rockpool candy

Artist in Residence

So for the last three weeks, I've been lucky enough to be staying at the most beautiful of schools, Shiplake College,

where the hub and I scored the deal of being artists in residence.

Set on the River Thames, it's like Harry Potter with rowing facilities. (Their Dep.Head is an Olympian Gold Medal Rower, don't you know...)

As you can see, the beautiful surroundings, wall-to-wall sunshine, misty mornings and general eagerness to explore and learn at the college were hellish....

With the luxury of an orchard all to myself, I was able to while away the hours crocheting on the trees,

using neolithic principles to build a loom

and creating a 12th Century-inspired spinning wheel from 21st Century junk.

I span Herdwick on the newly-built wheel. The resulting cob made my heart leap, as it mirrored the huge cones on a nearby fir. Pleasure perfection.

I ventured into new realms of natural graffiti, creating leaf stencils

and veneer marquetry to reinstall in nature.

Along with students, we explored the space amongst the trees using threads and fibres,

then challenged our egos by taking them down, often without even a photographic record. (These are two of the few taken.)

Ask yourself, as an artist, do you need everyone to know that you created a piece, or was the process satisfaction enough? Ironic to discuss on a public blog, but I for one, do not show and tell a great majority of my work. Sometimes it's a secret between me and the piece.

So the adventures continue to bloom and blossom, not just in England, but in just a fortnight across the pond, in the USA, too. Again with the hub, I will be exploring all these ideas and more, with the students of St Lawrence, Canton, NY. I am beside myself with excitement and cannot wait to meet them all. I hope they're looking forward to it, as much as me.

Alternative Fete

Stuck in London and craving a bit o' the countreeeeee, my lovers? Well, this weekend, the Southbank is being transformed into a village fete. I'm not sure if there will be hoopla and throwing sponges at the vicar, but, as a Dooorset gurl myself, I'll certainly be there, along with my very talented friend, Julie-Anne of Curious Tales. (Seamstress of my famous corset and bustle.)

My fibre movement, Let Me Ease Your Day, will feature, and I'll be hawking my spinning batts and Curious Tales' will be selling her fab designer clothing.

For full details, read the press release below.

See you there,

x

Watch this Space Festival, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1

Saturday 26th September: 12pm - 7pm

Sunday 27th September: 12pm - 3pm 

 

For the second year in a row, innovative live art and performance company, Home live art, presents a riotous weekend of artist’s, craft and produce stalls, performances and participatory activities which re-interpret the traditional village fete for the urban environment of the National Theatre.

At 12pm each day the Fete will be opened by a special Guest Star from the National Theatre….

 

Saturday will revolve around a vibrant stage programme - including a mass ukulele jam, contemporary barn dance, participatory skipping & hoola hooping and a spectacular bird of prey demonstration – alongside a wealth of fun, participatory fete based games and interactions that bring our traditional craft making practices into the 21st Century. The Legendary Miss Amy Lame invites you to make a pom pom for peace, while you can brush up on your knitting, sewing and craft skills with The Make Lounge, I Knit London and Rockpool Candy, as well as play fete games with The Society of Wonders and sample beautiful cupcakes and herbal teas. There will also be handmade toys and crafts using recycled and found fabrics.

 

Sunday's lunchtime programme will mark the seasonal move towards Autumn and Harvest with a series of innovative food and horticulture projects where visitors can share in the art of preparing, cooking and tasting to the sounds of anarchic Balkan beats from the Transsiberian March Band, ending with the fabulous School of Dance, where the audience can learn the Samba alongside the legendary Miss High Leg Kick and Boogaloo Stu.

Food artist Prudence Statie will be sculpting in chocolate, whilst Sharon Baker invites you to vote for your favourite bread breast bun, alongside cup cakes, home made jams & preserves, and innovative food interactions from performance company Curious and artists Lisa Cheung, Miche Fabre Lewin and Sophie Herxheimer.

 

Participants: The Benoit Viellefon Band, Bo-Peep Kids, Blue Field, Chrissy Cromer, Curious Tales, Cut a Shine, The Dulwich Ukulele Club, Golden Co-operative, The Hawk Experience, Hedgerow Provender, Miss High Leg Kick and Boogalou Stu's School of Dance, I Knit London, Lisa Cheung, Liz Bentley, The Make Lounge, MC Paul L Martin, Mary Mathieson, Miche Fabre Lewin, Peggy's Cupcakes, Pom Pom International (Amy Lame & Shane Waltener), Prudence Staite, Rock a Hula! Rockpool Candy, Roots & Shoots, Ros Badger, Sharon Baker, Simon Withers & Chris Jones, Skip Sisters, Skip Theatre, Society of Wonders, Sophie Herxheimer, Sugargrain, The Transsiberian March Band.

 

Notes:

home live art: ‘Home maybe where the heart is, but it is also where innovation takes root and thrives’ Lyn Gardner, The Guardian. Launched in 1999, home live art is a dynamic team of creative producers with a passion for presenting live art and performance work in site specific contexts. www.homeliveart.com

Watch this Space Festival is The National Theatre’s annual summer festival of outdoor theatre, circus, music, dance, comedy and film on the South bank from 1^st July until 27^th September. http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/wts

For further information or images please contact: home live art: Laura Godfrey-Isaacs laura@homeliveart.com, Tel. 07957 565336. National Theatre: Caroline Ansdell cansdell@nationaltheatre.org.uk Tel. 0207 452 3231