Junction 42
Over the last few years I have been developing creative art projects for many of the UK prisons. This has been for the North East Charity Junction 42. I’ve been working for the charity part time for the last six years as an outreach worker in the community with ex-offenders. However I’ve also been delivering art projects in some of the regions prisons.
One of the images that prisoners have been painting in their “Landscapes in Watercolour” projects is Roseberry Topping. I take the prisoners through a step by step process of how to paint the scene in watercolour. This “In Cell” project has been developed further by the prisoners. They’ve also been doing much larger paintings to go along the corridors of the prisons. These have been painted in different styles, including an Art Deco poster style and also after Van Gogh.
Sketchbook Watercolour
More recently one of my Junction 42 colleagues was asked to oversee some women prisoners paint murals of Durham and Teesside scenes. They were to go up in the prison. She asked if I would help so I made a fresh trip to Roseberry Topping to get some new reference. I began by driving around the area to find a view of this distinctive hill that would be interesting for the women to paint. I found a suitable point by a handy car park and did a sketchbook watercolour.
I then went on a walk for a mile or so to find other possibilities and gathered further reference. The surrounding countryside is stunning and dramatic, in contrast to the industrial town of nearby Middlesborough. I’m looking forward to exploring the area further in the spring when there are fields of bluebells.
The sketchbook watercolour was then used to produce the studio painting. The original watercolour is available from our Gallery in Ponteland.
I found that prisoners often need to be guided when painting landscapes. Giving them a style to paint in is often really helpful. Painting in the style of Vincent Van Gogh means they don’t have to be accomplished in terms of technique and brush skills. You just need to use lots of short brush strokes. I used my reference to produce a small watercolour of the scene after Vincent, so that my colleague would have something to show to the women prisoners.
Although I haven’t seen the finished results in the prion yet, I’m reliably informed that the prisoners work has been well received.
