Blog
In which we chat about all things creative and sundry other topics that catch our interest
In support of independent bookshops
We are so lucky to have the East Grinstead Bookshop on our doorstep, but for all you book lovers out there who don’t have a lovely independent bookshop nearby and would rather not give your hard earned cash to Amazon, there is a way you can buy books while still supporting independent bookshops. It’s called bookshop.org and is an online platform from which you can buy a huge range of books of all genres. Their mantra is ‘keep independent bookshops thriving’ with ‘all sales supporting independent bookshops, not millionaires’. In their regular newsletters, along with latest releases, bargains etc, they focus on specific bookshops. Their recent newsletter included this:
“Readers unite! Bookselling institution One Tree Books in Petersfield has suffered fire damage and will be reopening at a temporary site in the coming days - show them some love and bag a book from them online”.
Most booksellers running independent bookshops are passionate about what they do, knowledgeable and, pitted against the online behemoths, swimming against the tide. With summer upon us and the festive season just a few months away now is a good time to investigate bookshop.org and bring them a little joy.
pictured: screenshot from Bookshop.org’s newsletter; the wonderful East Grinstead Bookshop
Book Review
One of the many joys of working on ingénu/e magazine is the opportunity to read and review books by local authors. These come in all genres, from young adult fantasy and historical fiction to contemporary fiction and memoir. Some are self-published, others traditionally published. Many have been debut novels, occasionally being the first of a series that I’ve also had the privilege of reading and reviewing. A case in point is this - ‘The Fun We Had’, Carrie Evans’ book about her experiences travelling the world teaching English. Carrie is currently working on Book 2, meanwhile, here’s my review of The Fun We Had…
The Fun We Had
A Memoir of Teaching and Travel by Carrie Evans
"This beautifully written memoir is akin to an enormous postcard from the jaunt of a life"
The fact that Carrie Evans had lived in eight different places by the time she was eight years old could have instilled in her the craving for a secure life, in which she could put down roots and enjoy some continuity. Not so.
The pattern of her early years – a roll call of various schools, teachers, playmates and friends – came to an end the day after her last A-level as she headed off on a working holiday in the Swiss mountains. The trend of her peripatetic lifestyle was set.
Returning to the UK between trips mainly to gain qualifications, she turned her naturally itchy feet to advantage circumnavigating the globe teaching English in language schools. She cut her teeth as a newly qualified TEFL teacher in Europe, following the sun when the northern climate got too chilly – to Greece then on to Israel. And so it went, moving ever eastwards: Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Thailand, Taiwan, New Zealand – working, making friends, immersing herself in new cultures, new cuisines and always honing her teaching skills. But it was in Thailand that she felt most at home, its relaxed demeanour and rich heritage most fulfilling; in direct contrast to the restrictions and 'Big Brother' ambience of the UAE, where, having decided she should compromise her freer lifestyle in favour of a decent salary, she lived for nearly a decade.
I was captivated by Carrie's recollection of the minutiae of the life she has led, stored away for perhaps decades, that bring this whistle-stop tour around the planet to life. She conjures up each country's particular flavour, its people and customs, so vividly and the anecdotes featuring the colleagues and friends she met along the way with such clarity.
The back cover blurb proclaims: 'A thoroughly enjoyable read that romps along from continent to continent... The Fun We Has is a tsunami of incident, gossip, and character vignettes, an exploration of other cultures sure to entertain anyone with a fascination for human quirks and foibles'.
Quite so!
Available from GoodReads and Amazon; visit www.carrieevans.co.uk or follow her on Facebook
Carrie Evans at a recent book signing at East Grinstead Bookshop
Carrie Evans enjoying a strawberry daquiri on a beach in India
June 2025
I was musing over what to write in my Prelude to the Summer issue of ingénu/e magazine. I skated mentally over various topics and couldn't decide. Then I thought, what is my attention on and what am I passionate about?...
In the current global climate it's sometimes hard not to worry or wrench one's attention from those large, and small, issues that can clutter our thoughts and impede our forward progress in life. Bad news is pumped into our homes continually, mainstream and social media salaciously reporting on, or even manufacturing, conflict. While some people can just turn a blind eye to the state of the planet and the plight of others, most socially aware folks feel that one should be doing something, but what? Most of us are not in a position of power or responsibility sufficient to bring about the changes that we feel need to happen. We can sign petitions, donate to worthy causes, go on marches, but is it enough? Even voting for the most likely candidate is no guarantee that anything will improve or change. It is sometimes easy to feel powerless, like a cork bobbing about on an uncertain tide.
But there is hope. A culture is created by artists. Not just the obvious things like your favourite painting, music that gives you goosebumps or books that transport you to other realities. Look around you. I guarantee that most of what you see has been created by someone with some artistic vision – the chair you're sitting on, the cup or glass you're drinking from, the decor of the space you're in, or if you're outside, the architecture of the buildings around you or the garden designer responsible for the landscaping. Even this magazine was assembled with a creative eye. So it stands to reason that the more aesthetic the environment the easier it is to elevate one's own mental and emotional state and shake off feelings of impotency. And the more people can take control of their own feelings the less easy they/we are to manipulate and be kept fearful. Thus we can be more effective – albeit in our own spheres of influence – but imagine if we were all able to do that, there would be a sea change in society.
In other words ART is necessary to society. It is vital to the wellbeing of those who create it as well as those who consume it. It is the heartbeat of a culture. So let us all switch off the hypno-box in the corner of the room and turn off our smartphone, cancel our daily newspaper, indulge in creativity and bring about a saner world.
And to that end there is a positive plethora of creativity in which to immerse yourself in the Summer issue of ingénu/e: artists of all genres – painters; ceramicists; printmakers; glass, wood and textile artists; sculptors; jewellery makers – musicians; actors; singers; dancers; writers; even organisers, all have been pouring their heart and soul into their chosen field of creativity to bring about a better world. Read about them here, support them or join them, get creative and let's make a difference!
ingénu/e magazine - summer 2025
Here is a sample of what you can find in our Summer issue…
Pictured:
Flutes & Frets duo, playing at Lewes Baroquefest 17-19 July;
The Witterings by Nadia Day, at the little art gallery, West Wittering;
Ceramic vessel by Chris Weedon, at Shoreham Art Gallery through August;
A scene from This Is My Theatre’s production of Pride & Prejudice, touring this summer
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
