Amanda Quellin MA BA hons is an Artist and Illustrator with over 25 years experience working with the public on participatory arts projects. She has recently started designing large scale colouring murals for businesses, schools and colleges to provide creative wellbeing projects for public participation after lockdown and Covid have made it an incredibly stressful year.
Amanda was asked to complete a wellbeing arts project with some of the children at Victoria road school after they returned post lockdown, as the transition back into school has been a stressful and anxious time for many children.
The headteacher, Ms Natalie Johnstone, requested a view of Castletown where the school is situated.
As creative arts are proven to promote wellbeing and aid positive mental health, it was envisaged that a large scale arts project would be beneficial for the children’s mental health.
Amanda created a simple colouring canvas as a black and white drawing, enabling the children to work on it in groups. The colours chosen were pre-mixed by the artist to create visual fluency and harmony with the existing school decor. The children then filled in the areas to create their work of art.
