Blog
In which we chat about all things creative and sundry other topics that catch our interest
April 2025
‘April is the cruellest month’… perhaps that was true for T.S. Eliot in 1922, and 100 years later much of The Wasteland reverberates still. Yet I prefer a more optimistic outlook, and revel in the re-awakening of the natural world. Every day something new appears, there is such a rush to greet the warming year - a slew of bright butterflies freshly emerged, bees and bee-flies foraging among the flowers, bumble bees investigating tussocks of long grass in search of suitable nesting sites, birds now paired up, from crows wheeling and dancing on the wind in perfect sychronisation to fearless robins putting aside their territorial differences to raise a family, and the unmistakably strident song of the wren - that pert common garden visitor, often heard but rarely seen.
And flowers, pretty natives alongside flamboyant non-native settlers, all bursting forth to make the most of the lengthening days: dandelions - widely considered a weed and vilified in modern gardens, but once revered and cultivated for their health-giving properties; primroses, forget-me-nots and dog violets, among the chancers of the floral world, popping up unexpectedly between paving stones and brightening dull corners with their cheerful faces; colourful camellias and magnolias, the creamy-yellow streamers of witch hazel, the hectic profusion of golden forsythia and the acid yellow/green of euphorbia, all bringing a taste of the exotic to suburban gardens; cowslips and milkmaids - once a common sight in the countryside, now most often seen fleetingly in grass verges as we speed past but, to my great delight, appearing every year in unmown patches our garden; gorse, with its buttery yellow flowers smelling surprisingly of coconut; trees’ unfurling leaves looking uncannily like something from The Day of the Triffids and long birch catkins dangling wantonly in the gentle breeze; then the joy of my heart, the blossom, short-lived and all the more glorious for that - apple for its delicate demure pinkish buds that hold such promise, and pear for the sharp contrast of dark stamens against milk-white petals and that spicy fragrance which transports me instantly to the garden of my childhood.
All these sights, sounds and smells, full of promise, feed the creative soul if we only pause to notice them.
Spring 2025
Well I'm not usually overly bothered by the cold wet weather that we're subjected to during the winter months, I guess I'm used to it after all these years. But lately I've noticed a yearning for Spring that is markedly stronger than usual. So imagine my relief at the first glimpse of blue sky through thinning clouds and the gleam of longed-for sunshine, and my delight at crocuses starting to appear and the first catkins dancing merrily in the breeze as the days grew tangibly longer. But I'm guessing you don't have to imagine it, I expect we have all been feeling the same!
As the seasons turn and dormant life re-awakens, so too does the activity of the hundreds of artists and makers across the region, feeling more energised and starting to accelerate towards summer. The hours spent in icy studios and workshops, or with numb fingers painting or sketching en plein air are rewarded as the fruits of those labours are prepared for the myriad of art fairs, art trails and open studios events that pepper this richly creative corner of our green and pleasant land.
As usual for our Spring issue we direct our spotlight to some of those art trails and open studios. It is impossible to feature all of them, with 147 artists at 112 venues in the Chichester Artists Open Studios alone to a whopping 200 plus artists and makers in South East Open Studios – even the relatively small Steyning Art Trail has around 50 artists participating – we would need an outright tome to include everyone. Our feature, however, selects a smattering to represent each area within our region, and whether you plan a full-on expedition or just the odd day out, there will be plenty of beautiful work to see, interesting artists to chat with and opportunities to take home a piece of art that has caught your heart.
This year, however, we have broken with Spring issue tradition. As our Winter issue was published solely online (due to me being ill, much better now thank you) we are giving our Creative Courses & Workshops feature another outing under the spotlight. To use a trainspotting idiom, it is a double header! There is a plethora of courses and workshops to satisfy a range of creative learning urges, from sculpture to musical theatre and Japanese calligraphy to enamelled jewellery, and now is the time to book for summer workshops, both home and abroad.
As ever we take a look at the upcoming festival season, kicking off with Shoreham Wordfest's Celebrating Shakespeare, the annual fiesta of all things Bard-ish, which launches with This Is My Theatre's stripped back production of The Tempest on 25th April (see p.51).
Add to that a full gamut of music and theatre, from the intimacy of the International Interview Concerts and St Leonards Concerts to the majesty of Ellen Kent's classic opera plus a raft of other genres, and the question “what shall we do tonight” is easily answered!
To read the Spring issue of ingénu/e magazine go to the Home page and click on ‘Read Latest Issue’
pictured: 2024 Sussex Art Fair, by Tim Hills Photography, www.timhillsphotography.co.uk; Throwing a pot at Chisel Pottery; craft workshops at Oast Studio; The Flower Room, Jessops Farm Studios; Heidi Laughton, South East Open Studios; Kate Jenkins, Artists Open Houses brochure cover image; Vee Pease, Jeweller, sterling silver pendant necklace with turquoise, carnelian, garnet & peridot beads, exhibiting at Artists Open Houses; Susie Olford, Turbulent Rocks, oil on panel, exhibiting with Chichester Art Trail and Arundel Gallery Trail; Bimbi Urquhart, Chichester Open Studios; Magnolia by Jeanette Mercer, Horsham Artists Art Trail
Winter 2024-25
We have passed the winter equinox and as I write the days are getting almost imperceptibly longer and in our garden a few hopeful buds are starting to appear and the birds are getting busy finding mates and chasing off interlopers.
Artists too are readying themselves for the year ahead, planning art trails, open studios events and exhibitions and working to build up their collections. Festival organisers are busy confirming acts and venues while their promotional teams are feverishly writing copy to send out. Courses and workshops across the region start the new year by welcoming students eager to try something new and determined to fulfil their new year's resolutions. Although chilly and grey, these January days can be full of hope; of planning the future, anticipating warmer days, and enjoying creativity – whether creating oneself or revelling in the creativity of others. This is the way to counter the onslaught of bad news that gets spewed at us hourly through the media, both mainstream and social, and bring about optimism and wellbeing in our immediate environment. Creativity equips us with the wherewithal to raise the tone of those around us and become more positive, effective and able to get more out of life.
I'll get down off my soapbox in a moment! But first...
I came across an interesting snippet the other day. One of the many pieces of music that makes me stop in my tracks is Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. That opening clarinet gives me goosebumps every time. Apparently the composition came to Gershwin on a train journey from New York to Boston. It was the rhythmic rattling of the train that gave him the inspiration to write the piece. He said, “I heard Rhapsody in Blue as a sort of kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our metropolitan madness.” And that opening sliding clarinet? It apparently happened as an impromptu part of their rehearsing and Gershwin is reputed to have said “keep that in, it's genius” (or words to that effect!)
So let's emerge from our hibernation and immerse ourselves in the creativity of our musicians, writers, artists et al, and let's keep the goosebumps horripilating!
You can read the Winter issue of ingénu/e magazine via the Home page.
pictured: brave primroses in the snow; Basketry Workshop at West Dean; Figurative Sculpture Course at Art Junction; Artist Catriona Millar & Dawn Chorus; Hand Carving at Skelton Workshops; Blacksmithing with Cara Wassenberg at West Dean, photo by Chris Ison
