"Vanessa has worked with my organisation, Transforming Conflict, for the last two years as a Graphic Recorder during the World Café slot of our last two annual conferences. Her contribution to the success of these conferences has been immense. Having run World Cafes myself for other events where there has been no Graphic Recorder I can wholeheartedly say that it is Vanessa's skill at graphically capturing the essence of what is being said by delegates that makes the event meaningful and pulls all the threads together. Her style is appealing, humorous and yet profound. She works methodically and steadily throughout the event, walking around to capture and understand what is being said and her graphics can sometimes help delegates see links and patterns that they had not seen before.
Vanessa is a consummate professional - not only is she a superb graphic artist but she is also mistress of the technology she needs to record what she has created , and ensure that the client receives it in the most adaptable form. I ensure that each graphic is on our website and I know at least one school that has made the conference graphic into a framed picture for senior managers' offices and a mouse mat for all the staff.
I wholeheartedly recommend Vanessa - as a graphic recorder, as a trainer and as an inspiration".

Belinda Hopkins, Director, Transforming Conflict www.transformingconflict.org

"One of the best things for me was that even at Vanessa's taster session she found out about our current drawing skills at the start. I love art and regularly attend art classes so am a confident drawer but in the past have had to pretend not to be in order to 'fit in' with other people who seemed worried about drawing. But Vanessa made sure it was OK to already have some drawing skills whilst she was going to challenge you to learn something new. And I did. What was most useful for me was to have some new 'short hand' for visual images and it's made me think about how I draw out of the training room. Like everyone else I loved her 'springy' people who are so flexible and adaptable, as easy to draw as stick people and so much more attractive. I got a huge amount out of my hour and a half."

Stella Collins, Director - Stellar Learning www.stellarlearning.co.uk

"Vanessa has recently worked with us on two quite different events. The first was to capture a visual record of a one day training course on change management with 14 people and the second was to capture a summary of the key points from a two day team event with 110 people. In both instances Vanessa created fantastic images that were a true reflection of the different events. Prior to the event we walked though the objectives, participants and the session plan and agreed the desired outcome for the visual representation and in both cases the brief was fulfilled. The way that Vanessa works in the background while all the other activities are taking place is very discrete as Vanessa is conscious that she does not want to overshadow the main event. We do always introduce Vanessa to the group and explain her role and during the breaks and working sessions there is a steady interest in what is being created. At the end of both events the full visual was completed and shared with the participants prior to their departure. All participants also received an electronic copy of the finished drawing as a reminder of the day and the team event one is now printed and up on the wall in the team area as a reminder of a shared experience for a new team working together.
I would recommend Vanessa unreservedly as she has a real ability to listen to what is being said, consolidate the information and capture the essence in a memorable way which everyone understands ~ even those who start the day off a bit skeptical about this sort of thing..."

Sally Palethorpe, Managing Partner - Inspired Partners Ltd. www.inspired-partners.com

"A few years ago we invited Vanessa to produce a graphic record of our annual two-day conference. The result was a huge, colourful picture packed full of insights and humour. Since then we have come to think of Vanessa as our artist in residence. At our most recent conference, Vanessa ran a graphics session for delegates - and unleashed an ocean of creativity. Vanessa has shown us that everyone can draw - it's difficult to imagine a conference without her."

Judy Payne, Henley Knowledge Management Forum.