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!)

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.

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.

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.

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?