Hodthorpe Art Afternoons is a six-month programme of arts & crafts workshops for members of the Hodthorpe Monday Club. The Monday Club was developed to address a need. Hodthorpe is an isolated rural area with considerable levels of deprivation and relatively poor transport links. For those who are elderly or on low incomes, travelling can be difficult and expensive. The Monday Club provides accessible and interesting activities on the doorstep.

The Art Afternoons project will offer a stimulating and enjoyable programme of monthly sessions designed to have a positive impact on people’s health and wellbeing.

The artist led workshops will broaden people’s experiences and encourage and inspire those taking part to come together, make friends, to try something different and achieve success. Hodthorpe Art Afternoons is being funded by a 5 ways to Wellbeing grant.

February: Decoupage Bottle Lamps
The first workshop took place on the 11^th February and members learnt how to make a decoupage bottle lamp. Decoupage is the art of decorating an object by gluing on coloured paper cut-outs in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and other decorative elements. Participants transformed a plain glass bottle using this historic process and were truly amazed by the results!

March: Hand Tinted Carbon Prints
Boosted by the success of the first workshop the second did not disappoint. The group had previously taken part in our Memory Lane project, making carbon print drawing of local landmarks so we took this workshop to another level and introduced a hand tinting process. The theme was Derbyshire Heritage – Stately Homes: Chatsworth House, Hardwick Hall, Bolsover Castle, Haddon Hall and Sutton Scarsdale Hall.  With such iconic subjects success was assured and the participants were bowled over by their achievements.

April: Derbyshire Record Office visit
An outing to the Derbyshire Record Office was a great hit with members of the Hodthorpe Monday Club who visited on the 1st April. The Art of Letter Writing is included in their Art Afternoons programme and everyone really enjoyed meeting archivist Karen Millhouse and looking at historic letters from the Record Office collections. Afterwards we were given a tour of the building and an introduction to the role of the service, followed by afternoon tea before heading home.