Wednesday 19 December 2012

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

Wednesday 12 December 2012

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

Monday 3 December 2012

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