This June I joined lots of local artists for the paint the day competition in Wolverhampton. The Newhampton Arts Centre set a challenge to capture a piece of Wolverhampton in some Art form. You had to work outside, and you had 9 hours to do it.   The plan was to take different elements of the town and bring them together in a pattern for a print. It was such a brilliant day; however I seriously mismanaged my time! I don’t really regret it as I spent such a lovely morning in the sun wandering around the town looking for inspiration.

I revisited the spot where I first met my husband, at the university steps on a blind date 18 years ago.  I went up to Molineux House, where the city archives are, somewhere I’ve never been and found such a pretty garden. The buildings in Wolverhampton are lovely once you start looking and I found too much inspiration! So with just 3 hours left of the challenge I settled in West Park under a tree and started to put together a design,  only the wind had picked up and my bits and bobs were blowing everywhere. So I moved to the back of the park’s tea room pulled together the design and carved the block. With about 40 mins to go I made it back to the centre, set up a makeshift studio in the corner and printed my design.  The final design included the door handle of the Art Gallery, the railings outside Banks’s Brewery and details from the mosaic in the garden of the city Archives at Molineux House. I wanted to include lots more but ran out of time.

A silent auction for all of the artwork ran for a week after the competition and unexpectedly my piece sold! A lovey local event that was a real treat to be part of.