Common Ground: Waterside Life – Draw & Make alongside Leeds/Liverpool Canal

Come along for a creative afternoon of walking, looking, drawing and making as we explore the living landscape along the towpath of the canal.

We’ll head out along the historic canal corridor to see what we can find, noticing the plants, insects and wildlife that make use of this waterside habitat. Through playful sketching and observational drawing, we’ll look closely at the shapes, textures and tiny details that are easy to overlook.

We’ll explore how different forms of life coexist along the canal edge, from plants growing alongside the water and insects moving between vegetation, to the different habitats and micro-environments created along the waterway.

We will end our towpath walk by heading to the woodland shelter located in Hollybush Conservation Centre, here we will turn our observations into simple collage illustrations, shapes and abstract interpretations, experimenting with marks, textures and forms gathered from our drawings.

About Common Ground:
Common Ground: Mapping Kirkstall’s Living Landscape is a participatory printmaking and environmental storytelling project exploring the diverse habitats and ecologies of Kirkstall, Leeds.
Through a series of walk-and-make workshops, the project invites people to spend time outdoors, notice the plants and wildlife around them, and develop a closer connection with the natural environment on their doorstep. The three workshops explore different habitats across Kirkstall and will support a series of collaborative zines and three textile banners to be exhibited locally.

Common Ground: Mapping Kirkstall’s Living Landscape is part of the Seasons of Culture Programme, funded by West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Council through the Leeds Cultural Investment Programme with the workshops happening with kind permission from Kirkstall Abbey, The Conservation Volunteers at Hollybush Conservation Centre and the Canal & River Trust.

About your tutor:
This workshop is facilitated by Aidan Liggins, textile artist and creative workshop leader, as part of Common Ground: Mapping Kirkstall’s Living Landscape.
Aidan Liggins is a textile artist and workshop facilitator exploring how creativity, traditional knowledge and making can help us rebuild a relationship with the natural world.
Her work is rooted in tradition and slowness, using tactile processes such as block printing and botanical dyeing to explore the connections between people, materials and the changing seasons.
Through textile artworks, experiences and creative workshops, she invites people to look more closely at the natural world around them, drawing on folklore, seasonal knowledge and contemporary observation to create curiosity and connections – believing that care starts with attention.