Expressive Art AGM

Wow! What a night and an event that was particularly challenging! I was recording for the Annual General Meeting of an Ontario-wide organization, The Ontario Expressive Art Therapy Association. I had done recordings before in that building and was counting on a smooth wall. Instead, the room they held the AGM in was a perfectly lovely choice, but one that was a graphic recorder’s worst case scenario, and as a professional I should have calculated for such a possibility. It was a charming oak-paneled side room in a century-old building, with a large fireplace on one side and a bay window on the other. And the people in the attendance were wonderful therapists and artists! What is a graphic recorder to do? I decided to wing it. I chose one of the two heavy oak doors, which was also paneled, as half of my surface. The other half would be the beveled and paneled wall. With no real reliable surface at all beneath the paper, I chose light, brush style pens that made a mark no matter what. Since I could not use the usual sweeping, bold or stronger strokes of the pen, I integrated colored chalk and laid it on. Arrows and enclosures that might normally have had a single drop-shadow received a rainbow of colors instead. The final effect? They loved it! Well, they were Art Therapists! And I think they could tell that I had thrown my heart into it. The recording did actually have a wild, spirited quality to it that makes me laugh when I see it. Here’s me posing in front of the mural. It was an honour to work with the Ontario Expressive Art Therapy Association, and to be appreciated for my zany graphic recording of their AGM! Thanks, OEATA!

Budget Meeting for Environmental Group

Best graphic recording session ever! I always love environmental activists, and HYPERLINK ""Climate Fast is one of my favourite organizations. They met in a small room with a large series of windows and for a moment I thought it couldn’t be done! Then I decided to try, and I hung a double paper across the window, and put to use the skills I had learned working for the Expressive art Therapist’s AGM with the panelled wall. I used very light strokes of brush pens instead of chisel-tipped sharpies and I integrated chalk and colour. It was exciting to watch it slowly unfold. Nothing makes me happier than graphic recording. I could do it all day, it makes me feel amazing! The most amazing part was glancing back, and noticing participants were visually referencing my work. They were actually looking up at the graphic recording for inspiration instead of down at their open laptops, which is the most awesome thing ever. Later in the meeting they were actually referring back to discussion blocks using the recording as a reference point. And despite the very serious topics at hand, the meeting became much more fun and productive. As well, I was pleased with the final look of the recording, which was balanced design-wise with good depth and colour choices. This is what we look for in a successful session!