Poetry and Art and Science-Art (by sarah)

This last week has been quiet busy for me as far as my 'work' is concerned. First off I had a meeting on Saturday about taking part in another art exhibition like In Braille with Centre Arts in order to raise many for the visually impaired. I'm aiming for another piece of three dimensional textural science art.

Then on the Sunday I was performing (though briefly due to sick baby) at Art Tournament in Gloucester, a monthly event which is becoming a regular thing for me!

Then I have mostly been writing science and tech poetry as part of this years WoPoWriMo challenge. This involves actually checking facts for a start!

Then there has been organising supplies for Alaric's Cub pack so that they could practice sewing badges and buttons on.

And then I got a peak at the Cheltenham Poetry Festival programme and yeah! Look Look! I'm in it! (running kids workshops).

Then (yes there is more) I've been preparing for a Poetry Dragon workshop at a school in Cheltenham - thanks once again to Cheltenham Poetry Festival. (This has been a bit of a challenge as everything is still not unpacked!)

Then I have been designing a new craft writing workshop!

Knitted Alaric's Valentine present and am half way through little presents for the girls (we go for the concept of Family Love rather than Sexual Love for this holiday)

Tonight I am going to deliver a flower made of hearts painting/collage to Centre Arts along with some knitted hearts and other various craft bits of a valentines day nature. This is for their Valentine Exhibition which is on Friday 10th at 12:00pm until Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 5:00pm.

Then tomorrow I run the workshops.

And this weekend holds just as much arty fun plus it looks like my cousins are visiting for the half term 🙂

Oh and I finally managed to not only play F on the guitar but then to change to C7th and back again! W00t! Playing nursery rhymes to the girls is paying off!

Christmas Poetry (by sarah)

This is a video of me reading The Little Book of Festive Poetry which I wrote a few years ago as part of the PiBoIdMo challenge. I was asked to read at The Brewery Cheltenham as part of a fund raiser for Winstons' Wish organised by Cheltenham Poetry Festival.

In the video Jean is inching her way towards me to join me on the stage - as were several other children 🙂 The coughing is because Alaric is recovering from having fluid on his lungs - not sure he should have been outside but he was bored of resting!

It’s All NaNo’s Eve (by sarah)

It be that time of year again when all the nut balls come out of hiding! That's right it's NaNoWriMo time again - at the witching hour on this All Hallows Eve a bizar and eclectic ritual will take place - writers will begin typing, scrawling or dictating in ernest in the hope that this year they will make that word goal. That they will be the Nanoer of the finished first draft - I put it to all fellow nanofanatics new and old - lets get writing the madness has begun.

For those of you who are interested I'm 5affy on the forum (that's Saffy but with a five instead of the ess). Or @TheMonsterBlogs on Twitter and the blog I will be blogging upon is Purple Monster - and of course I'll be doing the picture book ideas as well which can be found on Orange Monster.

Jeany is also joining me in this this year! (She has the last two years - first with dictating stuff to me and then last year with her Nano note book in which she stuck stickers, wrote stuff, drew pictures and made collages from mags.)

Exhibition In Braille Sneak-Peek (by sarah)

Tomorrow Saturday 24th September 2011 sees the Exhibition in Braille a touchy feely art attraction set up by Centre Arts to raise money for the Gloucester County Association for the Blind. Tickets cost £5 and are avaliable at the doors which are open 12-7pm.

There are some really cool things there for you to touch and feel and an interactive braille table to boot!

Here are a few sneak peaks but you can not know the majesty of these pieces without actually going and feeling them!

The exhibition has been put together with the blind and visually impaired in mind and as such bright vibrant and therefore easier to see colours have been used in some of the pieces and there is also a bueatiful light sculpture.

Then we come to my piece - the giant coral I have been working on for what seems like forever!

Which I set up last night 🙂 Complete with beads for the molecular sand! There are also MP3s of some of my poems that I felt where a good counter point to the visual/textural piece there to listen too 🙂

September Challenges/To-Do’s (by sarah)

September has snuck up on me and sees me papier mache-ing like a mad thing - my aim? To create a piece of textural science art for the visually impaired and the blind.

This piece of art work does not just involve papier mache though - it involves knitting, sewing, clay sculpting, sugru, polymer clay, wire work, metal casting, wood carving, stone carving, geology and acrylic paints not too mention lots of recycled pots and tubs and our mountain of graze boxes.

This all needs to be ready for the 24th of September for the Centre Arts Exhibition in Braille. And yes I am panicking - it is a play on the tree of life but I have gone for a more coral/byozoan feel and hope to have life in various forms sitting in the polyp tubes (what I have instead of branches). A relief of the scientific creation of life will hopefully be feelable along the base along with an audio poem/story of life.

Apart from that I am researching stuff for my Punk in Pink series and generally trying to take the musical me forward.