Service Project to South Africa (Artist in Residence)

My connection with this project was through my daughter Jenny Wilkinson. She is the main volunteer leader for Urban Saints in Runcorn, Cheshire and her husband Luke is Runcorn Young Life Area Director. For a few years now she’d been suggesting that I accompany her on one of the organisations’ overseas Service Project house building trips. I agreed on condition that I could participate as Expedition Artist or Artist in Residence rather than mix cement or unload bricks! It was on that basis that I raised the sponsorship from local businesses here in Ruthin in north Wales and from friends, colleagues and family to go to the Ebeneezer Care Centre, Grasmere, near Johannesburg, South Africa. The project took place from 3 -13 April 2009

I have been Artist in Residence in several places in my career as a professional artist but I have to say that this one in South Africa has probably been the most challenging to date! I expect I will be remembered as the lady under the enormous red hat (which shielded my eyes from the glare of the heat). A little crowd of children would often gather round me as I drew and we would discuss that particular picture's progress together. At their request of 'draw me, draw me' they would often get included by standing in the middle of the space I was observing.

I produced over forty small pages of drawings, starting with a bag-packing fund raising event in a supermarket in Rhyl before we set off on the (long!) journey. The volunteers worked daily on the site and constructed five dwellings for the care centre.
It was hot, dusty and tiring work for the volunteers (and an emotional experience too, at times).

My personal favourites from the sketches include 'GoGo (granny) doing the washing' and the illustration of the girls working in the bakery, who giggled the whole time that I was drawing them, not least because I happened to choose a place to sit beside the oven, getting hotter and redder all the time I was in there.

I endeavoured to record the progress of the buildings, from the foundations upwards and every aspect of the time we all spent together. I drew the cook team preparing meals for the hungry workers (including the Chelsea buns fresh from the bakery), the tents we slept in and the big tent that the Club meetings were held in during the evenings. Even the basic washing facilities were included...almost nothing escaped the pencil and paints.

Please contact me if you would like to purchase a limited edition set of postcards

Alison taking a break	baby grace	packing bags in Morrisons to raise funds	Benedict at work
Chelsea Buns	Boys showing their drawings	Children at Ebenezer Care Centre	Drawing in South Africa (photo by Jenny Wilkinson)
eating supper in the dark	encourage one another	evening 'club'	getting the roof on
Go Go (granny) doing the washing	Joie and Andre at the site entrance	Ladies on the kitchen	ladies' powder room
laying foundations	making repairs to existing buildings	Official Photo!	on board the plane
Oom Louis by the water butt	pass it on (bricks)	sleeping quarters	Sunday morning at the Rock of Salvation church
Thank you and goodbye posters	The Bakery in Ebenezer Care Centre	The Bonfire minder	the 'building site'
the creche where the young orphans play	view through the marquee at boys having conversation	washing 150 potatoes for supper	work boots covered in South African dust