Cancer Data Dive, Product Forge, Edinburgh 2017
Creative Comfort…
In order to further support staff wellbeing at UCLH during this extremely difficult time, the Arts & Heritage team have brought together artists working at UCLH to offer creative ways to de-stress. Creative Comfort is an online resource of colouring sheets and instructional sessions or videos on creative activities like origami!
My portrait project for Haematology Cancer Care, making portraits of patients and their families in the Daycare unit of the Cancer Centre, is not running during the current Covid-19 situation to reduce the number of non clinical people (like me) entering the building.
I always work from life rather than using photos so drawing people is difficult during this period of social distancing and self isolation. These days though we all have a webcam on our laptop or a camera on our phones and we’re all learning to use video calling as a way to keep in touch with our loved ones at the moment. I’ve made drawings using video calling in the past and I think it’s an interesting mix of using a camera and drawing from life. (https://wordpress.com/post/simontolhurst.wordpress.com/1201)
Guy and Laura from UCLH Arts & Heritage suggested using video calling as a way to draw members of staff at the hospital who might like to have their portrait made and I think it’s a great idea! I’m really pleased to be able to offer my support and I’m hoping to make a whole new set of portraits of the amazing staff at UCLH. Drawings will take 30 mins and I’ll make prints for participants after the lockdown ends. We hope that it might be a nice way to enjoy a quiet moment during this extremely stressful time for everyone working at the hospital.
To arrange a portrait sitting, please contact Laura: laura.bradshaw7@nhs.net
I’ve also contributed a design for the colouring sheets that Creative Comfort have produced. The colouring sheets are available for staff to download from the intranet (or direct from Laura) and they’ve also been printed and left in staff respite areas together with some colouring pencils!
Here are a few of the designs for colouring sheets by Creative Comfort:
My design of aerial acrobats is adapted from one I made a couple of years ago for a patient at the Cancer Centre, which went on to be a journal cover for a gift.
Well done to all the artists involved and I hope the staff enjoy all the creative activities on offer!
Here’s my colouring sheet, the original design and the journal it was created for:
Thank you very much to Guy and Laura at UCLH Arts & Heritage for including me.
And a huge thank you to all the staff at UCLH (and the wider NHS) for everything you do, especially at this difficult time!
#CreativeComfort #OneTeam #NHSheroes
Simon Tolhurst 