After what seemed to be endless days of dark and wet, we have finally started to emerge into a wonderful world of colour. Recycling and reusing has given way to unexpected visits at the Creative Hub………

……..and as these models just made fleeting visits, we used the daffs that are blooming as more reliable subject matter.

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A busy period of maintenance at the glasshouses is now giving way to bringing on seeds and getting ready for planting. Michael one of our gardening volunteers is raring to go, even when the rain returns……

And Alan, who volunteers on a Wednesday, adds: “As a gardening volunteer for the Glasshouses I love working as part of a team and seeing the gardens changing through the seasons and being enjoyed by the whole hospital community and beyond. I also enjoy the friendship, camaraderie,  and creativity of the whole Artlink group, who are very welcoming to me. All of this makes for a great experience, but to top it all, there is usually cake and coffee as well. All in all, a great weekly experience.”

We are looking forward to another productive growing season at the Glasshouses!

We asked artists Nick Evans to describe his work at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

“I been working with patients from across the acute wards in an open session in the multi activity room in the morning and in drop-in sessions rotating around the wards in the afternoons. Our sessions allow patients to come and try making with clay, usually for the first time.”

“I try to run the workshops in the multi activity room as much like a normal ceramic studio as possible. We start by looking at examples of work made by other patients. New patients will have a go themselves at making a bowl, a cup or an ornament. Patients love to make things for their homes that they can use. They also love to make gifts for loved ones.”

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“Many patients are only on the acute wards for quite a short amount of time, so completing a ceramic project like a bowl in just a couple of session is a challenge. We have to complete the modelling of a piece one week, then bisque fire it it so it can be decorated and glazed the next week. The OTs and activities co-coordinators help to oversee the firings as the schedule is tight.”

“I think it is really important for patients to complete a piece from start to finish wherever possible as it gives them a huge boost and a sense of achievement. If patients are in for a longer period of time they get to try making a range of pieces and love trying different techniques and approaches to modelling and glazing.”

Hailey Beavis has been working at the Western General Hospital weaving together imagery, song and chat, on medicine of the elderly wards.

“A woman who needed a good deal of convincing to come through to the day room said on reflection at the end: “I never thought I could have done all that.” Initially she needed encouragement to achieve the smallest thing, but by the end she was verbalising ideas and self directing. It was a real transformation.”

A man who was participating in a different session three weeks ago told Hailey:“I didn’t even know that I could use scissors anymore. I enjoyed that, I’ve never done anything like that before.”

Wonderful things happen in fleeting moments and as we start to work on a mural for the ward walls we look forward to sharing more of them.

You might be wondering that if you encountered a 20 metre long inflatable worm parading through the grounds of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in the spring of last year, what the creative minds in the studios at the Glasshouses would come up with this year?

A MURMURATION MARCH of course!

In late August a flock of birds took of from the Glasshouses to wing its way around the grounds of the hospital. Was it a flock of seagulls, a muster of peacocks or plump of ducks? Of course it was all of them. The weather was kind and led by compere George Demure the procession went ahead!

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The Murmuration March was accompanied by rhythmic drumming of Omar Afif and interspersed with amazing poetry of Simon Porter which formed linking moments along the route.

In partnership with:

“The weirdest thing that’s happened in my decade and a half at the Royal Ed, but in a really good way. It was something for everyone to talk about!”

During the 2022 Spring Fling, organisations based at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, collaborated to create a programme of events including lunchtime concerts, art workshops, bird identification sessions, and a reading from acclaimed local writer Alexander McCall Smith. The events took place over several weeks and celebrated the optimism and regeneration of Spring, with many events themed around nature.

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“It was just so energetic and joyful!  It was wonderful. I loved it. I lost one of our volunteers. He joined the worm walk and started carrying the worm, and I just thought that was great great fun. And he said he had a fabulous time”.

The Spring Fling culminated in the Worm Walk which involved parading a large inflatable worm through the hospital grounds, accompanied by a rowdy band of followers and musical interludes along the way.  The worm itself was conceived by artists Nadia Rossi and Morven Mulgrew and constructed and decorated by patients and volunteers in workshops at the Glasshouses Creative Hub, as well as workshops on the wards.

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Artist Nick Evans has been holding weekly drop-in ceramic workshops on mental health wards 3 and 17 at St. John’s Hospital, Livingston. These workshops are being supported by the Occupational Therapy Mental Health team, with whom Artlink has a long working partnership.

The workshops have been designed to encourage patients who may have little, or no experience of working with clay, to have fun, have a good experience and get a rewarding result in a short time.

The ‘picture tiles’ are made by rolling out clay slabs, using cutters or scribing into the clay to create an image in relief. The tiles are coloured with underglaze before the slabs are taken away to be glazed and fired by Nick in his Glasgow studio, then returned to the makers.

If the patients are more confident with clay or have a particular idea they want to try, Nick works with patients to realise their own vision in clay.

The class tends to bring a peaceful energy to ward 17 and I often see a more calm side to many patients at the art group while they get to concentrate on their work which feels purposeful and personal, also with the motivation of its journey to and from the kiln and Nick’s comforting guidance! Occupational Therapy

The workshops have proved very popular with patients and staff alike, everyone looks forward to Nick coming onto the ward each week and have asked that the sessions be continued. Nick ceramic workshops are programmed until the end of April 2022.

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Artlink partner in delivering the Tonic Arts Participatory Programme on behalf of the NHS Lothian Charity.

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Late 2021, artist Hailey Beavis began a series of art making workshops at the Western General Hospital. The workshops are supported by Senior Charge Nurse Carol Paterson and form part of programme in the Meaningful Activity Centre.

The small, intimate group, allowed Hailey to work with individuals and tune in to how they were doing, how they like to work, and how best to work with them.

The first session got off to a bright start, with sunshine pouring through the windows, creating a warm and welcoming feeling, more akin to a social club than a hospital meeting room. Using music played through a small speaker, with songs requested by the patients, Hailey created a relaxed atmosphere which got the group interacting.

Art materials including coloured card, old memorabilia and postcard were laid on a table, with percussive instruments for those who found it harder to engage with the art activities. Patients’ confidence grew throughout the session with painting, mark making, chatting, singing, dancing and drumming.

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As sessions continue into 2022 they have retained the same organic feeling and versatility of materials, with sensory still life sessions including scented foliage such as rosemary, and activities using high contrast materials – white on black – for participants with visual impairments.

Staff have commented that patients have been looking forward to the workshops, talking about them beforehand and this can be seen in the sessions themselves with participants bringing along extra materials, progressing their work, breaking out of their routines, and opening up – cracking jokes and reminiscing – and apparently sleeping better.