Artists Showcase at the Core!

Your chance to catch the Godmonkey Skyhook Amalgamation performing Lifecycle an audio visual experiment that just keeps developing. Their set aims to create a journey from embryo to afterlife looking at human milestones and emotions on the way. Featuring artists / musicians Nick Finn, Mark Brennan, Lynn Davies, Andy Eathorne, Darren Nimmo, Martin Baldock, DJ Cindy - oh yes, and me! 

At the Core 

this Friday 

7.30 

tickets £5 

also showcasing Head of Snakes, 

writers from The Stand, 

many fine musicians, 

writers & artists and 

Corby Community Choir. 

Miles & Dacombe will be showing an except from their film Flights of Imagination inspired by St Peter and St Andrews Church exploring the spaces we desire, the spaces we get, the lift inspirational space give & the regeneration in Corby. 

There will be laughter, joy, protest, history... so many riches for just £5!

To find out more and book tickets follow the link

Enamelled Bronze Dog

Photograph by Andrew Rushton

Some words in progress worked on since workshop 1 - inspired by Martin's postcard trying to fuse ancient artefact, ancient hunters and present memories. 

Enamelled Bronze Dog Brooch, 2nd Century AD click to see similar brooch

On such an emerald day

your speckled flanks 

cut across the landscape 

leanness set against the wind.

Circling through wild grasses

face fixed in joy of speed

you have your head and

I think there can be

no grace to match this.

Through winter 

we lie nose to tail,  

curve of belly 

echoing arc of rib.

A soft peace after 

days of hunting.

Your warm breath 

sputtering dreams

against my frozen feet.

Containment & Expression

Inspirational poets at the head of the table during lunch in the sun drenched garden

During the summer I was lucky enough to attend an inspiring poetry workshop and reading by Small Lightnings aka established poets Jo Bell - a professional archaeologist - and Martin Malone, poet of the Wiltshire landscape, at the Water Tower in Brigstock

It was a beautiful day in a beautiful setting, the other participants were lovely, creative, questing souls and the most excellent poetic duo worked us hard, we were given poems and postcards to respond to and were set a number of intriguing writing exercises. By the end of the day we were left with a fist full of beginnings and the encouragement to keep writing. In the evening we had the pleasure of hearing Jo and Martin read their work, if you get the chance, go and see them, they are fantastic.

You can find out more about Small Lightnings on their facebook page

Jo has also been appointed as the first Canal Poet Laurete and will have some lines of her poetry carved into lock gates as part of Locklines. I thought it would be good for Andrew Rushton to get a taste of the Jo Bell experience so we went to the poetry workshop held during the Hillmorton Open Day.

Poet Roy Fisher has created lines of poetry and sculptor Peter Coates has designed, carved and inlaid the words onto new commemorative lock gates at Hillmorton, inspired by Roy’s words and the canal environment.

We also had the opportunity to explore the bottom of the canal 

whilst work on the lock gates was taking place.

I found a penny

and saw some great faces

So here's two days of words & celebration.

AirSpace - A Dérive

A Saturday dérive to the AirSpace Gallery and Yarden in Hanley, where I saw a lovely tent by Kate Lynch, heard a great talk about an Artists Retreat to Lower Parkamoor at Grizedale Arts. 

Inspiring and thought provoking day.

Beautiful Brigstock - A Day Planting Jubilee Woods

Jubilee Woods Tree Planting Day on Saturday February 18th, The Water Tower, Brigstock with Rosalind Stoddart FRSA, Independent Cultural Engineer. We were joined by artists, poets, storytellers, families and friends to undertake the planting. 

The weather was blustery with the constant threat of rain but spirits were high and the planting went smoothly. We planted 106 trees, 105 hawthorn, hazel, silver birch, rowan, wild cherry, dogwood and one walnut tree, all of which fitted in three buckets but took several hours to plant! 

Nursery Manager for AES Europe Ann Leonard, Proprietor - Mr Robert Cockroft and Operations Manager - Mr Anthony McKenna  -  donated the stakes and mesh to protect the young trees.

There was also the special tree grown from a seed from one of the Royal Estates. Poet Adrian Johnson read a The Heart of the Tree by Henry Cuyler Bunner (1855 - 1896) as the tree was planted and each tree was planted with a penny for luck. 

Our youngest tree planter was Hamish Young who is just over two years old. We were also joined by Annabel Amos during BBC Radio Northampton's Treasure Quest we were  the final destination and so the planting was shared with the wider community. Annabel was able to plant a tree before dashing back to Northampton in the radio car.

Indoor poetry reprise by Adrian Johnson

Afterward the planting we had a hearty lunch of soup, bread, cheese, carrots, grapes and fruit cake, poems were read and stories were told whilst we ate. Ros read a special extract from B.B a writer close to her heart and the subject of her most recent project BB and His World. 

Storyteller Allan Davies told a wonderful tale 

which he thinks is called The World Tree. 

I read the following poems

Go Plant a Tree by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Woman Waving to Trees by Dorothea Tanning

Trees Need Not Walk the Earth by David Rosenthal

Before the Snake by Nathaniel Tarn

It felt good to be planting trees, to be part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, it was a celebratory day, so much more than a street party, as we were setting down roots, an act of faith in the future. 

The Tree Planters Were :-

Rosalind Stoddart

Carole Miles

Michael Miles

Ann Leonard
Annabel Amos

Amos Ballard

Millie Ballard

Sophie Cullinan

Kitty Cullinan

Jonty Cullinan

Emma Davies

Kate Dyer

Lorraine Dziarkowska

 Claudia Faehrenkemper

Jurgen
Nick Finn and Family

Adrian Johnson

Hilary Kantorowich

Gunta Krumins

Agris Krumins

Maureen Walvin

Sally Wilks

Lisa Wilkinson

Meriel White

Hamish Young

Graeham Young

There were also thoughts of, 

and trees planted for, 

people who couldn't attend 

or were no longer with us.