Gentle Giant @ Arts Centre Melbourne

I have just received some fantastic photos of The Gentle Giant, being performed at the Arts Centre, Melbourne in August, so I had to share...

Photographs taken by Jason Lau.

Spin/Dye/Weave

Another summer memory here, and some pictures from the wonderful Spin/Dye/Weave workshop led by  Georgina Barney and Line Nilsen.

The photos below show some of the natural dyeing process that we dyed fleece with - I was learning in particular about woad which produces the vivid blue. It was a really exciting process, and felt particuluarly exciting to dye such vivid colours from plants that Georgina had grown, and we had harvested that very morning.

The weekend of workshops also included an introduction to hand spinning, as well as a session learning the basics of weaving on a small loom. 

 

 adding the fleece to the woad dye vat

 when the fleece comes out of the dye bath, the colour changes rapidly

some of the fleece dyed with woad, and also chammomile and weld, drying on the rack

 

some of the other samples, including the coreopsis which produced such a wonderfully vivid red.

 

Being Human festival

I had great fun on Saturday making recycled art at Leicester museum with Michelle Reader. The drop in session was a part of the 'Being Human' festival which is a nationwide festival.

I was assisting Michelle to help families create insects and flowers from all of the recycled objects that she has collected, and we had some wonderfully imaginative creations from those of all ages!

Out Of This World

Here are some photos of Wriggle Dance's new show 'Out Of This World' which has been touring around Warwickshire libraries throughout October.

I made the silver alien costumes, which were fantastic fun, with their metal tubing sleeves!

War With The Newts

 

Here's a few pictures of the wonderful set for "War With The Newts', by Kniave Theatre, designed by Hannah Sibai.

I had a very intensive week, assisting Hannah to get all of this show together, ready for its previews at the Square Chapel, Halifax, and the Waterside Arts Centre, Salford before heading to Summerhall at the Edinburgh Fringe. The show is a fantastical and futuristic sci-fi tale, set in the hull of a fishing boat. Rob Bentall created a live soundscape for each performance, which helped to create a wonderfully immersive audience experience.

Mashi Theatre at the Nottingham Mela

Here is another project from our wonderfully long summer, and to the Arboretum in Nottingham, for the Nottingham Mela. I lead the craft session of the story telling workshop, developing ideas for Mashi Theatre's new show all about tigers and bees, called 'Stripey Honey is very yummy'. It is being developed into a show in the coming months, so do keep your eyes peeled for their new show.

There is a definite focus on sustainability and responsibilty for this story, so, together with Sue Pyecroft, we designed and made bee puppets from solar powered light bulbs, that the young people could take away with them. I was also very busy making tiger tails for the workshop! Parmjit Sagoo led the storytelling and yoga session, which kept every child enthralled... a really wonderful afternoon!

Marwell Zoo

I've been remembering warmer weather this evening, as the dark and misty autmnal nights creep in again. In July I had the pleasure of helping Michelle Reader to re-feather her amazing sculpture of a redshank to install at Marwell Zoo, as part of a sculpture trail . The redshank was made from lots of different recycled materials, mainly the wooden and metal slats from Venetian blinds!  Michelle makes all of her sculptures using recycled and found objects, and it was so inspiring to see, and work alongside her in her studio.

'Agent M'

Here is a little summer project I had fun with last week - making a wonderful 60s dress for the mischevious 'Agent M'. She's been sent across libraries this summer holidays, to record levels of mischief amongst children... so if you spy her somewhere, then do say hello, if you dare! 

This project is by Spark Arts, designed by Sue Pyecroft, photograph by Parmjit Sagoo.

Into the Rainbow

Back in January, I had the pleasure of collaborating with Wriggle Dance Theatre, to develop 2 new costumes for their show 'Into The Rainbow' . It was quite a technical project to get my head around, but the end results are quite wonderful!

PULSE

I've been working with Irene Jade over the past few weeks, on a brand new Bamboozle PMLD show, PULSE, directed by Sue Pyecroft.

Its set in 1930s America, in the dustbowl, and follows Patience, who is waiting for the rain to come. There's an amazing clanky, cloud machine, wonderful music and dance, and a tiny little Bird puppet made from lots of recycled bits of junk, by Michelle Reader. 

I had fun making some little Boomerang videos, that give you a little taste of the show!

Costume Making, Guys and Dolls

Here's a few snaps from some recent work making some costume pieces: many many pairs of bloomers and waistcoats, for Guys and Dolls, designed by Ryan Dawson-Laight. They are on their way to be fitted up on the cast now, so I'll look forward to seeing some photos!

Mashi Theatre Residency

Last week I was working with Mashi Theatre, as part of a creative education residency at a group of primary schools in Lincolnshire. Working with Parmjit Sagoo, a drama, movement and yoga specialist, we were leading workshops, sharing the tales of Birbal. The workshops are in preparation for seeing the show ‘The Tales of Birbal’ this week, as the show begins its autumn tour.

I was leading the puppet making section of the workshop, where each child makes a crow puppet, similar to those in the show. The children then spend the rest of the workshop manipulating and embodying the crows, having a wonderful time. Do try and catch the show at some point over the next 2 months!

COAL 2017 Autumn Tour

Over the past month, COAL has been on its Autumn tour in Scotland. We visited Edinburgh, Greenock and Stirling, and met some wonderful pit women, brass bands, and audiences. 

The miner’s ‘underground’ trousers were throuroughtly in need of some care, and a mend, so lots of patching and reinforcing was required for them. We also had a couple of new miners to fit costumes for, as well as 10 new pit women, and 2 returners, from Glasgow. The brass band jackets have also had a lot of wear over the past few tours, so I have repaired and restored the details on them as well. All in all, a busy few weeks, telling the story of the miners strike to lots of new audience members.

At the final venue in Stirling, The Macrobert Arts Centre, at the university, there was also an exhibition launching alongside COAL, where artist, Philip Gurrey, had worked with some groups at the local Miner's Welfares, rembering life with the colliery, and also the tumultuous time during and after the strike. More about this here

 

COAL starts again next year, when we return to Inverness.

Costume Detail, 'Into the Light'

Here are some wonderful pictures taken by Ryan, of a handful of our cast members, from 'Into The Light'.

More info about the performance is in the blog post below.