On Wednesday 20th September we are hosting our first Impactful Painting Workshop and we couldn’t be more excited! We are teaming up with the wonderful Baron’s Court Project and HomeLess Made for our next Do Good, Feel Great event. HomeLess Made is a social enterprise created by Baron’s Court Project where guest artists create art together at the centre in order to tackle isolation. Guan Chow, a guest of HomeLess Made, will be our guest artist for the evening; leading our creative do-good community in painting his famous ‘The Rainbow Tree’. This piece of art comes from a personal story and moment in Guan’s life where he saw a positive light. Guan will be sharing his personal story of how he discovered his love of painting whilst residing at Crisis House and how it helped him combat feelings of anxiety and loneliness.

The evening will be held at the beautiful Union Chapel in Islington. Our community will come together to sip and paint, but also make an impact! We’re excited to get the creative juices flowing, hear Guan’s story and do some good together!!

This week, we went to visit Guan at Baron’s Court Project to give you a little sneak peak and here’s what he said…

In conversion with guest artist Guan Chow...

Colours, because they make me happy; colours cheer you up. When I first started painting, I painted in black and white and it felt so boring and sad. I decided to start painting with colour and that’s how I came about the rainbow tree. 

As time goes on, painting helps me feel more confident and more expressive. I use painting to express my feelings and emotions. Painting is a kind of therapy, like meditation. It’s a mindful exercise which helps me focus and concentrate and it’s an invitation to shut everything else off. I host painting groups for guests here at Baron’s Court Project and they feel exactly the same. It also doesn’t matter what the painting looks like, what’s important is that you let the enjoyment happen through the painting.

Like I said before, painting is like therapy, a mindful excercise. Things fade away when you paint with colours. Colours are powerful and I now make all my paintings bright. It has helped me learn to be myself and more confident. Painting feels like you can communicate with anyone and it doesn’t matter what language you speak. 

It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you enjoy doing it. If you’re happy, then go ahead and do it - life’s too short! 

Be strong and don’t give up - there is always hope. I found hope from trees - I used to stay in the park and the bare branches in the Winter made me feel so low. However, when I started to see the trees and leaves blooming, it helped me find hope. It might take time but never give up. 

Want to join us and Guan at our Sip & Paint with a Purpose event? Sign up here!