My Journey – developing the triptych

The workshops are done, the fabrics are all prepared and I’ve looked at all the stories and words of participants relating to their own journeys. Ideas began spiralling through my mind. How to capture a sense of all these amazing people, and their beautiful stories. Some joyous, others complex, all fascinating and all leading to Heaton Baptist Church and on again.

I started to record words and images working quickly to capture ideas in my sketchbook…

I was thinking about many different people travelling towards the same destination, from different backgrounds. Colours are used to show all the people and to hint at their back stories – some bright, some muted. Some journeys are straight forward, others more twisting or troubled. I played around with abstract and representational images; spirals of colour, rough seas and safe harbours, birds in flight, plants growing, blossoming…

Lots of people talked of finding friendship, support and comfort within the groups they joined. Finding a purpose, growing in confidence and  gaining independence also came through strongly. I wanted to find ways to visually share these themes.

After discussion with others involved in the project, it was felt that the harbour scene might best get these stories across. Boats of different sizes and shapes sail across seas rough or calm. They all head towards a safe harbour, a town of friends, new and old. From there, the vessels move on, through calmer waters, refreshed and guided on their own routes.

Now I have to scale up the sketches, prepare the fabric ground and start stitching…