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.

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.