James Owen Thomas's art raises £10,000 for Alzheimer's

Seaside Memories, a collage by James Owen Thomas was auctioned in Exeter at an event in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society. It was commissioned by the charity and kindly donated by James, whose grandmother Joan has the condition.

Seaside Memories raised £10,000 for the Alzheimer's Society

“It was very exciting to receive the news that my Seaside Memories collage raised £10,000 for the Alzheimer’s Society," says James. "I created it to represent the seven stages of dementia from old postcards that used to belong to my grandmother and had a special meaning to her.

James with his grandmother Joan in his gallery in Pateley Bridge

“As you will see the final stages break up where only certain words can be recognised and then nothing but a blur of confusion in the final stage. It’s an incredibly sad condition but I am glad that when my grandmother lived with us, she enjoyed amongst many other things watching me create my artwork and going along to exhibitions with me.”

Joan now needs a higher level of care for her dementia and is living in a care home.

Adds James: It took me such a long time as I was pasting layers and layers until I achieved the right effect. I was doing this piece of artwork and some others at the same time and it’s hard to know how long this one took exactly. My mum is really pleased about the money it has raised.”

The work in progress

James, who was diagnosed with autism aged three, studied art at Bradford College. He has since made a name for himself as a talented environmental artist, making use of materials that would generally be thrown away.

He turns unwanted material such as used National Lottery scratch cards into something creative and unique.

Dementia Friends Ambassador Beverley Newman said in a speech on the night: “The artist’s grandmother Joan has dementia and this piece focuses on memory postcards. Older memories endure much better than short term memory for people with dementia and using postcards to reminisce, talk about family, the old days and holidays is a wonderful way for James, and so many others, to connect with a loved one with dementia.

“The seven postcards in the piece also represent the journey through the seven stages of dementia from normal cognitive function to severe dementia where pictures and words become blurred so they can’t be understood.”

Two companies each paid £5,000 for James’s work. The original fundraising target for the event was £17,000. The final total far exceeded this: £30,524 with an extra £1,000 in match funding from house builders the Vistry Group.

James’s work can be seen in his gallery - JOT’s Gallery - in his home town of Pateley Bridge was officially opened on June 3.

*JOT’s Gallery 2A High St, Pateley Bridge, Harrogate HG3 5AW; jamesowenthomas.com