We spoke to Snooze Fabric, a disruptive design duo that aim to ask questions inspire and motivate made up of knitwear designer Romany Taylor and the Illustrator Wayne Murray, about their new Mindful Drawing Classes, why they are important and what they hope participants will get out of them.
Why mindful drawing, and what is it?
We were motivated about the idea of drawing being used as a tool for relaxation but realised a lot of people actually find it really daunting. Our aim is to demystify drawing and empower people with a creative outlet. We want to encourage people to draw whether they’re sat in a café, a park, taking a long train journey, or after stressful day at the office – instead of a glass of wine they reach for their sketchpad and pencil.
What do you hope people will get from the classes?
At the very least we hope peoples drawing and observational skills will improve, and that they feel more centred, relaxed and more confident in their ability. The classes are not about life drawing or doodling; it is about honing a skill, and being focused on a subject at the same time as feeling present.
Why is mindful drawing important?
Both of us also work professionally within the creative industry and run a design practice ‘Snooze Fabric’ which involves Art, Fashion & Community events. We are extremely passionate about Art being accessible to regular people. Drawing is integral in our everyday lives as means of communication whether its piece of art, illustration or a design.
We were delighted to have you for Shoreditch Live last year, and for COMICOMMUNITY Workshops on the week leading up to this, can you tell us about your experience of these workshops and what you got up to?
We created 5 days of workshops for children aged between 13-19 based in Hackney; we wanted to empower young people to express their creativity through storytelling and comic art, and give them a platform to showcase their achievements, which was a first for all involved. We focused a lot on group interaction, presentation skills and developing ideas visually as we feel visual art has been overlooked in many educational establishments. We endeavoured to show the participants that drawing could be a viable career choice as well as a hobby and we strengthened this idea by involving professional artists in the workshops to further show how accessible art can be.
How will the mindful drawing classes differ from COMICOMMUNITY?
Mainly these classes are for adults and although we are always focused on improving technique this is more about meditative drawing and being present, feeling relaxed whilst acquiring those skills, but there’s no pressure, the end result should be personal to the participant.
Why does Shoreditch Town Hall feel like the right fit for Mindful Drawing to take place?
We want open up the town hall to more visual art and to connect the local population to this amazing building. The spaces at STH are really visually diverse and stimulating, which people are often completely unaware of! We love working with the team here who are extremely supportive, accommodating and passionate about local collaboration.
Mindful Drawing will be a weekly class from 20 April – 18 May at Shoreditch Town Hall. A ticket to a class is just £15, you can find out more here.
