric, and frame it. The idea was to encourage people to zoom in on sections and find something they liked amongst the colours and textures. It was really nice seeing people get involved and which bits they chose.
There was also a big roll of paper for drawing on the floor for people to draw, which I always love because I think often people can feel restricted in creativity because they don’t see themselves as an artist. But it’s so nice to have a low-pressure environment where anyone can make a mark and be silly on the paper. Chatting and drawing at the same time always ends up with unique art you could never plan.
The space is open for a week, which is nice because it was a lot of work to put everything up! It’s a big space, and it’s cool to be able to use it as my pop-up studio for the week. There’s so much you can do in a big room. Over the weekend, I had a few visitors. My dad and friend both played and sang a song on the guitar. I want to record friends doing creative activities here. It’s an amazing feeling to be creative all day, every day, and to have a public space where I can invite others to come and be creative.
The art workshops went so well, good turnout, good mix of new people and friends, and good range of different ages and characters. Each little group felt special, wandering into this random little room in Hove to meet people and be creative for a couple of hours.
On Monday, we had craft night, which was very chill and low-pressure. We drew each other's faces without looking at the paper lots of times, then moved around the table and gradually filled in all the gaps. It was so full and colourful and beautiful at the end. I love craft night because it’s so easy to just draw and paint when there’s no pressure for it to look good, and the combination of everyone’s creativity creates this big, pretty community art piece.
Tuesday, we did upcycled jewellery making with my friend Issi, who brought all the tools and the knowledge to fix our broken bits. Everyone got out their stash of broken jewellery and little charms and bits, and bobs. And we just sat around making them into new handmade pieces. It was so satisfying because I’ve had broken jewellery sat there for ages, but there’s never a time to fix it, and I don’t own the tools. So to be in a space specifically for that purpose, with lots of other women doing the same things, was so great. And I came away with new repurposed jewellery!
Wednesday was beats and drawing run by my brother. He explained to us about how vibrations are reality and different frequencies can create these amazing natural patterns. We all had to make a tinfoil hat and be the antenna to absorb the vibrations into the paper. He built up this music workshop slowly, all in the same pitch. Long notes are built on the keyboard, while my mum was playing long notes on the saxophone. The lights were low, and we all started drawing what we felt from the music. It was very meditative art, unlike any other experience I’ve had. It was almost like being at an atmospheric gig, but also having my own creative project to do in front of me.
Thursday was a Lino print workshop, my first one where I was properly teaching a skill. And I loved it. I liked seeing how everyone had different art styles and what they came up with. Making sure everyone was okay, and seeing the satisfaction at the end when everyone had made their hand-printed artwork. I definitely want to do more of these.
I’m feeling very inspired after this week. Having a space like that is so good; there are so many creative possibilities. And art workshops are such a fun way of meeting people and creating things in a low-pressure environment.
I can't wait to do many more!
