A Falmouth artist is hoping to share her love of sunflowers by launching a project to connect the whole community.

The Sunflower Project is the brainchild of community artist and grower Naomi Hannam.

She is the founder of Creative Roots, which runs bespoke craft workshops in ink making, weaving, natural dying, foraging and drawing in nature.

However, when all her workshops and teaching sessions were cancelled during the first lockdown, Naomi found work on an organic farm and began dreaming of the day when she could gather some of the sunflowers grown there and share them.

Last summer she sold and gave away hundreds of bunches of flowers, enjoying seeing the joy they brought to the people she met.

Not content to leave it there though, she has now developed a project with the ambition to connect communities to one another and spread the joy of growing sunflowers.

Naomi said: “Since I was a child I have found profound magic in the act of planting seeds and of watching them grow. Now we are doing it together.

"These seeds are in our hands. In fact they will fall into hundreds of hands. The hands of young and old planting a forest of sunflowers.

"In the darkness of winter this was my wish - to plant and share seeds of hope and to share the beauty and magic of growing.”

Falmouth Packet:

Having secured the support of a generous anonymous benefactor, along with FEAST Cornwall, the Cornwall Community Foundation and Vital Seeds, Naomi set the project in motion.

She has been working with artist book-maker Phyllida Bluemel to develop a guide to growing and creative activities.

Copies of this along with packs of seeds, paints and materials have just been sent to the seven community groups she’ll be supporting in the coming months.

They include the Potager Peas dementia friendly group at the Potager Cafe near Constantine and the new Loveland project in Penryn.

Through the Sensory Trust more than 140 windowsill sunflower packs have also gone out to people self-isolating with dementia.

The hope is that many more groups, families and individuals will also want to get involved in filling Cornwall with sunflowers by summer.

The Origami Sunflower Home Packs unfold to reveal the story of the project , together with 80 to 100 sunflower seeds.

They are also now being sold by The Falmouth Food co-op and Tregew Food Barn in Flushing, as well as being sent out by post, while donations toward the project are being collected using buymeacoffee.com

All funds raised will go towards community packs and activities this year and next, and any community groups wanting to get involved are encouraged to get in touch directly with Naomi.

There are also plans for a public Big Paint day once the flowers are in bloom.

With the potential for seed-saving and lots of ideas for how to pass on seeds and flowers, tips and different outcomes achieved, Naomi hopes this project will grow year on year.