Sparkly Production Line

This year's Christmas cardlets have been influenced by my quest to lovingly rehome and/or productively use up the contents of mum's home.. 

Take one sewing machine, lots of sequins, some glittery thread and an old unused sketchbook. Here's a pile of results.. 

#thankyoumum #sequins #happy #merry #christmas 

Thought Bubble

I went to the 10th Leeds Comic Art Festival last weekend. This was a fairly spontaneous decision, on the background of a teeny bonfire related hangover.. But it did my eyes good, and like last time, I was impressed with the breadth and quality of exhibitors. 
Highlights this year include Maria Stoian,

.. Emmeline Pidgen who illustrated both the cover of the festival guide and this delightful chap..

.. Emily Rose and particularly her four days in Budapest Zine..

.. Tor Freeman..

.. and Anja Urhen.

My total favourite find was WarwickJC, from whom I acquired the following excellent dinosaur themed ice cream van.

Brilliance.  

TAnDem Conference

I went along to the 1st TAnDem Conference at the end of last month because I've been interested in arts and dementia for some time, trying to use my creative skills alongside those of caring to improve wellbeing. 
This was a varied and refreshingly accessible day - Examples of creative activity were shared.. existing doctoral projects were presented.. ideas, challenges and funding streams were considered for future research.. 
The breadth of people and organisations represented was properly inspiring. It really reinforced that the world of arts and dementia are coming together with some momentum.  There are inevitable challenges in co-production as a result of the gap between theory and practice, or the different approaches of researchers and creative practitioners.. but as with all healthcare interventions, robust evidence is needed to justify funding. 

This got me pondering again on the idea of actually doing some research.. And then today I spent a joyful afternoon at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in a creative group for people with dementia where the benefits were thoroughly apparent.

Maybe it's time to write a research proposal..?

Moving life drawing

After a tumultuous few months, I'm back and staying put (for a bit) in Leeds. And so, in keeping with my way to feel grounded in a new (old) place, I'm on the hunt for a life-drawing class. Tried to go to one last night but epic-failed as it required advance booking.. and I didn't. I forgot that we're so bound to rules and systems in the UK! However, in a lovely twist of fate, this resulted in Daniel agreeing to be my half hour muse instead. And here's the result, complete with overlay as the pose slipped, much to Daniel's denial. 

Return of the tile

Its been a while since I blogged about tiles. But the intention for a little project has not vanished. I've recently been working on a design crammed full of personal meaning. 

5 symbols of courage, awareness, safety, peace and love -  a carabiner, a (in) tuning fork, a padlock, an olive branch and a heart - woven into a decorative square pattern. Here's a pic of the working sheet and a close up on the toward-finished design. 
The next bit will be getting it onto ceramic..

#safetypin

I'm not leaving the house much at the moment, but I'd wear one if I were.

Snug as a bug in a rug