Author: Ruth Singer
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Anne Whitmore’s quilt Chastleton House
Earlier this week I went on a textile tour of Chastleton House. I’ve written a lot in my journal about this experience in one of my favourite places, and the makers of these amazing stitched pieces. Thinking about the motivations and experiences of textile makers of the past is pertinent to a new project I’ve…
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Worn Stories for Refugee Week
To mark Refugee Week, I’m sharing a project from last summer where Mandeep Dhadialla and I worked with a wonderful group to create a large hand-bound book of textile-inspired artworks. I’ve just had new images taken of the book and it has now been returned to the British Red Cross in Leicester who we worked…
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Ordering your thoughts
Part of my reflective practice is journalling or writing loads of ideas down so they don’t escape me. I am always thinking about new projects when I should be working on existing projects or my thoughts wander into exciting new directions when I really should be going to sleep. I journal in unexpected places too,…
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Emotional Landscapes
Places & Traces is part of my Cultures of Care project. Part of Cultures of Care is care of nature and landscape, place and belonging. I’ve been working for a year now with a wellness in nature group and wanted to build on what I’ve learned in that residency to create something more focussed on…
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When public engagement is not very engaging
This morning I gave up two hours to go to a nature recovery strategy residents consultation workshop. I left feeling deeply frustrated by the lack of clarity on the strategy and what input we could have and by the poor way it was run. It’s reminded me just how valuable public engagement skills are and…
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Creating Together
In the latest episode of my podcast Making Meaning, I talked about co-creation, which I define as making artworks with others. I’ve put together a page of some of the highlights of my co-creation work too. It really is an important part of my practice, and that’s not changing this year – I have several…
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Co-creation: Making Meaning Podcast Episode 42
In my nearly 20 years of creative work, I’ve developed a real passion for creating artwork with the input of others, either in group making or through contributions of stories. In this blog / podcast I’m sharing my piece of reflective writing that I share first in my Cultures of Care Group in June 2024.…
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Places & Traces of Charnwood Forest
Places & Traces is a creative landscape history project looking at how local people experience and feel about the Charnwood Forest area. Over the next year I’m hosting creative exploratory walks and wild workshops where we will explore what makes this area so special to us personally. I’m collecting community stories and experiences of this…
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Reflective Writing for Creative Practice
In my recent Cultures of Care Group session (and shared in the podcast) I talked about the importance of reflective writing or journalling in my own development. I write a lot, pretty much every day. Some of that writing is just describing the day and getting it out of my head and offloading difficult things.…
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Cultures of Care Film Launch
I’ve got a lovely new film to share about my Cultures of Care project. I wanted to create a film which captured slowness, care and paying attention that inform my project, rather than focussing on artworks or techniques. This film was made with Richard Foot and I think he’s done a great job of capturing…