Approximately 200 people (and one dog) joined us on the 22nd Oct for our Monster ” Big Draw” event in our empty shop in Castle Quay Bedford. Seven Bedfordshire Illustrators were on hand to help artists of all ages develop their creatures through drawing, stitching, cutting and sticking and more. We were all blown away by the levels of creativity exhibited as illustrator Rachel Lovatt explains,

“I found the whole experience humbling and heartwarming. It was the way the children let their imaginations spill out un-editied onto the page that impressed me, there’s a truth, a beautiful purity in the simplicity of that. I think as an artist this is what I strive to do in my work every day and they did it so effortlessly. It just shows how art can bring community together regardless of who you are, what you do and what age you are. It was great to see how much adults enjoyed the experience too, letting their boundries fall away, they too became kids again for the day in creating their monsters. One lady said to me, ” It reminds me of those lovely days at primary school where you had nothing to worry about and just played with art.” I love the idea that art is playful and not only brings people together but enables you to forget your worries – there’s a lovely symmetry in that – just for the day, creating a monster helped people forget their Monsters.”

Prizes were awarded to those who showed skill, ingenuity and high levels of silliness.

The photo above shows us in front of the Monster map of Bedford and was provided courtesy of Andrew Foster (far left)