2nd workshop, friday 17th June
This was, essentially my first visit, and I was completely and, I think very obviously, nervous. My anxiety crept up on me as we were setting up, and I really did not want to do this by myself — I felt out of my depth, especially seeing as everyone else was a week ahead of me with their patients.
Due to the lack of patients — and the fact that June wasn't attending the class on Friday — Abraham and I partnered up. We attempted to get people involved in the project, encouraging, before moving down to the Art block of the hospice. To be honest, I was very pleased to be partnered up with Abraham as he had been there previously, and kind of knew how the whole thing would go down. However, I think as two shy people it was a very difficult task. I think, under the circumstances, we did quite well.
We were partnered up with Fiona, who was accompanied by her husband, Mr. Foster. Conversation was difficult to initiate, as everything said was filtered from us through Mr. Foster before reaching Fiona. I can only speak for myself — but as soon as I was placed with a patient I couldn't really remember what order I intended to do things, and I didn't really want to constantly refer to my proposed plan as I felt it was fairly intimidating and made the whole conversation seem more like an interview. I think the one mistake we did was not being clear enough to begin with in outlining what the project was exactly; I know I definitely didn't.
I went straight into asking whether or not Fiona had any objects of significance — giving her examples and such as to what they could be. A childhood toy ( giving her examples of my own marbles ), photographs, jewelry, something she carries with her — the only answer she gave was, "No, I don't." I didn't want to force an answer out of her, as she seemed reluctant. After a while, I was able to find out that one of her fondest memories was that of her dog, Harley. I asked if she wanted to draw a picture of her dog, and she ensured me she couldn't draw, but I insisted that there was no skill needed, a picture could simply remind her of her dog. She drew a picture of his dog bowl. This was drawn on acetate, so we created a wonderful cyanotype with it, to look further at the process. It felt rather like Abraham & I were performing a magic trick.
We tried to find more out about the dog, and she informed us of a memory of her dog, laying on her bed — "his little black nose peeking out of the covers." She smiled sweetly as she said it, and one could tell she was completely fond of this particular memory. We googled the dog breed, and found some images that she thought resembled her clearly beloved dog — these images could well be implicated into some cyanotype, in an attempt to revoke her memory.
I had compiled acetates with everyday objects and trigger images on them; when I placed them in front of Fiona, she didn't really respond, so I inquired as to whether she felt a particular affinity to any of the images. "No." I asked specifically about flowers, and she responded somewhat positively; she likes flowers. I asked what her favourites were, but she didn't really have an answer for that. However, she liked the arrangement of the daisies in combination with the purple flower that we found on our desk, and thus we made a cyanotype of this too.
We also introduced Fiona to glass wax by submerging my marbles ( a childhood favourite of mine ) into some, and letting it harden — Immortalising marbles in a similarly transparent material. She seemed to be somewhat interested in this process, but at this point, I don't think she really understood the project very well, and thus our example seemed a bit like a magic trick to her.
Fiona also drew into clay to create a cast of her drawing. Though I had intentions of asking her to draw something that related to the dog, she instead drew a lovely house, and when cast, it came out with wonderful and simple detail, and was truly lovely. We inquired as to whether the house was from memory or just something she just felt like drawing. She said it was the latter; just a thing people draw.
I thought that the experience with Fiona was fairly difficult, but enriching. Though there was a lack of dialogue because of the fact that conversation was filtered through her husband, it was somewhat collaborative, as it was her mark making that we used to create examples. In that sense, I think it was very successful, however, I think there would be a lot to discuss if we were to partner with Fiona and Mr. Foster once again.
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Initially, when I left St. Christopher's, I felt somewhat cheated — I'm not very good at communicating and conversing as it is, and it makes me incredibly nervous to instigate a conversation. I also felt very irritating, as I asked and inquired things over and over, when I felt she didn't really want to talk to me ( that's actually why I don't often instigate conversations, and this situation felt extreme as Abraham and I were the only ones really actuating dialogue ). I didn't feel like I had "enough" information, and I didn't really feel like we'd interested the couple at all, nor did I feel like we'd really achieved anything.
However, as I thought about it, considering the circumstances, I think we did quite well to find out about that soft and delicate memory of hers, her dog Harley's nose in the bedsheets, nestled and endearing.
This was, essentially my first visit, and I was completely and, I think very obviously, nervous. My anxiety crept up on me as we were setting up, and I really did not want to do this by myself — I felt out of my depth, especially seeing as everyone else was a week ahead of me with their patients.
Due to the lack of patients — and the fact that June wasn't attending the class on Friday — Abraham and I partnered up. We attempted to get people involved in the project, encouraging, before moving down to the Art block of the hospice. To be honest, I was very pleased to be partnered up with Abraham as he had been there previously, and kind of knew how the whole thing would go down. However, I think as two shy people it was a very difficult task. I think, under the circumstances, we did quite well.
We were partnered up with Fiona, who was accompanied by her husband, Mr. Foster. Conversation was difficult to initiate, as everything said was filtered from us through Mr. Foster before reaching Fiona. I can only speak for myself — but as soon as I was placed with a patient I couldn't really remember what order I intended to do things, and I didn't really want to constantly refer to my proposed plan as I felt it was fairly intimidating and made the whole conversation seem more like an interview. I think the one mistake we did was not being clear enough to begin with in outlining what the project was exactly; I know I definitely didn't.
I went straight into asking whether or not Fiona had any objects of significance — giving her examples and such as to what they could be. A childhood toy ( giving her examples of my own marbles ), photographs, jewelry, something she carries with her — the only answer she gave was, "No, I don't." I didn't want to force an answer out of her, as she seemed reluctant. After a while, I was able to find out that one of her fondest memories was that of her dog, Harley. I asked if she wanted to draw a picture of her dog, and she ensured me she couldn't draw, but I insisted that there was no skill needed, a picture could simply remind her of her dog. She drew a picture of his dog bowl. This was drawn on acetate, so we created a wonderful cyanotype with it, to look further at the process. It felt rather like Abraham & I were performing a magic trick.
We tried to find more out about the dog, and she informed us of a memory of her dog, laying on her bed — "his little black nose peeking out of the covers." She smiled sweetly as she said it, and one could tell she was completely fond of this particular memory. We googled the dog breed, and found some images that she thought resembled her clearly beloved dog — these images could well be implicated into some cyanotype, in an attempt to revoke her memory.
I had compiled acetates with everyday objects and trigger images on them; when I placed them in front of Fiona, she didn't really respond, so I inquired as to whether she felt a particular affinity to any of the images. "No." I asked specifically about flowers, and she responded somewhat positively; she likes flowers. I asked what her favourites were, but she didn't really have an answer for that. However, she liked the arrangement of the daisies in combination with the purple flower that we found on our desk, and thus we made a cyanotype of this too.
We also introduced Fiona to glass wax by submerging my marbles ( a childhood favourite of mine ) into some, and letting it harden — Immortalising marbles in a similarly transparent material. She seemed to be somewhat interested in this process, but at this point, I don't think she really understood the project very well, and thus our example seemed a bit like a magic trick to her.
Fiona also drew into clay to create a cast of her drawing. Though I had intentions of asking her to draw something that related to the dog, she instead drew a lovely house, and when cast, it came out with wonderful and simple detail, and was truly lovely. We inquired as to whether the house was from memory or just something she just felt like drawing. She said it was the latter; just a thing people draw.
I thought that the experience with Fiona was fairly difficult, but enriching. Though there was a lack of dialogue because of the fact that conversation was filtered through her husband, it was somewhat collaborative, as it was her mark making that we used to create examples. In that sense, I think it was very successful, however, I think there would be a lot to discuss if we were to partner with Fiona and Mr. Foster once again.
----------
Initially, when I left St. Christopher's, I felt somewhat cheated — I'm not very good at communicating and conversing as it is, and it makes me incredibly nervous to instigate a conversation. I also felt very irritating, as I asked and inquired things over and over, when I felt she didn't really want to talk to me ( that's actually why I don't often instigate conversations, and this situation felt extreme as Abraham and I were the only ones really actuating dialogue ). I didn't feel like I had "enough" information, and I didn't really feel like we'd interested the couple at all, nor did I feel like we'd really achieved anything.
However, as I thought about it, considering the circumstances, I think we did quite well to find out about that soft and delicate memory of hers, her dog Harley's nose in the bedsheets, nestled and endearing.
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