Happy Christmas!

Wishing everyone who's reading, a hugely enjoyable Christmas, and all the wonders that a new year can bring! Hope it's a good one for you and yours.

This year Christmas is going to the dogs...

Graphic Recording, north London

This was a workshop held by Healthwatch, to consult with the local community in Enfield to gather ideas and feed back to healthcare providers which services to bring closer to home. 

Top subjects were mental health services and blood tests, but there were a spread of other subjects and a very vocal deaf community who demanded access to information - as without this people aren't getting the support they need.

The Exchange Network - poster design

This was a collaborative piece illustrated to share a brilliant idea: let's pool the shared knowledge of patients, clinicians, researchers and carers. 

The group meet regularly to cross-examine and raise their awareness, and ultimately to improve patient care. Inspiring work!

On 28th November, this won best poster at The National Institute for Health Research's conference: Involve 21.

http://www.invo.org.uk/current-work/

Amnesty International, Bristol

Our continuing quest to find out more from the supporters of Amnesty - how can the structure of the organisation change and what are the reasons that make people take action? Bristol's workshop was held on a boat, but at the next event in London we'll be back on solid ground!

Facilitation by Jo Shaw from Human Thinkers:

https://www.humanthinkers.com/

Amnesty International in Manchester

I've been asked to capture some investigative workshops held by Amnesty across the country - the first one was in Manchester earlier this month.

A lovely bunch of people with some great ideas on how we can all 'Be Amnesty'. Very inspiring.

Thanks to Jo from Human Thinkers for skilfully facilitating the sessions, drawing out the themes and helping people talk about what makes them tick:

https://www.humanthinkers.com/

Southbank Printmakers Collective, Gabriel's Wharf, London

I'm really happy to say that I'm now a member of this printmaker's gallery on the south bank in London. Gabriel's Wharf is just next to the Oxo tower on the southbank, a short hop along from the Tate Modern.

My work is on display here and can be bought at the gallery.

http://www.southbankprintmakers.com/sandra-howgate

Moorfields Eye Hospital, Graphic Recording, London

I was asked by the New Citizenship Project to attend a patient and clinician consultation on behalf of Moorfields Eye Hospital. 

The information gathered is being used by Moorfields to create a patient toolkit, to be shared throughout the eye care teams across the UK. Some very inspirational stories and wonderful people were present.

This image of me drawing the image was used in Moorfields most recent annual report.

Thanks to the NCP, plus Karen Reeves from Moorfields for asking me to get involved:
https://www.newcitizenship.org.uk/

Graphic Recording for the University of East London

I was recently asked by the School of Arts and Digital Industries at UEL to capture talks and discussion for one day during their conference on Digital Storytelling. 

The Q&A session at the end was the most provocative, with most of the panel suggesting to the audience to get out of their comfort zone, cross thresholds and invite more people in from different backgrounds and cultures.

The 'Health' topic had a lot of debate, and there were health professionals present who wanted to include storytelling in their clinical practice in order to improve patient outcomes and to share good practice.

New Citizenship Project and Parkinson's UK

This event held in Cardiff, Wales, brought together people affected by Parkinson's in order to find out what helped empower them and make them feel part of a community.

It was very moving to hear people's stories and I was humbled by how resilient and generous the people in the room were, especially those who volunteer their time to support others, despite living with Parkinson's.

What came through repeatedly was the warmth of the local community, and how that had helped people pull through and forge new friendships.

I also learnt a word in Welsh: 'Cwtch'. There is no direct translation into English.
A cwtch is a cuddle or hug, but its other meaning is a safe place to store things, and it's a much more bear-like hug than its English counterpart!

Visual Minutes London

This was an afternoon's workshop with local stakeholders in The Living Centre, which is housed in the new Frances Crick building next to Kings Cross St Pancras, London.

It was held by Camden Council's Public Health department and is part of a three year project to tackle obesity in the ward.

Visual Minutes for Thames Valley Police

Yesterday I was working for the police in Reading, they held a world cafe for women from BME backgrounds. Questions were asked of the group and I was there to reflect the hopes and needs of the people in the room.

There was lots of discussion and ideas and hopefully from the seeds planted here, stronger bonds and relationships will grow. 

In the light of recent events these kinds of meetings are more important than ever.

Graphic Recording at a Wedding, London

I was recently commissioned to sketch live at a wedding, creating a visual narrative from the ceremony, to the reception and then into the evening speeches and party. 

It was an emotional and fun day, here's the full image (about 1 metre square) with some close-ups below.

Photo's by https://www.wearetheclarkes.com/

Lovely venue for the ceremony on the roof garden of Ham Yard Hotel:

https://www.firmdalehotels.com/hotels/london/ham-yard-hotel/private-events-meetings/roof-terrace/

Wishing Kate and Peppy many more years of happiness together!

Illustrations for Leeds University

Some continuing experiments in the virtual world using my new Ipad Pro (whoop!).

As the subject is all about performance and scoping audiences, I felt compelled to get a David Bowie reference in there, see if you can spot it...

hard to miss really...

This has been fun - I'd recommend it for honing down your ideas and sharing them post-event, or if you're trying to spice up a report or research project - anything where you're trying to engage people and share your ideas!