The Time Lab: Driftmap

Join artist-designer and songwriter Stacey Joy Rossouw for a series of creative workshops inspired by The Time Lab: A Living Prelude, our new exhibition at Wordsworth Grasmere.

Learn new artistic skills and try something different – from found poetry and abstract mapping to creative writing and zine making. These hands-on workshops are inspired by the themes of time and memory found in Wordsworth’s epic poem The Prelude. Using Wordsworth’s writing as a starting point, by the end of each session you will have created your own meaningful and tangible piece of art.

Come along to one workshop or all four: each workshop is a rewarding standalone session whilst also offering a layered and cumulative experience for those who attend more than one. Workshops take place in the Learning Space and adjoining Sensory Garden, and tea and coffee are included.

Saturday 30 August, 2-4.30pm: Driftmap – Mapping the poem’s feeling 

How does a poem feel? What does memory look like? In this hands-on workshop, you’ll create a Driftmap: a beautiful, abstract map of a poem’s emotional landscape. Using charcoal, pencil, and ink, we’ll explore how to represent the journey of a poem—its rhythms, moods, and textures—without drawing anything literally. The session will mix focused creative time indoors with playful prompts outside, using the shapes and feelings of nature to inspire your marks. If you joined our Driftwork session, please bring the poem that you created. New participants are warmly welcomed and will be provided with a selection of inspiring short poems to use as their map’s starting point – or you can bring some of your own work with you!  

Access

• One free ticket per session is available for those experiencing financial hardship that would otherwise not be able to attend. This is on a first come first served basis with no questions asked about your situation.
• Access information for Wordsworth Grasmere can be found here.

Other workshops in this series

Saturday 16 August, 2-4.30pm: Driftwork

Saturday 20 September, 2-4.30pm: Timeworld

Saturday 11 October, 2-4.30pm: Anarchive