Adventure Before Dementia Mug

Adventure Before Dementia.  Original artwork by Julia Griffith.

This one began with something I spotted a camper van on the M5 motorway, near Minehead.

I saw the words “Adventure Before Dementia” on that camper van and it made me laugh so much that I carried the phrase around in my head for the next three or four years.

Eventually, I painted my own Volkswagen camper van.  I chose it because I love the shape and those wonderful curves, then I filled it with suitcases as though it were packed up and ready to disappear off on a wild journey.

Originally, I was going to call the piece Bon Voyage but that old phrase was still sitting there in the back of my mind, waiting for this moment.

So I now have two versions with different number plates because the phrase Adventure before dementia has become my mantra since I spotted it all those years ago and that mindset has taken me all over the world.

A Note from the Artist:

I think this one is really about not putting life off.  Go somewhere.  Do something.  Pack the bags.  Take the trip.  Have the adventure.

The phrase made me laugh the first time I saw it, but I think that is why it stayed with me for so long because underneath the joke, there is my mantra.