Thoughts
On 10th December 2024 everything stopped - I was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 44. Here we are, and at the time of writing, I'm 2/3 of the way through chemo (to shrink the cancer before surgery) and getting appointments in place for the next phase. I&
Composing
I have written an acapella arrangement for three voices (SAT, or really AAT/B), a nostalgic song about Scotland based around the melody from the first movement of Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony. I persuaded my 18 year old son (tenor/baritone) and 14 year old daughter (alto) to sing
Reviews
From the outset, the PuppetCraft cast encouraged a non-frontal and participatory style of theatre, asking children to sit on the floor close to the scenery. Special mention has to go straight away to the sound and music. Sounds were created live using sampling and mixing of the strange and mysterious
Reviews
The ensemble cast of three open and close The Boy Who Cried Wolf with the ‘clickety click’ of their knitting needles, and the story gradually weaves itself into being, framed by these little poetic and visual moments. Taking this small rural family of mother, son and grandfather as a starting
National Trust
I think that keeping myself and the children busy and active, doing lovely things and making lovely memories, is one of the best ways that I've dealt with the difficulties of the past eighteen months and helped myself and the children to settle and move on from the
Thoughts
The Achilles Effect explores gender bias in the entertainment aimed at primary school boys, focusing on the dominant themes in children’s TV shows, toy advertising, movies, and books: gender stereotypes of both sexes, male dominance, negative portrayals of fathers, breaking of the mother/son bond, and the devaluing of
Thoughts
I found an interesting story when I was looking up Hans Christian Andersen in response to a post about scary French children's stories on Facebook). It's The Story of a Mother. Here is the summary on wikipedia, which is pared down but still moving, and here
Reviews
Spring is arriving in Yorkshire and I love the breezy sunshine. A trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park was an obvious choice last weekend, and one I had been looking forward to for a while. Apparently, half of Britain agreed with me, as the place was heaving. The restaurant was
Reviews
‘Sculptural potter’ Gordon Baldwin’s exhibition, ‘Objects for a Landscape’, is at York Art Gallery from February to June of this year. I took the children during the half term break, on a mild and breezy York day. The gallery had laid on a creative workshop and I was interested
Reviews
On the 29th January we visited The Hepworth Wakefield to coincide with the final day of Clare Woods' exhibition, The Unquiet Head. I was determined not to miss this exhibition, as the paintings have been inspired in part by the landscape around Brimham Rocks, a stunning collection of natural