Paint and Lunch: How our artist colleagues and clients are bringing colour and creativity to our new Bristol offices 

A collaborative Paint and Lunch event aimed to create a “homely feel” for the new Second Step Pennywell Road offices in St Jude’s in Bristol. 

Led by Phoebe, a Peer Recovery Navigator in the Bristol Community Rehabilitation Service, along with artist and volunteer John and Coproduction Lead Laura, staff and clients teamed up earlier in September to create colourful artworks for the office. 

Inspired by Second Step’s values – believing in hope and courage, succeeding together, building trust, celebrating diversity and learning and growing – the theme of the event was “our values, your creativity”. 

The creative session saw a number of staff and clients experimenting with paints and techniques to create five canvases to help brighten up the space. 

Our own space

The session gave participants the opportunity to experiment with art techniques and materials, as well as giving staff and clients the opportunity to make the space their own. 

Phoebe said: “Making the office feel homely was my reasoning for organising the event – to create a lovely, homely space for people. 

“When people are coming in for meetings, we want there to be a sense it’s a safe and welcoming space. 

“A blank canvas can be really scary – people say they don’t know where to start, so we painted all canvases the Second Step teal brand colour and used modelling paste to make icons of our values. 

“People could throw paint on to the canvas and do whatever came to mind. We had explanations of the values next to the canvases as a starting point. I wanted it to be really creative, free and expressive. 

“It was a patchwork of ideas and imagery, and I felt it was really successful.” 

Chat and chill

As well as the opportunity to paint, the event gave staff and clients the chance to enjoy a chat and chill out in the sun. 

To help create a relaxed atmosphere, plants, snacks and comfy chairs were bought outside, creating a social vibe. 

By facilitating artmaking and providing materials, people were able to experiment with tools and techniques they hadn’t tried before – like using pallet knives to create textured effects on the canvas. 

The finished artworks featured rainbows, hands, animals, stars, expressive brush strokes and plenty of bright colours.  

Over the coming weeks, they’ll be displayed in the offices’ downstairs hallway between meeting rooms, creating a visible welcoming atmosphere when clients come into the offices.  

Facilitation expression

“Some people did a little bit of painting and then were there for the social aspect and we wanted people to feel comfortable doing that,” said Phoebe. 

“Lots of people were very appreciative for the space to do something like this – as much as I like to think art is accessible to everyone obviously there is a cost. 

“We wanted it to be about the clients and about them contributing to the space – that’s what’s so important. Downstairs is where we meet clients, so we wanted the canvasses to be visible and on show. 

“As a peer worker, I know what it’s like to be in a clinical setting and have things remind you of that place like stark white walls.  

“The paintings are imperfect like we all are – free, expressive, and let people make their mark on their space.” 

Find out more about our Community Rehabilitation Service here.