Words On The Wing!
"Words on the Wing has been a wonderful chance for people to link and get artistic during these awful Covid times... It has kept a ray of sunshine through the dark times and offered creative fun for all ages. It's something we can share with our members on our media sites too and link us with the wide world."
Linda Thomas, St Mary's Library, Isles of Scilly
Inspired by our wonderful wild resident birds and our seasonal feathered visitors - who really have been a source of great joy to us all during the uniquely challenging time of COVID - ARTiculate has worked to help alleviate isolation and offer people a sense of connection through creating and sharing special migratory postal & story arts, initially supported in 2020 by Arts Council England.
How to Participate in 2021...
In the current lockdown and continuing COVID crisis, we're delighted to be able to extend this project, thanks to FEAST and Cornwall Community Foundation.
Just email us at contact@articulatecollective.com with your postal address and the number of participants who would like an art gift, and also the number of blank cards and stamps you would like to be sent to create your own work to share in turn.
You can also download and use the special recources further down this page to help inspire you!
With big thanks to Blackbird Pie for sharing this project for us in their February 2021 online edition!
Migratory postal art
This project strand has so far seen hundreds of personalised, ‘migratory’ bird-themed art gifts shared with people of all ages, via our wonderful postal service! Poem, painting, print, drawing - each work has been personally produced, packaged & posted for the recipient's enjoyment & delight! Our Words on the Wing art gifts have helped to spark everyone's imaginations and enable spirits to soar up high with the swallows & swifts.
Excitingly, since the project began in early-mid 2020, the work has also cascaded through families and also whole communities, with people using our specially-produced project cards and free postage to create in turn their own art gifts for family members and elderly neighbours, and whole school groups of children creating special art gifts for relatives, friends or others in need. We've been thrilled and moved by the stories we've heard, the beautiful work created, and the kindness and sharing involved. The resulting work has travelled around the world to recipients and homes across Australia, the USA, Asia and Europe!
If you need inspiration to create your own art work, you can download this fantastic PDF workbook by ARTiculate artist Jill Hudson, full of creative hints and tips! Plus three card designs that Jill has also created specially for the WOW project, that you can print out, colour in and share!
jillhwow-instrucscards.pdf
DownloadFour more fabulous card designs to download, print, cut out, colour in, and share, created by ARTiculate artist Caroline Cleave specially for the WOW project!
ccleavewowcards.pdf
DownloadShadow Stories
This strand of the project aims to inspire children & adults to write, perform and share their own bird-themed shadow tales!
What birds can you see or hear in your garden, by the sea, in the woods, at your window? Have they been particularly noticeable during lockdown and COVID? Do you know a bird tale, or are you inspired by receiving a migratory 'art gift'? Do you want to tell a bird story in a lovely new way?
We’re delighted to bring you some special online ‘Fibsticks’ workshops below to help you get started, sharing techniques, handy tips, materials & more, plus we've already got a Magpie shadow tale ready for you to enjoy & be inspired by! Take a look at our short films below...
First in our two-part instruction video presented by Reg Payn of ARTiculate, showing how to create your own shadow puppets and stories, using simple tools and materials, hints and tips!
The second instalment of our Words On The Wing instruction video with Reg Payn, sharing information on how to make a character shadow puppet and operating sticks, plus lots more along the way.
Plus, below we've included A Magpie's Tale - a shadow story we've created ourselves to help inspire you!
Finally... why not join our Words On The Wing community!
Post & tag your #wordsonthewing pictures, words & stories - your work could be at the heart of our Words On The Wing follow-on projects, which hope to link our partner commmunities on Scilly & in North Cornwall when circumstances allow. Find us on Twitter #wordsonthewing #articulatecollective and on Facebook @articulatecollective
...and of course, please do email us at contact@articulatecollective.com if you want to join in, or you need extra info or help to get started!