Turtle

Part of Johnny Woodhams collection

Armour, at The Booth Centre Manchester.

After the incredibly beautiful free written outcomes of my first session I wanted to try a more structured way of writing for the second session so I developed a simple imagining format that focused thoughts in a more meditative and positive way. Those taking part were then guided from a fixed ideal point through a series if questions that resulted in a narrative text as if spoken.

We then did two edits getting rid of unnecessary language turning the thoughts into poems and then did a final rewrite on brown paper. Focusing on the theme of armour we'd looked at a variety of animal shells and military helmets and decided to take a direct papier mâché cast from a large turtle shell. The final layer consisted of the poems torn up to become a pattern forming the protective shell made up of a mixture of the positive language. 

Once again some utterly moving stories emerged and it was a privilege to work with the group. 

Johnny Woodhams

June 2017