4 minute read
Sculpting a post-Covid life
from EBM Magazine #14
Words by Rachel Zammit Cutajar | Photography by Julia Boikova
Life throws us many challenges, whether in the form of work anxieties, family struggles or simply juggling everyday life. Taking up a hobby – particularly one that allows artistic expression – has been proved to release tension. Amelia Saint George has been giving sculpting lessons from her Valletta studio for some 20 years. She explains why this is the perfect antidote for anxieties of any kind.
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Anxiety from the idea of getting back into socialising again after months of social distancing is on the rise. Getting back onto the social scene can be facilitated by taking up a new hobby, and working with clay is possibly one of the more rewarding hobbies that can get you out the door and talking to people again. It is a form of selfexpression, allowing people to externalise and process internal events, while communicating an inner state and forming relationships with others.
A number of studies have shown that engaging in artistic production helps depression and anxiety, reducing cortisol – the stress hormone – levels by as much as 75%. Doctors, lawyers, bankers and architects are among Amelia Saint George’s clientele. “They turn up at the door frazzled from a hard day’s work, and within minutes of getting their hands dirty, you can see them instantly unwind.” Working with clay takes you out of your routine, gives you something to master, something to contemplate. It becomes a meditation of sorts. Amelia’s students range from experienced to complete beginners, all of whom are mixed into classes of six. There are no levels to the classes, as each person is working on their own project. “I’m a good teacher because I’m a terrible student. If you’re a true artist, you don’t need much help, just a few pointers here and there. What is truly rewarding is to see complete beginners sit at the table and watch how much they can achieve in such a short space of time. These people are not coming from a place of knowledge, so I need to be able to explain things simply without intimidating them, allowing them to reach their own potential without fear.
“Clay is a wonderfully forgiving medium. No matter where you are, you can always start again, learning from the mistakes you’ve made along the way. Do I have the odd failure? Yes, of course. But almost everyone comes in expecting to be that one failure and almost always leave being pleasantly surprised by what they have been able to achieve.”
Through the Covid lockdowns, Amelia scaled back a little, teaching students on a one-to-one basis, though she has started to accept classes again. “It’s nice to see people back in the classroom environment again. Although, a one-on-one-class is a lot more intimate, and students feel less intimidated to ask questions when they are in a group setting. They feed off each other, get inspired off of each other’s work and build relationships.”
Amelia goes on to explain that working with other people on an artistic project is an ideal team builder. “Clay is a wonderful leveller,” she explains. “You push and pull to see what you can achieve. The same could be said of business. You also learn a lot about your colleagues, how they react, what frustrates them, whether they are able to laugh at themselves. It is exactly what team building is all about.”
Amelia allows students to come to a 2.5 hour drop-in class, although she encourages them to block book at least four. She provides all the materials necessary and takes care of firing students’ work, though there is an extra charge for larger pieces that need to be fired separately.
Amelia wasn’t always a sculptor. With a background in nursing and then writing books, she was once asked to model for a class of talented students at the Chelsea School of Art. Having spent a number of lessons sitting for the students, she couldn’t help but follow what the instructor was saying. One afternoon, she was asked to sit for a class but didn’t have anyone to watch her young children, to which she was told to bring them along. They were promptly given a lump of clay, as was Amelia, and the rest is history.
20 years on, as you walk into her Valletta studio in Ordinance Square, you are greeted by a large Labrador, cast in bronze – just one of Amelia’s animal sculptures. Inspired by both wildlife and pets alike, the studio is adorned by small animals in clay, bronze and even silver. A pair of cuddling pigs in bronze and two giant silver snails are but small examples of the creatures that come to life under her artistic hand. Between the puppies and wild bears, she also creates portraits, sculpting maquettes of people ranging in age from 10 days to ninetyyears-old; of CEOs, heads of families and even young children.
Her studio is a source of inspiration. The Maltese features of the Valletta house with great big flights of stairs, colourful Maltese tiles and light streaming in through the open windows with the bustling market below, make you feel like an artist even before you’ve sat down, while dreams of living the artist-life fill your head. If you’re looking for a new hobby to break away from everyday life, why not try your hand at sculpting?
ameliasaintgeorge.com