Re-Cover Project - Week 8

This was our very last session! It was an end for both Bryony and me, but for those who came to join us for the first time, although they were disappointed that the project was not continuing, it was an experience they said they thoroughly enjoyed, and wished that we can return.

The session began with some drumming. One of the men was demonstrating how to play the tabla, while we were setting up the tables to begin our session. This attracted some onlookers and drew them into the activity room.

One man who had an interest in cats returned to create and made several studies after looking at images of cats from magazines.

Even some staff members joined in and added a festive flavour to the artwork.

The drummer wanted to cast his hand straight away, as he used his hands to create music. So, we poured the alginate into a large container, for his hand was pretty big! He decided on the Vulcan hand sign: "Live long and prosper!"  

But what came out was two broken fingers. However, he did not feel disappointed as he duly noted its significance in a book he had read, that meant a lot to him. He immediately wanted to work on it: embellishing it with blue paint.

Our session came to an end before he could finish it. He was pleased with what he had made and already had some ideas on how he can proceed to the next stage. He thanked us for being there that day and said, "It's made my day more bearable."

It's been an incredible journey these last eight weeks, making and sharing our creative skills with these men, and I think - I hope - we have made a significant impact on them, if not for the duration of their stay, then for the two hours at least, each Friday.

Van and Bryony

Re-Cover Project - Week 7

There was small group who joined us today, due to some upsetting news on the ward which meant some of the men found it hard to focus.

One man was keen to develop his ideas from the previous week. Throughout the weeks, he talked a lot about his cats and all the cats he had in his family, so we have begun to create prints of every cat he can remember. Last week we used acetate to ink and drew into. But he preferred the actual inked plate, so we decided to cut around the shape inside.

This week he drew into polystyrene then printed from it. The action of drawing can be quite a challenge for him, but he persevered and took great care to draw something very precise from memory.  He created a wonderful print, which represents a real milestone for how far his ideas have come during the sessions.

“Thank you for believing in my ideas and all your positive praise and comments”

“I really enjoy these sessions, I look forward to Friday afternoons.”

For another man,  it was his first day on the ward and he said the session calmed him when he was feeling really unsettled. It was also his first time of working with any print materials, so he approached the process with trepidation. However after a few marks and a bit of encouragement - we used magazines and newspapers to find images of his hobby – motor bikes, these images inspired an idea for a pattern. 

He was soon experimenting using different sides and angles of the tools to create different kinds of marks directly into the ink. 

This free drawing approach is something we’ve not seen yet on the ward. “You have a really unique approach” We told him which encouraged him to layer paper shapes, which created some fantastic negative shapes.

He seemed surprised by his work and ended by saying “Making this art is better than drugs!”

It's our final week on the ward next week and discussions are underway between Van, myself and ward staff about different ways of displaying all the work that has been created during the project. 

Bryony and Van

Re-Cover Project - Week 6

With two activities running in tandem, there were plenty of creativity, even though there were less participants this week.

           

 

One man was keen enough to be on hand to help us set up the tables. Having been on the periphery during the last few weeks, watching others, he sat down to do a series of prints, experimenting with different ink colours and coloured paper. 

"It's like being back at school again," one man commented, who also got creative with the rollers, applying ink to it so that when rolled, stripes were printed.  

           

 After having a go at making small casts from clay, one man decided to make a cast of his hand using the alginate. The result resembles a trophy. "I can knock myself out, now!" He joked holding the plaster fist to his face.

Another printing technique was introduced to the men. Instead of scoring into the polystyrene, ink was first applied onto a sheet of acetate, then using a pencil, the ink is scraped away and paper was placed over to get a print.

Having a smaller group this week meant there was more one-to-one support from the artists. This has helped one particular man who thanked us for just being there and "it was nice to talk to someone."

Bryony and Van

OPEN DOOR with STUDIO 3 - Moving Images

As with last week, we began with a cuppa in the basement lounge and some lovely banana cake.
We briefly recapped on what had taken place last session and reviewed the draft printout of the blog for participant’s input.

After moving in to the studio, we began the story writing session with a game of consequences.

This is played with each member of the group starting with a blank piece of paper (A4 size is good). One person asks a series of questions. Each player writes the answer to the first question on their piece of paper, folds over the paper to hide the answer, and passes the paper to another person. The answer to the second question is written below, and the paper folded to cover it, and passed on, as before. This continues until all the questions are asked.

The questions in our game were:

Q.1) Write down the name of a character,

Q.2) Who did they meet?

Q.3) What did the first character say?

Q.4) What did the second character reply?

Q.5) What happened then?

As you can imagine, the results were often hilarious, and most even worked as a mini story!

Captain Squawk;

 Met Flump.
“Let’s go to a disco and rap”;
“No. I had treacle pudding for my breakfast!”;
They both ate all the chocolates but decided that wasn’t enough so they went off for a curry.

John;

Met Tracey;
“What are you having for lunch?”
“Brass monkeys weather, don’t you think”
So they found a really hot nightclub, and danced the night away.

This is a great exercise when thinking about writing for animation – because you really can make anything happen!

After discussing the 3-act-structure (used for creating a story) the group moved on to each writing a very brief story based on 2 characters meeting and what happened, what was said, how this was resolved or brought to an end.

These stories were developed into visual images, either as single image concept designs, as sequential storyboards or in 3D, as plasticine models.

At the end of the session the group discussed an overall theme, and chose ‘winter’.

It was agreed that there is a variety of possible ways to interpret this.

‘It’s challenging doing something in a different way to what I’m used to’

‘The ideas and direction have really progressed this week’.

Re-Cover Project - Week 5

We are more than half way through the Re-cover Project and today we got a bit inky on the ward by introducing a new technique to the men: mono printing.

Across the 2 hour session 5 men came to join us, either choosing 3D plaster casting or mono printing.

For the men who have dropped into our session each week, they were keen to try a different process; working in 2D and developing their drawing and printing skills.

We began by drawing directly onto the polystyrene, some men using images from books by different artists as inspiration.  They scratched the shapes and lines onto the polystyrene and inked up their drawings and pressed them onto paper.

“Ta-dah!” we cheered as we revealed the print from underneath.

“Oo, I love it! Let’s try it again in black!” says one man proudly showing his work to a member of staff.

The session was filled with creative experiments; layering, playing with composition and layout, working onto different coloured backgrounds, mixing new ink colours. And then some men repeated the whole process again with a new understanding and eagerness.

There were many surprises during the session as accidental prints appeared. “This one would actually make a great table cloth,” says one man about this print.

Another man is excited to write reflections about his experience in our sessions. So we are looking forward to reading his words, because he is poet.

This week we have also begun chatting to ward staff and patients about how they would like their work displayed in the ward walls after the project. Discussions are still underway, and we shall keep you informed!

 Bryony and Van

OPEN DOOR - Studio 3 - MOVING IMAGES

The project started with us all meeting in the basement lounge, for a cup of tea and so that Jill could introduce the project.

After filling in photo consent and Learning Plan forms, and discussing the group agreement, everyone moved upstairs to the studio.

By this time several participants, especially Callum, were raring to get started.

Rozi introduced animation as a sequence of still images, by starting with looking at flip books. Animation is the illusion of movement and the flipbooks show a large number of drawings viewed in quick succession. It is the speed that you view the still drawings at, that creates the illusion that the drawings move.

We then looked at how to cut down on the amount of drawing, by using cycles of action or loops. The optical toy, the Zoetrope, is a good way of demonstrating this.

Some participants built a zoetrope, and others drew sequences on the zoetrope strips.

It was great how varied these all were, from abstract shapes, to full story sequences
 (- Kenny from South Park getting shot!)

The abstract shapes always animated in a way that changed the image completely, sometimes so they didn’t look anything like the still drawn image.

There was still time to try some pixilation, which is a technique of animation that makes objects appear to be possessed… or ‘led by the pixies’!

Ian set up the camera on a tripod to hold it steady, pointing at a chair against the wall.

Everyone took it in turns to sit in the chair and be photographed.

Some chose to wear a mask which was drawn onto, and more drawings added each time the mask was used. The photos were played back in rapid succession so that the images appeared to animate.

The session ended on a screening of animations created by Ian G and Howard. These are an impressive mixture of poetry, painting, and model animations combining composited backgrounds. An inspiration for the project.

Re-Cover Project - Week 4

Six men joined us for the fourth session, the halfway mark for the project, and joined us for more casting sculptures. Four returned from the previous weeks and said that they were looking forward to the Friday afternoon workshop, as they had already formed some ideas of what they were going to make.

One man wanted to make several pieces for friends to give as gifts.

Another took a painterly route to create his reliefs, as he showed a talent for drawing.

Having cast his hands and feet, one man took the plunge to have his face done, "to have a complete set," as he joked. It was a brave thing to do, as he was covered in alginate and plaster bandages for a good 20 minutes, breathing through straws.

The resultant negative 'hollow' mould gives the optical illusion of a positive, coming out at you.

When the cast is revealed, the man came face to face with himself! A lot of details are captured, even the stubble. "It made my day." He said. He had been deliberating for two weeks, now he was very glad that he's done it.

Van Nong and Bryony Pritchard.

Re-Cover Project - Week 3

Seacroft Hospital - Male psychiatry unit

A group of 9 men with 4 staff joined us in the communal activity room this week, some returning from previous sessions full to the brim with new ideas. Others who were new to the plaster sculpting process eagerly joined us as Van and I laid the table with our objects and materials; clay, plaster of paris, pots, brushes, small objects such as shells, keys and coins.

This week we introduced a few extra elements; coloured food dye, formed plastic packaging and silicone cake moulds. We got very playful (and a bit messy!) with the materials as a calm and focused energy filled the room and the men thought up new ideas and approaches using the plaster and colour dye. There were lots of surprises as we experimented with the different materials, some we thought looked like tasty Indian sweets.

One man made a wonderful cast of a small teddy bear, which we wrapped in cling film to protect it. He was so pleased with his result that he decided to give it away to a friend as a Christmas present.

For those who have developed some skills with us over the last few weeks, we used the minty fresh smelling material alginate to create full casts of hands. This process is always met with “Wows!” as we remove the alginate to reveal the hand beneath. 

We even made some casts of feet using modroc plaster bandage, another sculpting material that is really interesting to use and dries quite quickly.  The men enjoyed having a plaster shoe made to fit, saying

“It’s so calming and therapeutic”

“For a moment I can forget all my worries”.

Bryony Pritchard and Van Nong