ingénu/e 28, Spring 2020

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ingénu/e creative talent revealed

south downs & high weald issue 28 spring 2020

Keep Calm & Create

surviving the lockdown and looking forward to better times

ingénu/e

creative talent revealed contents

Poetry, Prose & Illustration

Creative

editor Gill Kaye

editor@ingenuemagazine.co.uk for press releases pressdesk@ingenuemagazine.co.uk sales & marketing Roger Kaye sales@ingenuemagazine.co.uk 07583 944546 07816 838694 online www.ingenuemagazine.co.uk and big thanks to 2 Way Communcations for their invaluable help on the website www.2waycomm cover image

Catriona McKay is Scottish harpist and composer. She often collaborates with folk and experimental musicians and co-designed the Starfish McKay harp. Catriona is performing (hopefully) at the Harp on Wight International Festival in late October.

Hello dear readers, and welcome to this online edition of your favourite arts & culture magazine!

Although it is now the season of bluebells and spring blossom, this flash fiction piece by Josie Gilbert caught my imagination so I wanted to share it with you:

She ducked under the branches of the yew, to reach the furthest end of the churchyard and her grandmother's grave. The annual visit in February meant an eight hour round trip, this year mostly through snow. Here the sun shone brightly. She held a bunch of snowdrops, her grandmother's favourite flowers, but the grave already was covered in snowdrops – wild ones. She smiled and added hers. Two separate generations met briefly in that simple gesture.

–Josie Gilbert

Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room, namely the extraordinary circumstances we find ourselves in – social distancing/ self isolating/ lockdown...

During these testing times, when most of us are greatly restricted from going about our normal day to day routine, there is a need to be inventive, to find other ways to associate with our loved ones, to fill time which otherwise would be taken up with work, and to distract us from the ubiquitous [overly-dramatic] news feeds.

So now, alongside all those practical jobs that have been on the back burner for months, there is more than ever a need to engage with the aesthetic things in life. Those of us lucky enough to have gardens or be within striking distance of Nature can get lost in the burgeoning spring; there's that book you've been meaning to read; take a sketchbook out on your daily walk; learn an instrument.

We are fortunate that this period of isolation has happened at a time when the internet is so accessible. As well as enabling us to keep in touch with our family and friends, it now provides an essential platform for a myriad of individuals and small businesses, including a lot of tutors who have now gone online.

While artists can be relatively self sufficient and are very often able to promote and sell their work online, the same cannot be said for performers who rely on a live audience and the venues that host them, so we all must help support live performance as much as possible once the ban is lifted.

Meanwhile, with the internet we can visit galleries, go to the opera, see a play, attend a tutorial, watch virtual choirs perform – conference call style – each musician from their own home, all from the comfort of our armchair. Among those in our area who are making performances available online are Brighton Early Music Festival and Chichester Festival Theatre, Hastings Contemporary and Towner Gallery are offering virtual gallery tours. Then further afield the RSC, the National Theatre, and the Metropolitan Opera are all streaming previous performances. Silver linings... Stay safe and keep smiling! –Gill Kaye, editor

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Springing Into Action at Artspring Gallery

After a dull, wet winter it’s time to refresh –and what better place to find new ideas for yourself and your home than ArtSpring Gallery in Tonbridge.

This artist collective has received much praise for the quality and variety of the innovative work on show – paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, glass and jewellery, all in a contemporary style.

While their Spring show with its emphasis on nature has been suspended due to the current government guidance, they are optimistic that the gallery will open its doors again in the not too distant future. Meanwhile here is a taste of what would have been on display, from member artists and three guests, painters Katie Whitbread and Clare Kent as well as glass artist Claudia Wiegand.

For Katie Whitbread the natural environment is a continuing source of inspiration. She loves to paint landscapes, exploring changing colours and light patterns. Her recent work combines soft, abstracted landscape backgrounds with focused detail in the foreground.

Clare Kent is a painter of trees and seascapes. Joy and beauty are often not where we expect them, but revealed in observations, such as noticing the low sun shining on a tree encompassing the darkness and the light. Clare's work is about capturing these moments in her artwork.

Claudia Wiegand's hand painted tree glass sculptures in zingy spring colours are always popular. As well as a collection of tableware and decorative panels inspired by white sandy beaches, Claudia has created a series of delicate bowls reminiscent of tropical lagoons, made using the technique of ‘pâte de verre’.

While the gallery is closed you can still shop online at www.artspringgallery.co.uk/shop. Here you can view a more extensive collection of some members’ work and have your chosen item posted direct to a UK address free of charge.

ArtSpring also has a new blog on their website, all about 'Art Matters' and 'The Art World Uncovered' as well as interviews with our artists.

Plans to celebrate ArtSpring's fourth year of being in business – a special Summer Exhibition of work from former and current members – to be launched on Saturday 4th of July with a slice of birthday cake and a glass of fizz, depend upon the current situation. Check the website and Facebook page for the latest news.

from top: Caroline Fraser, Coed ty Canol 1; Claire Longley, Turkish Oak; Ruth McDonald, Turbulent Seascape

Chalk Gallery

‘A Spring Flourish’, 'Catch a Ride', 'Peregrinations' and 'A Walk on the Front' – these four exciting events were to comprise the spring season for Chalk Gallery in Lewes.

Due to the current government restrictions, however, these events will be rescheduled. But the work of the Chalk artists can still be seen online, including the four diverse artists whose work would have been featured in the spring season, who in their own unique way express this wonderful time of year.

This was the plan: Lindsey Pearson presents her dazzling watercolours until 26th April and the gallery hosts its ‘A Spring Flourish’ during this time.

Featured artist Susan Lynch reveals her latest collection of distinctive abstract paintings entitled ‘Catch a ride’ on 27th April until 17th May.

‘Peregrinations’, Gina Lelliott’s new 2D and 3D vibrant glassworks can be seen from 18th May until 7th June and to complete the season, Lyndsey Smith takes us on ‘A Walk on the Front’ with a delightful collection of her original paintings and prints based upon time spent on the seafront at Brighton.

We look forward to seeing these fabulous works later on, when we are once again allowed to socialise.

For more details about the gallery, the artists and their work visit www.chalkgallerylewes.co.uk plus see artists' latest work and and keep up to date with developments via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

from top: Lindsay Pearson, Spring Flourish; Susan Lynch, Catch the Ride; Gina Lelliott, 'Oasis' fused glass; below: Lyndsey Smith, Love to the West Pier

Susie Olford

The shortest day behind us; the morning glow is wonderful. Palette dusted off, paints ready to go; time to use the lighter hours.

Every Spring, I work towards my exhibition at Flansham taking place over the first two weekends of May. Sadly my art trail venue, a wonderful, light-filled barn on a picturesque West Sussex lane, will remain silent this year, as the art trail has fallen victim to current restictions.

However, you still have a chance to view my large, varied collection of oils and acrylics, vibrant colours of 6” framed paintings, or soft soothing images on larger canvases or boards during Arundel Gallery Trail, from Saturday 22nd August until Monday 31st August, when I will be exhibiting in Arundel Library. For further information about the trail visit www.arundelgallerytrail.co.uk

And if social distancing restrictions are lifted in time, I'll be showing my work in an exhibition in Arundel Museum along with four other artists, Roger Lewis, Emma Luff, Heidi Walmsley and Pat Wright, from Thursday 16th to Monday 20th July. Weather permitting I will be outside as Artist in Residence.

Cranbrook Art Show

5th to 7th November

If you have not visited the Cranbrook Art Show, you have been missing a real treat!

Now in its 28th year and an annual fixture in the calendar the show continues to grow from strength to strength, both in visitor numbers and reputation, exhibiting a wide range of disciplines from painting, printmaking, sculpture and ceramics to textiles, glass and jewellery.

A new selection is made every year from the open submission via the Cranbrook Art Show website by the artist-led committee. Their criteria is only to accept work of the highest standard, and a new mix of artists each year. This keeps the show fresh and exciting and has earned the show its fantastic reputation across the region. The show is held every November in the beautiful Vestry Hall, a stunning listed building in the heart of the vibrant town of Cranbrook.

So put the dates in your diary, this is definitely one not to be missed.

Submissions open 1st May and close on 1st July. www.cranbrookartshow. org.uk.

Susie Olford, Here comes Summer

West End Gallery

Now in its fourth year, Worthing’s West End Gallery will, alongside every other small gallery and business in the country, be facing unprecedented challenges over the coming months.

for sale. Their aim is to showcase locally-made art at realistic prices in an informal, friendly setting so that everyone can, hopefully, find something to suit their pocket.

The West End Gallery, 87 Rowlands Road, Worthing BN11 3JX

Until further notice their popular Networking Breakfasts for local artists and art enthusiasts, held on the 7th of every month at Brunswick & Thorn Bistro in Worthing, will not be running. Please go to www.worthingartstudios.com for regular updates and additional information.

Set in a traditional Victorian corner shop in Worthing’s West End, Barry Williams’ and Sarah Sepe’s contemporary art gallery is also their working studio. They will be making every effort to continue to work there since they recognise the importance of art to lift the spirits and provide a welcome distraction in an uncertain world.

Their original artwork includes Sarah's textile-inspired art and sculptural ‘Wire Works’, Barry's photography and quirky recycled mixed-media ‘Conversation Pieces’, plus an interesting selection of their unique framed artwork, cards and prints. All are

@The Makery

The only retail outlet in Eastbourne that is managed as an artists’ cooperative, @ The Makery is sited within the Enterprise Shopping Centre just beside the railway station.

More than a gallery, @The Makery stocks an eclectic range of hand-crafted art, craft and home furnishings, paintings and prints, ceramics, fused and cast glass, textiles, woodturning and furniture.

With a rehang every six weeks and featuring guest artists, there is always something new to see, and with prices ranging from just few pounds to a few hundred there is really something for everyone.

Their aim is to present, local, unique, affordable art and crafts in an accessible and welcoming environment. If you haven’t yet discovered @The Makery, do pay them a visit as soon as we are once again able to socialise – you are assured a warm welcome by the artist on duty. If you can't wait till then, visit www.themakery.me.uk where you will find more details about the gallery, the artists and their work.

top: Barry Williams, Parcour; above: Sarah Sepe, Heart Strings, screen print; below: Lynda Lindfield, Copper Bangle

@The Makery's featured artist is jeweller Lynda Lindfield, whose exquisite silver and semi precious metal and stone jewellery has a pleasing textural hand finished quality. Stunning designs and use of complementary materials lead to unique pieces of wearable art. Her hammered bronze work transports you to a time long ago.

Susie Olford Art Exhibition

Collection of Paintings in Oil and Acrylic Moods of Land, Sea and Weather

is a group of 11 local artists and have come together to share their exquisite creations with Guest Artists and a rehang every six weeks.

Susie’s email: smoart@btinternet.com Images to Dream About please check website for updates

Saturday 22nd to Monday 31st August at Arundel Library for Arundel Gallery Trail Trail Website: www.arundelgallerytrail.co.uk also, if restrictions are lifted Thursday 16th to Monday 20th July Artist in Residence at Arundel Museum

The Makery, Unit 7, The Enterprise Shopping Centre, Eastbourne, BN21 1BD. Email: info@themakery.me.uk www.themakery.me.uk

Capturing essences and echoes and getting paint in her hair

Sussex artist Gill Bustamante

to feature on BBC this summer

Based in East Sussex, professional artist Gill Bustamante creates large semi-abstract landscape and wildlife paintings in oil on canvas.

Gill's painting style is very distinct and often fuses art-nouveau, expressionist and semi-abstract techniques with traditional portraiture that reflect her love of nature and the landscapes around her.

Her main working method has been the development of a painting style she terms ‘memory impressionism’. This involves going walking somewhere, looking at and absorbing the things she sees and experiences, and then returning home to try and capture an essence of the place from memory. By this method she captures essences and echoes of places and the feelings she has about them. She loves the ancient landscapes of England and her paintings often reflect the magical elements that such landscapes have.

A self-representing artist, Gill sells her art mostly online. She does, however, take part in the occasional exhibition – she was to show her work as part of Brighton Open Houses alongside Brighton Festival in May, but this has been postponed until later in the year.

Gill’s claim to fame is that when doing her fine art degree in Brighton in the early 80’s, the British sculptor Anthony Gormley was her tutor. She says

he was a nice man but gave up on her as she was not terribly ‘conceptual’. She just liked making art for the sake of it and getting paint in her hair. Gill's other claim to fame is a Blue Peter badge she won in 1972 for painting a mermaid.

This summer (dates to be confirmed) Gill will be appearing in the BBC series 'Home is Where the Art Is', Season 2, due to start airing in June. Each of the fifteen episodes sees three different UK based artists competing to win a commission from home owners who would like a bespoke piece of art for their home. Gill cannot say any more about the results as it would spoil the surprise but she thoroughly enjoyed the filming days and the visit by the BBC to her home to film her at work. She was delighted to meet presenter Nick Knowles and managed to get a quick photo with him – ostensibly to show to her mum but in reality so she had some evidence she was taking part as she cannot say more until the programme has been aired!

Gill is also an art tutor, which she is currently doing by video link.

Go to www.gillbustamante.com for more information or to arrange a visit to see Gill's art at her home (Forest Row, East Sussex). You can also see more of Gill’s work on www.facebook.com/GillBustamanteArtist or www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SussexPaintings.

Artgenu/e

by Lesley Samms | Pure Fine Art

“Art is the imposing of a pattern on an experience and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern.”

–Alfred North Whitehead 1861 - 1947

For this spring edition, artist Fran White considers what she communicates when she creates her artwork; in her own words…

I think my art reflects the collective beliefs of my family and friends and the many people I have met and spent time with along the way, and more recently as I have transitioned from my career as a weaver and linen shop owner to full time painter.

Considered in response to Alfred North Whitehead's words; the pattern I create with my art is a reflection of my memories and deep seated emotional responses to past collective experiences: events, people and places and our commonly held beliefs, values and ideas.

In the Beginning

When I was a child my family lived near Thetford in Norfolk. I was born into privilege, which seems to have engendered a deep innate sense of duty in me –doing the right thing is a core value I still retain today. I was the first of four children and often felt protective over the others; a sensibility that became more profound after our parents divorced.

I attended a fairly progressive boarding school called Cranbourne Chase, housed at Wardour Castle, near Tisbury, Wiltshire. It had a female head mistress and a considerable art and music department. Despite this my creative gene seemed to go completely unnoticed during this time!

At least one of my school friends went on to art school, but it never even entered my thinking to do anything similar. I don’t recall being actively discouraged from such a path, but looking back, I do remember being very keen to be considered able and accomplished in subjects such as english and maths, so maybe I was encouraged down an alternative path as a consequence of my own tendencies.

Weaving the thread

My artistic journey really began in 1970, when I was 19 years old. I mixed with a lot of creatives at this point in my life (without realising I was actually one myself!). I had many friends who collected art, or who worked in and/or owned art galleries. I remember being especially drawn to the work of the Russian-born artist Romain de Tirtoff, known by the pseudonym

Erté, whom I first encountered at The Met in 1968, and I started collecting his work thereafter.

One particular friend taught me how to develop and print black and white photos in their darkroom and this set me down a specific path, working as a photographer's assistant then a photographic stylist (collecting props for editorial and advertising photo shoots), that would prevail for much of my young adult life.

At this time I started ‘Linen Hire’, a business I ran from my London home, supplying fabric backdrops for hire. I also started distance learning with the Open College of the Arts, which ended with my attending The Surrey Institute of Art and Design SIAD in Farnham, as it was known back then – now it is The University of the Creative Arts – specialising in weaving with linen. I also started attending West Dean College around this time.

After graduating college, encouraged by Ann Sutton, I began commissioning woven linen fabrics from mills in Ireland, Scotland and Belgium, to sell to trade and retail.

Transition

I began my transition into retirement in 2016, triggered by the lease renewal on my shop. I realised that if I renewed for another three years, I would be 67 when it expired and that what I actually wanted to do more than sell linen was paint!

Fran White

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The trend set early in my career of spending much of my time mixing with creatives still prevails today, but the art forms this circle now encompass is very wide, including textiles, fine art, photography, gardening, pottery, basket weaving… the list is endless. And in recent years I have added many new friends as a consequence of the painting courses I have attended and my membership of various creative communities including PURE Arts Group and Instagram, which can feel like a very real community as we share thoughts and ideas.

My husband Angus and I live very close to Partridge Green where the Emily Ball at Seawhite courses are held. I’ve been attending these on and off since graduating college in 1998.

Current Inspiration

I realised that a lot of the models we were drawing in the ‘putting people into painting’ course were reading, which triggered the initial spark for my Women Reading series

I am a keen reader myself, I have a lot of books in my study and am in a book club, so this subject really resonated with me and drew me in. It has however now become something of an obsession – I see people reading everywhere!

Learnings

Surround yourself with people who inspire and motivate you and never give up!

Starting a new career can be difficult at any point in your life, but it is especially difficult when the career choice is something that calls for expansive emotional content. Being an artist can feel uncomfortable, overwhelming and highly emotional at times, but I’ve learnt to push through this discomfort and keep moving forward – following my dream.

Possibly the most important lesson for me, however, with regard to my personal career aspiration is you can’t do art wrong! You need to be brave and have courage to experiment and play. Often the best work comes when you least expect it, so don’t be scared, just keep going and trust the process.

www.whiteart.net; instagram: @franwhiteartist www.pureartsgroup.co.uk

above: Fran White; below, Fran White in her studio

contemporary gallery space between city and sea showcasing original work by local artists

Spring is a lovely time for walks which makes West Wittering a very good place to visit. With the Gallery temporarily closed, however, you can always browse the wide selection of works by our various artists on our website

On the website you will find original paintings | photography ceramics | prints | enamels | jewellery | glass art | textiles

Rookwood Road, West Wittering, PO20 8LT | 01243 512218 for updates & info visit: www.thelittleartgallery.online

PRINTING SCREENS

Screens4printing can offer the following:

• A large selection of images from our on-line library

• Screens made from custom designs

• A range of screen sizes

• Inks including metallic gold and silver

• Squeegees

Amy Lague Ashley Jones

Chris Gilbert

Linda Foskett

Celebrating and retailing work from local artists and skilled makers ~ paintings, bespoke silver jewellery, art materials, cards and gift items

Artologie, 18 High Street, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath RH17 5JU • 01444 708380 • www.artologie.co.uk

GalleryBN5 is an artist run gallery in Henfield High Street, offering handmade affordable art. We invite new artists to join us and be part of a friendly team exhibiting and selling their work. Space available includes windows, wall and shelving, all designed to display art at its best, see our website for more details.

High Street, Henfield Open Tues-Sat 9.30-4.30pm www.gallerybn5.co.uk

check websites for updates

GalleryBN5

GalleryBN5 is a lovely artist-run gallery in the centre of Henfield High Street that is proving very popular with customers and artists alike.

On offer at various times is a wide range of art, from paintings to 3D. Displays include glass and precious stone jewellery, ceramics, soap stone carvings, photography, textiles, paintings, fused glass, wood turning and a wonderful range of greetings cards, all at affordable prices.

The gallery has a strong central core of artists coming and going from month to month, plus new artists are always welcome to come and join its friendly team. They charge reasonable monthly fees and commission, details of which can be found on the website, along with terms and conditions. No matter what your medium is, they consider everything has its place in the gallery. Contact them via the website www.gallerybn5.co.uk and either Nina or Esther will respond to you directly.

The Gallery is usually open from 9.30 until 4.30 Tuesday to Saturday, so as soon as this period of self-isolation is over pop along and have a browse and chat to one of their local artists on duty, they are a very helpful bunch! Until then, to see what their artists are creating, visit their website.

top: Esther Newnham-Brown, Birches; right: Nina Smith, Wave Bowl

Pier Road Coffee & Art

Based in Littlehampton, Pier Road

Coffee & Art is that most excellent combination of delights – a cafe nestling in a gallery.

Owned by Mike La-Traille and his partner Lucy Harvey, Pier Road Coffee & Art were winners of the New Business Award 2019, thanks to Arun Business Partnership.

In the gallery there is a mixture of arts and crafts to cater for all tastes. Every month the exhibitions change; alongside the resident artists there is a range of new artists across a variety of disciplines.

The gallery is ideal for buying unique gifts. They also support the #justacard campaign, which highlights the point that if every visitor bought a card it would help support the gallery and artists.

There are numerous art classes held throughout the week, including watercolours, oils, textiles, felting, photography and mosaics.

Pier Road Coffee & Art sell Lavazza Coffee and homemade cakes for you to enjoy as you are viewing the artworks. So once this virus is under control and we are all allowed out again, it is well worth a visit. Meanwhile you can keep up with the latest news at www.facebook.com/pierroadcoffeeart

David Hockney, Arizona, 1964, acrylic on canvas, 60 � 60 ins © David Hockney, photo: Fabrice Gibert

V Pease Jewellery

Life's Too Short to wear Boring Jewellery

In this issue's Contemporary Crafts feature we have three talented jewellery designer makers. These three jewellery artists –Katherine Lawrie, Vee Pease and Victoria Lovell aka Bauble & Hoop – would have been exhibiting their beautiful work in some of this spring's open studio events. Some events have been postponed till later in the year (details can be found on events' websites) but in the meantime we can enjoy fabulous jewellery courtesy of these artists' websites

Katherine Lawrie

Katherine Lawrie creates one-off and bespoke pieces of jewellery.

Inspiration comes from many sources; however, predominant ones are the Sussex Downs, nature and British wildlife. You can see this influence in the sterling silver, silver gilt and gold floral and botanical

jewels she designs and makes. Her work is richly textural, often with only an essence of what created the texture remaining. This gives the work a charm, which when mixed with semi precious gems and beads is truly striking. Many pieces of her work hold hidden symbolism.

Having relocated to her new studio near Walberton, Katherine has been busy designing and making for a summer of open house and art trail exhibitions: Brighton Artists Open Houses, Steyning Arts Trail and the Adur Art Collectives art trail, news on whether these will be going ahead later in the year can be found on their websites.

Katherine’s work can also be found in several different venues including Julian Stephens in Brighton, The Montague Gallery in Worthing, and The Basement 93 in Steyning. She will be happy to have visitors to her studio by appointment.

She also sells her work via Folksy online. All dates and details are on her website.

www.klawriejewellery.co.uk

top: Katherine Lawrie, aquamarine and leaves necklace; left: Katherine Lawrie, rabbit over Chanctonbury pendant

Vee Pease

We may have to wait till autumn to see Vee's jewellery in Brighton Artists’ Open Houses.

However, you can visit her website any time, where you will see her beautiful necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings.

Vee works in silver (but can make any of her designs in gold) and uses semiprecious stones in much of her work. Her designs are influenced by the natural world and what she sees on her daily walks on the South Downs.

One of Vee’s focuses is the surface and shape of the finished silver pieces, and the movement of the metal during fabrication. This is enhanced by the colour and richness of gem stones.

You can see more of Vee’s work on her website at www.vpjewellery.co.uk.

Bauble and Hoop

Sculptor Victoria Lovell realised a long-held ambition to create stunning jewellery when she launched Bauble and Hoop ‘maker of beautiful sterling silver and semi-precious stone statement rings’.

The tagline “creator of gutsy rings to bring out the magnificence of the wearer” tells you pretty much all you need to know about Bauble and Hoop's fabulously eyecatching designs.

As well as the wide array of rings – each one unique – that can be see on the Bauble and Hoop website and Etsy shop, Victoria is happy to take commissions.

top left: Vee Pease, silver hearts with turquoise; above: Vee Pease, turquoise, labradorite and iolite pendants; below: Bauble & Hoop, azurite ring set in sterling silver

Visit www.baubleandhoop.co.uk to feast your eyes on her 'gutsy' rings, and read about how Bauble and Hoop came to be.

theatres

Obviously due to the coronavirus please do check the theatres' websites for updates. Theatres are currently (April) closed but some have already rescheduled performances for later in the year.

Singer/songwriter

Emma Stevens at the Capitol Theatre, Horsham 21st June

Bringing a refreshing glimmer of hope and an abundance of heart and positivity, British singersongwriter and multi-instrumentalist Emma Stevens, who first picked up a guitar at the age of two, has since learnt cello, piano, banjo, ukulele and mandolin.

Emma has achieved four consecutive play-listed singles on BBC Radio 2, extensive international radio play in the UK, Europe and Australia, an iTunes single of the week with her song "Riptide", sold out headline shows and supported The Feeling, Take That, Wet Wet Wet, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Train, Albert Lee and Simply Red to name a few!

Emma's music has been used on many TV shows on BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 4, and even featured on a TV show in China that was broadcast to 75 million people, receiving a whopping 500 million streams in China afterwards!

Since losing her Mum to cancer in 2012, Emma has dedicated her life to her music, writing messages of positivity, hope and love. Her music breathes life and

honesty, and is re-establishing a lyrical connection with her audience, something seemingly so absent from an overcrowded marketplace Visit www.thecapitolhorsham.com or full details.

Not: Lady Chatterley's Lover

at Connaught Theatre, Worthing 18th September

This looks fun! A hilarious parody of DH Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Think The Naked Gun and Airplane! – mixed with a steamy costume drama. Lady Chatterley welcomes home her husband, Clifford, from a war that has left the world in tatters. With Clifford’s legs also in tatters, he arrives at Wragby Manor confined to a wheelchair and clutching his secret.

Despite her husband’s impotence, a subject that all struggle to avoid, Constance entertains the idea that one day they could have a child. However, as the couple grow apart, Constance falls into a passionate, sexual and curiously experimental affair with estate gamekeeper Mellors.

Expect long contemplative looks into the middle distance, moments of touching drama, plenty of farce and a gentle stroke of innuendo in this Mel Brooks style parody. Visit www.wtam.uk for full information about what’s on.

The Taxidermist’s Daughter

at Chichester Festival Theatre

12th September to 30th October

The Taxidermist’s Daughter is a thrilling Gothic mystery set in and around historic Chichester. This world premiere is written by Cicestrian Kate Mosse, based on her best-selling novel. Kate Mosse’s novels include The Languedoc Trilogy (Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel) and her new historical series, The Burning Chambers. She is Founder Director of the Women's Prize for Fiction and Professor in Contemporary Fiction & Creative Writing at the University of Chichester.

1912. In the isolated Blackthorn House on Sussex’s Fishbourne Marshes, Connie Gifford lives with her father. His Museum of Avian Taxidermy was once

legendary, but since its closure Gifford has become a broken man, taking refuge in the bottle. Robbed of her childhood memories by a mysterious accident, Connie is haunted by fitful glimpses of her past. A strange woman has been seen in the graveyard; and a few miles away, at Chichester’s Graylingwell Asylum, two female patients have, inexplicably, disappeared. As a major storm hits the Sussex landscape, old wounds are about to be opened as one woman, intent on revenge, attempts to liberate another from the horrifying crimes of the past.

Visit www.cft.org.uk for all the information about what’s on at the theatre.

oppostie top: Emma Stevens; above: The Taxidermist's Daughter; left: Not Lady Chatterley's Lover

Three fabulous ballets at the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne 15th to 17th October

The Russian State Ballet & Opera House bring Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker to Eastbourne on three consecutive days in October. This year they are bringing us the Mariisky State Ballet Theatre from central Russia and a live orchestra with over thirty musicians.

Swan Lake is first on 15th October; a timeless ballet with exquisite dancing tells the legend of a tragic romance in which a princess, Odette, is turned into a swan by an evil curse. Prince Siegfried chances upon a flock of swans while out hunting. When one of the swans turns into a beautiful young woman he is instantly captivated – will his love prove strong enough to break the evil spell that she is under?

Next on 16th October is the spectacular fairytale, Sleeping Beauty, accompanied again by a live orchestra. Every child’s favourite ballet, it is the classic story of love and innocence, mystery and magic set to Tchaikovsky’s sublime score. Stunning choreography, sumptuous costumes and wonderful sets form the fantasy world in which the Lilac Fairy struggles against the evil Carabosse.

And finally, on 17th October we are treated to The Nutcracker, a lavish ballet for the festive season. Snow flurries, sweets, princes, magic and love are just some of the elements that will be brought together by this renowned Russian company. A highly accessible ballet, full of familiar music such as the Waltz of the Flowers and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

For more details visit www.eastbournetheatres. co.uk or www.russian-state-ballet.co.uk.

Clara and her Nutcracker

Back by Popular Demand, multi award-winning magician Ben Hart returns to Horsham in May.

Assembly Hall Theatre, Royal Tunbridge Wells

Friday 3 April, 7.30pm

Box Office 01892 530613

www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk

Regis Centre, Bognor Regis

Friday 8 May, 7.30pm

Box Office 01243 861010

www.alexandratheatre.co.uk

VIENNA FESTIVAL BALLET in their

40th anniversary year presents Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake

Classical ballet takes centre stage soon when the highly acclaimed Vienna Festival Ballet return, celebrating their 40th Anniversary with their glorious revival of two of the best known and loved classical ballets and fairytales of all time – The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.

Stunning choreography, lavish costumes and handcrafted scenery set to Tchaikovsky’s magnificent score all combine in Swan Lake to portray the struggle between good and evil.

Sleeping Beauty is set in the magical world of a fairy kingdom where the Queen is celebrating the birth of her daughter, Princess Aurora. The Lilac Fairy casts a spell so that Aurora will not die but will fall asleep for 100 years until a handsome Prince awakens her with a kiss. With a musical score by Tchaikovsky, this ballet is sure to enthral audiences of all ages.

In 1980 celebrated Austrian dancer Peter Mallek founded the company after his illustrious career as a dancer of international renown. Vienna Festival Ballet are known for their beautiful and lavish handmade costumes as well as their commitment to bringing the greatest classical ballets to the widest possible audience.

Notable for the continued freshness and strength of their dancing casts, Vienna Festival Ballet attract highly talented dancers from all over the world.

Visit www.viennafestivalballet.com for further information, and to check latest updates.

White Rock Theatre, Hastings

Tuesday 26 May, 7.30pm

Box Office 01424 462288

www.whiterocktheatre.org.uk

www.viennafestivalballet.com

Swan Lake

VIENNA FESTIVAL BALLET

BEETHOVEN IN THE CITY

9 SYMPHONIES - 9 VENUES

Stationers’ Hall

Monday 2 March 2020 • 18.30

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY No 4, Op.60

Clothworkers’ Hall

Monday 27 April 2020 • 18.30

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY No 6, Op.68 ‘PASTORAL’

Goldsmiths’ Hall

Monday 18 May 2020 • 18.30

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY No 8, Op.93

Grocers’ Hall

Monday 1 June 2020 • 18.30

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY No 2, Op.36

Ironmongers’ Hall

Monday 6 July 2020 • 18.30

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY No 5, Op.67

Pattenmakers

Monday 14 September 2020 • 18.30

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY No 1, Op.21

Drapers’ Hall

Monday 12 October 2020 • 18.30

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY No 3, Op.55 ‘EROICA’

Leathersellers’ Hall

Monday 9 November 2020 • 18.30

SYMPHONY No 7, Op.92

Mansion House

Wednesday 16 December 2020 • 18.30

SYMPHONY No 9, Op.125 ‘CHORAL’

The London Philharmonic Orchestra Brighton and Eastbourne residencies 2020/2021

The London Philharmonic Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, and since then has been headed by many of the great names in the conducting world.

The LPO has been performing at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall in London since it opened in 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra there in 1992. The orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton, Eastbourne and Saffron Walden, and in summer plays for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, having been the festival’s Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964.

The LPO’s concerts this year begin in Brighton and Eastbourne in September. The LPO first performed at Brighton Dome in 1935 under Sir Thomas Beecham, to mark the re-opening of the hall after major refurbishment. The relationship has flourished over the years, and the LPO has been a Resident Orchestra at Brighton Dome since 2001. The residency at Eastbourne is also well established at the Congress Theatre.

On 19th September in Brighton at 7.30pm, followed the next day in Eastbourne at 3pm, the orchestra will

be performing the overture to Humperdinck’s famous opera Hansel and Gretel and also Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1. Ben Glassberg will conduct, with Zlatomir Fung cello. Visit www.lpo.org.uk or brightondome.org or www. eastbournetheatres.co.uk for further information.

Zlatomir Fung

DRAMA, LAUGHS, MUSIC AND

THE PICTURE HOUSE

Cinema and Restaurant in Uckfield

It’s so depressing that due to the corona virus lockdown the cinema and restaurant has had to cancel or has in doubt some of the treats they had lined up for us this spring.

To coincide with the VE 75 Live from The Royal Opera on 8th May the restaurant was organising a special VE Day 75 Street Party on 7th May, where one could dress for the occasion and enjoy live music, great food and a chance to lindyhop and jive. They also had invited Opera Mayhem to bring their live show to the restaurant on May 24th. I should imagine these will not go ahead but it’s worth checking the website just in case.

Let’s hope that by Tuesday 7th July the cinema will be open to screen ‘Frida Kahlo’ (PG). Released to celebrate Frida Kahlo’s birthday, this visually spectacular film takes us on a journey through the life of one of the most prevalent female icons. Featuring key exhibitions and interviews with world-renowned Kahlo curators, explore the extraordinary symbolism and themes seek a deeper understanding of the artist. We might think we already know Frida Kahlo – but what lies beneath the surface of this intensely passionate woman? Visit www. picturehouseuckfield.com for all the details.

Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait, dedicated to Dr Eloesser, 1940

check websites for updates performing arts

COASTAL EVENTS brings three diverse shows to the area

First off on 13th June, Stacey Kent will perform at The Old Market, Brighton.

With over two million albums sold, a Grammy nomination and international recognition as the most successful and prolific jazz vocalist of her time, Stacey Kent is an artist in the mould of the greatest. Alongside a legion of fans worldwide, she has a host of honours and awards, gold, double-gold and platinum-selling albums that have reached a series of No. 1 chart positions during the span of her career. Stacey often sings in French and was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Minister of Culture in 2009. As part of her worldwide tour, Stacey returns to the UK with her

five-piece band for a very select number of 2020 dates. Coastal Events brings Stacey to The Old Market in Brighton and the show will see her perform music from her latest release and most ambitious album to date, ‘I Know I Dream’ alongside a collection of numbers from her previous albums, including the Grammy nominated ‘Breakfast on the Morning Tram’. For further info visit www. theoldmarket.com and www.coastalevents.co.uk

Later in the year on 2nd October, Coastal Events brings The Blues Band to the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill. The five virtuoso music industry veterans are celebrating forty years as Britain and Europe’s leading exponents of one of the greatest musical traditions of all time.

And hot of the press from Coastal Events….. Acclaimed BBC Radio Presenter Jo Whiley brings 90s Anthems Party to Bexhill.

This autumn, the legendary BBC Radio 1 & 2 presenter and DJ Jo Whiley will be bringing her sell out 90s Anthems Party to the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, for an unforgettable night of musical nostalgia. Jo will be mixing all the best tracks from the greatest decade for music; think Blur vs Oasis, Fatboy Slim, Primal Scream, The Verve, The Chemical Brothers, Faithless, The Prodigy and a whole lot more.

Visit www.coastalevents.co.uk or dlwp.com for further details and to check for updates.

top: Jo Whiley's 90s Anthems; left: Stacey Kent

Melting Vinyl presents a unique event 18th and 19th July

Shirley Collins, Brian Catling and Matthew Shaw Charleston House, Firle, Lewes

Melting Vinyl have the absolute privilege and pleasure of bringing one of music’s most luminary artists, Shirley Collins, alongside collaborators Brian Catling and Matthew Shaw for two dates to the extraordinary setting of Charleston Garden and Hay Barn.

This event has been rescheduled from May and is a unique opportunity to witness legendary folk singer Shirley Collins as she makes a pilgrimage to the heart of the Sussex landscape that fuels her work, in a unique collaboration with artist and writer Brian Catling and acclaimed sound artist Matthew Shaw.

Performing together again with the Lodestar band, Shirley sings songs of love and songs of the land. They present CROWLINK, an immersive soundscape with original poetry by Catling and traditional songs from Collins interwoven with field recordings from Matthew Shaw. You are invited to wind your way through the gardens and lose yourself in

a landscape of song and voice. For full information and to check updates visit www.meltingvinyl.co.uk.

Shirley Collins at Charleston

check websites for updates performing arts

flourishes however, witness Cruise to the Edge, an actual sea cruise escape that has featured such bands as Yes, Marillion, Focus, Steve Hackett, Soft Machine et al. Hawkwind themselves, with founder member Dave Brock at the helm, have released over thirty albums, the most recent being 2019’s All Aboard the Skylark. Presumably the Skylark in question is the Starship of E.E ‘Doc’ Smith’s 1930s space opera Skylark series of stories.

Herschel to Hawkwind – what an innovative idea for an evening!

The Observatory Science Centre, Herstmonceux

Celebrating 25 years of Spectacular Science

The Observatory Science Centre prides itself on offering a full programme of events and activities throughout the year and this has been extended for 2020 as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations.

Celebration Sundays – Held on the first Sunday of every month from February to November (excluding September), each Celebration Sunday features a different theme and activities showcasing just how much fun science is.

Family Introduction to Astronomy – Saturday 30th May, 11am to 4pm. A one day course aimed at beginners that offers families the opportunity to learn together. Come and discover the fascinating world of astronomy.

Introduction to Life in the Universe – Saturday 11th July, 11am to 4pm. Suitable for adults with a basic understanding of astronomy. Come and find out about the fascinating world of astrobiology and the possibility of life beyond Earth.

Booking is essential for both the above courses, either via the website or by calling 01323 83273.

I was fascinated when I saw that the Observatory is also holding an event on 13th June entitled Herschel to Hawkwind. I’ve always had a passing interest in astronomy and also a fan of ‘other worldly’ music, be it Holst’s The Planets, new age Space Music or the Progressive Rock of the 60s and 70s.

Herschel of course is the famous astronomer Frederick William Herschel and Hawkwind the archetypal pioneers of Space Rock. The evening is dedicated to music and space. It will include a talk by Space Rock Bassist and astronomer Peter Williamson, starting in Palaeolithic times then traveling through Herschel’s involvement with music, through Hawkwind’s development of Space Rock and up to the present day production of music using natural sounds for the universe.

In the mid-seventies Punk sounded the death knell of Progressive Rock and Space Rock, and while it’s true that Prog Rock was guilty of an excessive amount of flamboyant self-indulgence, there were also some brilliant moments of musical genius. As a genre it still

Booking is essential, online using Paypal or call 01323 832731. Gift Tickets are available for this event, please phone The Centre to purchase. There is an additional charge of £2 p&p and you will receive a gift card with your purchase. Visit www.the-observatory.org for further information and check updates.

Sir William Herschel and his sister astronomer Caroline Herschel

Hawkwind

Traditionally, in the Spring issue, we take a look at the wide range of brilliant festivals that lie ahead throughout the year, tempting us with the promise of all kinds of music and other delights.

Let’s hope these fabulous festivals are able to go ahead – obviously, due to the corona virus, this year things are different. At the time of writing most festivals are hoping that they will be able to proceed as they are later in the year. Others are rescheduling for the autumn. It's hard to know at the moment exactly what will happen, so we watch the situation unfolding with bated breath. So much hard work goes into running a festival and we know that all the festival organisers are intent on pulling off successful events if they possibly can, so make sure you check the festival websites for updates, and fingers crossed we'll all be able to enjoy the fruits of their labours.

Folk Music by the Sea Broadstairs Folk Week 7th to 14th August

Withvenues spread around a beautiful seaside town, Broadstairs Folk Week enables you to enjoy a huge range of music, song and dance.

There are around 450 events crammed into one week. There are free family shows at the cliff-top bandstand, morris dance displays along the prom, a craft & music fair crammed with enticing gifts, food and the festival bar with session music and real ale. Performers include Sean Lakeman & Kathryn Roberts, Breabach, The Naomi Bedford Band, Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita and many more.

Workshops include beginners’ ukuele or guitar; singing in the festival choir, percussion, klezmer dance and song, fiddle, spoons, melodeon and many more.

Dancers are spoilt for choice with ceilidhs, late night folk-rock dances and daily lunch-time family ceilidhs in the Pavilion on the Sands. Most concerts are in theatre-style intimate seated venues but there are free pub gigs showcasing up-and-coming acts from around the UK. For more details and booking visit the website at www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk

Festival Tickets with or without camping for a week, weekend or day are now on sale single and event tickets will be on sale on 1st May.

above: Breabach; left: Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita, photo Andy Morgan

check websites for updates festivals

Harp on Wight International Festival

Ryde, Isle of Wight – 23rd to 27th October

For their seventh annual Festival, the Harp on Wight Team have announced what is arguably their most exciting line up to date. Among those appearing at the festival are Catriona McKay – one of Scotland leading and most innovative harp players, Triona Marshall from Ireland – one time member of The Chieftains, and Tristan Le Govic from Brittany. Flamenco harpist Ana Crisman will bring a new style and colour to the festival, while Lauren Scott will not only be performing in the opening concert but also be leading an ensemble workshop which will lead to a further performance later in the festival.

A special concert of medieval music will take place on the final afternoon of the festival to mark the 500th anniversary of the genius Renaissance painter Raphael. This will be performed by three Italian musicians:

Marianne Gubri playing Renaissance harp, vocalist Caterina Sangineto and Adriano Sangineto playing medieval instruments of the kind used in Raphael's time. Finally, Festival Patron Anne Denholm will be joining forces with the Voices Of The Isle of Wight Choir for a Saturday afternoon concert.

This line-up should ensure that the event maintains its reputation for extremely high standard concerts and teaching workshops in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Full details of the festival can be found at www.harponwight.co.uk or call 01983 730930.

Tenterden Folk Festival 1st to 4th October

Theformidable Wilson Brothers are the accepted benchmark for powerhouse unaccompanied singing. Tom, Chris and Steve celebrated forty continuous years of singing together during 2015, Ken and Mike joining them in the late 1970’s. From performing at folk clubs and festivals, to running their legendary weekly folk club, to appearances at The Royal Albert Hall’s BBC Proms or recording and performing with world renowned musician Sting, they have championed folk music together for approaching five decades. In October 2017 The Wilson Family were recipients of The Gold Badge Award of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. It is the highest honour the Society can bestow. Sting has recently said of them, “They have a family sound and a natural, bone-deep understanding of music and harmony. And it's quite something.”

Other guests include Bill Jones, Bob and Gill Berry, Brian Peters, Dick Miles, Graeme Knights, Jeff Warner, Pete Castle, Peter and Barbara Snape, Scolds Bridle, The Tonic and many more.

Visit www.tenterdenfolkfestival.org.uk for further information about the festival.

above: Tristan Le Govic (Harp on Wight), photo by Luc Cavellec; below: The Wilson Brothers

check websites for updates festivals

Shipley Arts Festival

Spring through to Autumn 2020

Shipley

Arts Festival is one of the most diverse Music Festivals in the UK. Internationally based musicians return year on year and music is heard in schools, pubs, country estates and churches, boasting numerous expressive and unique performances.

An example of the unique settings for the various festival events is the Wilding Concert on 21st June at Knepp Castle. The musicians will be playing a mixed programme of classical and jazz music for the evening in the wonderful location at Knepp Castle, home to the much acclaimed Wilding Project. Among the programme will be a world premiere of Helen Ottaway’s ‘White Storks’ commissioned by Jamie Martin and Alison Becket. A new piece for String Octet, including the wonderful Stradivarius played by Andrew Bernardi, 'White Storks' is inspired by the spiralling and gliding flight of these majestic and much loved birds which through the efforts of the Knepp Estate and others are being reintroduced in Sussex.

The evening will also celebrate Charlie Parker (Bird) in his 100th year. He was one of the great American saxophonists and composers leading the way in the playing of advance virtuosic techniques and harmonies. Tickets include a flute of Nyetimber and canapes.

Visit www.shipleyartsfestival.co.uk or www.thecapitolhorsham.com for further information.

Petworth Festival 16th October to 1st November

The following is an overview of the Summer Festival, which sadly has had to be postponed. However Festival organisers are delighted to announce that they will be presenting a sequence of the absolute highlights of this planned Summer Festival in a special week of events that will precede the 2020 Literary Week. The new Autumn Festival will now run between Friday 16th October and Sunday 1st November with a week of music and performance followed by the 10th Anniversary Literary Week.

ThePetworth Festival has increasingly been seen as one of West Sussex’s most prestigious and high-flying summer events. Artists from the absolute top drawer in all genres grace a series of venues in and around Petworth each year, brought together by a festival which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2018.

This year, that reputation can only be expected to extend judging by the announcement of several key festival events. Chief amongst these will be the festival debut of one of classical music’s unquestionable superstars – ‘cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason – a booking that Artistic Director Stewart Collins regards as ‘a wonderful coup for the festival’.

Many other exceptional names are also expected over the festival fortnight including the remarkable classical guitarist MILOŠ; million selling author and comedian Adam Kay; the legendary Blues Band fronted as always by Paul Jones and ‘Radio Live’, a star studded evening featuring Alistair McGowan, Joe Stilgoe, The Rev’d Richard Coles, Charlotte Green and ‘Here’s Garry with the sport’ Richardson.

N.B. In light of the current situation some of the above events may not be available. For all details go to www.petworthfestival.org.uk. You can also find out how to become a Festival Friend and take advantage of priority booking.

top: Andrew Bernadi and musicians at Knepp Castle; left: Susan Bullock, photo Christina Raphaelle

The original Cockney Rebel returns Southdowns Folk Festival 17th to 20th September

The fabulous Steve Harley Acoustic Band will be opening the 8th Southdowns Festival on Thursday 17th September in sunny Bognor Regis, with other great headliners appearing at the festival including Jez Lowe and Steve Tilston, The Strawbs, Steve Knightley and the Gerry Colvin Band. Plus there will be an exciting new ‘Americana’ Festival and the return of the hugely popular Southdowns Ukulele Festival.

Roger Nash from the Southdowns Folk Festival told us “To get the calibre of the Steve Harley Acoustic Band is a real coup. He was with us back in 2018 and wowed the sold out audience. This time he’s back with a bigger line up and some fantastic new material as well as iconic favourites”.

And with the February 2020 release of the all-acoustic CD “Uncovered”, the original Cockney Rebel shows no sign of slowing down. Steve has been playing live shows around the world for over 45 years and the thrill of another night in another place to another audience has not dimmed at all.

“We have real adventures on tour, “says Steve. “I’ve seen the Northern Lights, the Midnight Sun and dozens of wonderful galleries, museums and great cities, all on my down-time. I have a great life as a Wandering Minstrel!”

There is more information and how you can buy ticket at www.southdownsfolkfest.co.uk.

The 48th Cornwall Folk Festival in Wadebridge Bank Holiday 28th to 31st August

Cornwall Folk Festival once again brings folk’s best to Cornwall this summer while also showcasing Cornwall to the world. There are four nights of the finest in folk at the main stage concerts and three additional gigs at the Betjeman Sessions. In addition there are three days of back-to-back regional music at the FAR Stage, live music in the streets of host town Wadebridge, sessions in local pubs and dance and music Workshops.

This year the Festival welcomes Scotland’s finest songwriter Dougie Maclean, a performer who can truly hold an audience in the palm of his hand. It opens with perfectly paired O’Hooley and Tidow, whose music reached millions on TV as the accompaniment to the closing sequence of TV drama ‘Gentleman Jack’. Merry Hell have delighted festival audiences across the UK in recent years with their uplifting, rock-based folk, and join the stage with the hard-hitting songs of powerful duo Winter Wilson.

The final concert is a double take on traditional with one of Ireland’s finest Gatehouse crossing the water to join the youthful maverick energy of Granny’s Attic.

There are many other fine performers at the festival, visit www.cornwallfolkfestival.com for further details.

above: Steve Harley; below: O'Hooley Tidow

Deal Music & Arts Festival

26th June to 11th July postponed till 2021

This year’s festival celebrates Creative Women in Music with many of the most inspiring female artists of our time, headlined by international artists including trumpet soloist and 2013 Gramophone Artist of the Year Alison Balsom OBE, award-winning saxophonist and BBC Young Musician Finalist Jess Gillam, baroque violinist and 2015 Gramophone Artist of the Year Rachel Podger, and winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at Cardiff Singer of the World 2019, mezzo-soprano Katie Bray.

Together with orchestras London Mozart Players, Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra there are other world-leading artists and ensembles including oboist Nicholas Daniel with Purcell School Orchestra, Andy Sheppard Quartet and Academy of Ancient Music with Historic Performance Department of Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

And all that is not to mention virtuoso piano entertainers Worbey and Farrell, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Changeling Theatre Company at Walmer Castle, Minima’s live music to the 1920 silent film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and much more. Deal Music and Arts festival 2020 promises to be a highlight of the South East’s arts calendar.

Visit www.dealmusicandarts.com for more details.

Tenterden folk festival 2020

Tenterden, the Jewel of the Weald

Thursday 1st to Sunday 4th October

Free events include crafts marquee, street stalls, free music stage, dance stage, Morris dancers, dance displays, procession, street entertainers, song and music sessions, etc. Ticketed events include concerts, barn dance, special shows, workshops, meet the guests, folk clubs, etc. Guests will be announced on our website and social media from early 2020.

top: Changeling Theatre Company above: Katie Bray, Tim Dunk Photography

Tenterden Folk Festival: Charity No. 1038663

HART

STEPLING | BILL JONES | TRACK DOGS | ROWAN GODDEL TRIO | A J CLARKE

THE COBHERS | L’IL JIM | TOBIAS BEN JACOB | TOM KITCHING & MARIT FALT

THE LEYLINES | FOOT DOWN | BIRD IN THE BELLY | THE LOWLY STRUNG

STEVE TURNER | MAZAIKA | THE HUT PEOPLE | JOHN WARD TRIO | GLYMJACK

NICK DOW | THE LUNATRAKTORS | BRISTOL CEILIDH QUARTET | BROWN BOOTS

PAUL DOWNES & ANNIE WINTER | ALEX CUMMING & NICOLA BEAZLEY

ARCELIA | SADIE & JAY | COPPER VIPER | THE LOST REVELLERS | THE FLOWING

KEITH KENDRICK & SYLVIA NEEDHAM | TONY & LESLEY PETTY | BROOMDASHER

SALLY IRONMONGER & BRIAN CARTER | PETE COLLINS | MIKE NICHOLSON

BOB KENWARD | SWING THE BRIDGE | JOHN & DI CULLEN | MEGAN WISDOM

Petworth Festival 2020

Tuesday 14 JulySaturday 1 August

Featuring Sheku Kanneh-Mason

Isata Kanneh-Mason

MILOŠ

Michael Morpurgo

Tasmin Little

John Williams

The Blues Band

Susan Bullock

Patti Boulaye Adam Kay and many more

Full details from 17 April on www.petworthfestival.org.uk Box Office opens 9 May

Alison Balsom

Jess Gillam Katie Bray

Philippa Gregory

Nicholas Daniel

Rachel Podger

Norma Winstone

Andy Sheppard Quartet

Gavin Esler Minima

Worbey & Farrell

Changeling Theatre Company

London Mozart Players

Academy of Ancient Music

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra

Samuele Telari

Kurt Weill for

SHIPLEYARTS FESTIVAL 2020

Artistic Director: Andrew Bernardi

A CELEBRATION OF MUSIC AND THE ARTS

an exciting and eclectic programme of concerts that unite the arts, heritage and Sussex communities at some of the county’s most beautiful venues throughout the year

Led by violinist Andrew Bernardi, the Shipley Arts Festival is a most highly regarded classical music festival, which has become nationally renowned for its innovative performances and commissioning of new music.

To book tickets call 01403 750220 or go to www.thecapitolhorsham.com. Concerts regularly sell out in advance so be sure to book early. To join the Festival Friends for priority booking and other benefits visit the website: www.shipleyartsfestival.co.uk

Sheku Kanneh-Mason Photo: Jake Turney

For open studios events in summer & autum check Facebook page @weststreetloftstudios

CafÉ Artisan Gallery

As well as holding regular music events, Café Artisan is now the shop window for West Street Loft artists, with ongoing exhibitions through the year. For latest news look for Café Artisan on Instagram Facebook and TripAdvisor

café artisan

Relax in Shoreham-by Sea’s lively, fully licenced café with delicious freshly prepared, locally sourced food with the accent on healthy. Vegetarian, vegan and ‘free-from’ options available.

@artisancafeshoreham

“First visit and it certainly won’t be our last. Lovely friendly staff, varied menu and food was absolutely delicious. Can’t recommend highly enough”

Angela Edwards

Jo Delafons

Pauline Ford

Louise Durham

APRIL

APRIL

APRIL

1944

1944

1944

EXERCISE TIGER

EXERCISE TIGER

EXERCISE TIGER

Secret Rehearsals for D-Day...

Secret Rehearsals for D-Day...

Secret Rehearsals for D-Day...

“A wonderful book...”

Michelle Magorian

“A wonderful book...”

A Wide Range and Variety of Books

Michelle Magorian

‘Goodnight Mr Tom’

“A wonderful book...”

Michelle Magorian

“A jewel!...” Actress

‘Goodnight Mr Tom’

‘Goodnight Mr Tom’

“A jewel!...” Actress

plus gifts & stationery | classical music cds & music scores | Book tokens | Out-of-print books obtained | Greetings cards

Children's Books

June BrownDot in EastEnders

June BrownDot in EastEnders

“A jewel!...” Actress

June BrownDot in EastEnders

Have you read it?

Have you read it?

Have you read it?

At your local book store now Paperback: £8.99

At your local book store now Paperback: £8.99

At your local book store now Paperback: £8.99

ISBN 978-0-9535123-2-4 www.wightdiamondpress.com

ISBN 978-0-9535123-2-4 www.wightdiamondpress.com

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extensive stock of children's books, both new releases and classics | children's loyalty card scheme

Personal Recommendation

our knowledgeable staff love the challenge of working with you to find just the right book

Literary Lounge

meet leading authors and hear them discuss their work in an intimate but relaxed setting over a glass of wine

Open: Mon-Sat 9am-5pm; Wed 9am-1pm Gordon House, High Street, Wadhurst, East Sussex TN5 6AA 01892 783566 · enquiries@barnettsbooks.co.uk www.barnettsbooks.com Best Bookshop in Sussex!

10 –12 July, 2020 University of Winchester, UK

Workshops, talks, and one-to-one appointments with top literary agents

For emerging writers – from inspiration to publication

Four writing competitions Scholarships available

speaker – Lissa Evans, bestselling author of adult and children’s novels

Keynote speaker – Eoin Colfer, award-winning author of the Artemis Fowl series

Keynote

Trust In You

–on sale now via Amazon

Intriguing heroes, unexpected twists and a little spice, Trust In You has it all.

The debut novel by Julia Firlotte has left both fellow romance authors and advancecopy readers desperate for more, most leaving five star ratings on www.Goodreads.com.

Trust In You is told from the perspective of Ella, a sheltered British girl who moves to rural Kansas with her sisters where she meets her love interest Adam. Life isn’t easy in Ella’s world and when Ella is unexpectedly

WRITERS' WEEKEND Winchester

When the University of Winchester decided not to hold the popular Winchester Writers’ Festival in 2020, director Sara Gangai took the opportunity to create a new event with a fresh new programme.

The Writers’ Weekend takes place from 10th to 12th July 2020 at the University of Winchester and offers a wide range of workshops, talks and networking opportunities for those writing in all genres, at all levels. Attendees can book up to five one-to-one appointments with top literary agents to pitch ideas and get valuable feedback. All events take place at the university.

dragged into a criminal underworld, she learns there’s more to Adam than he’s telling her. Trust is always a focus in Julia’s writing and the novel questions whether you can truly love someone without it? This first book in the Falling For You series sees Ella start on a journey of developing self-confidence.

As a self-published author, Julia supports new talent and has teamed up with Chichester Music Academy. “The main character is a lyricist and I’ve collaborated with emerging musicians Finnian James and Mia Nicholls who will write and perform the song written by Ella in the novel. I love that this will allow readers to get more involved in Ella’s world, that’s so important to me”.

If you’d like a free taster of Trust In You, subscribe to Julia’s mailing list and receive the first three chapters free at www.juliafirlotteauthor.com or connect with her on social media, she’d love to hear from you.

screen in May. Lissa Evans, the bestselling author of books including Old Baggage and Wed Wabbit, will give a second keynote on Sunday.

Highlights include workshops with picture book author Chitra Soundar, novelist and memoirist Nick Barlay, fantasy and horror writer Cliff McNish, and crime fiction publisher Joel Richardson. There will also be talks on the craft of writing with awardwinning novelist Claire Fuller, publisher Scott Pack, novelist Judith Heneghan, and HarperCollins editorial director Phoebe Morgan.

There are a number of packages to choose from, including a new virtual package for those who are unable to attend. The Writers’ Weekend will also hold four writing competitions: Short Fiction Prize –sponsored by Writing Magazine, The Skylark Fabulous Fiction for Fives to Teens Prize, The Bright Agency Picture Book Prize, and the Opening of a Novel Prize.

The weekend kicks off with an industry panel and readings on Friday night. Saturday opens with a keynote speech by Eoin Colfer, whose internationally acclaimed Artemis Fowl books come to the big

A number of bursaries are available to assist with package fees, plus two scholarships for young writers who are 18 to 25 years old to attend the full weekend, generously provided by Monica Wood.

The programme is available and booking is now open. For all the details and information about the Writers’ Weekend programme, competitions, scholarships and sponsorship opportunities, visit www.writersweekend.uk. pictured: Sara Gangai

Julia Firlotte

Felicity Fair Thompson on History & Changing Times

That mobile in your pocket – you can take photos, share them, talk to friends, send texts, play games, do your banking, and connect to anywhere! And thank goodness, right now, with virus problems around, order deliveries from your supermarket!

But wait! Telephone communication was only actually invented 146 years ago in 1876. And train travel started only about 40 years before that! People stayed where they were born. The extraordinary communication that circles our world now was in its infancy.

When I was writing the stage play Voices Over Passchendaele with historian and lecturer Tim Wander, to commemorate the end of WWI, performed on the Isle of Wight that November weekend in 2018, I wanted to honour the astonishing invention of ground to air radio – communication between the flimsy little aeroplanes flying over the battlefield and the commanders and the troops below. Suddenly a wide understanding of what was happening on the battlefield was possible.

Those same radio men in ground to air technology went on to work for Marconi Wireless, based in Chelmsford in Essex. Marconi was amazing. His wireless ideas started everything off. There's a statue of

him in the square in Chelmsford, reaching upwards with wireless signals flying like birds all round his hands. He was changing everything.

I have been writing the stage play The Power Behind the Microphone, working with Tim's history expertise again, about those same men who were now building Marconi's innovative ideas using radio transmitter masts 750 feet high, and creating the very first radio long range broadcasts in 1920.

On 15th June this year, exactly one hundred years ago, the world-famous Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba sang from the Marconi Chelmsford radio call sign MZX into a radio microphone – half a telephone receiver suspended from a hat stand! She sang Home Sweet Home, the very first worldwide broadcast. As part of the Chelmsford Arts Festival and performed in the Civic Theatre, the play will celebrate that magic Melba moment, and go on to show how within two years, those same men were creating the British Broadcasting 'Company'.

Television came later, invented by a man who grew up in a house which didn't even have electricity! But that's another story. Personally, I didn't watch a television until 1958 where I grew up in Australia! It certainly wasn't in every home. And our telephone was still very old fashioned, cumbersome and made of Bakelite! Now we all tune in to the BBC all the time –and on our mobile phones! How times change!

In my novel The Kid on Slapton Beach, I was writing about 12 year-old Harry, whose life changes quite suddenly in WWII. He lives in the tiny coastal village of Torcross at the end of Slapton Sands, and he, his mother and his little sister are among the three thousand people ordered to leave the south Devon coast just before Christmas in 1943. For Harry it is very worrying. His father is missing in action somewhere in Italy. His mother can't cope and his little sister is too young to understand.

Helping a GI make friends with locals who are all very apprehensive about what is happening and where they will go, Harry makes a friend himself. He and GI Mike White get to know each other well in the lead up to the exodus. Later, after an argument with his mother and Harry goes back for his precious possession that was left behind, he and Mike will meet again. When Exercise Tiger, the ill-fated secret rehearsal for D-Day happens on Slapton Sands, they will both be on that beach.

Slapton Sands was kept secret for decades. But not now. Times do change. “The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know,” said US President Harry Truman.

The Power Behind the Microphone Civic Theatre Chelmsford 15th June to 19th June. Booking opens 25th April – Marconi's Birthday boxoffice@chelmsford.gov.uk

Guglielmo Marconi by Stephen Hicklin, photo ©Oldpicruss

book reviews

Hollywood's Evil Secret

by Sally Winter

"What if... Marilyn knew up front that she was in danger and that her life was under threat?"

Conspiracy theories - the internet is full of them. But none was quite so intriguing as that which landed on Detective Constable Steve Murray's desk one chilly morning.

With terrorist threats high on Scotland Yard's agenda, a report of armed men holding a prisoner in a rural hideaway sparked an urgent investigation.

Tucked away in a rambling old estate in Oxfordshire a reclusive elderly lady sits, caught somewhere between the present and the past, as quietly elegant as the faded grandeur of her surroundings.

Prisoner, refugee or interloper? The identity of the old lady who calls herself Norma Jeanne is a puzzle that inexorably draws DC Murray in. His customary methodical objectivity is gradually eroded by the tantalising possibility that this might be the legendary screen icon who has somehow magically escaped death and sought refuge in sleepy rural England. Although consistently portrayed as a dumb blonde,

Dhanmondi Road

by R H Young

The year is 1973. The Bangladesh war of independence is over but the country remains in chaos. Gareth McKinley, a young Australian, arrives in the country to work on a project set up to care for destitute children. He quickly learns that living and working in a post-war environment can be dangerous.

The story opens at dawn at a dusty camel racetrack south of Dubai City, it is a portent of things to come...

Although he was more experienced than a lot of young men of his age, having travelled around Europe, Gareth was still something of a neophyte in the ways of the wider world. Stepping off the plane at Bangladesh International Airport he found himself catapulted into a culture as far removed from his carefree rural childhood as it was possible to be.

As he finds his feet in this unaccustomed culture he quickly warms to his role, working with local people establishing the 'boys town' where orphaned youngsters can learn vital skills in a safe environment. He

what if Marilyn was much more savvy than she was given credit for. What if she recognised her precarious position knowing, as she did, so much about the Kennedys.

Well imagined, this second novel by Sally Winter is testament to her fascination for that charismatic, vulnerable screen goddess. Somewhere between fantasy and crime thriller, 'Hollywood's Evil Secret' postulates an alternative version of events during the last months of Marilyn Monroe's life, exploring possibilities and repercussions and posing further questions. The ultimate 'What if...' Hollywood's Evil Secret is available on Amazon and currently there are feature length and TV series screenplays being written. www.sallywinter.co.uk

gains confidence in his abilities, discovers who he can trust and even falls in love.

Then, through a series of apparently unrelated incidents, and prompted by the mysterious disappearance of two of the boys under his care, he uncovers a corruption deep within the system, which leads to child trafficking.

Dhanmondi Road captures the atmosphere of turmoil in this country recovering from war, along with the sense of foreignness experienced by the young Australian. Although Gareth's assignment was for just one year, in this 'hothouse environment of foreign aid work' it seems he gains a decade of experience. Available through Amazon, Waterstones and all local independent bookshops.

WHAT WRITERS ARE FOR

Sarah Lewis from Writers HQ sent out this message in a newsletter to writers about the current situation and their role in it..

Over the last few years we've sent out newsletters responding to various world events all like “hey guys don't worry, writers will save the world with our awesome ability to twang people's souls into Doing The Right Thing”.

But. Wow.

It's a crazy thing isn't it? Because we can all (mostly) find the balance between absolute complacency and wild panic (except apparently when it comes to loo roll), and things are gonna get weird af over the next few weeks. But then in that way society does, in the way that capitalism is so superbly designed to do, we'll just kinda bounce back and in a few years there will be a butt-load of novels and shorts about global pandemics and we'll discuss it like we discuss the Great Storm of 1987 – a traumatic yet abstract thing in that foreign country of the past.

But yet.

But yet.

Since this whole shebang started I've spoken to my baby sister daily. She's a doctor, doncha know? So proud. A medical doctor! Look at all the letters before and after her name! She tells me off for being neurotic; I tell her off for suggesting she'll volunteer in the infectious part of the hospital (she's in the high risk category – genetically crap lungs and the like). When I hang up the phone and listen for a second to the new silence, all of a sudden her job seems so important, and mine seems so... pointless.

Then I was talking to some guy on some dating app.

"Stop distracting me," I said, half-flirty, half-serious. "I have to work now!".

"I'm all for a bit of healthy distraction," he said. "Unless you're a surgeon. Then probably best you're focused".

Ah. Thanks universe. Double message received loud and clear.

Doctor = important.

Writer = what?

Of course, we all tie our self worth to things it doesn't need to be tied to. Our wealth, our social standing, our material possessions. Our careers. But when lives are on the line, what can a writer do other than

stand helplessly on the sidelines, periodically making quips about how to conjugate the future imperfect?

And yet. And yet.

It is often hard to see the world as the interconnected web that it is, except for when our interconnectedness in all its glorious and terrifying vulnerability is laid so bare. Through crisis. Through stories.

When we are scared, stories teach us to find comfort in our friends

When we are isolated, stories teach us that love has no barriers

When we are facing despair and the bleak futility of that which we cannot fight, stories teach us that every dark night ends with the sun.

When we feel useless and uncertain, helpless and lost, stories teach us that we might not have control but there is still freedom to be found.

When we think we have a choice, stories teach us to surrender. Not to be passive, but to surrender to the apparent impossibility of it all, to the chaotic inevitability of it all. To accept our place within the order of things, and act accordingly.

The doctor might look after the physical, but the writer looks after the metaphysical.

We are both or we are none, and we find all of it together – doctor, writer and everything in between –or not at all.

We are hardwired to need each other, as awful as we all are. Our self worth - the value we place on our own existence – should be tied to our ability to be honest, be vulnerable, to connect with and support the people around us. That means love, compassion, kindness, generosity, empathy, understanding, tolerance, community, and support.

And *that* is what writers are for.

For telling the kind of stories that have kept humanity together and moving as a vaguely coherent unit since we first worked out how to flap our tongues, how to scratch marks on to rocks.

We make it to the end of time together, or not at all. Don't know about you, but our money is on the former.

Go tell a story. And cough into yer elbow, you monster.

Writers’ HQ helps writers tell their stories, go to www.writershq.co.uk to find out how.

check websites for updates poetry prose & illustration

The Giant

It was just a hill field to the neighbours

But we knew it was the Bed of the Giant

And when he was heavily breathing

His breath made a fog oe’r the land

It was rare that anyone saw him

Sleep was what he did best

It seems he was old and a tired Giant

So we should keep very quiet, let him rest!

Most folk saw just a green hill-field

We saw Giant’s Head and Feet

And ogled at that large heaving belly

And wondered when and how we would meet!

So we tiptoed past his Bed in the morning

And ran past it scared late at night

We watched every move, every heaving

That Giant’s bed filled us with fright.

I then moved away from that hillside

Returning years later to bury some kin

Out of curiosity I checked on the “Giant”

Saw nothing but a flat field of green.

My daughter was with me however.

I felt nothing. But as we were leaving

She pulled on my arm in excitement

“Mom-wait! I can hear the giant breathing”

–by Ger White

Ger White, Ireland Poet, grew up in wild open country of West Limerick. Her country life is represented in her poems and had a strong bearing on her core values and education. She inherited the skill of poetic rhyme from both of her parents and her Grandad – who were all fine poets and storytellers. She has had poems published in four anthologies from Clarendon House Publications. Some of her poems will already have appeared in Ballyguiltenane Rural Journal over time.

Ger sees herself as a spiritual person, very connected with life in all forms. Happily married for the past twenty years and currently living in Sussex, she enjoys healthy pursuits of country walks with a nice cuppa tea and chat at the end.

www.facebook.com/gerardinewhite www.gerwhite.com

EKPHRASIS —

Writing Inspired by Art

Poets have used art as inspiration for centuries. John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is one famous example. Even ancient poets like Homer used artwork as a source of inspiration and William Blake said poetry and art are 'ways to converse with paradise'

What poets discover in art and transform into words can change our view, turning an immediate response into a new perspective. Could Van Gogh’s painting of a yellow chair, with its straining shapes, tortured angles and forthright, face up position be an anguished portrait, an expression of his emotional distress and deep mental health issues? Who knows?

Yellow Chair

In the beginning was a chair, in the beginning was a yellow chair wildly yellow, by a sad bed, but to his bed it was pine.

For Vincent everything talked in its own colours. His torment gave him eyes that lived beyond tranquillity, eyes that painted pain.

His tears were paint and his paint became pictures. Nobody saw Vincent’s genius, cruel stabs of hurt-swirling-colours. Now his colours live, opening closed minds.

In the beginning was a chair, a chair in shock, aching, a portrait hidden in yellow. Vincent was calling us, wanting us to know, share his trampled hopes, in a portrait painted with tears.

–by Michael Sherman

Having retired from his role as creative director in international ad agencies then running his own businesses, Michael suddenly found time to write poetry. He came from a creative family, with links to Thomas Hardy, so his years of creating ideas were not wasted. He likes to write in modern, compressed styles with surprises for the reader.

His interests in nature, art and wildlife provide fertile scribbling grounds. He lives near Chichester but says he favours the deep jungle to the sea, which for him is cold, wet and dangerous. He'll head for cicadas by a heat-hazed Provencal lavender field any day.

Online Exhibition at Sussex Sculpture Studio

You are warmly invited to a virtual exhibition of work by our studio artists available online towards the end of April.

To celebrate our achievements and help raise funds for the studio during the Coronavirus crisis, we are launching a fundraising page from which you can not only access our exhibition of painting and sculpture, but join in with regular art activities to do at home. Our aim is to help keep your creativity alive, your boredom at bay, to feel in touch with other artists, and have a peek behind the scenes at studio life.

Help keep us going so that we can still be here in the future to resume courses and continue to provide space for artists. Follow the link on our website to direct you to our virtual exhibition and take part in our athome drawing, painting and sculpture challenges. Become part of our lovely community of artists. www.sussexsculpture.co.uk

LCA Stage Academy

Learning Creative Arts is critical in every child’s personal development and, of course for every aspiring performer.

LCA Stage Academy provide a range of performance classes, courses and workshops in singing,

acting and dancing, including technique training, one to one sessions, and a range of fun performance opportunities for young, aspiring performers.

“We regularly put on showcases and performances as we feel it’s important to give our students the opportunity to perform live to an audience, to develop confidence and gain valuable experience. We provide classes, courses and workshops for performers aged 3-18 and we create a platform for our students to push themselves further in music and performing arts in a safe, fun, creative and professional environment. The dedicated team of enthusiastic and professional LCA teachers work hard with performers who join to ensure that they get a high level of training.

“Here at LCA, our classes are full of fun, hard work and determination both for our students and teachers. We create a platform for all performers, giving them the training they need, whether they would like to learn for fun or pursue a career in music or performing arts.”

LCA Stage Academy have two schools running weekly classes: Saturdays in Oxted and Thursdays and Sundays in Ashford. As well as weekly classes, LCA also runs musical theatre summer workshops in Kent and Surrey. Contact LCA to book your free trial session! For more details about weekly classes or upcoming workshop dates, times and prices email info@LCA-Stage. com, call 07714 276241, or visit www.lca-stage.com.

LCA Oxted Performers at the read through for their upcoming end of year show, Legally Blonde

Brush up your still life painting or get to grips with landscapes Alla prima art workshops –a mixture of studio-based and plein-air painting days in and around Arundel once a month throughout the year

Please see website to contact Karin and see workshop dates www.karinmoorhouseart.com

Then brighten up your day with the only regional arts & culture magazine in the South East. For just £9.95 a year you can have ingénu/e magazine delivered to your door each quarter.

Visit the website or email us at subscribe@ingenuemagazine.co.uk www.ingenuemagazine.co.uk Want more colour in your life? Tired of things being dull?

Gill Bustamante, King of the River

West Dean College of Arts & Conservation

The college is part of The Edward James Foundation, a registered charity which also comprises West Dean Gardens, West Dean Estate and West Dean Tapestry Studio.

For those who would like to learn a new creative hands-on skill in a short period of time, and even create something to be proud of, the College offers a vast array of one-day courses. They are perfect for those who are time poor or simply need to switch off from everyday life to try something new. For those with more time, there are 800 short courses a year ranging from a day to a week or more!

Over the next six months, there are 44 one-day courses from making your own leather belt to learning to crochet or basketmaking, through to drawing, jewellery, blacksmithing, throwing pots and gardening!

West Dean is the perfect place for a creative escape. Their 2020 Summer Schools will hopefully be taking place from late July into August. Over the three-week period, there will be 27 one-week courses ranging from painting to photography to jewellery making, sculpture, printmaking, blacksmithing, enamelling, textiles, stone carving and making automata, all with expert tutors drawn from across the UK and further afield.

Visit www.westdean.org.uk for further information.

Christine Forbes, portrait painting outdoors

Africa Wild Trails and Natural History

and tutor Roz Nathan for a

creative and

Draw, paint, photograph or just relax and experience the

time. For more details: roz.nathan@hotmail.com / 07913 080061 angus@africawildtrails.com / 07932 327534 or see painting holidays at www.roznathanart.com

eequ supporting person to person learning

Ingénue caught up with Eequ founder Avida Hancock to learn more about how the company facilitates creative mentors, tutors and trainers

What is Eequ?

Eequ helps people find and give learning experiences. It could be described as online software or an online platform, but really it is a community. Although the tools are online, Eequ only supports real life, person to person learning – we think the best education happens in the real world and in authentic teaching relationships.

Why is Eequ different from sites like Craft Courses or Obby?

We have a bold vision to make it possible for people to completely design their education throughout their lives. Eequ hosts learning for both children and adults. We help artisans who might never have thought of themselves as a teacher to describe the educational value of what they do. Each webpage is very detailed, this is important because we automatically keep a digital portfolio for each learner.

Can anyone create a class, workshop or course?

If you have a skill and know why it’s beneficial to people we will help you describe it. Many people teach small groups in their home or studios and start slowly. You can be up and running in an hour and don’t have to think about all the associated admin. We want to remove all the boring stuff so that you can focus on doing what you love.

Why did you found Eequ?

I would certainly describe myself as a ‘lifelong learner’. I’ve had many careers in my life and I have raised two children as a single parent. One thing I realised was that teachers are all around us and don’t always work in schools.

As a single mum, I was always really frustrated by how difficult it was to find and organise highquality extracurricular education for my children. I was forced to hang around in the playground, scour noticeboards and search Facebook – and even then I missed loads of opportunities. I had to upskill and reskill myself many times but I faced the same problem. I couldn’t pay £100k to go to university, I needed short, flexible and local mentoring.

Eequ is solving all these problems by creating a community for people to share their skills.

You’ve worked with artificial intelligence for many years. What do people need to learn for the 21st Century?

There is going to be more automation than people realise but I think artisans will be highly valued. Not just for their craft but for their ability to develop creative and interdisciplinary thinking skills in others. We know that we need emotional intelligence and emotional resilience but this can’t be taught in the conventional way. I think we need to focus on uniquely human skills so we can adapt and reinvent ourselves throughout our lives. Artisans hold an important key in the future of education.

If you like Eequ’s vision, please explore their website at www.eequ.org or follow their journey on Facebook www.facebook.com/eequ.org.

If you’d like a demo contact Avida Hancock on 07557 093609 or email avida@eequ.org.

Eequ founder Avida Hancock

Coda

The magazine – uglificaton versus aesthetics

As it’s a while since the origin of the magazine's name has been mentioned in these pages, and as this is the 28th issue of ingénu/e and a new decade, I thought it might be an idea to reiterate the meaning of the word ingénu/e and say a little about the ethos of the magazine.

When we began the magazine back in 2013 we borrowed for our mission statement a phrase from the 1988 Philip Kaufman movie The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Based on the novel of the same name by Milan Kundera, the movie featured early film performances by Daniel Day Lewis, Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin.

In the film the bohemian artist Sabina, played by Lena Olin, is having lunch with a lover in a restaurant in Prague in which piped music is being played. She becomes angry and frustrated and says “Everywhere music is turning into noise. Look. These plastic flowers…they even put them in water! And look out there, those buildings – the uglification of the world. The only place we can find beauty is if its persecutors have overlooked it. It’s a planetary process…and I can’t stand it.”

And so the magazine began as an effort to promote aesthetics in our region and perhaps, in the process, counteract some of the uglification.

ingénu/e – its meaning

‘L’Ingénu’ is a novella by the French writer and satirist François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, which was published in 1767. The main character’s innocent and entirely literal understanding of society and its values serves as both comic and satirical comment. In Voltaire’s novel the protagonist is male, and you may notice in Voltaire’s title above there is no letter 'e' at the end of the word. In recent times however the word is mainly spelt in English as 'ingénue', garnering a feminine slant in its usage, referring usually to a young creative girl or woman who is endearingly

innocent and wholesome, very new to an artistic genre, such as acting, music or dance. As far as I am aware, the word was first recorded in English in Thackeray’s Vanity Fair in 1848. More recent examples of its use are singer/songwriter k.d. lang, who used the word for the title of her Grammy nominated second album in 1993 and apparently Scarlett Johansson once said “I don’t want to be an ingénue anymore. It’s nice to be glamorous, but I don’t want to always be an object of desire, because it doesn’t last.” In the recent film of Andy Weir’s novel The Martian, Matt Damon, playing astronaut Mark Watney, is stranded on Mars. He is asked to pose for a photo via remote camera by NASA's Director of Media Relations. Watney is trying to decide on a pose for the picture, and whether a particular pose would look good in a space suit and says “What would you expect me to be – a high school senior or a coquettish ingénue?” Every time Gill and I hear the word used on TV, film or radio we shout 'Ingénue!' in unison!

The original ethos of our magazine was to help promote emerging creative talent of any genre and, as most creatives who venture forth at the beginning of their career collide – like sheep amongst wolves –with such un-aesthetic things as economics, critics and betrayals, not to mention a less than reputable

media, we therefore thought the word quite appropriate for a title. 'Ingénu' is the masculine form and 'ingénue' the feminine form of the word, and so we have coined the name 'ingénu/e', to cover all possibilities. We noted that the word used in The Martian screenplay should have been ingénu, as Mark Watney is a male character, although the stance he uses to be photographed is decidedly feminine.

After a couple of years we expanded the scope of the magazine to incorporate most everything creative occurring in the area, but without losing our interest and emphasis on new, up and coming talent as far as possible.

I should mention, after being amused – and concerned – listening to some people struggling to articulate the word correctly, we uploaded a link to our website which gives both the English and American versions of how to pronounce 'ingénue'. Go the the About Us page and have a look.

RIP Neil Innes

Many years ago, I was standing in a queue in Florida when, having somehow worked out I was British, a chap came up to me and asked me “Have you ever heard of Neil Innes?” I had of course, and

following a long conversation we became bosom buddies thereafter. Both of us being musicians, we shared a common admiration for his work, which is in part poetic, melodic, funny, satirical, Dadaesque, unique and poignant.

You may or may not know the name, but Neil Innes was one of those musical geniuses lingering just slightly in the shadows of more well-known faces. I belatedly discovered just recently that he had passed away, aged 75, in France on 29th December.

Innes was one of the founders and songwriter of the Bonzo Dog Dada Band, later known as the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, finding his first brush with fame in 1968 on the anarchic children's television series Do Not Adjust Your Set, which also featured future Monty Python members Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam. From there his musical trajectory saw him writing most of the band’s songs, including a Top 20 hit, I’m The Urban Spaceman. He wrote a song on the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film, was involved in many musical collaborations and in the early 70s and onwards became the ‘Seventh Python’, writing the odd sketch, acting in their films and writing songs for their albums and singing at their live gigs. He famously began one of his songs with the phrase “I've suffered for my music. Now it's your turn.”

Later he collaborated with Eric Idle on the Rutland Weekend Television series, a satire on regional pictured clockwise from opp top: The Martian; Lena Olin as Sabine in the Unbearable Lightness of Being; Neil Innes; title page of L'Ingénu by Voltaire

television programmes. From this Innes created The Rutles, a parody of the Beatles, also known as the Prefab Four. He wrote all the songs which were remarkably very Beatlesque, and followed up with a TV film parody of the Beatles entitled ‘All You Need is Cash’, in which George Harrison himself made a guest appearance. Many years later, in 1996, The Rutles released ‘Archaeology’, a parody of The Beatles' Anthology album. His career then continued in many directions; various children’s TV programmes; a documentary series where he travelled the UK discovering the origin of various words and phrases; performing with the Pythons at the Concert for George after the death of the Beatle’s guitarist and touring the UK in 2006 as part of the Bonzo Dog Band's 40th Anniversary tour. He formed the Idiot Bastard Band in 2010, featuring Adrian Edmondson, Phill Jupitus and other well known characters. His life is recorded to some degree in the 2008 musical documentary film ‘The Seventh Python’, a biography that gives an insight into the man and his music.

And so yet another creative soul I admired greatly passes away. I guess it’s my age, but it seems to be

happening more regularly nowadays. But here’s a thought – apparently Neil provided the whistling on the Python song ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’. I have a feeling he may be whistling that again somewhere now.

Well met by moonlight

During a short break in the awful weather that the heavens have subjected us to of late, we came home one evening to a beautiful clear sky with the Moon and Venus saying hello. Our photographer friend Gyorgy Zak took a few shots of the sight, an aesthetic interlude in an otherwise miserable day. Hope you like the picture, there’s something slightly mystical about it I think. Gyorgy makes promotional videos for use on websites, something that artists of all types could use. Visit www.marketingfilm. co.uk or check out his Facebook page www.facebook. com/marketingfilm. Alternatively give him a call on 07506 850536 to find out more.

A treat at the Capitol Theatre gallery in Horsham

While distributing the winter issue we came across the artwork of Rebekah Jenkins and loved seeing her work. Rebekah is a contemporary paper artist from Horsham and her exhibition was entitled Ant to Zebra, showcasing her animal art which she creates using a modern version of quilling. We stayed awhile admiring her work, a very talented artist.

Visit her on Facebook Bekabeepaperartist or Instagram @rebekahjenkinspaperartist.

top left: The Moon and Venus February 2020, photo by Gyorgy Zak; below: Rebekah Jenkins, 'Human'