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Outstanding Musicians | Exhibitions & Open Studios | Members' Performance Events | Well-known speakers | Social Events | Workshops
Crowborough Arts supports the arts, and arts practitioners in our area.During the current COVID-19 outbreak, like so many other organisations, we have had to suspend our programme for the time being. However, we've decided to use this website to keep in touch, and to create a space for use as a showcase for our members' work. So we're inviting you to contribute - perhaps a new painting or photograph you'd like to share, a poem or maybe a short story.
Please email Gaye with your suggestions and ideas. In particular, if you'd like to be featured as an artist, with a picture of you or your work, and would be willing to give a short telephone interview, we'd love to hear from you. Now see what we've put together so far, and make sure to scroll all the way down! Life and Portrait Drawing Resumes
We’re delighted to announce that from Monday, 28th September, our life and portrait drawing sessions will resume at The United Church. This is possible as they fall under the banner of ‘education’ and so are not subject to the ‘rule of six’. Full health precautions will be in place, however, and details of these are available here.
The dates are as follows: Monday 28th Sept Life Monday 5th Oct Portrait Thursday 8th Oct Life Monday 26th Oct Life and thereafter the same pattern ie 1st Monday of the month, 2nd Thursday of each month and 4th Monday of each month. Please email richard.nottingham@btinternet.com or call 01892 852681 to book a place, or for more details. Bursary News
Rebecca Lindsay, who has just completed her PhD at the University of Reading, was awarded a CA bursary in 2017 to assist with expenses to attend the world’s largest children’s literature conference.
Rebecca writes: “With the support of the Crowborough Arts Bursary, I was able to go to Canada to present my paper on ‘The Real and the Ideological Child’ at the International Research Society for Children’s Literature Congress 2017. This was such an incredible experience as a first year PhD student, and I could not have done it without this bursary. Thank you so much! I have now submitted my thesis, ‘Psychoanalytic Readings of Language, the Unconscious, and the Desire for the Object’, which looks at various critical theories, literature and psychoanalysis. I have included a special thanks to Crowborough Arts in my thesis acknowledgements page for your generosity.“ We send Rebecca many congratulations, and look forward to addressing her as Dr Lindsay! Gong Therapy with Angela Mason
On her 'Touched by Sound' website, Gong Master Angela Mason writes, "The Gongs bring many people a sense of deep relaxation, rest and renewal when they relax into the sounds, let go, and allow their soundscape to unfold." I knew immediately that this was something I had to experience!
Angela, a CA member, welcomed me into the soft golden glow of her treatment room. Lining the walls were about a dozen large gongs; countless other percussive instruments stood on shelves and tables. I was invited to lie on a heated couch in the centre of the room and close my eyes. Angela began with light strokes on a selection of Tibetan singing bowls, before moving onto the deeper, more sonorous resonances of the gongs. Very quickly I was immersed in a blissful connection with the sound and was enjoying the variety of the different instruments, some of which had sweet, plangent notes that lasted only for a moment, and others whose resonance lasted for many seconds. I lost all sense of the passing of time and it was only when Angela returned to the lighter sounds of the singing bowls, sea-sounds and tiny five note tunes on thumb pianos that my eyes opened. I was amazed to realise that the whole experience had lasted well over an hour. Afterwards I felt refreshed and peaceful, but the real effect of the gong bath took some hours to manifest itself. I became aware that the knot of anxiety I’d been holding in the pit of my stomach for months – at least since the beginning of the pandemic – had completely dissolved. By 10 pm I felt exhausted, but in a good way, and I knew I would sleep well (usually a challenge for me). This morning I still feel grounded and peaceful, and a little light-headed. The gong bath experience is not one that can adequately be described; all I can say, is try it for yourself. I shall certainly be returning! We are hoping to invite Angela to demonstrate the gongs and talk about her work at a CA evening as soon as possible. You can contact Angela at www.touchedwithsound.co.uk Gaye Jee Turn Your Memories into Memoirs ...
Some years ago when I was studying for my MA, I wrote down a series of family stories - stories I'd grown up with from my grand parents and parents. Some were funny, some recalled their childhoods and some brought home their experiences in the East End of London during WWII. What I found repeatedly was that as we spoke about the past, more and more memories would emerge. Reminiscing unlocked a past that would otherwise have been lost forever.
Now I want to help others preserve their own stories for their families and friends. During a series of relaxed, informal interviews, we will capture the stories and periods of your life that you want to preserve. If any members are interested in being a 'guinea pig' for my new memoir-writing service, I'd be happy to offer a discounted fee for the first booking! Interviews can take place remotely, or in your own home. Gaye Jee Booklovers Update
As physical meetings are not possible at the moment, members have been meeting via Zoom, Click here for the latest titles and to find out what they thought!
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Read Our Latest Newsletter!
Erica Walks for Children in Need
Many congratulations are due to Erica Adams, who decided to raise money for Children in Need via the CountryFile Act Your Age Ramble. Erica writes:
"Saturday 10th October, eleven o’clock, time to set off on my Children in Need sponsored walk. Disappointingly the weather is fine. It would look more heroic to trundle my walking frame through gales, rainstorms or snow, but it is not to be so I don my Pudsey ears and drive to Goldsmiths with husband, Maurice, by my side. Outside the Leisure Centre my daughter, Jan Moffitt, is waiting so, with a cheery wave goodbye to Maurice, we set off on the upward path skirting the left of the building and I wonder if the carpet of acorns will speed me up or crash me down. But I negotiate them without a hitch with Jan spurring me on and making jokes which make me laugh proving that it’s possible to walk, breathe and laugh all at the same time even at my age. I puff my way up the long sloping path until at the top it turns right and a beautiful panoramic scene bursts into view. I fling out my arms and sing ‘The hills are alive with …’ but my Julie Andrews moment is curtailed by the need to stop my walker sailing away. Now it’s downhill until we turn right at the bottom onto the not-quite-flat path that always sets my ankle off, but I bravely limp on until reaching the outdoor gym equipment where I wonder whether to have a go. However, this challenge is to walk for half an hour, not waste time keeping fit, so we turn left onto the circular path above the running track and continue trudging around whilst young people zip past on the track beside us. It is like travelling on a donkey with Tesla electric cars speeding by. Eventually a full half hour has passed. In my head music plays and fireworks explode. I dash to our car and my man leaps out waving a St George’s flag. We kiss. And that is that. I had aimed to make £88 for Children in Need. Currently the total is £485. Whoop whoop!" 
The King Lear Prize: Success for CA Members!
We're delighted to announce that Mary Harris has been shortlisted for the King Lear Prize for Art. Her self-portrait is one of just 16 to be selected, out of 4,000 entries. Mary writes: "At the beginning of lock-down, Gyles Brandreth was inviting applications for the King Lear Prize Challenge. Named because Shakespeare wrote King Lear through a time of plagues in this country. Applicants needed to be over 70 yrs. I was feeling very despondent with anxiety, disappointment and enforced isolation and this is how the self portrait came out. So it seemed to be the best image to include."
Another CA member, Stella Mance, was also recognised in the competition: Stella Mance was awarded a Highly Commended for her painting 'Bee Heaven'. She says, "I did this painting during lock-down to cheer me up. It has been such a beautiful summer, weather-wise, and I felt the painting was a sunny memory." Many congratulations to both Mary and Stella. It's lovely to know that the talent of CA members is justly appreciated! |
