Graphic Recording South London

What makes a good life?

Here are a few answers from a recent workshop run by Merton's Centre for Independent Living.

Click on the image for a better view:

Sunbathing Couple, St Ives

New A4 sized 5 colour screen print. 

This couple seem to have their beachlife sorted - she does the full sun worship, while he's happy to accompany her fully clothed.

Graphic Recording in London

I have to take my warm woolly hat off to the variety of work in London. Last week I was in Canary Wharf...this week a Baptist church in Merton! 

So many different lives, experiences, so many voices, people, and stories to absorb.

With thanks this week to Lyla Adwan-Kamara at Merton CIL for hiring us and Beatrice Baumgartner-Cohen for a grand day's co-drawing.

New Screenprint - Holiday in St Ives

Ok, so I've been busy scribing, but it's all been so top secret, hush hush etc, that I can't post anything here...so instead have a look at a new screen print I did, perhaps not seasonal but never mind - in remembrance of summers past!

When we were down there lots of families had pitched their windbreak facing away from the sea and facing inland, great for people watching:

Railway Children, Thales Group, Graphic Recording, London

Yesterday I was working for the charity Railway Children at Thales Group in London:

https://www.railwaychildren.org.uk/

The theme of the conference was 'Return Interviews'. These are conducted when a child returns home after having run away from home. The social return on investment is huge, for every £1 invested in the interviews an average £5.27 is returned or saved.

The english coalition for runaway children discussed how to improve the whole system so that children and the wider community of family and carers are happier, empowered and feel more positive about the future.

New Screenprints

Bike garden

Together

Affinity

Graphic Recording in Portugal, UK and France

Ok, busy couple of weeks, firstly travelling to Portugal for 3 days to work for an international human resources company.

Then returned to work with Merton CIL in London for a disability consultation, before flying off to France for a day's work there.

Heading south..

Beautiful still morning on Portugal's south coast:

Graphic Recording, The Dragon School, Oxford

This was for a march on the 24th September, aimed at educating and motivating children to be more engaged with the subject of climate change. It included a personal appearance by Professor Ian Goldin of The Oxford Martin School.

The children dressed up as animals to highlight the threat of extinction, carried globes and banners, and basically had a great time, while also learning about the current threats to the planet.

I was there to illustrate the complex area of causes, effects and solutions to climate change, and to absorb the atmosphere and capture the speeches at the end, and this was all outside in one of the parks.

By coincidence, on that same day Gaia Vince was awarded the Royal Society's Science Book of the year award for her book 'Adventures in the Anthropocene' :

https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/book-prizes/winton-book-prize/adventures-anthropocene/

Graphic Recording in London

Last week I was working with Helen Cooke from My Plus Consulting recording the thoughts and ideas that came up in the 'Graduate Recruiters Disability Cafe Club'

http://www.myplusconsulting.com/index.php

We were on the 9th floor of this law firm's office next to the mayor's office at More London. 

It rained all day, but the moody lighting has its charms! The Thames looked very dramatic. Better get used to it now that autumn is here...

Visual Minutes - The Movie

When people ask me to explain 'what I do', well, sometimes words get in the way!

So here's a short, hand-drawn film, explaining how live visuals can help your event, and to give the flavour of what I can add:

And here are some of the organisations I've had the pleasure to draw for, both 'live' and away from the crowds as an illustrator:

For more work please look at my newly improved site, courtesy of Gary Purcell:

http://www.sandrahowgate.com/index.php/graphic-facilitation

New Screen Prints

These ladies have a passion for plants:

These are limited edition, two colour, handmade screen prints on 270gsm Mohawk Superfine White Eggshell acid free paper.

Phew, that's a mouthful!

If you'd like to buy a print I've started selling some via Big Cartel:

https://sandrahowgate.bigcartel.com

If you're a printmaker and are looking for a good quality paper, Mohawk Superfine is really excellent, and G.F. Smith supply it in the UK.

Graphic recording in Vienna, Toulouse and London

So I've had the joy of doing a little bit more travelling for work and also just staying local.

Most recently I went to work for Scribing Magic for a company based in Toulouse, what a beautiful 'rose' City! Prior to that the good people at Erste Bank needed graphic recording for a conference in Vienna, and before that I had a really interesting afternoon recording a discussion at the Goldsmiths' Centre in London.

The only hitch is I can't show you any pictures as it's all covered by non-disclosure agreements!

So instead of traveller's photos, here is a recent screen print by me as well as the images drying in the racks. This one is called 'Suzanne' in reference to Leonard Cohen's song.

Hoi Züri! Hello Zurich!

I was back in Zurich for more graphic recording work earlier this week.

The work is confidential, but Zurich is a beautiful place, so this is a pictorial ode to my mother's native city.

Group work Graphic Recording

It's not always solitary! Had the pleasure to work as part of a group, up in Manchester with the lovely people from Involve:

http://involve.co.uk/

We were working for an organisation in the process of a huge culture shift, and here we are doing some prep together.

It's easier to think of change as the new business-as-usual when you work as a graphic recorder, as we're often brought in to facilitate in times of flux. 

Wellcome Trust, Visual Minutes, Barbican, London

Had a really interesting afternoon on Wednesday, documenting two panel discussions for the Wellcome Trust's 'Engaging Science' conference at the Barbican.

From farting fish to psychopaths in every day life, they covered a lot of ground!

For more info on the Wellcome Trust:

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Our-vision/index.htm

Its public face is the Wellcome Collection, making science accessible to all, an amazing collection of curiosities originally collected by Henry Wellcome, and so much more!

http://wellcomecollection.org/

Visual minutes at the Department of Business Industry and Skills, London

Had a lovely two days earlier this week drawing out the diversity of civil servant staff members at the Department of B.I.S. in Victoria Street, London.

Some unusual stories came out, backflipping cocktail shakers, a lady who's specialty subject was the sheep of Yorkshire, musicians, sailors, singers, martial artists, even a running poet.

There were numerous tales of exotic former commutes, my favourite was the person who had to sail down the amazon as part of her daily trip in to work..

Many thanks to artist Beatrice Baumgartner-Cohen for getting me involved!

Visual minutes in Zurich and London

It's been a busy week, firstly visiting Zurich for work, capturing a day's marketing strategy for an international e-commerce company, watched over in the Hauptbahnhof by Niki de St Phalle's blue Guardian Angel:

and drinking in the Swiss silence:

The next day, back in London I visually minuted at the Southbank Centre's "WOW" festival.

WOW stands for 'Women of the World, it's been running for 5 years and is now going global, with partnerships including New York, Iceland and Ethiopia.

It was a really inspiring day kicked off with Jude Kelly and Miriam Gonzalez-Durantez (Nick Clegg's wife) talking about mentoring for girls and skilfully facilitated by Isisara Bey.