Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Although it meant a long haul in the van (and a 4.15am start!), Jon spent a wonderful day working with a group of visually impaired adults in the inspirational setting of Cambridge University Botanic Garden.

The workshop was a partnership between: Blind Art - a charity set up to encourage and promote participation of the visually impaired in the realm of visual art, the Botanic Garden - who are keen to develope their community engagement in the arts and CamSight - a Cambridge charity supporting people with sight dificulties.

Following a stroll through the glass houses where everybody enjoyed touching and stroking the plants and trees, experiencing the diverse textures and structures of these beautiful natural objects, the group adjourned to a purpose built classroom.

The previous day the Education Officer at the Garden harvested an amazing array of leaves from the tropical glass houses for the participants to use in their clay work. These were passed around the group and after much animated comment and conversation the group pressed and rolled sections of the leaves into clay slabs - which were later assembled into 3d sculpture or left as decorative wall tiles.

The day flew by and was declared a phenominal success by everybody.