London Grilling: Lorena & Gabriela from Elephant & Castle's Creative Club

London Grilling

17 Jan

Hi Lorena, Hi Gabriela, it’s great to meet you! Would you like to tell our readers a little about yourselves?

We are two friends who started working together a few years ago: we offer dynamic, creative workshops that are designed to engage local communities, promote active participation and enable people to share their achievement and joy in creativity. Lorena is a creative coach and branding expert; Gabriela is a mixed-media artist and teacher.

Do you remember one of the first pieces of art that inspired you growing up?

Lorena: as a child, I was inspired by all kinds of buildings and loved crafting miniature dollhouses from everyday items like tin cans and cardboard. I'm sure that planted the seeds for my future in creative upcycling!

Gabriela: for me it was discovering Matisse's cut-outs in a book that we had at home. Many years later, when I first saw some of them in person at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the memories of the collages I used to make as a child came flooding back.

You are both currently based in Elephant and Castle, tell us what you’re doing there.

We run a weekly upcycling class where we teach people to transform ordinary objects through decoupage. The class is open to all adults and free to attend. It takes place every Wednesday afternoon between 2 and 4 pm.

That sounds great, how long have you been doing this and have you had any feedback on your classes?

We started in 2019 at the Community Hub that was located within the old Elephant and Castle shopping centre, and a good number of people have been with us since then which makes us think they must enjoy our classes! During the pandemic we held regular online sessions where we taught drawing, origami and block-printing among many other creative techniques. These classes were also very popular at a time when so many of us were feeling isolated, and we were delighted to welcome some of the people we had 'met' online to our in-person classes once the lockdowns ended.

What is your favourite part about working with decoupage?

What we love about decoupage is that it can be used to upcycle and transform pretty much anything: all you need is paper, glue and a lot of patience. We know that anyone can learn it and achieve stunning results in a relatively short time, which is something that continues to amaze many of the people who take part in our workshops. Additionally, by giving a new lease of life to things that would have been discarded and turning them into something new and useful, we help to reduce waste and promote sustainability.

What is your favourite thing about teaching your classes?

We just love the feeling of community that the classes create: new friendships are forged and there is always much chatting and laughter fueled by tea and biscuits. It's also rewarding to see the brilliant results of our participants' creativity - we believe that everyone is creative, and it's just a matter of finding an outlet to help us channel that.

Sounds great! How do we sign up?

No need to sign up or register beforehand! Just join us any Wednesday at 2 pm at St Jude's Community Centre, next to St. Jude's New Testament Church, St George's Rd, London SE1 6EZ

Where are your favourite spots in Elephant and Castle to get inspired?

Elephant Park for walks and chilling out, especially in the Summer. We are always happy to see the metal elephants on Castle Square! The living wall on the side of the Bakerloo Line tube entrance is a feast for the eyes amidst all the busyness and the traffic.