My colleague Caroline and I were invited to a primary school in Butetown to help the Year 6 children make willow lanterns. They will be carried in a Halloween procession for the community organized by Butetown Arts & Culture Association and Wales Millennium Centre. Caroline demonstrated how to construct the lantern structure from withie or … Continue reading Lantern Making
Creative Process
Artist Open Studios Day
Lots of visitors for our first Open Studios event since November 2019. It was wonderful to share conversations stimulated by the art and find out about visitors' art making experiences. It was also very useful to get feedback, and to be able to sell our work. An ambient soundscape by John Rea, based on sounds … Continue reading Artist Open Studios Day
Open Studios
Getting ready for our Open Studios event. The artists who have studios at Kings Road Yard, Pontcanna will be opening their doors to let visitors come to view their work. Friday from 6pm with party downstairs, and Saturday from 10am to correspond with the outdoor market in the yard. All welcome!
New Work: In the Studio
From a mixed media series, 'What Remains', incorporating found objects and organic materials into a concrete/sand/plaster base. This series of work emerged as a way to explore feelings about The Anthropocene -a geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on the Earth’s ecosystems and geology. Using found and organic materials that present … Continue reading New Work: In the Studio
Dance and Film: Cynefin – Week Five
This week, dancer, actor and teacher, June Campbell-Davies came in to work with the children on our Cynefin Project along with Marcus and Nick from Redbrck Production Company. Following introductions, June told the class about her parents' experience of coming from Grenada in the West Indies to the UK post-war, part of a Dance Troupe … Continue reading Dance and Film: Cynefin – Week Five
Murals and Sculptures: Cynefin – Week Four
A lovely day for a walk to Penllwyn Manor in Blackwood accompanied by three of the children's fathers. Unfortunately, my attempts to gain access to the house proved unfruitful, though Douglas, the kind man at the council did his best to persuade the present owners of the building to let us have a look around. We … Continue reading Murals and Sculptures: Cynefin – Week Four
Freedom: Cynefin – Week Three
Week three of working with Year 4 and 5 children on the ACW Cynefin project. We had planned to go on a walk to Penllwyn Manor, a local house that was know until recently as the Penllwyn Arms. It was built in the 16th century by Thomas Morgan of the infamous Morgan Family of Tredegar. … Continue reading Freedom: Cynefin – Week Three
Mapping our Journey: Cynefin – Week One
I have been paired with a primary school in the Caerphilly County Borough to work with Year 4 and 5 children and their teacher on the Arts Council of Wales Cynefin project. After an exciting online planning session, the teacher and I formulated a question to encompass the school's priorities and the requirements of the … Continue reading Mapping our Journey: Cynefin – Week One
Celebrating Poly Styrene
Poly Styrene was an icon and visionary. Of Anglo-Somali heritage, she was the first woman of colour to front a successful rock band, and was a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements in Britain. Her sparse, potent lyrics still resound today. The documentary Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché,features unseen archive material … Continue reading Celebrating Poly Styrene
Celebrating Breathing Space
Online launch of the wonderful work produced over lockdown by participants of Breathing Space, a group that Katja Stiller and I have been facilitating for the past two years. Transferring onto Zoom during the pandemic, the weekly sessions consist of mindfulness, creative writing and art for people with mild to medium mental health issues. Taking … Continue reading Celebrating Breathing Space
