Award-winning Harrogate artist’s collage sells for £10,000 to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society

The collage by environmental artist James Owen Thomas called Seaside Memories raised £10,000 for the Alzheimer’s Society at an auction in Exeter last week.

The award-winning James, who lives with autism, said the piece was inspired by his late grandmother who suffered from dementia in her final years.

"I created the new piece to represent the seven stages of dementia from old postcards that used to belong to my grandmother and had a special meaning to her.

"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.”

Such is James’s commitment to being environmentally aware, he attended COP26 as a One Step Greener Ambassador.

He is also a Force For Nature Ambassador for The Tree Council and speak to children in schools to raise awareness of environmental issues.

James said: “I have faced a number of challenges during my life but I see my autism as a gift as it gives me the strength to be different.

“We are all surrounded by the beauty of nature and this has always been the deepest source of inspiration for me.”

James has his own gallery on Pateley Bridge High Street.