Brightly decorated pebbles have been appearing at random locations all over Bradley Stoke in recent weeks, a sure sign that a worldwide phenomenon known as the Kindness Rocks Project has reached our area.

The craze, which is particularly popular amongst families with young children, involves using paint, glitter and other materials to decorate rocks or pebbles with colourful images and then leaving them lying around in public places, sometimes partially hidden, for others to discover and enjoy.

The ‘rocks’ are usually labelled with a hashtag, which identifies the creator, and people are encouraged to post photos of their ‘finds’ on local Facebook groups (ours is called ‘The Stokes Rocks’), quoting the hashtag. Once recorded, the ‘rock’ is often moved to a new location, exposing it to a wider audience.

Around the Stokes, pebbles can often be spotted on top of street name signs, dotted around play parks and on bridges and posts in the Three Brooks nature reserve. Popular spots are around the local primary schools and on the pathways leading to the Willow Brook Centre.

While it is possible to use pebbles found in the garden, many people have been buying bags of stones from garden centres, as these have a regular size and consistent colour. Acrylic paint and Sharpie pens are often used for the decoration, which is then weatherproofed using clear nail varnish, spray lacquer or yacht varnish.

One enthusiastic member of The Stokes Rocks, Adrienne Wheeler, estimates that her family has decorated and placed more than 60 pebbles over the past few weeks. Adrienne says rock painting is a craft activity that children of different ages can easily get into. Apart from the creative aspects, they also enjoy ‘treasure hunting’ – discovering pebbles hidden by others.

Find out more about The Stokes Rocks group on Facebook »

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Ahead of the highly anticipated new museum opening in late summer, Aerospace Bristol has selected a trio of high-flying artists as the winners of a competition inspired by Filton’s aviation heritage.

Aerospace Bristol was asked to judge the competition by Stokes Art Group, a local community group that covers the six Stokes of South Gloucestershire and surrounding areas. As well as taking pride in their art, the group are extremely proud of the link that many of their members share with the local aerospace industry and were keen to celebrate Concorde’s arrival into her new home at Aerospace Bristol with a competition themed around Filton’s aviation heritage.

Reflecting the story that will be told in the Aerospace Bristol exhibition later this summer, the group produced a collection of 18 artworks depicting aircraft spanning more than a century of fascinating aviation history; from Boxkite biplanes to Concorde and on to the modern day.

After careful deliberation, the three winners chosen by Aerospace Bristol were:

• Winner: Concorde 2017 Home from Home, by Susan Hartry (watercolour)
• Runner-up: We Love Concorde, by Sue Kelly (watercolour)
• Third place: Concorde Assembly Line, by Sara Smith (mixed media)

Working with local people and groups like Stokes Art Group, Aerospace Bristol aims to conserve Bristol’s aerospace heritage and celebrate the world class achievements of our aerospace industry. To play your part in keeping Concorde’s memory alive, visit aerospacebristol.org/donate and give a gift that will help to inspire the next generation of engineers.

Photo: Susan Hartry (right) holds her winning watercolour, which depicts Concorde arriving in her new home at Aerospace Bristol. Stokes Art Group Member Sue Jones (left) shows off the 2nd and 3rd placed artworks.

More: View the prize-winning entries »

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Two enormous street art murals recently installed at the new skate park in the grounds of Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre have been attracting the attention of passers-by and visitors to the park.

The installation marks the completion of a community art project which involved over 30 children and young people and was part-funded by a community grant award from South Gloucestershire Council.

The project started during the October half-term with local children and young people working with two experienced mural and graffiti artists (Tom Sledmore and Jack Tierney from The Paintsmiths in Bristol), alongside Graham Baker, Bradley Stoke Town Council’s youth development worker.

An initial half-day workshop based at the skate park comprised an introduction to mural and graffiti art, including an extremely popular ‘have a go’ session. Over twenty young people participated and many proudly took home their own artworks on small 4’ x 2’ boards.

On Saturday 28th January, there was a further street art project session, this time focusing on the designs for the two large pieces. The two artists worked with the young people and some exciting designs started to take shape. The designs were then shared and discussed more widely in youth work sessions and further suggestions made.

A final design session took place at the skate park on a late afternoon in mid-March and was immediately followed by what Graham describes as “a whole and extremely long weekend of painting”. More than ten young people worked with Graham and the two experienced artists, in accordance with the previously agreed designs, to produce two large and impressive pieces of art, both 10 metres wide by 2.5 metres high.

More: Participation through extensive use of stencilling techniques »

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Susan Hartry, of the Stokes Art Group (SAG), is really pleased that a feature in a recent edition of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine, offering free taster sessions during November, directly lead to several local artists wanting to join the group ready for the start of their 2014 season. Susan said:

“I am always keen to seek out potential members for the SAG. New talent injects new interest which keeps the impetus and enthusiasm at a high – and, not least, it is essential to keep membership numbers ticking over in order to move the group forward. So it was great to meet new artists and see them settle in quickly and comfortably at the Taster Sessions, working away at their own art projects and chatting with regular SAG Members about their art.”

“We are now looking forward to painting with them and adding their masterpieces to our growing collection of fantastic artworks. It’s amazing just how much artistic talent we have on our own patch.”

What we do in our leisure time is always decided by our circumstances at that time, so a group or club’s membership is naturally quite fluid, and as Susan explains:

“Although the SAG is very lucky to have a core of loyal members, it is important to be forward thinking in order to maintain a workable number of members. So if there are any more artists in the Stokes or surrounding areas who might like to try out the Stokes Art Group, please send me an email.”

“SAG hold four seasonal series of workshop sessions each year, so I can advise the best time to join in order to maximise the cost. Our next series consists of seven sessions and starts on Tuesday evening 7th January, or Thursday morning 9th January 2014. We meet at Christ The King Church in Bradley Stoke.”

More: Autumn competition judged by local artist David Mealing »

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