POLAND!

I went to Poland with university, and I have to say, it's such an amazing country, I'd love to go again. We went to the city of Krakow, it was very historical and full of beautiful sights. I'd like to have stayed longer, 5 days wasn't enough! During our stay at Poland we visited various places, Art galleries, museums, Churches, and Auschwitz. I'll make another post on Auschwitz, since theres a lot to explain. Here are some pictures I took during my stay in poland!

Enjoy!

Bryony Lloyd & Sisters Scrapbook

I've been looking at retro collage artists for this project, i'm aiming for my work to reflect an essence of the past, showing that Douglas is the same person, with the same heart, I want it to feel so vintage, you can smell the musk just by looking at my image. I've looked through various artists but i really like Bryony, I love her use of composition, faded colours and the pictures she collages with. It's like retro fashion art, I like a lot!

IMAGE HAS BEEN REMOVED

From: 

http://www.culturelabel.com/shop/bryony-lloyd-illustration

I have also been looking around on Etsy, and I stumbled across a shop there which has some really nice small pieces of card with designs on them, inspiration!

Pictures Above from:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SistersScrapbooking?ref=seller_info

Some really nice things here, Those picture frames look really good, i'd like to have a go at making my own.

I want my image to be like looking into Douglas's room, and life at the same time.

Douglas Visit Number 2!

So I went to see Douglas for the second time, it is a great success! I had some help from my tutor, Jo, and we managed to get a lot of Douglas's background information. He told me he was from a place near Wales called Oswestry, I remember him saying that the last time, but i didn't hear it properly, it all makes sense now! I still didn't get the name of his Dog, but I got something even better....

I found out Douglas has a hidden talent, he can play the piano! I asked him if he had any various talents before, but today I had so much success! I managed to record him playing it and I have so many ideas already. Douglas played the national anthem, and a few other well known tunes, it's a shame I wasn't able to get much footage since i was in awe and forgot to use my camera until the last minute! 

Shortly after Douglas played the piano, he said something really nice, something that he really meant. And i'm sure he meant this with true feelings. He said 'Play with the heart, not the mind' - He doesn't need his memory to play the piano, because it comes from his heart and not his mind, it was really nice to hear that, it's quite moving. I think i've already chosen the writing I want to go on my image!

Douglas gave me permission to film and post these videos.

I also learned that Douglas didn't have any photos of his own, this upset me a little bit and i felt incredible sorry for him, I know Douglas is in contact with his sister and she takes care of him, maybe he just forgot to ask? He also mentioned he had a girlfriend called Sarah, and they went to a dance together, it was really sweet, he seemed really happy talking about her, I couldn't get more more details about that, only that it was when he was younger. I've come up with some really great ideas though...

My ideas so far are something to do with him playing the piano also something to do with him not having any pictures. 

Ideas & Visit from Age UK

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/

After seeing Douglas for the first time, I began to think about some specific things he said. He told me he had a dog, although when I asked him the name, he gave me 4 different ones, so I'm not sure what i'd do. Maybe a dog with no name? Something along those lines. All I know is I want it to feel old, it must have something to do with how people see people with dementia and tell them they need help!

Also we had a visit from some patients from Age UK who are in the early stages of dementia, they told us about their lives and had kindly made a timeline with pictures form their life, showing how they grew up, their partners, children, careers and everyday life. They also began to explain how the signs of dementia creeped up on them, and how devastating it can be to their lives. One woman told us how she'd be driving, and forget where she was going - something simple which can happen to all of us, and it became more frequent and more intense and got to the point where she had no idea where she was, and became panicked, and then was diagnosed with dementia. They are all lovely, characteristic people and I think we need to realise even though they are sick with an illness which causes them to forget themselves, they are still the people we love and care about and are still the same person.

It was an emotional talk, and I think it really moved us all, and gave us a lot of heart to put into our work, something which i think, is most important.

Age Uk!

Sooooo this project i'm nervous and excited about! The brief tells us that we have to research Dementia and create a page for an Age UK booklet containing information to help people recognise and understand the disease. We must create interview a patient at a local Age UK home and find out what their life is like. We explore their timeline and make a picture of how it relates to them now. 

I saw the person I was interviewing today, his name is douglas, and douglas was a very nice man. He had been suffering from dementia and also had a learning difficulty. I found it very tough trying to talk about Douglas's life, he seemed to be confused and it was quite distressing to see what dementia can do to you. I did manage to get a few pieces of information from Douglas it is quite unsure whether they are reliable facts or not, he seemed to forget something just as i'd asked i to him and i felt like the 'yes' or 'no' i got was just out of habit and he'd already forgotten what i'd asked him. Though Douglas really did enjoy telling me about his pet dog, and his favourite meals, I think i need a little more help next time I see Douglas as I think his dementia is more progressed than I had initially realised, and also he has an accent that I find a little hard to understand. I have a ton of notes from his every day life and I really hope next time I can find out some more about his history. It would be nice if i got to see some pictures too, I did ask him, I hope that he can remember to do that, it won't be long before I visit again for the 2nd time. He told me he couldn't wait to see me again for the second interview, and i am really excited for the next one. Douglas was a lovely person, I have a feeling he'll remember me next time I go :)

This is Douglas.

Douglas gave me permission to post his picture and some details on my blog.