An experiential workshop in which people will engage in creative play using familiar art materials. There will be plenty of scope to discuss what happens in creative play, its key elements, how to facilitate it and how to work with its manifestations. Maximum participants ten. Please book: hello@theexchangecic.co.uk 1pm till 4pm with a half hour break in the middle. Only requirement is a willingness to engage with the proposal outlined above. An exbhibition of Neil's work will open on the day featuring a selection of paintings, collages and other two dimensional works Neil has produced over the last few years. These were typically created using the ideas explored in the workshop. Neil's Bio: Ultimately my work is about all the different strands of life I have been involved in and continue to be fascinated by. While at art college in the late 1970s and early 1980s, alongside the provided art and cultural studies, I discovered history, politics and philosophy. Culturally this was an exciting time, not least because of the 'punk explosion' that was challenging many accepted norms and not just in the current music scene of the time. Later in the mid to late 1980s I became more involved in matters psychological and eventually trained in Art Therapy. Since then I have practiced as an Art Therapist working in the field of adult mental health. These varied and sometimes contrasting spheres have continued to fascinate me. Naturally my art work reflects these different areas of interest, but more than this over the years it has become a struggle to try and integrate and distil these competing elements. In the early 1990s I took a masters degree in Art and Psychotherapy at Sheffield University, which looking back was part of this process of searching. What I came to realize was that academic study and theoretical explanation was not in itself going to provide the synthesis I was looking for. Alongside all this I was painting and doing art work, and almost unnoticed for a while something was happening. At first in my drawings and doodles, and then increasingly in my painting a particular form was beginning to appear. As time went by it became more distinct with a kind of personality of its own. In my mind it seemed to have its own name - Tarkus. Was this the integrating power I had been searching for? Just what is Tarkus?* Well that, as they say, is a whole other story. Education and Training: Foundation Studies in Art and Design, Preston Polytechnic, Lancaster, UK. Fine Art B.A. Hons, Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham, UK. Art Therapy Post Grad Diploma, South Harts College of Art and Design, St Albans, UK. Art and Psychotherapy Master Degree, University of Sheffield, UK. Director/Member Luneside Artist Studios, Lancaster, UK *