Paint Jam London

 For a 24 hour assignment in London I looked into cultural things that people do at night, I came across an art company called Paint Jam who specialize in hosting art workshops for the public, the company is ran by Dalia Zermon and has been around for five years. They also host Street Art Walks where a guide takes you around London giving information about all the graffiti. The night goes on from 7-10pm and is welcome to art enthusiasts and freelancers who can express themselves with paint and if they're having trouble with inspiration there is also live music and a freelance artist who helps tutor those who need it.
Cristina is helping to set up the event and to make sure everything is tidy afterwards. She has recently come over from Italy and has been working for Paint Jam for only two months. "London is very different, so cultural but Italy is a more relaxed way of life "  

205dpi Magazine Issue 6

This is yet another issue of 205dpi which is an online publication made by a few people from my course. This is the 6th issue and they have some intriguing stories in them including one of mine about Margaret

Please read & enjoy

http://issuu.com/205dpi/docs/issue_6

Dementia Friends, Safety Awareness

Chief Fire Officer Des Tidbury hosts a talk on fire safety awareness

As part of my ongoing project with Dementia Friends I went to another event in Truro. This event was about Safety Awareness within the community hosted by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service along with Alzheimers Society. They covered a variety of issues that can occur especially with Dementia patients, this included missing persons, doorstep fraud, scam mail, fire safety and discrimination. Many of the talkers had relatives with the illness and the audience were mainly carers, firemen and a few with Dementia as well. 

Young Fire Officers watching the talks

Martyn Addinall watching the talks so that he can be more aware in his service

D&C Police David Trout talking about missing persons
and what to do if someone with an illness is lost

Shirley Mewton gives a talk on behalf of Alzheimer's Society about the charity
and also give information on Dementia Friends

Keith Scambor has early stages of Dementia and was at the event
with his wife who has the illness as well. They came along to
be more aware about fire safety in their home

Artists, John Howard's Studio, Week One

For another project I wanted to base my idea on artists and especially looking at artists around Cornwall or those who have moved down to the South for their practice. I wanted to also work with artists who use different techniques and use a variety of mediums other than just painting or drawing. I looked into artists who had studios and found John Howard who has a printing studio in Penryn, he moved down from Birmingham to Cornwall in 1995 and has had his studio since 2007.  His practice involves traditional etching and print making in which he goes through a series of stages before actually creating the final piece. His studio is welcome for graduates and artists in the area to come in and create artwork, he helps them by tutoring them with his knowledge as he used to lecture. John also has a few regular assistants Hannah and Clementine who as well as helping John make mass prints but in their spare time can focus on their own work.

John Howard is preparing a copper plate in order to be etched on
the first stage is filing down the edges to make a smooth base

After filing down the edges, John must polish the copper plate and
afterwards he must put powder on it to make it soluble when washing

He then heats the plate and puts a layer of hot wax before
setting it alight and then it is ready to etch onto

These are all of the rollers for print screening which is another
technique that is used in John's studio

These are  cloths that are especially used for ink as they grab the particles
which makes it easier to spread onto print screens.

Clementine creates etchings in her spare time at the studio
although she did not do an art degree 

These are the printing machines that you put the final
etched copper plate onto to create the final piece

Hannah is a Fine Art graduate from Falmouth University
and she assists John in his practice as well as developing
her own style and work. She is working on a heating technique
where she uses a product that creates ink bubbles.

Dementia Friends

For part of my self directed assignment and a much bigger project I have got involved with Dementia Friends and Alzheimers Society in helping to raise awareness for the charity and those in need. In 2012 David Cameron launched a scheme with these charities to give the public free training in helping those with Dementia and also to pass on awareness to others. Over 700,000 people are affected in the Uk and Cameron has said that dementia is a national crisis and the awareness of it is shockingly low. It is the goal that by 2015 the government would like 1 million people to become a Dementia Friend, this 2.4 billion charity is one of few to be funded by the Social Fund and Department of Health. It does not ask for donations only to raise awareness. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20236034

Camilla Alfred teaching them how to present well with various techniques

Phillipa works for Age Uk Cornwall and wants to raise awareness in her community
as she feels the public doesn't understand the complexities of Dementia

I have started to document the events that Dementia Friends hold, this includes Dementia Awareness Training, Fire Safety and Memory Cafes. I want to show the journey that the public goes on to become a Dementia Friend and also document those with the illness as well. This event was a general training session where carers and company staff came along to learn what they need to do to raise awareness. Camilla Alfred a volunteer was leading the session and she has worked with the charity since it started. 
There were a variety of people at this event including managers of local company Farm Foods as they wanted to train their drivers in being Dementia Friendly as some of their clients have the illness. The others were nurses and carers at various elderly care homes and they all found the session helpful in what they needed. Camilla taught them initially about what is Dementia and many techniques in how to show others what it is and how to pass along the awareness to their local churches and companies. 

The class have to make a list of  all the stages of making a cup of tea which is
an exercise in seeing what you'd do if you had Dementia. 

They played Dementia Friends Bingo, which was to show which words the public
associate with Dementia like 'memory' and 'disease' 

Hayley is a care assistant at Porthwagan Home in Liskaerd,
she hopes to raise awareness in her village and at work

Lorraine works for Farm Foods as a product promoter and she hopes to
raise awareness to her drivers as some of their clients have Dementia

10 Part Portfolio

Starting my second year of my Press & Editorial course I had a brand new project. This was a 10 Part Portfolio that engaged a range of photography from fashion to sport, this challenged my weakest points and showed me my strengths in my practice. I used a separate blog for this as it was my online sketchbook, here's the link to what I have been doing from October through till January

http://shmsearphotography.wordpress.com/


I think I learnt a lot from this project and I will use the skills and knowledge I have gained for future projects like my self directed assignments I have currently.