Weeks 1 - 2

The first few weeks of the project have really just been about discussion and fun creative activity. The enthusiastic response of patients taking part so far has been amazing and I've really enjoyed listening to their individual stories, which range in theme from heartfelt and emotional to completely eccentric...! (Note: The storytelling element of this project is very broad and completely open to interpretation - stories don't necessarily have to be personal or about CF). Any story shared is brilliant and important and I really appreciate the input from patients who have shared them with me :)

This past few weeks also saw us try some initial creative exercises which aim to remove preconceptions about what is 'valid' or 'proper' art, particularly with patients who weren't particularly confident in their creative ability. As I've mentioned previously, I believe that anybody can make art and have fun with it. The first lot of exercises we did had every participating patient in hysterics, which is also a bonus....

Exercise 1 - Drawing with eyes closed:

This exercise simply involves a pen, paper, memory and imagination! Myself and the patients took a pen and pad of paper each. The rules are to draw a familiar animal/object in under 30 seconds with eyes completely closed (no peeking). Below are some of the results, which I personally think are fantastic. Can you tell what they are?

 Selection of quick, eyes closed drawing exercises produced by myself and the patients.

We followed this exercise with another silly drawing task - the patients and I drew 30 second portraits of each other without looking at the paper, focusing solely on the subject, with often hilarious results....

 Patients' quick, no looking at the page, portraits of me, which I must admit were often surprisingly accurate!

 

 Selection of my quick, no looking at the page, portraits of patients....

Aside from being silly fun, this exercise works as a great warm up and the 'eyes closed' element removes all notions of 'proper' creative competence. Though I am a trained artist I think this

 an be detrimental in this task and often think the patient's work turns out better than my own!

I'm really looking forward to doing more of these exercises and seeing what new recruits to the project come up with.