maddy hearn

pageworks / unique books / collage salads / cloth cats & dolls / i teach, organise learning projects, run workshops, collect, write + stuff

[maddyhearn]

The Art of Noticing & Drawing Cats

it’s not about who can draw the best cats …

I’ve designed an online course aiming to bring people together to find companionship, peace and creativity through noticing, stroking and drawing their pet cats. Delivered with the help of co-tutors through Devon Recovery Learning Community, two groups of students have participated in a four week day or evening class through the autumn of 2021. The community is a recovery college provided by Devon Partnership NHS Trust to promote mental health and wellbeing.

Cats are encouraged to attend and occasionally wander into Zoom, on their own terms, to hang out with us. One cat in our evening class ‘loves Zoom’ says his owner; ‘he comes running to the screen as soon as he hears your voices’.

Students from across Devon have participated to draw cats; listen to purring, analyse artworks, tell cat stories and reflect on the health benefits that cats, just being themselves, bring.

This friendly and gentle course is for people who care for or visit a cat ~ it’s not about who can draw the best cats, it’s more about slowing down to notice, talk to and draw our cats. I’ve taken great care with the content to enable students to reflect on how cats are represented in paintings, photographs and films alongside discussion on how cats can help us live mentally healthier lives.

Beginning with a series of simple prompts from Alessandro Bonaccorsi’s Raw Drawing initiative we explore a series of playful drawing activities each week in class, and through homework, culminating with fun cat toy & instant bookmaking at course close. Co-tutors bring further expertise through their understanding of recovery values and principles together with relevant lived experience of mental health issues. My facilitating skills are growing through this particular co-production model and I like to think that cats are magical therapy animals.

image: cat with tiny leaf stuck on whisker

[maddyhearn]

Cloth Club, Summer 2021

I've collaborated with multidisciplinary illustrator Scotty Gillespie to explore how we might understand our relationship with textiles as we re-emerge and reconnect after the isolation and introversion of lockdown. At Cloth Club we invited people to get collectively creative in the co-production of a Recovery Blanket.

Cloth Club is a new addition to the Social [practice] programme organised by Kathy Norris at Exeter Phoenix; an ongoing series of hosted workshops and events that explore collaboration, collective making and skill sharing.

Over two evenings stitchers of all abilities gathered to piece together fabric into sewn emblems evoking images of recovery. Stories were shared of how scrap fabric and sewing has kept us busy with significant projects, especially over lockdown.

Scotty and I will be working together to stitch the fabric emblems to the blanket which will be displayed at Exeter Phoenix with an accompanying zine produced by artist Olivia King who is currently studying on the MA International Contemporary Art: Curation and Business at Exeter University.

Image credit: Scotty Gillespie

[maddyhearn]

Simple Sewing - Cloth Cats & Dolls

I've sewn my way through lockdown. Sewing has become a simple, slow and meditative activity for me. Stitching only by hand from uncomplicated patterns I've drawn with felt-tip pens on sugar paper, I've made cloth cats and dolls. Some sewn pieces have been gifted and some sold. While my sewing has slowed down as lockdown restrictions ease, I'm still compelled to sew and unfussy stitching remains something that I do.

[maddyhearn]

Paper Trash Books ~ an online workshop taking place on kitchen tables, dressing tables, coffee tables, tea trays on laps.....

Happy to be invited back to Falmouth University to run an online workshop for Stage 2 Fine Art students working from home during the second Covid-19 lockdown.

Students were prompted to spend a couple of weeks before the workshop collecting paper-based waste material - junk mail, letters, magazines, newspapers, packaging, cardboard boxes, stickers and wrappers. They were asked to bring this papery material to the workshop along with scissors, glue, sticky tape and a safety pin.

In this two-hour, practical online workshop, we made simple books and an accompanying cardboard cut out safety pin badge from our paper based trash. Beginning with a meditative folding activity, we used the language of folding to each make a single page instant book from a piece of A4 paper. We examined and discussed our papery trash. Through a process of selecting, deconstructing, re-organising, sequencing and arranging our waste papers, we pieced together a collection of Trash Books and shared our work with each other through phone, tablet and laptop cameras.

Pictured above - an impromptu working surface for instant book making - a cat and keyboard jigsaw puzzle box is perfect for making instant books on your lap...wherever you are during a global pandemic.

March, 2021

[maddyhearn]

Back to Blogging

I haven’t written a blog post in three years.

Here is a short update of what has happened during that time. 

Pineapple Falls, Things That Function as a Book. 2018

Paul and I were invited back to the UWE Bower Ashton Library Special Collections by Sarah Bodman, Senior Research Fellow for Artists’ Books at the Centre for Fine Print Research (CFPR) to share our work in the Artists’ Book Cases in the University’s Bower Ashton campus Library. 

Counter, Plymouth Art Book Fair

Counter came to an end. After a run of five amazing events we decided to call it a day. Counter was such a wonderful success. From 2014-19 Counter drew together artists, collectives and book works to make friends, sell books, buy books, share work, share knowledge, learn something new, start conversations, ask questions, try to find answers and exchange ideas.

We are still keeners, fans, and D.I.Y enthusiasts.

I took a break from teaching and started sewing dolls and cloth cats.

I’m now working in Adult Community Learning and am running workshops again.

I’ve achieved a lot over the course of keeping this blog, and I’m picking up where i left off - thanks for reading! 

You can also find me at Twitter and Instagram.

April 2021

[maddyhearn]

Instant Book Workshops An ongoing workshop where participants make a collaged, single page instant book with an A4 piece of copier paper and supplied materials: newspapers, magazines, old books, knitting patterns, brochures, manuals….. Collaged pages are photocopied to provide a copy for the maker, one for the host organisation and one for the growing collection of pocket sized books that accompany each workshop for browsing alongside a selection of reference books for context. This is a sociable, totally absorbing, hands-on method of selecting, deconstructing, re-organising, sequencing and discussing images and text. Pictured above - a small selection of the growing collection of Instant Books made in recent workshops. These ever-so-simple collaged books are made in 2-3 hour workshops - please get in touch if you’d like to nestle a session within your programme.

[maddyhearn]

Counter, March 2018 The 4th edition of Counter, our art book fair took place on a snowy Saturday in March at Ocean Studios on Plymouth’s historic Royal William Yard. This year’s event featured over 35 exhibitors, programmed talks, a performance and a week long exhibition of page works. The book fair took place between two project spaces with the exhibition on view in the cafe gallery. We are delighted to have been supported again with a grant from Arts Council England to enable us to deliver our programme featuring Daniel Lehan, Pirrip Press and Makina Books & Flo Brooks. Images: Book Fair view, Makina Books & Flo Brooks, Counter, 2018. Photos: Dom Moore

[maddyhearn]

Zine Workshop, YEA Plymouth, March 2018

I’ve had so much fun working with Kitty (Midnakit) from YEA Plymouth to plan and deliver this free workshop for 11-19 year olds at Plymouth Arts Centre. 

During this fun 3 hour workshop we made zines, found out about zines, shared zines and made friends. Kitty rounded off the workshop by sharing news & inviting submissions to her growing Plymouth Zine Library. 

YEA Plymouth is an independent organisation led by young artists, writers and makers in Plymouth. YEA Plymouth enables young artists to get together, collaborate and promote their work. Pictured above Kitty (far left) and friends mid workshop exploring text based activities.

[maddyhearn]

Family Workshop, Feb 2018 

A series of extended concertina books containing sequences of personal photos, keepsakes and simple typed descriptions were made by families in my workshop at Plymouth Arts Centre. 

Working with collage, typewriting, photocopying and colour pencils, each family was supported to make a unique and precious book.

I designed and delivered this 3 hour workshop in response to Sarah Bowler’s Looe Street Detectives gallery show which participants explored before embarking on piecing together their own piece of personal history.

Pictured above: the wonderful Jennifer made a book called Jennifer.

[maddyhearn]

Sticky Tables with BLISS + Liv Wynter

As satellite event to our at book fair, Sticky Tables took place on a Sunday afternoon in December 2017 at Underground, a live music venue, below a pub in Plymouth.

An experiment for us in making an event combining live performance from BLISS (Simon Bayliss & Lucy Stein) and Liv Wynter, alongside drop-in collage activities to produce a simple photocopied publication to be shared at the forthcoming book fair, our 4th edition, in March 2018 at Ocean Studios, Plymouth.

Images: Collage drop in, BLISS. Photos: Dom Moore

[maddyhearn]

Instant Book Workshop, Falmouth, Dec 2017 

Delivered another Instant Book Workshop for Falmouth Art Gallery on the occasion of the touring Alternative Visions exhibition developed by Arts & Health South West, Outside In and Bristol Culture. 

Working with collage and the office photocopier, participants from Redwing Gallery, Penzance made and shared a series of instant, one page, folded books.

Glorious to work in the gallery alongside this fascinating exhibition featuring painted, drawn, printed and sculpted works from a ‘previously undiscovered group of artists’

[maddyhearn]

Zine Making with PUPs, Nov 2017

‘Zines are like blogs but on paper’ Alison Piepmeier

In this lunchtime session for PUPs (Plymouth University Printmakers), we spent a productive couple of hours in the print studio making instant publications and discussing ways to sustain work. We built a bibliography for future reference; many of the titles sourced from the Charles Seale-Hayne Library at the University.

Thank you for inviting me PUPs!

[maddyhearn]

Magnolia

I’m working on a new edition of Magnolia, my simple collage picture book series which is now almost sold out.

Shifting away from a unique miniature picture book format, I’m focusing on a new photocopied and hand-painted Magnolia alongside an online version.

[maddyhearn]

Student Gallery Nights, DIY Zines & Badges, We The People Are The Work

Had so much fun running this one off zine and badge making session for students from Plymouth College of Art and Plymouth University as part of We The People Are The Work.

BA Hons Fashion, Fine Art, Illustration, MA Creative Education and Erasmus exchange students hung out after lectures for an evening of collaging fast and fun instant publications, with new-wave sounds, drinks and nibbles.

Big thanks to Kitty McEwan for expertly running the badge making element of the night; Kitty is a 15 year old illustrator and blogger based in Plymouth. Also to Zoe Moscrip, PCA Gallery Education Officer, for running back and forth to the art college photocopier!

[maddyhearn]

Fold Up Table Top Shop, FOMO, Falmouth Art Gallery 

Paul and I recently set up shop/impromptu studio in the foyer outside the entrance to Falmouth Library on the occasion of FOMO Falmouth Art Publishing Fair.

Following an invitation to show work, we built a shop that didn’t really sell anything with fold out camping tables, a tea trolley, shopping trolley, cardboard boxes, plywood, pegs and washing line. Having been lent a record player, we played some records including a warped and scratched 12 inch vinyl of Billy Ocean’s Suddenly bought from the charity shop on the Saturday morning on the way back from Wilkos.

Pictured above, a detail of our washing line collage in the company of a 1904 painting by Charles Napier of the Bob Newton lifeboat.

[maddyhearn]

Office Space - Instant Publication Workshop at FOMO

I believe you have my stapler.....

Two hundred and fifty six instant publications were made in my two hour Office Space workshop at FOMO Falmouth Art Publishing Fair. Each person taking part took home a volume of collaged and photocopied publications comprising of a copy of each other's book. 

[maddyhearn]

We The People Are The Work

In my role as Education Producer, I’ve been working over the past few months on the delivery of education and participatory elements of We The People Are The Work a major visual arts project in Plymouth curated by Simon Morrissey and produced by Vickie Fear.