Blossomize Plymouth
Illustrative commission with Plymouth City Council, Green Communities and The National Trust, to engage local communities with the city’s green spaces through the theme of blossom.
42 events
across 3 months
834 people
engaged with
6 locations
with a two week touring exhibition
“This workshop offered a beautiful moment of stillness to appreciate with the world around us. No pressure, no perfectionism, no fear of failure - only experimentation and growth - blossoming if you will!”
Meditative sketching workshops with Devon Tipping and Fi Smart
This project brought together home-educated children in Plymouth and members of the Devon and Cornwall refugee community alongside the local citizens from the Central Park area, to foster nature connection and confidence in accessing their local green spaces. By engaging two groups who often have limited access to structured activities in natural spaces, the workshops created a rare opportunity for shared creativity, social connection, and meaningful interaction with their local park. Participants explored nature through meditative sketching workshops that emphasised storytelling to build confidence, ecological awareness, and a sense of belonging. This then developed where participants took their sketchbooks and used these to inspired natural sculptures. The project’s hope was to demonstrate the power of creativity, place-based learning and cross-community connection, to celebrate the diverse stories rooted in Plymouth’s landscapes and to reduce plant blindness.
Why blossom?
These workshops aimed to emphasise blossoming in all its forms including in the unexpected ways, from the new sprouts of leaves, hazel catkins, bark rubbings, to beech leaves, alongside the expected pink flowers.
This was used to frame our thinking about blossom, as that which is nurtured through the winter and then in safety is something open and expressive. Like a blossom that is nurtured, what do you think needs nurturing in yourself to be allowed to blossom forwards? How can your sketchbook help this process?
There were such a diverse range of people at the workshop which feels rare and was lovely to see. I am from Czech Republic, there were people from Iran, home schooled families, you could visibly see a range of ethnicities and backgrounds present. I find quite often, with free community workshops it is still the white and wealthy that participate even when the workshops are aimed at the disadvantaged. It was a welcome surprise to see a public free community workshop that felt it was in fact working with and engaging local diverse communities. Thank you for the workshop I had a really enjoyable time drawing and connecting with new people.
Participant from workshop 4
The project culminated in a vibrant public exhibition that showcased the collaborative artworks created by participants, including mandalas, mobiles, and figures made from gathered natural materials such as magnolia and ginkgo leaves. Installed within local parks and later presented as part of a touring exhibition across National Trust sites, the work invited visitors to engage with themes of belonging, resilience, and connection to place. The display celebrated the diverse perspectives of home-educated children and refugee participants, highlighting their observations, stories, and creative responses to the landscape. By bringing these voices into public view, the exhibition not only animated the parks with colour and curiosity but also deepened community awareness of the rich ecological and social narratives held within Plymouth’s green spaces.