What happens when a poem becomes a painting?

This autumn, we’re bringing words, images and imagination together in a brand-new creative workshop at the Beacon, and we’d love you to be part of it. Over nine weeks, you’ll explore how poetry can inspire visual art, experimenting with drawing, painting, colour, mark-making, texture and composition to turn words, feelings and ideas into something you can see.

But this isn’t just an art class. The poems you’ll be working from have been created by local people through our recent Spoken Word course. Your role is to bring those words to life -  creating artwork inspired by the poems, the emotions behind them and the stories they tell.

You’ll begin by developing your drawing and painting skills, experimenting with different materials and discovering how colour, shape, texture and mark-making can communicate different moods, emotions and seasons.

The artwork created during the workshop will become part of a very special exhibition at the Beacon’s Christmas Cabaret, bringing together poetry, visual art and the creative voices of our community. But we’re going one step further. Your artwork will be brought together with the poems that inspired it to create the Trust's first ever book of poetry and art - a lasting collection of local words, ideas and creativity.

So you won’t just be creating something for yourself. You’ll be contributing to a little piece of heritage.

This is a chance to be part of a creative collaboration where poetry meets art, where one person’s words inspire another person’s imagination, and where the finished work becomes something we can share with the wider community.

You do not need any previous art experience. Whether you consider yourself an artist or haven't created anything since school, you’re welcome. This is about trying things out, getting creative, building confidence and seeing what you can make in a supportive and encouraging environment.

Come along, experiment, play with colour and materials, respond to poetry and discover what happens when words become art.