We are wrapping up the final two, brilliant, Express & Illustrate sessions with the wonderful Jess Knights!

Hosting my Express & Illustrate sessions on the Somerset Art Works Online Art Group over the summer and autumn months this year has been so rewarding and fun! I loved how the change of season subtly influenced the energy of each session. Everyone from the group who joined live or afterwards really let loose and leaned into my creative prompts – it was so lovely to see people express themselves so freely through the techniques which included drawing, painting, collage, and many different kinds of mark-making.

I learnt a lot about playfulness in my own practice – especially around creating more intuitively without always having a clear image in mind. Taking time to be creative can be mindful in itself. Just carving out an hour of gentle, uninterrupted creative time every couple of weeks can have such a positive effect on your wellbeing.

Jess Knights

Favourite Time of Day

In this session, we explored what our favourite time of day feels like – through colours, textures, sounds, and memories. After some playful warm-up drawing exercises (including non-dominant hand sketches and contour lines), we took a mindful moment to reflect on the small but special moments that matter most.

We built up layered artworks using scratch art — applying oil pastels, then gently scratching through to reveal colours underneath. Adding in rubbings and textures, we created rich, expressive scenes that captured the atmosphere of our chosen time.

It was a beautiful way to reconnect with the sensory joy found in everyday moments.

A Celebratory Mess!

For our final session, we went out with a joyful, expressive bang — a celebration of everything we’ve made together.

This session was all about letting go, layering materials, and trusting the creative process. We gathered scraps and textures from previous sessions and set up a space for pure playful experimentation.

As always, we began with warm-up exercises, but this time we gave a little extra love to our most important creative tools – our hands! With some gentle self-massage and mindful breathing, we prepared ourselves for a session full of movement and energy.

We then dived into colour, texture, and mark-making – tearing, layering and building bold, abstract works that captured the energy of our individual joyful celebrations in all their forms.

Finally wrapped up by looking back over everything we’d created across the sessions, reflecting on how our work has grown and shifted.

Thank you so much Jess for guiding us through such a thoughtful, enriching, and joy-filled series of sessions. Each one was a beautiful mix of calm reflection and playful experimentation & we’re so grateful for the inspiration you’ve shared.

Stay tuned – we’ll be introducing our next artist very soon, with sessions starting again from 19th November and running through to the new year!

images: group members and the lead artist

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The Somerset Art Works Online Art Group is an accessible space for people of all abilities to engage with art in a way that suits them.

*no session 5 November* New artist Lisa Takahashi from 19 November

Join us twice a month for creative sessions, delivered online by a range of exciting artists. Keeping creativity as accessible as possible – either join us live or watch back in your own time.

Affordable places available (donations welcome). New members welcome at any time, no experience needed.

First and third Wednesdays 6.30 – 7.30pm on Facebook Live. Plus recordings.
Contact Emily for more information and bookings: admin@somersetartworks.org.uk
www.somersetartworks.org.uk

With thanks to funding support in 2025 from Somerset Community Foundation and Arts Council England