On Saturday 12 September, the Sovereign Art Foundation held its first community workshop in the Algarve, together with Rêverie.
Families joined us at The Mill, a beautiful rural setting near Loulé, for an afternoon of exploring nature, collecting tiny treasures and making art together.
The workshop began with a simple question: what magical creatures might live in this garden, and where might they hide?
We began by inviting the children to look carefully at the garden and imagine the creatures that might live there. Would they come out during the day or at night? Would they be shy, brave, helpful or mischievous? What colours and textures might help them camouflage themselves?
Each child decorated an explorer’s basket before heading into the garden to search for interesting natural materials. Rather than collecting as much as possible, we encouraged everyone to notice the small details: something soft, something rough, an unusual shape, or a tiny treasure that another person might overlook.
We only gathered things that had already fallen to the ground, leaving living plants, flowers and creatures where they belonged.
Leaves, twigs, pieces of bark and seed pods soon began to suggest wings, tails, hats, ears and other possibilities.
Back at the table, the children combined their discoveries with air-drying clay to create their own magical garden creatures.
They experimented with rolling, pinching, joining and pressing textures into the clay, allowing each character to develop in its own way. Leaves became wings, twigs became legs or antlers, pieces of bark became armour, and seed pods became eyes.
As they worked, the children imagined names, homes and magical abilities for their creations. Some creatures protected the garden, while others had special powers or secret lives that began when humans were not looking.
Every creature was completely different, shaped by what each child noticed and imagined.
At the end of the workshop, everyone brought their creations together to form a temporary Secret Garden of The Mill.
The children introduced their characters and shared their names and what their magical powers might be.
We were so impressed by the imagination and individuality of every creation. We hope everyone enjoyed the afternoon and left with a few more superpowers than when they arrived.
Thank you to Leonor Isidoro and Rêverie for welcoming us to such a special location, and to Luísa for all her help throughout the afternoon.
Most of all, thank you to everyone who joined us and made our first Algarve community workshop such an enjoyable one.
We hope to return to the Algarve for more workshops soon. Follow the Sovereign Art Foundation Portugal on Instagram or visit our events page to hear about upcoming creative activities for children and families.
Our free community workshops form part of the Sovereign Art Foundation’s wider work in Portugal. Through our Expressive Arts Programme, certified art therapists support children to explore their emotions, build confidence and express themselves through art in a safe and supportive environment.
