Children at a Kenyan School Get Creative!

12/07/2018

Our CM Artist Grace is a trustee of Dominion Schools Africa – a charity that provides financial support to a Kenyan school and helps to assist the school in providing high-quality education. In November, she went out to Gachie, in Nairobi to visit the school. The school year runs from January – November, so she arrived just as they were preparing for their end of year graduation which celebrates the 6-7 year old’s moving up to the junior school.

Grace saw this as a perfect opportunity for the children to get creative in preparation for graduation day. There is very little creative work in their school curriculum, and the school didn’t have many artistic resources. Grace had taken over some paint brushes and the school had pots of powder paint. That morning, Grace went shopping with the school’s head teacher and purchased some sturdy material to paint on. They decided to make some wall hangings on the theme of the biblical creation story.

Children from the school dropped in and out throughout the day and absolutely loved getting involved! Many had never had the opportunity to paint on such a large scale before. They even made some of their own paint using local earth mixed with water. The teachers were absolutely blown away by their efforts and thrilled to see how enthusiastic the children were.

Grace wanted every child in the school to have a go at creating their own self-portrait to hang up on graduation day. They experimented with mixed media and used paint, crayons and collage to create their own personal portrait. All were thrilled with the results!

The school is generally very structured with little opportunity for creative expression. At the end of the session, Grace allowed the children to have free reign to explore ways of using the artistic materials, and create whatever they wanted to. They all went wild and loved the freedom of the activity, saying how much fun they were having.

The school had never displayed artwork on the walls before, but the teachers loved the difference it made to the building. The teachers were thrilled to see how happy the children were during the art session, and chatted to Grace to discuss ways in which art could be brought into other subjects such as history and geography.

The children were so proud of their work at the end of the day, and were delighted to see it hung up on display. Before she left, one little boy came to Grace and said he’d had the “happiest day ever”!

Mini Makers – Tiny Tots Get Creative in Kent!

11/20/2018

Our CM Artist Rhiannon, based in Kent, held her first parent-toddler ‘Mini Makers’ art session recently. As a mum of a two-year old herself, she found a lot of the toddler activities in her area rather dull, and mostly music orientated. So she took it upon herself to set up her own creative parent-toddler art session.

The children were aged from just 10 months to 3 years, and their task was to decorate their own paper crown. She displayed an example of what she wanted them to make, then gave them each a pallet of paint and a bowl with sequins, glitter, paper shapes and glue. She put on some music, and let the fun commence.

The children loved the sensory experience and really got stuck in, exploring the different artistic materials, how they felt to touch and the effects they made. They had a great time getting messy with acrylic paints, and layering the shapes to decorate their crowns. They then added some sparkle to their creations with sequins and glitter. The parents loved seeing their children’s reaction to the range of different materials on offer and witnessing their children’s process of discovery through the creative session.

All the children were thrilled with the end results and proudly paraded around the garden with their crowns on after!

Parents often need a bit of encouragement when it comes to letting their little ones go wild and get messy with creative play. However, after the session the parents said they loved the opportunity to be creative with their children and not to worry too much about the mess they make. It made for a wonderful bonding activity and the toddlers certainly enjoyed themselves too!

We hope to deliver more ‘Mini Makers’ art sessions very soon!

Creative Minds Artists Attend Community Meeting 2018!

11/20/2018

On a beautiful autumnal morning Creative Minds Artists (CM Artists) traveled from across the UK, to come together for our biannual Community Meeting. These meetings are an opportunity for CM Artists to network, share ideas, gain valuable business advice and receive news and updates from the Head Office.

Upon arrival, each artist received a little card with the name of one of the world’s most famous artists on (which they could not reveal). Creative Minds Artists then had to ask each other questions, to try and guess which of the old master’s names they had on their card. This fun game got everyone talking and appreciating how the iconic figures of the art world have inspired many of their own art sessions.

A friendly networking session with refreshments followed, with loads of ideas being shared. Our CM artists regularly communicate with each other via our online forums but don’t often get the chance to chat face-to-face. This was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to enjoy a cup of tea and have a good catch up.

Following this, our CM Artists Jess and Ali delivered a short arts and dementia training session. This included a hands-on workshop, sensitively encouraging everyone to explore ways in which those living with dementia respond to different themes and objects, which evoke emotions and memories.

The artists were then set a 20-minute challenge to each create their own work of art in response to this training. Following this all of the work was hung around the room so that everyone could view and discuss each other’s own unique and beautiful take on the challenge.

Everyone then enjoyed a tasty buffet lunch, followed by tea and cake, whilst reflecting on the insight they had gained from the morning’s session.

Following lunch, Creative Minds Founder and Director James Cropper, delivered news and updates on future plans for Creative Minds, and shared a selection of fresh new business building tools. This lead to an open discussion on the opportunities they have as CM Artists to expand into further fields.

Community Development Manager Sarah Fenner, then shared kind and inspiring words, giving advice and ideas on how to overcome the challenges some of the artists may face. She then encouraged everyone to stop for five minutes, and take a break for a little self-care. All CM Artists were handed clay and took a wander outdoors, for a moment of mindfulness and reflection in the warm autumn sunshine.

This was a lovely way to end the day as everyone considered all that had been discussed, and how it can be applied to their business as Creative Minds Artists. At the end everyone came together for a group photo, before saying good-byes, then each artist began their journey home.

It was a wonderful day, bringing together such a passionate community of artists, and hearing their moving stories about how their work is touching people’s lives. We’re so proud of the work that they do, and we look forward to getting together again for our next community meeting in spring 2019!

Thanks for reading.

Competition Winning Artist for Learning Disability Week 2017

10/10/2017

*Competition winner, Dele, being presented with his T-shirt printed with his artwork*

A talented resident from an East London residential home for adults with learning disabilities, won a local competition to create a spectacular piece of art to promote a Learning Disability Week Celebration Event in the London borough of Newham. The winning artist, Dele, created an abstract artwork in pastel, that was printed on T-shirts and presented to him at the launch party of the event at Stratford Circus Arts Centre on 29 June 2017.

Community Artist, Elaine Harper-Gay, who delivers art sessions at the small residential home where the young artist is a resident, spoke of how proud she was of his achievement and was thrilled to see him on stage to receive a T-shirt with his very own artwork printed on it. The compères of the stage show also wore the artwork on their T-shirts.

An exhibition of artwork in celebration of Learning Disability Week was on display at Stratford Circus from 16 June – 13 July 2017, where a total of four residents from the residential home also had their work included.

Elaine Harper-Gay has been delivering art sessions to the residential home for 18 months and seen the residents grow and develop throughout this period. The residents have found the art sessions incredibly beneficial and enjoy the variety of ways they are able to express themselves. Congratulations to Dele for winning the competition and the residents who exhibited their work. We’re looking forward to seeing what the residents create next in future art sessions.

Exhibition of artwork from the Learning Disabled community at Stratford Circus

Photography credit: Andrew Baker

Our first ‘Art Trip!’

06/27/2017

Sarah F, Our Creative Minds (CM) Artist based in Woking organised a very successful art trip recently with one of her clients to the Lightbox Gallery in Woking. Sarah chose the Lightbox because it is a wonderful setting and very accessible for all with a fabulous selection of exhibitions throughout the year. The residents Edna, John, and Betty from Grey’s Residential home, along with their Carer Sophie had a superb afternoon and can’t wait to do it again!

The trip began with a visit to the Ingram Collection. Here the wide variety of works on display had something for everyone, and each resident had their own personal favourite piece. Discussion about realism, surrealism and abstraction was sparked, and Edna was particularly drawn to the abstract. She fell in love with this fantastic piece by William Gear (pictured below).

Edna commented on the experience: “Marvelous! What a wonderful afternoon and seeing this marvelous art, I hope we can come again.”

Betty’s favourite piece was ‘On the Table’ of the Ingram Collection. She also enjoyed the Ruth Borchard portrait collection, and liked how the individual artists portrayed themselves – their dark sides, and sadness – in their works.

For many of the residents, this was a new opportunity and ultimately a unique chance to experience art in a different way. Our art sessions aspire to encourage active participation and help clients to create beautiful work. This trip fostered a different kind of involvement in art – one of observation, thoughtfulness, reflection, and discussion. We are delighted to have discovered a new way for residents to enjoy art, and we aim to take the residents of Greys Residential Home on another art trip in the near future and encourage other CM Artists to organise similar art trips for their clients.

John also enjoyed the experience; he found that it brought back some happy personal memories. Though he previously preferred to watch his loved one draw, during the two years that Sarah has been delivering art sessions with Grey’s she has seen John experiment with every medium and shy away from nothing. One of his beautiful charcoal studies is now a permanent fixture on the lounge wall. At the Lightbox, Sarah and John were both intrigued by the variety of work created by Sidney Sime, and John was particularly taken with a painting of London taxis (pictured below).

CM artist Sarah said: “It was such a joy and privilege to bring about and organise this trip as an alternative art session, watching these wonderful folks absorbing the art on display, the intrigue, the questions, the pleasure.” The trip was a great afternoon, topped off by tea and cake in the café to end the day.

We hope that this is the beginning of many more art trips for care homes organised by CM Artists across the country. Art trips are yet another way for us to enhance our service and to ensure that art is truly accessible to everyone.

Thank you for reading.

Appleby House ‘Renaming Ceremony!’

06/16/2017

What an exciting year its been for Appleby House Care Home in Epsom!

As you may know we’ve been delivering art sessions to Appleby House for over 2 years now, and the sessions have had a profound impact on the home, staff, residents and relatives. Early this year, Shona the manager announced that in honor of their commitment to the arts they would be renaming all of the suites in the home after famous artists!

The ‘Renaming Ceremony’ took place on May 9th, to officially rename the suites. James Cropper (our Founder and Director) and Sara Hurley were invited to the ceremony, along with Sylvie (Director of Napa) and Jacqui White (Marketing Director for Care UK) who helped cut the ribbon (pictured: credit to Care UK).

James was pleased to tour the house and visit each of the five newly named suites after famous artists, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh and Leonardo Da Vinci. The entrance to each now features a plaque in the shape of an artist’s palate with the printed surname. (pictures). After the tour James and everyone enjoyed a buffet lunch and glass of wine as a harpist played a beautiful melody at the other side of the room.

The art sessions at Appleby House began with James over 2 years ago, before passing the sessions onto Sarah and Sara our Woking and Ascot based CM Artists. Since the beginning of the year CM Artist, Sarah has been delivering weekly inter-generational art sessions at the home, involving residents and children from the local Epsom Primary School. The sessions are widely praised and highly popular at the care home and the ‘Renaming Ceremony’ has been yet another example of the homes commitment to art and the belief that it can have a transformational effect on peoples lives. You can read more about Appleby House in our previous blog posts here:

http://159.65.94.31/intergenerational-art-sessions-at-appleby/

http://159.65.94.31/the-appleby-tate-one-year-on/

http://159.65.94.31/the-appleby-tate/

The ceremony was a huge success, and a good time was had all round. We feel honored to have had this positive impact on our clients, and privileged to work with such an inspiring team.

Thanks for reading.

Creative Minds.

Beautiful acrylic paintings by a talented resident artist!

05/31/2017

As CM Artists we’re always discovering talented artists among the many participants we deliver sessions to on a daily basis. We’re often surprised by the skill, the detail, the experimentation and the creativity we see from the participants in our sessions but the artwork that we have seen created by Ian, a resident artist at Sunrise of Weybridge left us stunned!

Since attending the art sessions Ian has created two beautiful acrylic paintings on mdf, one of Littlehampton and one of Burano, a Venetian lagoon in Italy.

Ian tells us:

“My interest in drawing and painting started when Sunrise Weybridge formed an art class/group, some five years ago. Although I have no formal art training I have found art enjoyable, satisfying and sometimes frustrating as I suffer from being colour blind and in a wheelchair.”

“With help from the Sunrise Activities team and Sara Hurley’s (Creative Minds) art classes over the past few years I have painted two acrylic paintings.

“The first of these paintings was based on a photograph that was chosen as the vibrant colours complimented the colours of two other paintings/pictures which are to be hung, along with my painting, on a wall in a recently purchased retirement flat by a member of the Sunrise Weybridge activities team who had asked me to paint the Littlehampton water front scene for her.”

Here is the first of Ian’s paintings of Littlehampton, with work in progress photo’s taken at each stage of painting…

“The second painting, of Burano Island, in the Venetian Lagoon, Italy, was chosen by a member of the Sunrise Weybridge activities team, as the vibrant colours of the boats and houses in the scene, matched those used in the kitchen of her home.”

We feel so privileged to see such talent in the care homes and other venues we visit!

Many thanks to Ian, a truely talented resident artist, for sharing the progress of his paintings with us and thanks for reading.

Joyce Shares Her Artist Story

04/19/2017

We encounter so many residents with incredible life stories like 97 year old Joyce Cheverton, a resident at Nightingale Hall Care Home in Richmond, North Yorkshire. She’s an inspirational artist and is still creating wonderful artwork today! Here’s Joyce’s artist story including photos of her artwork.

Born in Harrow in 1920, Joyce showed remarkable artistic talent from an early age, producing saleable oil paintings while still at primary school. She studied for three years at Harrow College of Art and stayed for a further year as a tutor.

During the war years she taught art at the girls convent school in Willesden. When the sirens went she took her class to Willesden underground station which served as an air raid shelter. Joyce’s shelter sketches are some of her most poignant works.

Joyce met and later married David Cheverton, a young RAF officer, in a class of RAF officers she was instructing in the art of camouflage. David became an architect after the war and later a vicar. Joyce supported his ministry with her art.

Throughout her life Joyce was prolific in many forms of art – oils, water colours, posters, engravings, Lino cuts, wood block printing from blocks she carved herself, book illustration and cover design. She painted a huge four wall mural for a London cafe and designed a lounge for a Cunard liner. David and Joyce retired to a bungalow he designed in Preston-under-Scar. Their son Mark and his wife Lottie founded an Art College in Leith which flourishes to this day.

Here are photo’s of Joyce’s art over the years, her artist story…

Lesley (our CM Artist based in Middlesbrough) commented…”I am always amazed at the beautiful art that the residents at Nightingale Hall Care Home produce. Every session is individual and inspiring; not only do the artists excel but those who have never painted before have a breakthrough in something new and lasting.”

“The residents have already created beautiful soft pastel birds, abstract watercolour Kandinsky Circles, acrylic cherry blossom trees. Last week we used an intense pigment called Brusho and made some stunning bunny bunting to hang across the fireplace. I look forward to many more special moments at Nightingale Hall.”

We look forward to seeing more wonderful artwork created by Joyce and the residents in their Art Sessions. You can see some of the artwork Lesley mentions on our facebook page www.facebook.com/creativemindsan

Thank you for reading, we hope to inspire you with many more resident artist stories!

Nightingale Hall Care Home is owned by Wellburn Care Homes, see their website for more details: www.wellburncare.co.uk/

Gorgeous Daffodils Adorn The Seaton Hospicecare Window!

04/19/2017

The residents from Thornfield Care Home (Seaton, Devon) with help from Maria, CM Artist have created a wonderful daffodil window display for the Hospicecare shop in the town centre. The Art Project has taken the residents around 5 sessions to complete and the result is marvelous, its bright, cheerful and inviting! The Major and other Councillors hope to make Seaton a Dementia Friendly Town and Maria has offered to talk about art and the benefits for those with Dementia at their next town meeting.

Maria comments… “Everyone was so pleased with how it looked, and the manager of the shop and the Thornfield manager came down to look and we were so chuffed everyone said it was fantastic. We are hoping to be invited to create more window displays this year.”

Here are some of the Art Session photo’s followed by the final window display.

This Spring window display was created by residents living at Thornfield Care Home in Seaton in conjunction with artist Maria Bowers from Creative Minds.

Thornfield specialises in dementia care and is rated “Outstanding” by CQC.

Thornfield is part of Cannon Care Homes who also own The Check House in Seaton and Silverleigh in Axminster.

Thornfield Care Home would like to thank Louisa Dayman and the staff of Hospicecare for their continued support and involvement including the Spring window display.

www.cannoncarehomes.co.uk

With thanks to Barbara Carter Thornfield Care Home for all her ideas and enthusiasm to arrange this project and Carrie Kelf – Pitts (Registered Manager)

Thanks for reading!

Intergenerational Art Sessions at Appleby!

03/24/2017

Since the beginning of 2017 Sarah, our Woking based CM Artist has been delivering weekly Art Sessions to Appleby House care home in Epsom, Surrey with one important difference; local primary school children have been in attendance too! Children from Epsom Primary School have been attending the weekly sessions to help the Appleby residents with their art and to collaborate to create wonderful Art Projects.

The intergenerational sessions have been an amazing success and its been great to see young and old generations interact with one another, creating a stimulating and engaging environment for all. “The children have become more comfortable and confident around the residents, it is great to see how some children take the lead when working with a resident and sometimes the resident will take the lead but great to see them working together. The sessions always create great discussions between the residents and children”, Jacqui the Activity Co-ordinator said.

Here are some wonderful photographs taken by our friend Gareth Pugh of a intergenerational session at Appleby House on the 1st March. The session was inspired by Matisse’s cutouts and the children and older adults had a wide selection of colourful pre-cut shapes to chose from to create their art.

Sarah, our Woking based CM Artist has delivered several intergenerational Art Sessions to Appleby House, and says “I am so pleased to have suggested we combine the Art Sessions with the children’s visit to Appleby House. Art breaks down so many barriers for young and old alike, however apprehensive either party is at first the moment the colour appears the generations melt away and young and old just share the moment. Its a joyous experience each and every week no matter what medium i offer them and that joy stays, you can feel it settle into the very construction of Appleby; its walls, the staff, the art. I hope i have the privilege of continuing to run these sessions for a very long time.”

Tracy an Activity Co-ordinator at Appleby House remarks, “The intergenerational sessions work amazingly well with the children enjoying the interaction with the residents. Sarah is brilliant because she leaves the residents and children to create for themselves, knowing when to help!”

Here are some more photo’s of some of the artwork created in the previous inter-generational sessions at Appleby House…

Stained Glass Window Art

Tree and Birds Collage

Mark Making Books

Commenting on the impact the Art Session have had on the Care Home, Jacqui says “During the sessions you see and hear lots of conversation and laughter, conversations have increased and the residents feel good and look uplifted after the sessions. The art created at these sessions will add to the existing art, which will go onto improve our environment. We are trying to put photographs onto canvas to show how amazing the sessions are and we feel the photographs capture the magic created more than words can say.”

James, the Director of Creative Minds comments “The intergenerational Art Sessions delivered to Appleby House are having a fantastic impact on the residents. It provides the residents with the opportunity to interact and communicate with the children and for the children it provides them with an opportunity to support an older adult with their artwork and in a way learn about the effects of dementia and ageing, which is important for children to have an awareness and appreciation of.”

We hope that this will be the start of what will be many intergenerational Art Sessions delivered to care homes across the country. Watch this space.