Merton Meetings

Yesterday I was working for Merton council in southwest London. There was a buzz in the air, with the first staff conference since pre-covid times, hooray! Great to hear about their ambitious plans for the borough.

Thought I'd also post some previous work within the borough, these were all for the public health team before the pandemic.

Citizens Climate Change Assembly - Land Use

This subject was very emotive. Perhaps because the symbolism of Hereford beef cattle is a strong one in Herefordshire (not surprising really!), and being asked to eat differently, eg a more plant-based diet, is a very personal incursion into people's lives.

I think it's going to be a tough one to shift. The other two subjects of Transport and Buildings are equally tough to change because of the huge costs and massive infrastructure changes - and this all should have been attended to years ago (as they've been doing in Sweden and Germany). It's a mammoth task.

I found 'Regen Ben's' https://www.regenben.com/ talk the most inspiring, because he was watching his farm flourish and he saw it happening in years not decades. My hat is off to him and all farmers who are adapting and trying to make nature flourish while keeping us all fed!

What Family Means to Us

I was asked to draw up this image after a recent workshop.

The dandelion imagery came from one of the participants: dandelions grow tightly together like a family unit, and then disperse as individual seeds, in order to establish their own new 'family'. 

What does family mean to you?

Live Scribing for Oxfordshire County Council

A live scribing job I did yesterday in Oxford all about digital inclusion - hopefully this image will keep the conversation going, the good people of Oxford already have a number of great initiatives that are already well underway. 

 

Illustrations as Reminders

I was asked to draw some images to help guide staff through the process of their work for Cafcass (Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service).

Anyone involved in the family courts system knows that this is a very stressful period for families and their children, so hopefully these images help the workforce, and in turn help the individuals going through this journey.

 

Drawings for John Kelly, Musician, Work in progress

John Kelly is a musician who lives with a severe physical disability - but it's not held him back. He's had a guitar specially designed for his needs, and is touring his new album all over the place, from Wales to Holland! 

He asked me to do some drawings for his new album, each drawing is in response to a song on the album. These will be used as a printed insert for the physical CD (I know, old school!). 

John sings from the heart and his life has been devoted to fighting for disability rights and making his and others' voices heard. 

https://johnkellymusician.co.uk/

Conference season in Full Swing

Things in conference-land seem to have fully returned to normal so I've been working on conferences in real life again. People seem genuinely pleased to see each other and I'm glad to be getting out and about, sometimes to some swanky venues. 

Here's me in one of them in central London,  surrounded two days' worth of drawings that I worked on with a colleague.