Dementia Live Illustration - Our Story

In June I live illustrated to record the stories of 2 people living with dementia/Alzheimer’s.

As part of an Arts Council England funded project, I was there to create something for the service users and their families to keep and use forever. The stories we recorded were the ones that get repeated most often. Having a visual aid could help start new conversations, and serve as a visual aid to keeping the story going.

The illustrations turned into a mix of autobiographical chronological stuff, as well as well-trodden memories. It was like being taken on a memory journey as they talked me through their stories. Working live meant I was able to check in and make sure I’d drawn things correctly like buildings and vehicles etc.

Mo Healy took illustrations by Bethan Laker and I, and stitched them into these wonderful books that were presented to the service users and their families/carers.

Many thanks to Rosie and Chris Anderson for trusting me with this project.

Live illustrating is the thing I’m doing most of this year and enjoying a lot.

Next week i’ll be graphic recording at a 3 day summit in London, illustrating 3 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. New post coming soon! Pop over to Instagram and say hello if you’d like to see what’s happening.

More examples of live illustration and graphic recording.