shine

This is the original film from the first exhibition we held, this was kind of the start of all of the creative writing work and all the multi media work!

Ali worked with service users and staff teams from all of our support sites to create the poetry work that forms the soundtrack. Parts of about 70 poems were edited together, it was pure luck and passion rather than experience or judgement that it worked out so well!

Staff and service users were given parts of the collaborative poem to read, so it's us you can hear.

Staff and service users were filmed, so it's us you can see.

This film really is by us and about us!

We were lucky enough to work with local film maker Travis Reeves on this project, he worked magic on the soundtrack, we're still very grateful that he gave so much of his time to the project.

We remain really proud of shine and hope you enjoy it.

Closed for the summer!

Just to let you know that the writing group is off for the summer holidays!

We'll be back at the end of August! Hope you have a good summer! See you then!

Resturant review number one

Last week instead of having our normal writing group we went out to celebrate!
During May four different people have had a birthday, so we decided to go out for dinner!

While we were eating we did lots of chatting!
We decide that this week we would write a review of our experience at the restaurant - and that we would use writing a review as an excuse to go out now and than!


There were 6 people in our party we got seated straight away even though we did not book. the restaurant was nice, the staff were good, the table was nicely set and the pictures were nice to look at . we could not find any disabled access for wheelchairs and it is not good if you are not good on the stairs because the toilets are down the stairs . the food was lovely it is nice place to go with friends if you've got the money because it's pricey.

Faces of Art Soundscape

As you listen imagine you are in a very dark room, and that the pictures are projected onto the wall, the darkness is littered with colour from our artwork and the soundtrack surrounds you.

When we first started working on the Faces of Art project we learned to 'sign a rainbow' the project organically flowed back to this starting point, you will hear it throughout the track.

The voices belong to service users, staff and volunteers, again thanks to Kode9 for letting us sample one of his tracks for this piece.

The 'slide show' is made up of our altered digital photography work! It shows we're not afraid of colour!!

We'll be interested to hear what you think of this!

Exhibition review!

"The work was done by a group of young people aged between 18-28 who all come to the Tuesday afternoon group.
The staff Linda, Alanna and Nicole were brilliant at dancing.
The project was called Faces of Art. It was about being creative.
We worked as part of a group to make up a dance. "

"Me and my mum came for about an hour. I had a great time.
The video was of people dancing around the trees and doing dance movements at a bike park and the music was good on the film. It was done by Michelle's brother."

exhibition work....

Just a small sample of the photographic work on display at our exhibition!

These photo's were taken while we were doing our dance! WE think they're fab and say lots about how cool our project was!!

dance poems (in honour of our exhibition!)

Doing the dance made us feel
Alive, we jumped, we swayed, we bowed
New dance steps
Combined with our photographs
Everyone enjoyed our dance


Definitely the best
Artists and dancers
New ideas of pictures and movement
Clever and crazy group
Excellent exercise


These poems were written by members of the group that participated in the Faces of Art project.

Positive thoughts...

Spring finally appears to be here!
We talked about feeling positive at the writing group, about all of the things that make our lives good, these poems came as a result of our discussion and after watching a short film about tai chi.

Take a deep breath,

feel euphoric,

I have friends.

Breath out,

feel positive,

concentrate on my health,

know I will feel content

Feel secure because of family,

relax knowing that friends

make me joyous.

Take a beep breath,

feel overjoyed

I have my sister.

Breathe out,

feel happy

I have my dog.

Concentrate on support,

know that I feel safe.

Feel brilliant

because of going on holiday.

Relax knowing

my friends make me happy.

Beauty Queens...

Ali found this badge in an old jewelery box at our charity shop today.
Tonight's group was based around it, we talked about beauty and what it meant to us, about the pressures faced by women to look a certain way and about what REALLY makes people beautiful...

Ladies I can make you beautiful,
hide your imperfections with our brown glowing blusher!
highlight your facial features with hour summer shimmery poncho pink lip stick!
Feel good by using spring red sparkly eye shadow.

Ladies you are beautiful embrace your imperfections!
Your fat tummy!
Your gray hair!
Your sore legs!
highlight your talents,
You might be a good singer,
good at poetry,
a good writer.
Feel good by helping a friend,
cheer some one up when they are sad
and by being a good listener.

Beauty Queens...

Ladies I can make you beautiful
Hide your imperfections with our lipstick, luscious red devil and glossy!
Highlight your round cheeks with our silky soft sensuous blusher!
Feel good by using sultry powder blue Mediterranean eye shadow!



Ladies you are beautiful embrace your imperfections!
Your thick double chin,
bulging stomachs
and spotty faces
Highlight your talents!
Being kind and gentle,
Have a listening ear,
Being generous and compassionate.
Feel good by remembering that
You have a good family,
You have great friends,
Your phone rings,
You have a lovely Home.

What's in Ali's bag?!?!

1. Silver curling ribbon

2. balloon wights

3. sports table confetti x 2

4. mini tubes moisturiser

5. dog treats

6. deep heat pain rub

7. holiday photos on cd

8. Aqualung cd

9. Tesco voucher

10. blue tack

11. glue spreader

12. tampons

13. mints

14. make up sponge

15. exhibition invite

16. photo of my Gran

17. 3 sketchbooks (one lined, one work, one personal!)

18. painkillers

19. name for a baby blanket I'm making

20. papers for meeting

21. feedback forms designs

22. tin of tuna

23. fabric swatch

24. empty Graze box

25. paint charts for kitchen

26. spare t-shirt

27. bottle of water

28. xmas bonus voucher for M&S

29. orange fabric scissors

30. note from a colleague

31. balloons

32. i pod, speakers and adaptor

WHAT'S IN YOURS?!?!

PLEASE SHARE WITH US!

(oh the shame!! Again thanks to The Governess for this idea! And even bigger thanks to Fadwa who's idea it was to start with!)

This is my bag!

1 purse
2 house keys
3 painkillers
4 mobile phone
5 colour chart
6 dile a bus pass
7 perfume
8 library card
9 bank card
10 top up card
11 leisure card
12 bingo cards
13 bus pass

WHAT'S IN YOURS?!

1. To Do list

2. Purse

3. About a fiver

4. Prescription

5. Diary

6. Big envelope

7. My phone

8. Work phone

9. Gloves

10. Train timetable

11. RBS business card

12. Perfume

13. Glasses

14. Morrison'd receipt

15. 5 used bus tickets

16. 6 pens

17. 1 pencil

18. House keys

19. Empty paracetamol packet

20. Fleet Foxes cd

21. Disney Princess tissues

22. Juicy tube

23. Vaseline

24. Medication

25. Office key + ID badge

What's in my bag?

We saw this idea on Mistress Debrina's Diary and thought we'd do it too!

Here's what's in my bag

1. mobile phone

2. tissues

3. hand cream

4. towels

5. purse

6. 3.60

7. bus pass

8. pain killers

9. pen

10. biscuits

WHAT'S IN YOURS?!

Rainbow Boy Song

R: Rainbow boy is very fast.

A: and he skates and runs through crowds of people.

I: indoors and outdoors he saves peoples lives. In Xscape he is good.

N: Never does he a call on his medal.

B: Before he goes on an adventure he eats and sleeps.

O: On top of bridges he saves lives quickly and looks after Buster. He can do it, he is SUPER!.

W: Wish, wish, wish he could finish and go back to Mum at Cafe 16.

B: Be there whenever you need him. Just shout out loud.

O: Okay he is always having fun when he sees Bran and Buster run.

Y: You have no need to fear, RAINBOW BOY is always near!

Rainbow Boy was created as part of the Superhero work - you can see a photo of some of this work at http://we-are-artists.blogspot.com/

This poem is actually the lyrics for a song, it was written by a member of our Wednesday Club, working hand over hand with one of our fabulous staff. It was just too good not to share it with you all!

Cyber poems

Hooray! Finally our new computers are online!
To celebrate we worked on these poems using lists of words that relate to computers!

Click, wires, windows,

Blog, my space,

Surfing,

skype, mouse, email,

Hotmail, skype, virus,

Crash, electric, file,

Twitter.

E-mail, surfing, J.peg,

Screen, crash, digital,

Keyboard, virus, bit map.

Under water

Fish, scales,

fins, hiding, skimming, dashing,

shells,

colourfu,l seaweed satin,

metallic looping,

tiny,

dipping, swimming.

Transparent beady eyes,

dipping,

shimmering, slippy mirrored, opaque,

colourful, rushing, sequined,

sliding, dancing,

tropical.

Ice Lights

Jade blaze fades

Glassy fusing blue

Glow ruby misty

flicker glint shifting

Ruby glimmer flicker

Misty fading flow

Blaze emerald hazy

Emanate glassy flood

Radiance blaze dissolve

Blaze jade ray

Misty vanishing blue

Glow ruby hazy

Melt glassy shimmer

Glint flood thaw

Vanishing glassy red

Green icy flicker

Royal shimmer flicker

Shiny fading turquoise

Glimmer scarlet opaque

Glow hazy melt

Gleam flicker radiance

Shimmer transparent aqua

Disintegrate fragile shimmer

Turquoise sapphire flood

These lanterns were made using the water left over from snow painting! We froze them in bottles with plastic cups weighted down in them to make the hollows in which our tea light candles sat. We were amazed at the colours in the photos! We used a thesaurus to find the words to our poems.

Shine

Some time ago we held an exhibition,

it was unusual in that staff and service users all contributed written work which was used to create the soundtrack for a short film.

(I'm working on getting it up here for you to see)

The exhibition was titled 'SHINE', the written and art works were all based on things that shone, not just physical things like stars and jewellery, but moments in our lives, people, relationships, the metaphysical things that put light in our lives.

The collaged lanterns in this photograph were used to illuminate the exhibition.

I wanted to share it with you because it is an important part of the history of we are artists and poets, people who attended the exhibition obviously had preconceptions about what they would see, what 'disabled peoples art' would be like... I will never forget the exhilaration, the sheer joy and pleasure of watching people be surprised, impressed or embarrassed that their preconceived ideas could be so far from what they were experiencing!

It was a wonderful moment where the value of art, of creativity was understood and acknowledged, where we were all artists, all poets and all equal.

Let's get to know each other better!

These lists are titled;

Ten things you didn't know about me!

1. My favourite food is Chinese, sweet and sour chicken and fried rice.
2. The things I fear most are aging and not having enough money.
3. I'd really love to visit Rome.
4. My favourite people are my parents.
5. The last thing I bought was two pink dressing gowns and cat socks.
6. I wish I had a better brain.
7. My favourite book is The Da vinci Code.
8. My favourite season is Summer, I love the warmth and sunny days.
9. The last thing I ate was a chicken panini.
10. My favourite word is vicinity.


1. My earliest memory is being locked in the toy cupboard with my sister - she thought I had they key but I didn't.
2. I really don't like pineapple.
3. My favourite word is fudge
4. I believe that what's for you won't pass you.
5. I don't have any regrets.
6. I wish my parents were still alive.
7. My first pet was a pure white budgie called snowy.
8. The last thing I broke was one of my best glasses.
9. My favourite books are Harry Potter.
10. The last thing I bought was a bottle of diet coke.



1. My favourite film is The Sound of Music.
2. My favourite song is I have a dream by Abba.
3. The last thing I ate was macaroni cheese.
4. I'd love to visit Tenerife.
5. The last thing I bought was a magazine.
6. The last thing I lost was my bus pass.
7. I am afraid of thunder.
8. My favourite clothes are jeans and zippers.
9. I was last angry when the internet wouldn't work.
10.I believe that you shouldn't judge people.



1. My favourite food is a sausage supper.
2. I would love to visit Orlando to see Micky Mouse.
3. My first pet was a cat called pebbles.
4. I wish I had a magic carpet.
5. My favourite song is I am sailing.
6. I don't like Indian food.
7. I get worried about ice on the pavement.
8. I hope I can keep the friends that I have now.
9. My favourite film is Titanic.
10. My favourite word is cool!

Would you like to share some things about yourself with us?!

Thanks to Suzanne at Suzyville for this idea!!

Talk to me while I'm listening....

Talk to me while I'm listening here
Talk in a quiet voice,
Like a snowflake falling to the ground,
Like a bead falling off a dress,
Like a stone skimmed across water.
Talk in a loud voice
Like guitars being played at a concert,
Like fireworks exploding,
Like lightning flashing.
Tell me your ambitions, your news, your problems
And I will tell you mine
While I'm listening here.


The photograph above this poem is part of the Light Graffiti project, as mentioned on
we are artists.

List of lovliness!

Try making a list of all of the things you

really like!

(You could cut out pictures and stick them on, do drawings, tell someone what to write or you could write your list down yourself!)

We bet that your face will have a big smile on it when you finish! Just like the one at the at the bottom of the picture!

and
If you share your list with someone else we bet they smile too!

City Poems

There's beauty in these streets,

This city yours and mine.

Cars like tiny bugs crawling slowly through her veins.

Traffic lights her magic wands cast you on your journey.

People walk like ghosts in this cities memories.

There's beauty in these streets,
Yours and mine,
Her heart beats in the hustle and bustle,
Cars like toys scattered on her rug ,
Lampposts like man made stars behind her eyes,
Postboxes keeping letters safe in her arms,
Litter like dazzling gemstones around her neck and wrists,
Seasons pass like ghosts in her veins.

There's beauty in these streets, everyday standing still.
My Dads substation looking over blocks of flats and houses running up the side of the hill.
Other peoples lives, hidden behind shifting curtains, laughter and loneliness,talking and tears.

My Marvellous Mum!

Let me tell you about
My marvelous Mum!

My Marvelous Mum
Is good at cooking
and cleaning the living room.

My marvelous Mum
Takes care of me
When I'm feeling ill.

My marvelous mum
Helps me with the things
I cannot do very well.

I love my marvelous Mum!

Tiny speck of perfection

Tiny speck of perfection

You are a book

Whose story is still to be decided

You are a tune whose lyrics get longer every day.

I am glad I read this story

While it was being written.

What do you see when you look at me?

These poems were written after a group discussion about the labels and names that society gives to people with disability. It wasn't an easy or a nice discussion, but we had it and we made a list of words which we shared for our poems.

Then we talked about ourselves, about the things that made us... well, us! The unique wonderful creative people we know we are! Again we made a list of words which we shared.

We fitted the words into a framework, which is the same in each poem.
We think they're powerful, we hope you do to.


What do you see when you look at me?
Learning disabled, useless, thick in the head?
Peel back the label see me;
Short, bald, tidy, modest,
Artist, memory man, sports fan, big brother,
Uncle, computer buff,
sharp witted, hard working with a part time job,
I am Important see me.

What do you see when you look at me?
Stupid, thick, crazy, weird, ugly, autistic?
Peel back the label see me;
John parrot, Jimmy Johnstone and
Mathew Stevens are my favourites!
I'm an admirer of Kelly Holmes and Rachel Stevens,
a snooker fan, a joker, a music man.
I am important see me.

What do you see when you look at me?
Tall, fat, short sighted, dyscalcular?
Peel back the label see me;
Friendly, organised, compassionate,
Dog lover, guitarist, caring, genuine,
A little sister,
Lover of jelly babies,
Hater of Chicago!
I am important see me.

What do you see when you look at me?
Daft, crazy, loony, foolish, cheeky?
Peel back the label see me;
Tall, slim, tidy, funny, sharp,
Loving, hairy, kind, blond, big,
Hit me with your rhythm stick,
Upside down, looking out,
Lucky lips, nay chance, lucky devil!
I am important see me.

Snow Chunk!

Snow fell, thick and fast

now it's left a white blanket

over playing fields

we went out,

charged around, creased its clean covers

hand over hand pushing

up and down, round in circles

keep an open mind! It's not a snow ball, or a snow man,

it's a

SNOW CHUNK!

Advice PLEASE!!!

'we are poets' are collecting advice!

Please send us your words of wisdom!

It can be about anything;

life,
love,
something your Mother used to tell you,
a lesson learned the hard way,
how to spread butter on crackers without them breaking!

We'll be glad to hear it!

Please keep it clean, remember that it will be read by people with additional support needs!

Send your advice to:

wearepoets@hotmail.com

and we'll add it to our collection!
If you have time let us know who and where you are and that you heard about the project through our blog!

Thanks!

Who am I?!

Less an existential question more an invitation to solve our riddles!

What am I?
Waddling and paddling on a lake,
My multi coloured feathers glisten,
I love to eat bread and insects,
If I'm unlucky I could be in the oven with oranges!
What am I?

What am I?
I am blue and grey,
I hold a dolphin in my hand,
I spit driftwood,
Sometimes I throw ships as hard as I can,
Sometimes I tiptoe on the sand.
What am I?

Home is where the heart is...

These poems were written after a discussion about what 'home' meant to us...



Home is where the heart is,
There I am free and independent,
There I am cosy and warm,
There I am lonely when alone,
There I am happy to entertain,
There I am free to have a mess!
Home is where the heart is,
It's heartbeat is me.



Home is where the heart is,
There I feel safe,
There I am cosy and comfortable,
There I am happy,
There I love.
Home is where the heart is,
It's heartbeat is me.

Today is a snowy day...

Today it has snowed on and off all day, here's a poem to go with the weather!
Remember it's cold and it's inconvenient, it's also beautiful...


Snowflakes
fluttering
through
misty air.
Sequins,
specked
on winter coats.
Confetti
resting on
shiny brown hair.
White fireworks
smother
the picket fence.

Weather we like it or not...

It's always there,
and if you're British it seems never far from discussion
so it's fitting that our first poetry post should be about weather!


Rain

On the window raindrops fall,
It sounds like a dripping clock ticking.
Shining diamonds racing against time,
running strings of silvery seconds.



Wind

Like a screaming banshee
I howl round the houses
whipping up leaves,
I rattle the windows
like a naughty child,
I rush like a river round
the dustbins, grabbing at litter,
roaring like a lion at his prey.



Storm Clouds

I am dark and grey and angry
I will open my wrath
and pour on your heads,
like demons above
I am in no mood to be calm!

In the beginning...

In the beginning creative writing only happened as part of art groups,
it was a vehicle for generating and sharing ideas.

Now there is a group who meet weekly
to work with words.

This blog is about the work they produce.