Sunday 29 March 2009

Chat with Lauren.

We had a meeting last week with Jill who is the external assessor for our course she suggested that i have a chat with Lauren Currie, so i explained what i was thinking about my project, i have wanted something left, something left for the future, a physical thing that is left behind, i think i keep everyhand written thing, a future wish if you like. How would this affect the recipient and the consequences of the letter, maybe if someone has commited a crime, a hidden pocket so that perhaps i can stitch something into. Lauren suggested Psychology of wishing and that i check out her www.douceurs;wordpress.com. Why people wish? When people wish when they see a shooting star, wishing you a happy birthday, when you sneeze one's a wish, two's a kiss, wishing a merry christmas, all the best, dandelion wishes, wishing well, wishfull thinking , wishing your life away.
Think of a name I have been thinking of words Trust, Time,Visual Literacy,Simplicity,Tactile, Memory,Lasting,Longevity,Community,Togetherness,Faith,Culture,Personality,Representative,Comfort,
Hermanuetic Phenomology, so that they can be used to think of a business, buy a wish, give a wish, make a special wish, using my skills as a textile designer, printer illustator to keep their dreams alive.

More Little houses


During my chat with Beth, we both sang from the same book which was lovely and she thought that my ideas were good and that they would work well at Roxburghe House if I was making the blanket then they the patients would be involved with the whole making process, as all I need is fabric, different haptic fabrics , fabrics that have a comforting feeling to them, things that are simplr for them to do and that they are able to do and I can help them, I will take my laptop in so that they can have anything they want scanned into Photoshop and they can help and see what is going on, some of them can be used to make the blanket perhaps some used to make a book or even wallpaper. So that the blanket and book stay long after I have gone, it has meaning , memory, comfort and longevity.

Little House

Lots of little houses , I have put some of my drawings inside them just to get an idea, how would they be used it is just imagining who would need care, these little models can be used for Mindful Design Practice exciting and not balloons.......Beth will be a great help and perhaps I can ask her things and the course she is doing will help me see the use in my project, it will be a great thing I hope it will work as i still want to give them little gifts.

Little house.


I made this wee hoose from paper, it takes an hour from cutting it out to glueing it, although I did not make the door big enough and perhaps may not be too user friendly, so perhaps a blanket would be better as it would be functional and keep them warm.

Grace sam and Jo

During my researh I have read a lot on Palliative Care and I realise that the research that has been done before has great benefit to these people in these homes, they use it to aid them , it helps them to cope better, I know that I am no Therapist or Occupational Therapist but I am willing to learn, recently I have met with Beth Robertson who worked at Roxburghe House and knows what these patients can and cannot do, so I explained to Beth what I would lke to do she seems to like the project What isthe role of visual narrative within the Community Hospital setting ? We had a kind of brain shower I think it is called now and i have been making paper houses as a kind of "home" setting like a little memory house where they can keep their memories in, Beth thought that perhaps the houses were too fragile and that if they fell to pieces it would have implications for the patients as they would feel more fragile than they do already, they have gave up their homes to be in their new homes, so things around them that make them feel secure will help.

Emily, Brandi and Annabella.

I have been kind of struggling with things recently and not quite seeing my project in the whole , I cannot see an end in sight the more I research the less clear things become, I am frightened to email Mike Press for a tutorial in case what I have handed in is rubbish,I know that I just cannot go on thinking like this does anyone feel the same? This drawing memory is from the Connected Communities group project.I know that ultimately my drawings help with the memory gathering and that they will be a great tool for me to use and that it will work to my advantage. As I will make it happen.

Random Starbucks


Quick sketch in Starbucks,committing those people to my memory sketchbooks, so it helps me to recall the ambiance of the day and the people there. I think it works well but I know that the peolpe in Roxburghe House may feel a little intimidated by it as I do committing pen to paper on that first page is always a scary prospect as it is always the first thing to be seen but it is always a good thing as you have conquered a fear and sometimes it is just like the introduction of a book, it just leads you in and gives you a flavour of what is to come, sometimes I get embarrased by my drawing but I do enjoy them, as I enjoy engaging and listening to people, I know that this project is not all about me it is about other people and what they would like to do and how I can help and will help them achive this goal.

some Random People

A lunch time out in Dundee, I went into the Overgate and with my sketchbook and pen and did some sketching ,it was great just sitting watching , it is a great way of capturing images of these people quickly so i was imagining whether one day these people or even me would be in a care home one day if that care home should be palliative or not, just sitting drinking a giant latte I was wondering what they were talking about, creating persona's for these wee people, I try and not bee too intrusive when I draw them and try and not stare too much.
Also keeps the drawings fresh as not drawing the same people.

Tuesday 24 March 2009

Dr Kathleen Mcmillan


Having to write a 2,500 word either an academic writing or a journalistic article on my project, so have found a lot of things on Palliative Care, basically it is any form of medicinal care that focuses on the reduction of the severity of disease symptoms.So it was interesting finding out different ways in which Art Therapy can be used, It helps patients to adjust to their diagnoses through research already done it seems to work better within groups safety in numbers, they get support, solace and strength from others, even though the case studies are sad they are rewarding for everyone involved, although sometimes I wonder who supports the carers. Jenny Soep emailed me and said she did some work with Norman Alm, and said she liked my blog and my drawings as they are a good way of remembering and recording as you can get alzheimers in your 20's how scary.

Dr Kathleen Mcmillan


What am I learning to be a facillitator, Jayne Wallace whom we had a lecture with a wee while ago, I gifted her some of my drawings via the interweb so she wished me luck for my project, I loved Jayne's work as it is really lovely, mainly because it is crafty and very much craft based the things she makes for her clients are very personal to her, she is making them for other people to stimulate memory, this is what i want to do , as sharing memory is a great platform for conversation and eventually trust, hopefully I will be able to engage with people the same way as Jayne does. So perhaps it is good to see my work move in different directions.

Dr kathleen Mcmillan

!6th Feb had a talk with Dr Kathleen Mcmillan on emailing etc and the write choice of language to use when emailing so that was useful, so again it was great Kathleen gave her time to us, and so of course took the opportunity to draw her, and Qin also was there . Drawing for me is a great way to record my memories so that feeds into my project of giving..