Lovers

Plans to Visit the Caudwell International Children’s Centre

I am looking forward to showcasing my artwork on Saturday 26th March at a special event involving a workshop and demonstration of my art at the Caudwell International Centre, Keele Science & Innovation Park, Newcastle-under-Lyme.  It’s also the unveiling day of the collages that I created for the Caudwell Children’s Charity’s Butterfly Ball event in 2021.  The Caudwell Children’s Charity earlier reported:

“James has created a bespoke and intimate Cherry Tree In Blossom collage spread across 20 unique canvases to raise money for Caudwell Children.  Each canvas was sponsored by a winning bidder at our fundraising event.  The piece raised an incredible sum of £20,000 which will go directly to supporting disabled children and their families.  The Cherry Tree In Blossom will be displayed at the Caudwell Children’s International Centre for all families and visitors to see.”

As shown below I was speaking to John Caudwell at The Butterfly Ball event in London and he then wrote a post on social media.

I wonder what John Caudwell would think if he knew I had spoken about the charity at one of the junior schools I had attended.  I sent an application at the time when I was about 10 years old to the Caudwell Children’s Charity to become a child ambassador as I was keen to do my bit for representing people with disabilities.  Caudwell Children had supported me when I was about 5 years old and I’ve been enthusiastic for some years to do something to help the Charity.

On Saturday 26th March I will be displaying for the first time my completed collage: By Moonlight.   My work in progress on this piece was photographed by a local arts group in North Yorkshire.  I used a selection of hole-punched, shredded and cut recycled papers (including discarded scratch cards) and pieces of fabric for the background, moon and clothing.  After I finished the collage and posted an image of it on social media for Valentine’s Day, I received this very positive feedback:

“James’ Valentine piece was all the more powerful for not detailing skin colour and facial features. It was absolutely intriguing and quite beautiful in its simplicity.”

“Who could believe that everything was made from recycled materials and even human hair? Amazing. And very romantic!”

“He captured the two lovers so beautifully – it’s intriguing, mesmerising and shrouded in mystery.  One of James’s most profound and mature works so far.”

By Moonlight

The following month, I will be speaking about my art on Sunday 10th April during the Spring Craft Fair at Henshaws Arts and Crafts Centre, Knaresborough: www.henshawsacc.org.uk    I’ll be mentioning my connection with The Tree Council www.treecouncil.org.uk and support for their Force For Nature campaign. As I started my education using PECS (picture exchange symbols) for communication, I have also been working with the Pyramid company in Brighton on some new design ideas for PECS relating to climate change and tree conservation.

Henshaws posted information on social media on 21st February:

“For the past few weeks, our art makers have been inspired by James Owen Thomas who has been running workshops in our shop on a Thursday morning.  James uses recycled materials to create intricate collages.  Clare, Nat and Holly have been using this technique to create artwork of their own.”

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