Mint

About Mint

‘Mint’ was a project that allowed us to reconnect with life and develop a positive mental health as we emerged from the pandemic.

The pandemic created a tough couple of years for many of us. At a time when many of us were struggling to remember what normal was Peterborough Presents worked with artists Sam Roddan, Sue Shields and Emily Bowers to produce MINT, a series of workshops and projects that took the herb Mint as it’s inspiration.

an illustration of a stem of mint in a clear glass jar containing water. The base of the stem is in the water and has roots growing from it

an illustration of two ice cubes with mint leaves frozen inside

an illustration of a stem of mint. The bottom of the stem is being cut by a pair of red handled scissors

An illustration of a mint leaf in a glass jar

three white cups with colourful painted designs on them contain plants. The plants have green foliage and purple flowers. In front of the are three flat square parcels, each with gold ribbons on them and a brown gift tag

a woman and a man sit at a table, each has a paint brush and is painting shapes onto a blank cup. One the table there are water pots and spare brushes. Both look engrossed in what they are doing

a lady in a white shirt smiles at the camera. She is sat at a table with a pot of coloured water in it and 2 paint brushes. At the front of the image is a pot with painted shapes on it.

two people stand on an allotment holding between them a painting of the allotment by Sue Shields. The person on the left hand side is wearing a pink jacket with white spots on it. The person on the right is wearing a black waterproof jacket, brown trousers and a baseball cap. They are both wearing medical masks

a woman in a black jacket leans on a table, facing the camera. Behind her is a trail of bunting. The table has posters hanging off the front with the words Mint on them. She is on an allotment site

a black and white watercolour illustration of an allotment with tall plants like tomatoes on the left hand side in front of a greenhouse

A painterly sketch of an allotment with trees on the left hand side and green shrubs in gardening beds on the right hand side

A display of square booklets created for Mint

We created 100 Mint ‘care packs’, a package of goodies including a mint plant, activity sheets, note cards, mint chocolate etc. We gave these out to individuals and through groups across the city, encouraging people to connect with nature and try their hand at something creative. Emily and Sam delivered art workshops at care homes and sheltered accomodation (Kingfisher Court and Lapwing Apartments). They gave out the MINT care packs and spent time drawing, painting cups and chatting together.

Artist Emily Bowers chatted to many of the recipients of the packs, illustrating their stories and memories and collating these into a MINT booklet. Everyone received one of the booklets as a keepsake with second copy to share with someone else. You can download one for yourself below.

Westwood Grange Allotments

Artist Sue Shields set up residence at Westwood Grange allotments. She met with allotment olders, chatting to them about what they were growing, drawing their allotments and gathering recipees. The project recognised the inherent benefits to positive mental health (associated with the 5 ways to wellbeing: Connect, Learn, Be active, Give, Take notice) and connections with nature. Sue created a zine of her sketches, of recipes and top tips that was shared with the allotments owners (1 to keep 1 to share) and were distributed to the other 24 allotments sites in the city. You can see some of Sue’s drawings in the gallery above.

Download the MINT booklet by Emily Bowers here

Download the MINT booklet by Sue Shields here