art + power

2012-01-18T17:36:00.000Z

A New Image by James Cridland

Betty's art work

2012-01-09T17:44:00.002Z

Pictures of Betty's art work

This picture is filled in with
Knitting wool.

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I made a copy of the picture and used chocolate wrappers, cut them

up and stuck them to the picture to make it look different, it took

about 8 hours to do.

International Women's Day, March 2012

2012-01-09T15:48:00.002Z

International Women's Day (8th March 2012) is coming up again and the Women's Group are going to celebrate being a female artist through the medium of self portraits.

Last year we used The Parlour on Park Street to put up an exhibition celebrating female artists and inviting the public to put up pictures or pieces of writing about influential women in their lives. It was a massive success and this year we want to expand on the experience!

We are going to produce a series of self portraits in a variety of mediums, that will create an exhibition celebrating women called 'Portrait of the Artist as...'. We will be inviting the public and other art/community groups to come and create their own self portraits that will help explore their identity and the empowerment of women.

Here is a run down of our aims;

- To create an event to celebrate International Women's Day in Bristol that will benefit the group and the local community

- To continue in supporting a group of socially excluded women within Bristol

- To provide outreach work within the community for the Women's Group (making links and gaining members)

Please let me know if you would like to join in or to support the group- we will need people to help with promoting the event, fundraising for materials and generally helping out when the exhibition is up and running. (this would be good experience in art workshop leadership/support as we will be inviting the public to create their own self portraits)

I'd also like to film the event so that we can use this on the website and to keep as a documentary, let me know if this is your field and you'd like to help out!

Also we don't have an exhibition space yet so get in touch if you have ideas.

Thanks,

Charlotte

My first 'term' as a volunteer

2011-12-08T14:10:00.006Z

I have been volunteering with art + power since October 12^th and have had 12 days of working in the office. In this time I have been developing my personal role at art + power and working out what I’d like to do within the organisation, I really like having this freedom to do my own thing and discover my own place within the organisation. I originally volunteered so I could get to work with a range of different people, all brought together through the power of art – a concept I think is really amazing.

The first few weeks I mostly carried out admin tasks like updating the database of participants and projects which, while necessary, was a little dull. In week 4 I worked with Dave at the UWE ‘meet the employer day’ which I really loved as I got to talk to lots of different people about art + power and what we do and had some really interesting conversations with people as passionate about art as I am. It was so nice to get out of the office and in to the real world! After that I knew I wanted to take on more of a people role and got involved with contacting the 100 Projects people and keeping up to date with what they were achieving.

The last few weeks have been a lot more creative and people-based, I went to meet Susan Lawrence who is working on a Dramatherapy project and have kept in regular contact with her since as her project develops and forms. I have also learnt a lot more about the participants through creating profile pages for them on backpack. I’ve really enjoyed working on the newsletter and bringing together all that has happened each week to share the information with others at the regular Monday meet ups.

I’d now like to get to know participants better by running creative journaling sessions with them once a week. I see these sessions as being a calm space to sit and write about our thoughts, ideas, really anything that is on our mind as I know this can be quite a good way to express yourself and make things clearer in your head. We could visit exhibitions together and then write about our responses to them. People will be free to keep their writing private or share it as they wish. I am really keen to get started on this and would love to see it come together in the new year.

Performer's Toolbox Workshop

2011-12-01T14:24:00.002Z

Coming Soon: Performer's Toolbox Workshop

The workshop uses a range of improvisation techniques and games to help workshop participants gain an insight into ideas that can be expressed through performance. The workshop is facilitated by a group of artists with the support of a CRB checked volunteer who is experienced in the field of performance, training and working with vulnerable groups.

Aims: to include any adult or groups who identify as disabled or feel socially excluded. We are also interested in delivering the workshops to groups of paid and voluntary workers who are interested in providing performance and creative opportunities to the people they work with.

Arts Appreciation Group

2010-12-13T12:51:00.002Z

The Arts Appreciation Group meets on the first Saturday of each month. They visit exhibitions together and discuss what they've seen.
Here is a review of the group's visit to Spike Island on Dec 4th.

We went to Spike Island and Picture This and a new gallery called Works/Projects. We tried to write a review afterwards of what we thought of the exhibitions.

The Spike Island exhibition was ‘interesting’ and ‘hard to understand’ ‘eclectic’ and ‘confusing’. Everyone wondered what linked all of the work together. Jeff thought that it was about ‘how finances link into each other, and an interesting description of power, and economic flow.’ It was ‘proper’ conceptual art.

Things in the Spike exhibition: garlic being used for money, a film of a man in a garden showing off a bulb, two game boys, some big photos of two men and a woman, a video of people jumping off a bridge and some photographs of buildings.

Picture This was a video on four screens with people who looked like Zulus, wearing masks made out of tea strainers and big wooden blocks. There were also buildings, the sea and islands.

The Works/Projects gallery had a big eye drawing on a wall that brought everyone over to it, it was the first thing everyone noticed. There were some smaller drawings too, with lots of detail, and a video of a woman washing her face.

Film Fusion

2010-12-01T09:38:00.001Z

A quick note to let you know about 'Film Fusion' happening at Watershed on Friday 3rd Dec 2010.

Film Fusion takes place on Friday 3rd December at 7:30pm at Watershed in Bristol.
art + power are hosting this event to support film-making by disabled people in the region. The event will bring together experts and enthusiasts to make it easier to make films.
There’ll be a chance to see some outstanding films including ‘Condemned to Darkness’ and the multi-award-winning ‘Light and Dark.’ Michael Smith, star of Light and Dark will be joining a panel of experts to give advice and inspiration to aspiring film makers.
The event is part of the first UK Disability Film Festival organised by DASH. Films by disabled people will be shown throughout the day at Watershed and at cinemas around the country.
Tickets are £1 and can be booked online at http://www.watershed.co.uk/exhibits/2736/
Do come along and help us build a new creative community of disabled film-makers

Slow Travel

2009-10-30T13:47:00.004Z

The Slow Travel Agency exhibition at the Arnolfini explores ways of travelling that doesn't damage the environment. In slow travel, cars or aeroplanes wouldn’t be used because they cause pollution. Slow travel also takes a long time so there is a chance to really look around you as you travel.

Today, the participants of the writing group imagined that they were going on a long journey but not using a car or an aeroplane and wrote about the experience.

We would like to share the writing of one of our new writers, Sal Hillman.

Slow Travel By Sal Hillman

I am going to Australia on my own. It will take two months. What a long time. It will be very slow time as we will stop a lot of times. I am going by coach and then I will go by boat. There will be lots of different people there - the Queen and Prince Philip, punk rocking people who I lost in my life, people young and old. There are lots of things to do on the boat - swimming reading nice meals.

I left

England

in March and got there in May. What a lovely place and a very hot country. I will come back in a year. There are lots things on board. Just relax and watch people. What a wonderful adventure.

The Secret History of Objects

2009-10-23T21:31:00.007+01:00

Over the last couple of weeks, the art + power writing group have been exploring a part of the exhibition at the Arnolfini called Adams and Smith. Here we found lots of objects displayed as though they were being sold in the future, at a time when they would be seen as rare and unusual. There was a smoke alarm, a bottle of water, a plane ticket, a golf ball and many other things.

Everyone in the writing group chose one object that they found interesting and imagined that it had a secret history. The object might have been to interesting places, experienced amazing things or been made by someone fascinating. Each writer then wrote the secret history of the object.

Each writer then took to the 'You're A Star' stage (created by Chris Rose) and performed their writing for everyone else. We decided to share all the work with you too.

In the Factory By Colin Dean

People are talking.
Giving instructions.
Putting the bits together.
Someone does the front bit.
Someone does the other half.
They make chairs, toilets, rocking horses.
Someone goes for a break.
One makes tin soldiers.
Another makes coat hangers.
Sometimes the machines break down.
And they have to do it by hand.

The History of the Chocolate Teapot By Alex Kyriacou

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, knowing now what we didn’t know then. As it happens, this can only be done by disasters, accidents, or pain and suffering. This is largely true but sometimes defying logic just smacks of stupidity. But, you know, you just have to try these things sometimes.

Edible products now just seem stupid but at the time of conception there was no landfill left, and the CO2 from burning rubbish had meant that all the plants that survived were neon green and became so important that so much as picking a flower became punishable by torture. Something had to be done. Science and marketing spin had conspired to create edible packaging and, later, edible products like candy mobile phones, granola bar chip board and candy floss roof insulation and ginger bread bricks or even Wham bar cardboard boxes. So, by eating packaging and certain products, waste is greatly reduced. Therefore, saving the environment.

So, in this climate, a few daft ideas came about, like jelly crumble zones on cars and marshmallow sign poles and lampposts. Didn’t last due to a lack of heat resistance. But by far the greatest flop was the use of chocolate to manufacture kitchen equipment. Of these, none gained more jokes than the chocolate teapot. After some hasty trials it was sold to the public as the cool new gadget, championed by the likes of Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey. It sold well, initially, until the first time you used it and got third degree burns. This inevitably led to the first billion pound law suit and coined the phrase ‘As much use as a chocolate teapot.’

The Day the Traffic Warden Booked the Car By Edward Philips

A bloke
A traffic warden
In a red uniform
He stands out in a crowd
Mr Bloggs
He saw a car parked in a bus lane
And gave it a ticket
Definitely
The driver came along
And said, 'I'm not paying'.
A lorry came along and took the car away
He paid the money in the end
And got his car back.

The First Smoke Alarm By Chris Rose

It was 1605 and Little Ben said, 'It's dinner time.'

Max lived a few doors down the road and every time Little Ben went off it reminded him of his toast always burning so he worked really hard to make something that would say 'Something's burning' and at the same time it could save his life.

Six months later he did it. It was a working smoke alarm and every day after it would save his burnt crust toast.

Soon after, everyone in London was talking about how fantastic Max's smoke alarm was and news got all the way to the Houses of Parliament. Max sold his smoke alarm to the Houses of Parliament for a lot of money and he had a smile on his face from ear to ear.

The first week they had it fitted everyone was excited that their toast would not be black but it did more than just that. A month later, the battery was running out and the smoke alarm was making funny noises so the guards went to see what it was. As they did, they found Guy Fawkes trying to blow the place up by lighting a firework through the letter box.

The battery ran out and they could not find a shop that sold batteries so they put it in the auction to sell as a toy smoke alarm.

The Mobile Phone By Louise Morgan

Daisy and her company Samsung made a fantastic object - the mobile phone. Daisy and her company are the second largest makers of mobile phones and other handsets. Daisy owned the mobile phones so did her company, as well as Daisy’s family and friends. Daisy’s friends Vicky and Ralph, her brother Ed and Daisy’s sister Amy all owned a mobile phone.
The mobile phones went all around the world as Daisy sold them to different places like the US, Japan, Germany, Italy etc and the mobile phone had become really interesting. Daisy was happy that everyone around the world had bought a mobile phone. She was glad that she made it and she said to herself ‘Who knows where the object might end up in the future. It might be lost, given away or end up at the auctioneers. Only time will tell.’

A Few Years Later

Daisy is now an old lady and she went to an auctioneers. After going to many auctions but seeing no mobile phones she was hoping that a mobile phone would be there.

Someone said, ‘This amazing object was made many years ago by a company called Samsung.’

Daisy was glad that something she made was at an auction and she was happy about it.

The Gavel by Betty Sargent

Jack had wood in his shed. He made lots of different things out of wood. One day, he said, 'I know what I can make.' I will make a gavel. That will be good because different people could use it. He was pleased when he made it.

The Death Sticks Live By Jeff Johns

‘The death sticks live’, scowled a man with a thin whispy voice, croaking with a secretive smile.

‘Yes, they live in our collection’, spoke a fat man who had a bulbous tone. He pointed towards a 1960s style cabinet. His posterior had a sense of austerity about it as he shuffled towards the cabinet.

The thin scrawled man stared wild eyed.

‘Wow, Jesus, Holy Moley’, he said under his breath. ‘Lord Facetious would like these in his collection.’

His eyes glowed in the presence of a box that you and I would think looked like nothing special. Just ordinary white sticks but, dear reader, don’t be taken in by their bare existence. They have arms and legs and are well known for killing men dead.

Huthbert, the heavily scrawled man, was eying them up. He was wondering what they were really worth. He was also eying up the security as he was thinking of lifting the lid and placing his hand inside the cabinet.

He managed to work an opening and with that he heard voices screaming, ‘Me, me, me,’ in high pitched tones as the sticks came to life.

‘Shhh’, he said to them as he looked around the place before swooping his arm in to grab the packet.

He stuffed and it in to the pocket of his long trench coat before turning to leave. He gave the bulbous man a wicked glare and wished him good day but thought to himself that he had got what he had come for. The magic sticks were now back under his control.

The Secret History of Objects By Jonathan Barr Lindsay

Rick was at home watching TV. He likes to watch sports. Rick saw the best sport he liked. It was a game of golf. He liked seeing the ball in the sky coming straight down and looking at it from a long way away.

Rick felt happy as the men went up to the ball where it landed. Rick thought he would like to play golf. He wanted to meet people and be friends with them. He thought it would be good fun to play and walk around and see lots of different things around him.

Secret History of Objects By Mary Lansdown

A factory was owned and run by a family. The mum's name was Janet and the Dad's name was James. They made smoke alarms for houses and nursing homes. So when the alarms were tested to make sure the owners knew how to use them. One day, Janet went for a walk when she came across a house on fire. She rang the fire brigade...

The Double Buggy By Sally Hillman

There was a double buggy in that room and it was very dusty and very old. It was used by many children and many times by their parents. The man who made it was 99 and he made it in ten days. His hands did not work the way he wanted. He worked very early and finished very late, sometimes in the night. He got very little wages. Just enough for rent and food. He walked there and back, about ten miles each day, which took three hours there and back. He did not want to finish work. He wanted to carry on but he was not able to. He only got one break, that was ten minutes, in all that time.

The Aeroplane Stub By Daniel Bryan

One day there was a friend of mine. He was so handsome and nice at the same time. When this guy came to the Arnolfini to look for his ticket to get on the Red Arrow, he searched and searched everywhere. So he went back downstairs and rang his boss saying that he would be late back. This guy looked high and low and still nothing.

At last!! There was something shiny. He went over and there in front of his eyes was his ticket. He could not believe it appeared right there out of the blue. He picked it up and he jumped up and down and was amazed.

He went back to the Red Arrow and saw his boss. He went over and said ‘I’m back.’
The boss was relieved that he was back.

The plane took off into the sky. The pilot was very good. He was whizzy everywhere and did a fantastic display.

Writer Showcase ... John Vowles

2009-10-23T20:58:00.006+01:00

Each week, one writer will showcase their work on this blog. This week it is the turn of John Vowles with his new poem, The Silence.

John Vowles uses his performance poetry to bring out his inner self. He writes from his heart and performs his work with passion and energy.

The Silence

Today is the day the Gasheads go to Southampton.
And we are meeting the coaches at the Rover’s Ground.
But the ground is silent.
All you can hear is the wind.
Blowing through the ground’s empty shell.

The wind sounds like the ghosts of memories gone by.
Memories of the good times
The bad times
And the history that we will remember until the end of time.

I go to the away end and look across the deserted football pitch.
And breathe in the silence that is in the air.

Now the time has come.
The coaches are calling the gas’s name.
To take us away.
For that one long journey that awaits us.

The silence has now turned into the sound of Goodnight Irene.
We are on our way
The time is now to say goodbye.
To the ground that we all love so well.
Now we are all off to Southampton.
That’s what we all say.

On that long ride up the motorway.
To our great 3-2 destiny.
Goodnight Irene all the way.

Art Workshop with Kate Raggett

2009-10-23T20:42:00.008+01:00

The day started with Kate showing us lots of different ways to use things like charcoal, crayons and oil pastels. First we did patterns and textures by doing lots of rubbings around the room. Next we all picked something to draw from the table in detail. We all did a really big drawing at the end of the day using all the different things we learned in the day. It was a really good day and I'm sure everyone would like to do again.
The only bad thing was the weather!

By Chris Rose

Funding for Filming

2009-01-08T15:29:00.003Z

After the successful completion of our film 'Condemned to Darkness', we are now all ready gearing up to planning our next celluloid project, thanks to receiving funding from South West Screen. We will be touring the film to festivals and venues to get more potential actors, writers and film makers involved in our next film project.

Would you like to be involved in our next film project? Please give us a call!

art + power = Business!

2009-01-08T15:25:00.002Z

Last session's NVQ in Business Enterprise was a very lively and entertaining session. Everyone is busy getting their project descriptions together, so that 2009 is the year to make their business aspiratins into reality. We had fun with the 'values' exercise. We all came up with a value, which was really important to us and which we wanted to carry throught to our business. We had lots of fun guessing which 'value' belonged to which artist.

If anyone would like to offer a business master-class this year, then please get in touch.

Betty's Story

2008-11-05T12:56:00.003Z

A BOY CALLED WINDOW

The boy called Window went out for a walk and he found a ball. He started to play with the ball and decided to take the ball home with him.
His mother said, "Time to go to bed." He went up to his bedroom with his ball.
He put his ball down the side of the bed. He went to sleep. Then in the middle of the night the ball lit up, it was a very bright light. The ball didn't make a sound, but it woke up the boy.
He looked at the light and said, "I wonder if i can make a wish?" He made a wish, he wished he had a lot of new clothes. All of a sudden the window opened and all of his old clothes flew out of the window. the other window opened and all new clothes came in through that window, in to the bedroom.
He wondered if he should have another wish, he said to himself, "Yes, I'll have another wish."
He said, "I wish I could go on holiday and have a very good time."
He went on that holiday, and had a good time.
When he got back home he found the was gone!

New Beginnings of art + power!

2008-11-03T09:55:00.005Z

Morning, I hope you all had a good weekend!

Last Tuesday, art + power introduced our new system to the artists, actors and writers. We have been working hard throughout the summer to transform the organisation.

At the Information Day, art + power staff presented our new way of working - our campaign for creativity, aiming to end cultural exclusion. Staff explained the updated Personal Arts Support Scheme (PASS) and the process of creating empowering arts. 16 new participants signed up to PASS and we look forward to welcoming more people in the future!

Every Monday morning there will be a coffee morning at the art + power studio. It will be open to all and provide an opportunity to check what's happening during the week and to find out what projects are on offer.

Also at the Monday coffee morning there will be the opportunity to book a hot desk, computer, mentor session or volunteer help.

Don't worry if you can't make it, you can phone us and we'll let you know, or you can check out what's happening here on the blog every Monday morning - we'll let you know the Top 5 activities happening this week.

This week, we are preparing for the showcase. We are working on visual arts, writing and performance for our 10th birthday party on 27th Nov.

Top 5 things this week:

1 - Van required to collect free wood from IKEA

2 - Actors required to create scripts for live performance

3 - Artists required to design and create their human silhouettes

- Draw around yourself on a piece of wood.

- Use paint spray paints to show who you are on the profile

4 - Come along on Wednesday to devise a performance involving the profiles.

5 - Sign up new PASS if you haven't joined yet - contact us for an induction meeting and we can give you more details.

art + power is turning ten!

2008-10-29T16:10:00.002Z

Make a Smilebox greeting

You are invited to join us and celebrate art + power's transformation and empowering arts!

During the celebrations, there will be installations, lead by the participants. You can expect to see visual arts, performance, film and interactive audience board.

This event also marks the start of new campaign for creativity. This will help to release the arts in every individual and with art + power's new way of working, all can be involved in the process of creating empowering art with the shared aim to end cultural exclusion.

We hope to see you at Spike Island on Thursday 27th November, from 6pm until 8pm!

Paint it Pink.

2008-10-24T10:25:00.004+01:00

Paul Blakemore came to Boston Tea Party on the launch day, he took the photos of the murals for the Evening Post, here it is!

Writing Forum returns

2008-10-03T11:13:00.004+01:00

The hugely successful art + power Creative Writing Forum has begun again after a well earnt Summer break. The Writing Forum has so far this year produced a month long writing exhibition and installation along with the publication of a group Anthology "We made Us Do It". Also several of the groups poets have had individual sucess in publishing and performing their work.

The group meets on Fridays 10-4pm at The Arnolfini, Narrow Quay, Bristol. In the Morning there are lots of visits, excersises and games to get your imagination going while the afternoon group concentrates on helping individual writers to progress whilst working towards group writing projects. Writers are encouraged to share their work and recieve feedback. Some of the workshops planned for this year include script writing, writing for film and performance poetry.

Because the group has grown so much we are also looking for volunteers to help out with the group. If you have an interest in any aspect of creative writing and would like to be part of art + power then please call in.

Foe more details about joining the group or becoming a volunteer call Angie Belcher on 01179468630

The Boston Tea Party Mural Launch

2008-10-03T10:24:00.005+01:00

The Boston Tea Party Mural launch was a huge success on Tuesday. art + power have completed a tea inspired mural downstairs in the Park Street cafe. The Boston Tea party approached art + power for the commision after seeing the fantastic street mural produced with The People's Republic of Stokes Croft back in March. Artists, business's and supporters joined together to toast the success of the project and register their interests in forming partnerships with art + power. The event was also covered by BCFM radio and The Evening Post. The Boston Tea Party also made a donation to art + power following their recent fancy dress fundraiser.

A Darren Starr Original in the Council House

2008-10-03T09:56:00.002+01:00

This week Darren Starr delivered his cardboard masterpiece of "The A bond" to Helen Holland , Leader of the Council. Helen fell in love with the artwork after officially opening art + power's exhibition"Transformartive" back in July. Helen said she was thrilled to receive the work and is going to hang the piece up in her Council House office. Darren is now busy completing commissions for portraits and is planning a solo exhibition for next year.

art + power + coffee = Boston Tea Party's Masterpiece.

2008-08-27T12:44:00.004+01:00

We are in the Venue Magazine this week! See below for more information about the Mural project (Wed 30th July).

Watch Out Kate Moss!

2008-08-27T12:41:00.003+01:00

Jack Mundy has accepted an offer to become a model for Photosymbols; he enjoyed spending the afternoon posing in front of the camera. If you are interested in becoming a model, please let art + power know, as Photosymbols would be happy to take on more models.

Cheers!

2008-08-27T12:35:00.003+01:00

Frances Neville and Matt Roche have accepted an offer to exhibit their work at The Leap Pub in Downend. After deciding on the best and most suitable layout for the paintings, this newly refurbished pub has been transformed with the lively, vibrant display of Matt and Frances' paintings. If you live close to Downend, why not pop in for a drink and enjoy the art work!

Bye Bye Sam and Kate!

2008-08-27T12:32:00.002+01:00

art + power's fundraiser Sam Williams is unfortunately leaving to start a new job as a Project Manager for UWE. We wish Sam the best of luck for the future. Also, Kate Cotching, a long term volunteer for art + power is returning for her homeland, Australia. We wish Sam and Kate the very best of luck for the future and would like to thank them for all their hard work.

Bristol City Council's Support

2008-08-27T12:27:00.002+01:00

Good News! We have received 3 years funding from Bristol City Council which is fantastic. However, we still need to raise a lot more money to ensure art + power can continue to support disabled and socially excluded artists to find their own power through the arts.

Thank you Bristol City Council!

Disability Arts Online Feature.

2008-08-15T10:29:00.003+01:00

Kate Cotton from Disability Arts Online has managed to visit our TransformARTive exhibition on its last day at Grant Bradley Gallery. See her feature about her experience with art + power - click here to visit their website : Disability Arts Online

art + power has been quiet since the exhibition finished, but we are still open for you to use the hot desks and all the staff are working hard on planning for the future of art + power. So enjoy the holidays!

Boston Tea Party Mural

2008-07-30T11:48:00.004+01:00

Artists at art + power have just completed a giant mural for The Boston Tea Party Cafe on Park street in Bristol. The Cafe commissioned us to do a mural after seeing our Jamaica street Mural completed earlier this year.

The Cafe Mural showed a wonderful world of tea where strange animals mingled amongst a tea inspired landscape.

The cafe are very pleased with the mural and all the hard work put in by the artists, and would like to work with us again soon. The Artists were supported By Lead artists Kate Cotching and Matt Roche who spent 2 weeks planning the project and designing the mural.

This project was also Kate's last one, as she has now returned to Australia so we presented her with a painting by Cris Rose so she will always remember us.

Art for All

2008-07-15T12:34:00.004+01:00

Guess what?

We were in the Evening Post Seven Magazine last Saturday! If you haven't seen the article, don't worry - you can still read it here - click below:

There are also related stories about Matthew Roche, Sylverine D'zenyo and Frances Neville and their art work.

Well Done!

Chris Rose Commission for Whitecliff Bay

2008-06-26T13:11:00.005+01:00

This is the painting of Humphray in the Humphray Club, at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park, on the Isle of Wight. I showed James and Christie, of the ents team, the painting I had made at Art + Power of Humphray Bear and they asked me to create a mural to make it look nicer for the kids. They let me go backstage to look at what Humphray wears so I could get it right in the painting. I really liked doing it and look forward to going back in the future.

TransformARTive Preview

2008-06-24T11:27:00.005+01:00

TransformARTive : Friday 20th June 2008

Finally, the big day arrived! All the hard work from our artists, writers and actors was brought together to celebrate the preview of the 'TransformARTive' exhibition at Grant Bradley Gallery, Bedminster Parade. Over 50 people attended the preview and everyone was very impressed with the exhibition, which was opened by Helen Holland, the leader of Bristol City Council. It was exciting to watch the audience enjoying the work and the added challenge of bidding for several paintings throughout the evening!

The speeches by Jonathan Barr-Lindsay, Jack Mundy, Marsail Edwards, Dave Pearse, John Vowles, Daniel Bryan, Simon Conway, Jeffrey Jones and Alex Kyriacou were expressive and thought provoking. They shared their artistic experiences and goals through poems and stories.

Thanks to Sidz, the photographer who has been involved in teaching Photoshop to the group of artists during the Timescape project (which can be seen in the gallery), for his beautiful photos of the exhibition. Have a look at his website under "recent projects and events" for photos of our preview evening: Click here for the photos. Enjoy the photos.

Don't miss the Arts Cafe performance on Tuesdays 10am - 4pm, an 'Arts Waiter' will give you a special arts menu. The arts menu is a way for you to choose your own interpretation of the art in the gallery.

Places

2008-05-23T21:38:00.005+01:00

Today's challenge for the aspiring writers was to write a piece of writing describing a place. We used photographs for inspiration and the aim was to make the writing as descriptive as possible. We wanted a reader to be able to picture the places in their mind. We decided to share Chris's work with you. See if you can imagine the place that he is describing.

Heaven by Christopher Stone

It is green.
And a rainbow of flowers
In heaven.
Weeds.
And a tree.
Beautiful flowers
And some daisies
In heaven.
And some lilies.
Where is it?
It looks like Spain.

"Most Powerful Artist at Spike Island Open Studios" Award

2008-05-23T10:19:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Angela Lizon who has won art + powers "Most Powerful Artist at Spike Open Studios" Award.

We ran the competition over the Bank-holiday Open studios and asked visitors to Spike to vote for who they felt should receive the award.

Runners up were Darren Starr and Simon Conway who are are on our Professional Arts Support Scheme.

Well done Angela, Darren and Simon!

The Imaginary History of The Arnolfini

2008-05-16T23:05:00.015+01:00

Do you ever wonder about the history of any buildings that are familiar to you? Do you think about what the building was used for in the past? What did it look like ten years ago, 100 years ago or 200 years ago? Who might have lived or worked there?

The Aspiring Writers meet each week at the Arnolfini. Today we started to think about the history of the building and imagine what it might have been like in the past. We explored the inside and outside of the building looking for clues and everyone wrote their imagined version of a time in its history or a vision of its future.

Christopher Stone

100 years ago the Arnolfini was a fish warehouse. The fish were checked in at the reception. Inside there were boxes and litter. It smelled horrible. There was a fishy smell. It was noisy. It looked similar to today but not painted. Outside there were warehouses and steam trains. It smelled fishy and it was noisy. There was a box lifter who worked there. He brought in boxes of fish and was very nice.

Mary Lansdown

150 years ago the Arnolfini was a music hall. Inside it was very smoky and noisy.

Edward Philips

100 years ago the Arnolfini was a cinema. All the rich people went there. Inside it was small and dingy and played black and white films. It was pongy and no one ever cleaned. You could hear music. At this time, the building was brand new. Outside people were riding horses and bikes. A young usherette worked there. Her name was Margaret. She wore a red uniform. She worked at the Arnolfini for twelve years before she left.

Alex Kyriacou

There comes a time when the choices we have aren't determined by us. In America, from the 1940s to the 70s, the government had extra terrestrials held for experiments. Area 51 in Nevada was the most famous of these sites but there were many more and not only in America.

The experiments were on the use of ESP and telekinesis to control the human mind. In the following 1940 years the total collapse of America as a global power has led to the dispersal of wealth to other countries, which are friendly to America (of which there aren't many) including the U.K.OFA (United Kingdom of America.)

Finally, these experiments have led to new technology. Using a mixture of ESP and telekinesis to control the populations urge for self-expression and to prevent thoughts.

One centre is based in Bristol and located in a former art gallery. The building was chosen for its stone construction and internal walls, which offer excellent natural sound proofing. This is vital so that the workers don't affect each others' thought processes. All the internal walls are painted with anti-radar paint to prevent the population from using their thoughts to affect the work done within.

This work is vital as the UK now has a population of 80,000,000 people and having that many people on an island is dangerous anyway but if they all think for themselves then society will grind to a halt.

But now everything is a crime. You can't discuss and issues regarding race or religion and comedy has a total lock down. The population have become senile and under control. We have succeeded.

Daniel Bryan

The Arnolfini was created in 1961. It was a prison and held musical shows. It was old and ancient, damp and wet. It smelled of poo and tobacco. There was chatting and lots of noise. Outside the building there were letters, books, windows and fire exits. There were flowers that bloomed in the trees. It smelled funny. There was a canal and docks, boats and bridges and the SS Great Britain. There was the sound of digging, stamping, clacking and slurping. Someone like Bill Owens (the artist) worked there. He worked on art and the whole building.

Marsail Edwards

100 years ago the Arnolfini was used as an indoor swimming pool called Pirate Pleasure. It had a changing room, smelled of chlorine and it was bright blue. Outside was the sound of pipes laughing. Inside there is a person called Paul. He wears glasses, is 22, has black hair and works at the swimming pool on a Sunday at any time.

Jonathan Barr Lindsay

185 years ago, it was the 1920s and the Arnolfini was an old people's home. Old people lived in the Arnolfini and they had a nice hall and nice rooms. They all had servants to work for them. The people lived in flats. They had old cars, nice shops and it was nice and posh. Jeeves and Wooster lived there too. Outside there were old cars, horses and carts and gas lights. It smelled of cooking, bread and cake and was noisy.

Phillip Davis

It was 1641. I was ten. I didn't have a family to lean on so was all alone until the day when a woman took me into her arms with a big smile. She had a job in a pub with her Dad. It was all right but there was too much fighting when the sun went down. So I got a job with my Mum in the pub; helping out and other stuff. When I had the time, I wrote a book of my life.
The pub was called Arnolfini. It was a weird name to call it but it supplied beer and so it would do.

Outside of the Arnolfini, there were people selling and so on. There were lots of women selling themselves for money to live on. The people didn't make much noise but they smelled a lot. But it was nicer to live here than in London because of that guy running around with a knife killing women.

Photos by Daniel Bryan and Edward Philips

Interviewing the Artists

2008-05-03T12:33:00.002+01:00

This Friday, the Aspiring Artists spent some time looking at the exhibitions at the Arnolfini by the artists Saskia Holmkvist and Torsten Lauschmann

Everyone came up with a list of questions they would like to ask these two artists about their artwork. Next time you are in art gallery think about what questions you might ask the artist if you had the chance to interview them.

We decided that our favourite questions were:

Saskia Holmkvist

Have you ever pretended to be someone else?
Do you have an identity crisis?
Why did you become an artist?
What is your work about?
Are you in any of the films shown in the gallery?
Why can't you stop the film?
Is there a message behind your work?
Do you think telekenisis is real?
Why did you make this art?

Torsten Lauschmann

Do you like the dark?
Why did you hide the conventional art behind your installations?
If you are so interested in logic then why did you put a peacock in an art gallery?
How did you get the idea for this artwork?
How did you make the shapes on the walls in the gallery?
Do you think your art is good?
Do you like beauty but are irritated by a lack of logic?
How did you make the star projection on the wall?
Why did you make this art?

Next week we are going to try answering these questions by imagining that we are the artists.

The Open

2008-05-02T13:28:00.003+01:00

The Open at Spike Island is an annual event which takes place on the first May Bank Holiday Weekend. Please check their website for more information: http://www.spikeisland.org.uk/

art + power is exploring a new way of assessing art which we want to share with artists, educators, venues and the public. We will give out a free explorer's kit to help people make the most of the art on show which also includes a vote for which artist in Spike Island they feel has the most powerful art and why. At the end of 'Open Studios' we will give an award to the most powerful artist voted for by you.

Well Done to everybody who has worked very hard to get our studios ready for the weekend, and now we are waiting for people to turn up!

What do we want? ART! When do we want it? NOW! Creative Fusion- Filming Day

2008-04-22T11:02:00.007+01:00

Heloooo..... Just wanted to post some great pics from filming last week. This was our final filming day for our project about a futuristic world where art is banned. We were filming on location at an abandoned warehouse and the scene we were completing was at the point when artists decide they are not going to let The Ministry Against Decoration ban art. The scene showed artists protesting loudly.. But the Ministry then decides to use some heavy handed techniques to break the protesters up.

We had a brilliant day...The highlight for me was watching everyone get into character for The Ministry's violence scenes... I didn't know you all had so much rage!

The Crone by Jeff Johns

2008-04-19T20:29:00.006+01:00

Jeff has been working on a long piece of writing, which he has called 'The Crone'. It is an interview of the character called Crone by a journalist called Hack about his life. Here is Jeff's latest installment of the story.

"That was back when people started to like me," exhausted the Crone. "And just before people started sucking up to me like preposterous flies hiding sharks teeth," he said, his voice soaring. "Sometimes I had to put on fake plastic smiles, which really hurt because there was no one that I really felt I could reach out to when I needed them. I just felt that I was being an inconvenience," he said, stifling sniffles. "You see I suffer with chronic sadness, like manic depression, often sparked off by severe nervous flashback of nastiness", he scorned. "These could come across in a flash and have lasting effects, destroying any blocks of confidence with which I built. I had alot of people claim to like me." He paused for a stiffening breath. "Some of them were truthful and others had deceitful shark-like teeth." "Shark-like teeth?", posed the Hack. "Yeah, you know, evil little voices that spread falsified rumors, printing them out like facts. Even though they are prickly lies." Crone's voice grew with brightening allegations. "What allegations did you have thrown in your direction?" Hack spoke with a broken sense of edginess. "Well, I had someone claim that I was a sexual deviant who molested girls who were intoxicated. I mean, do I look like a molester?" He scrawled with his eyes bulging red with rage. The Hack mawkishly stated "I don't know what a molester looks like." "Exactly", he fumed. "I have never molested anyone and I would never dream of doing so." He breathed heavily. "I mean answer me this Hack, how sexually deviant is a fucking virgin?" His voice risen pure rage burning frustration as the Hack pondered with the awe of shock. "At this point, I decided to hunt down those sharks who hid behind plastic facades that swarm around in the pool of humanity! Giving an unerring sense of shame upon that castigated cutting wires, which he soldered on my name!" He scowled with darkening scars in his voice. "I mean if you are going to make up a lie about me then at least make it entertaining. Like when one guy who tried to claim to all my friends that I was homeless," he said. "Now that was a good lie", he started. "At least make the lies unbelievable and not attacking some parts of my private life!" He screwed his voice tightly.

That's My Painting! By Jonathan Barr Lindsay

2008-04-11T21:53:00.004+01:00

Today many of the writers continued working on short stories and poems for the 'Lost Property Box' writing piece for the Grant Bradley exhibition. We would like to share Jonathan's story with you.

That's My Painting!
By Jonathan Barr Lindsay

There was an man who was not an artist. He had a pencil case full of coloured pencils, pens and paint. He painted a picture. He looked at it. He was disappointed. He hadn't been to Art College. He thought that the painting was terrible. He threw the painting and his pencil case in the bin. He was really upset with himself. He knew he wasn't an artist.

There was a man who was an artist. He found the painting and the pencil case in the bin. He looked at the painting and thought that it was the best painting he had ever seen. It was so bright and colourful. He decided to pretend that he had painted it himself. He signed his name on the painting and took it to the art gallery where he was having an exhibition. Everyone loved the painting. They said it was the best painting that he had ever done.

The man who was not an artist went to the art gallery. He saw his painting on the wall. He felt so angry. He tried to tell everyone that he had painted the picture. No one believed him and they walked away. The man who was an artist ripped the painting off the wall and it was ruined.

acting 8th april

2008-04-10T13:18:00.003+01:00

we did some great work on Tuesday. we are developing the scenes really well. we also came up with new scenes. one where Nicola has murdered her husband and a police interrogation between Alex and Dan. we looked at reasons why people could be excluded. Betty created a scene about a woman finding a language barrier an obstacle and no one listening.

great wok guys, next week we're filming the protest scenes from 'mad' creative fusion, and the week after we'll film the scenes from today so we can show them at open studios

Scott Garrett

2008-04-08T15:05:00.003+01:00

art + power are sad to announce that Scott Garret has died.

Scott was an artist who partook in several projects with art + power and was due to begin on PASS last October but his ill health meant he was unable to finish the course.

Scott exhibited his tree sculpture at our Hengrove Exhibition last year and his handiwork can be seen on the Brunel Mosaic by the lifts at Temple Meads Station.

Scott is remembered as a funny and charming artist who had an eye for detail and a flair for colour and emotion. Some of his work was political and he enjoyed being controversial!

If you have any fond memories of Scott then please post them here.

Dimensional Man by John Vowles

2008-04-08T13:28:00.003+01:00

John has been working on his novel 'Dimensional Man' and wants to share his prologue with you. He is keen to hear any feedback you might have for him.

Dimensional Man

Prologue

It is hell out there but war always is, one way or another.
All the people that you know are fighting beside you.
Or fighting against you.
Or they are dead, buried in the ground.
But I think they are the lucky ones - the ones who are dead.
They don't have to go through this bloody thing that is war.

I walk through the deserted and battered city that was once called Bristol. A city that had lots of history. Now it is a city full of discarded buildings and the rancid smell of death.

Me and my fellow warriors, who served under me, were looking for the enemy that could be in the dead city streets of Bristol, the city that death now calls home.

My name is Max Carter and this is the day that my life will change forever.

And this is my first story but it will not be my last.

Is Writing Art?

2008-04-08T11:27:00.004+01:00

Last Friday the Aspiring Writers began to discuss the Creative Fusion project. Some of us had been to the first general meeting on Thursday so had lots of ideas. We talked for a while about what we think about art. We asked ourselves 'What is art?', 'What isn't art?' and 'Is writing art?' and came up with some interesting responses.

We talked about the different ways writers can show their work to other people. We thought that there were three main ways - as written text printed on paper, as a piece of visual art, and as a performance. We then started to think how we could show our writing at the summer exhibition alongside the actors and artists while remembering that we are writers but maybe taking elements from other art forms.

We began to think of some projects that we could work on that use some of the ideas from Creative Fusion. We started work on a writing installation called 'The Lost Property Box'. This will be a replica of a lost property box found in an art gallery and will contain all the ordinary things that people might have left behind. But attached to each item or written on it will be a short story or poem about the person who lost it. Visitors to the gallery will be encouraged to look through the box. We thought that this played with the idea of what is art and what is part of everyday life and developed the work we have been doing on ordinary objects having hidden stories.

We will be working on other projects for the exhibition, this is just the first of many! If anyone has any ideas for writing projects connected the the Creative Fusion theme of 'The Great Art Debate' then let us know. We are happy to hear suggestions.

Creative Fusion- 1st Workshop

2008-04-08T10:13:00.003+01:00

Creative Fusion is a way for everyone to come together to do group arts projects... Its also a chance for people to be part of a large project, play fun games, do creative exercises and work with other people who use different art forms... . The kind of things we are exploring are"Who decides whether art is good?" and"How do we help people to understand our art?"We will be coming up with a new way to look at art, and we will present our findings using visual arts, acting, writing and more.

We had a great day.Everyone got into role in the manifesto game, and created some great artwork.We found that people who say that they don't like art, may just not understand it because they haven't had the confidence to ask questions. The afternoon was a chance for everyone to share what they have been doing in their PASS groups. I asked people to particularly think about how we make our work accessible to people

There was lots of ideas that came out of the day.. My favorite was "Never mind if I understand art.. does art understand me!"

A question I would like people to think about which was raised at the workshop was:

"If you give too much info or interpretation about art do you take something away from the experience?"

This project will lead to some new arts events over the next year and its artist led so make sure you come along and have your say!

acting giggles

2008-04-01T18:14:00.002+01:00

Phew! well what a great day we had in the acting group. we have created a whole load of new work to play with at the forthcoming gallery in Bedminster. we're really gelling as a group and we had more than a few laughs today! the offers still open for anyone else to join the fun! well done to everyone today and see you next week. (and at creative fusion this Thursday at the tobacco factory!)

2008-03-31T13:46:00.004+01:00

Boots

Eagle Owl

Caroline enjoys painting animals and wildlife that she finds beautiful. The painting of ‘Boots’ her family dog is one of her favourite pieces. At the moment she is currently working on a painting of an eagle owl.

Spray Paint Workshops

2008-03-17T13:42:00.003Z

Have a look at our new exciting work on the wall on Jamaica Street, Stoke Crofts. We have brighted the street with our colours!

Well Done to Matt Roche, our practicing artist and Kate Cotching, a volunteer, who facilitated the design workshops for the first time with the artists.

Thank you to Chris Chalkley, Sean Peters, Heather Hooper, Nadine Bourne (and her photos), Gayle Evans, Rhiann Barnes, Jonathan Barr-Lindsay, Jack Mundy, Alex Kyriakou, Daniel Bryan, Chris Rose and Simon Conway for their hard work under freezing conditions!

If you like their spray work and might be interested in having them create a piece for your wall, please contact art + power.

David Glover-Kirk's favourite artist.

2008-03-10T14:08:00.005Z

I like the paintings of John Constable, the British landscape painter -the style he paints and his composition.

A blue sky, with slowly moving soft, but full clouds a warm sunny day. The sea is gently lapping against the side of the boat. Bobbing upon the greenish turquoise waters, near craggy rocks dotted with rock pools, seaweed and little fish and marine life. A soft warm sea breeze over the rocks. The boat (a junk) has travelled to far-flung places from its home in China and is passing the shore of an eastern coastline.

David Glover-Kirk

The Boring Life of Me by Phil

2008-03-07T20:08:00.004Z

I am 21.
It is boring being me.
Overweight.
Disappointed
Being me.

I want to do something
With my life.
Work in a hairdressers.
Get a girlfriend.
I want to be close to someone.

I want muscles.
I want to be like Rambo.
I want to be like Jonathan Ross.
I want to trust people.
I want to do everything in this life.

I am a headrush.
I am generous, kind and always there.
I am cupid.
I am sherbert.
I am a romantic guy.

Work in Progress : Jonathan Barr-Lindsay

2008-03-06T15:05:00.004Z

These are some paintings by the artist Jonathan Barr-Lindsay. Jonathan completed PASS (Professional Arts Support Scheme) last year and he still paints at home in his studio. Jonathan would like to show his paintings, asking for your feedback. What do you reckon?

Ideas and TransformARTive

2008-03-03T14:15:00.008Z

Our exhibition ‘TransformARTive’ at Grant Bradley Gallery, Bedminster is drawing closer (21st June) so today we began to discuss design ideas for the flyers and posters we are going to use to promote it. We talked about the information needed on them such as maps and gallery opening times as well as the layout and ideas of the images we may wish to use. This week we are going to research ideas and images of what TransformARTive means to us.

Three Poems by Daniel Bryan

2008-02-29T18:02:00.002Z

What I See Today

The mountains are taller than the Eiffel Tower.
The cars look like dinky toys.
The trees look like human beings
They are looking down on the view.
They are looking north
and they are looking south.
North is a power plant
South is my Dad's friend.
By my Dad's friend is in his car
In the traffic jam.
Round the mountains
As he comes.
He is traveling to the top
To see the view.

My Life of Broadway Shows

Holding the ticket in my hands
I feel welcome.
I am beginning to feel what it's like.
In the queue I feel
As excited as a tickle machine.
I take my seat
And feel like a strong handsome man.
The curtains open.
I feel 'wow'
This is the life.
My brother is
As excited as I am.
I keep looking at him.
I feel warm like toast.
They start to sing
My favourite song
Love Changes Everything.
I feel like crying
When he sings that song.
It ends.
It's time to go home.
I feel like a superhero.
Next time I come
I might see Dr Dolittle.

I Feel

I feel like a human being.
I feel like a bird in heaven.
I feel upset like a baby.
I feel safe like a baby's bottom.
I feel part of my family.
I fit in this meeting room
With my friends.
I feel like a idiot.
I feel like a dirty tramp.
I feel like flying around Bristol.
I feel like a man.
I feel sorry for the poor people.
I feel lost like a camel in the Sahara Desert.
I feel happy and excited
Because I am going abroad
To Rome and Sorrento
So I can say 'Caio' and 'Italiano'.

Image of the Week by Darren Starr

2008-02-25T15:56:00.005Z

'Full Circle'
A work in progress
By Darren Starr

I’ve always enjoyed drawing in a graphic style with simple lines and bold colours, and I see this as a step on from that.

Previously I worked in 2-D but I have found working with cardboard really interesting and like the tactile element of making the piece, as well as the 3-D effect.

I’m also increasingly excited by the idea of using recycled objects and intend to frame this painting using further recycled objects……

I would really welcome feedback and comments on my work.

Darren Starr

Our Visit to the R.W.A

2008-02-25T15:48:00.003Z

"Drawing Breath: Jerwood Drawing Prize 2007" at The Royal West of England Academy in Clifton

A group of us from art and power recently went on a trip to see the Jerwood exhibition. We were impressed by the extensiveness of drawing and the technical skill and ideas present in the exhibition. Today we talk about the variety and the experimentation of drawing and the way in which many of the artist pushed the boundaries, making us think about what we can do with drawing.

We then discussed the idea of confidence, how it can help us to push ourselves forward as artists, exhibit and promote our work as well as giving us faith in our own abilities.

Marketing Our Art

2008-02-25T15:46:00.000Z

Last week we continued the discussion that Neil and Matt had on where we can exhibit our art. It is important to think about who may buy our work, how to market it to them. Showing our work in relevant places could help it to sell, and, we are going to investigate how this could work next week. We talked about showing and selling our work on the Web, in Arts Trails and as a collective group at the Art Market in Millenium Square, Bristol.

On their way to the Koestler Prize?

2008-02-19T13:01:00.005Z

Paul Cummings: Portait of Gary Oldman

Gary Heslop: Sculpture of Hog

Jo Taylor sends the photos of artwork from two artists I met at HMP Erlestoke; Paul Cummings and Gary Heslop. They both have an entry for the Koestler prize (an art competition) - we wish Paul and Gary good luck!

Paul has had a portrait of Gary Oldman accepted by a gallery in Bedminster, Bristol. We will let you know the details shortly when it is on show. If you would like to know more about their art work, please contact art + power.

Creative Writing by Marsail Edwards

2008-02-15T18:57:00.009Z

On the creative writing course, I feel extremely happy and I feel free from having learning difficulties. I don't feel how I used to. I look forward to coming here every Friday. I used to have a home of a label box of SEN (Special Educational Needs) and I never felt like a proper human being before, until now. On this course I feel like people appreciate me for what I can do and not what I look like. They are the real friends and I enjoy seeing everyone on Fridays. I feel more alive and eager to enter writing competitions. Here I feel like an ordinary person. When I look at my certificates I just say "That's the old Marsail and she is a SEN certificate collector", which isn't me anymore. Creative writing is a place where I feel I belong. It's my home.

I felt unhappy from the year 1994 - 2004. I stopped doing the SEN courses. I wanted to be born again so that's why we come onto this one, which is Creative Writing. People who see you for what you can do are your real true friends. I see them in my favourite class.

Where do you want to see art?

2008-02-14T16:36:00.000Z

We’ve been talking about where and how to show our art. I asked people how we know something is art – one answer was: Because it is in an art gallery!

Putting our work into galleries is one way we know that our art is good. However we tend to feel quite uncomfortable in galleries. So, if we do put art into galleries people like us may not see the work.

We thought of two ways to deal with this problem. We could either put our art into different spaces or we could change gallery spaces to make them more comfortable.

Neil and Matt said that the places they feel most comfortable are shopping malls and café’s. Perhaps we should consider exhibiting in these spaces or making gallery spaces more like that.

We have an exhibition coming up in June. It’s in an art gallery that also has a café and shop. We thought of some ways that we could make people feel comfortable and encourage a broad range of people to see the work and let us know what they think.

We would like to create a debate in the space about art. We could ask questions like: who is art for and where should it be seen? We could create a debate with discussions, music, talks and guest speakers.
We also thought about how we could advertise the show and where? Perhaps we could make posters like the one’s people make for pop concerts and promote the exhibitions in clubs and at festivals. What do you think?

2008-02-11T15:54:00.002Z

Price our work

2008-02-11T15:54:00.001Z

We talked today about how we price our work. This discussion started when Darren Star brought in his latest piece of work, which he is currently working on and which he has already sold.

So what goes into our decision when pricing our own work?

Time, Effort, Materials, Longevity and Size our some of the aspects we need to consider.

2008-02-11T15:03:00.000Z

Mallard at Bristol Temple Meads Station
By Simon Conway

Simon Conway

I have always enjoyed animation and the way they managed to make the images come to life. This has inspired me to start drawing and which has now led to my love of painting.

The Mallard is my favourite steam train. It was introduced in the 1930 and provided high speed transport from London to Edinburgh.

For this painting I used different tones of colour as shown on the original photo. I decided to use Temple Meads as my background as I have wondered what it would be like to see the Mallard steam through this station.

Dragons By Dave Pearse

2008-02-09T12:02:00.001Z

Creatures so beautiful but seldom seen,
The most majestic creatures that ever have been,
Some dwell with the Earth deep inside caves,
Others in the ocean down under the waves,
Some with wings fly through the sky,
As one with the clouds soaring high,
Many breath jets of searing flame,
Not one single creature exactly the same,
Gaint snake-bodied, lion-headed beasts,
Are the fine dragons from the Far East?
Whilst compact long-tailed and stout,
With long pointed teeth from protruding square snout,
Are the Celtic dragons of Ireland, Wales, and thereabout,
From all the elements and all round the earth,
Magical dragons to legend give birth.

The Second Installment of Untitled by Jeff Johns

2008-02-09T11:56:00.002Z

Here is the next installment of Jeff John's short story.

Like the Devil Wearing Prada in the strutting. In his fuzzing face with the flashings rattling in the pale blue eyes, which almost echoed the colours of oysters being rustled by the curly shards of hairs that hung over his face draping his arched nose that drew in air.

The glitz that tore his face of public perception, moving on the devilish diamonds that the strutter flushed in his eyes, tip toe up to the ear and gently whispering softened notes to the pleasing sound of the love strains "I am desire, you can catch" from all forms of pleasantries that would flock him in mass crowds trying to drag his eyes across to their strutting sides. Shrieking out the shines of photo snaps taken on the digitalised visions posing in all the auspicious ways, slabbering his eye with the quick lensed flashes. The twinkling of the 'ere mate let's have snap with the bolstering grabs and flushings. He took pride in introducing himself to many a new person and describing his charismatic eccentricities that had given him many stories.

And now he was torn in torrids where his once glazing now lay dull like the greyness of stone with the cold hearted edge and frosted hair that was once curled with blondished life now shivered with the dead white filed in hollow strands. Skeletal dropping like leaves, ears pieced with the untonely hums that ring in his shell-like drums.

The old pounding of stilettos that clacked in his face in stumbled rhythms from the outward marauding in the socialite centres whiskering past the decrepit floor men simpering in the cardboard under the rusting irons, curling whimpered in the swampy damp bag. His once clean clothes now clung with a sticky stench like thick wallpaper. The torrential issues spread themselves amongst the Big Issue papers. Leading the double clenched lives one of the outward cases stacking in the Bevies of Beauties polishing up on his old gentleman-like, calming the dogs that hounded him with the predadical stereotypes where there was once a curly beard in which twizzels were rooted.

My Bristol

2008-02-08T17:39:00.000Z

This morning, the Beginning Creative Writing group started to write poems. We have been focusing on short stories lately so it was an interesting challenge to try something different. We talked about poetry and thought about the difference between a poem and a story. To get us started, we each tried writing 'snapshot' poems - just a few lines focusing on a particular subject.

We each wrote these about where we live in Bristol and the places that are familiar to us. This subject was inspired by the Great Reading Adventure that is taking place in Bristol at the moment. A graphic novel called 'Bristol Stories', which tells the story of history of Bristol, is being given away for free all over the city to encourage everyone to read more (you can get a copy from the Arnolfini bookshop or see http://www.bristolreads.com. ) The writing group started thinking about different experiences of Bristol and we tried writing poems capturing a sense of where we live.

We each wrote three short poems and then each developed one of these into a longer poem. We wanted to share with you poems by Daniel and Alex.

My Family by Daniel Bryan

They are brown, black and white
and English and Jamacian.
They are so funny.

Postbox by Daniel Bryan

Red
Down at the end of my road.
There are letters in it.

My Friends by Daniel Bryan

Blonde, brown and pink.
They help me alot.
They are so friendly to me.

Less is More by Alex Kryiacou

Local ghetto
Grey skies. Police sirens
Walking, talking
Patois. Fatwah. The lingo

Changing faces
Less yardies
More trendies
Conflict brewing
Night time, don't go there

Local? Are you?
Don't think so
Odd vibe, Hartcliffe
On bus
To ghetto.

Less is more
Attention from you
More is less
Attention from you

Dark walls, closing
Room spinning, on downwards
No connection
With the people you know

Stop search
Speed chase
Handcuffs
Get social

Grey walls, grey sky
Gray streets
Black people

Changing faces
Less cops
More bibles

Less is more
Attention from you
More is less
Attention from you

Closing pubs down
Drugs bust
That's progress!

Local! Am I?
Don't know

The importance of feedback for visual artists

2008-02-04T15:35:00.000Z

Untitled#3
By Frances Neville

Monday 4th February 2008

Today Art+Power Artists were discussing Malcolm’s comments about how some people are too polite to say what they really think about art (Actor Training 29th January 2008).

We talked as a group about a painting by Frances Neville, an Art+Power artist. We chatted about her painting and how it made us feel. This led us to talk about peoples’ comments concerning our work, how this could affect us, and how others interpret our work. We talked about how important feedback is on our work, and how we value the truth.

We really value feedback, it can help us to track the success of what we’re communicating in our artwork, it is important to us, as it can sometimes be hard for us to be detached about our own work.

Frances has kindly agreed to put her painting on the BLOG and would welcome comments from people from all groups in Art+Power.

Untitled Short Story by Jeff John

2008-02-01T21:20:00.000Z

In the Professional Writer's Group today, Jeff John shared some of his new writing. So far, Jeff has been focusing on developing his poetry and lyrics but today he decided to write something a bit different and tried a short story. It is a challenge to try a new form of creative work and Jeff's writing today pushed his creativity a bit further. Here is what he wrote,

In the burning faces laid into the stone faced rocks, a man sits settled into the dusted dawns, swigging from a flask whilst swiping settling dust off his charcoaled face. Croaking in the freshened light of dawn, his iron ridged mouth creaks with the yawning movements. The creeping willows of the house in the wooden stains where he perched on a brick wall as the breeze rustled his hair. Staring bleary-eyed at the passers-by who yell out various abuses. "You young hounds", he growled. "You old crone", they sneer. "You ain't worth your salts." His bitter face was scared through the rough histories of his many years.

In his past pretences, he was the popular guy, set around the flash wooded town where he had set his stone and mortar. His popularity had spread through the constant flashing of his face in print, with people screaming for all the poses. His flash persona was in ruins for he had lived a life of too much toughness. He was drawn to tatters by those of his attractions, he was always easily persuaded by a nice smile and a gentle touch and subtle tones in people's voices.

Where as now he was barely a shadow of his past. Living in the rough ended shelters in amongst sharded roofs of a fallen building site, where rusting irons curled for roofing. Hitting the all-time low after rough rides. With others he had his heart torn.

Chris Rose at Art and Power with latest work

2008-01-30T14:29:00.000Z

" I think Chris' painting of me is very good. He has it look really realistic and has used a lot of detail to make it look like this. He has portrayed me very well in it and has clearly put a lot of effort into it."

Kirsty Hogben

Actor Training 29th January 2007

2008-01-30T10:22:00.000Z

The actors have been busy exploring the entrances and exits of mainstream arts... Using our own experiences we have recreated some interactions you might stumble upon in an art gallery, theatre or Museum. These are called performance interventions and they try to change how people experience art.

We had fun setting up art installations and making up characters that could interact with the art.

Some were very funny! Take a look at our pics..

some defy gravity...

If you were wondering what the Emerging Writer's Group looked like today...

2008-01-25T20:26:00.000Z

Some Odd Objects

2008-01-25T19:28:00.001Z

In the Beginning Creative Writing group this morning, the writers were presented with a mysterious suitcase full of odd objects.

Their challenge was to pick an object from the suitcase and use it as creative inspiration to write a story.

We realised that objects have stories to tell and even the simplest or silliest item can get our imagination working.

This activity connects to the work of Hans-Peter Feldmann, that we have been looking at in his exhibition at the Arnolfini. His piece, Wunderkammer, is a glass cabinet displaying objects that he has collected. Some of these objects are ordinary, some are strange but all seem to have a story to tell.

The writers started to write some fantastic stories, which will be continued next week.

Art Reviews

2008-01-24T21:42:00.000Z

Last Friday morning, the Beginning Creative Writing group started to think about how we might review an art exhibition. We talked about the Hans-Peter Feldmann exhibition (which we have been looking at in the Arnolfini art gallery) and began to ask ourselves what we really thought about it. We all had our own opinions about the artwork. Some of us liked it all, some didn't like any of it, and others thought about why some pieces of artwork in the exhibition were better than others.

We found that it could be quite tricky to decide what we thought of a piece of art so we began to think about what it would be like if we saw the exhibition through someone else's eyes. So we did a little experiment. We each began to imagine a new character for ourselves. We pretended that instead of Art + Power creative writers we were a farmer, a maths teacher, an elderly couple, a young female writer and an alien. We looked at Hans-Peter Feldmann's exhibition again and pretended that we were these people to see if we saw things differently. We talked about our experiences and began to see that different people have different experiences when they go to an art gallery. We don't all see art in the same way and sometimes it can be fun to pretend to be someone else.

A new logo for art + power?

2008-01-24T15:21:00.000Z

Every week the Business Development Group meet at art + power to support each other to develop individual and group ideas - the latest project is to develop a new logo for art + power. Please reply to this post and let us know if you think it is a good idea - and if you would be able to help.
This is what the group say about the idea:
'We would like to research a new logo for art + power. The new logo would have even more power, more edge to it and bring a bigger feel to it all. We want something with some freshness, dynamism and power to it.

We want to deliver a strong message – that art + power enables people to break through and show what they have to offer. We want people to know that we are in control of our path – we are serious, professional and in-tune.

We could have a big launch of a new logo to mark 10 years of art + power. Quite a few of us are interested in helping - we would like to involve more people too. Please let us know if you'd like to help.

What is excellence in the arts?

2008-01-18T16:55:00.001Z

The Government has published a new report about the arts. Brian McMaster's report sets out a new vision for the arts in this country. The report is called 'Supporting Excellence in the Arts'. The report encourages every arts organisation, artist and practitioner to be as creatively ambitious as they can. I hope the will report spell the end to the phoney debate about 'arts' versus 'social inclusion'. The Government has recognised that this debate could only ever be about art and excellence.

The report comes at a good time for art + power. We are working with Arts Council England SW on a project to explore excellence in the arts. The project will consider how disabled people can help the Arts Council to assess the quality of the arts they fund. To do this we will be thinking about why we make art? Why it is important? and how can we judge if it is any good? We will be exploring these issues from the point of view of people currently excluded from the arts. I am delighted that the Government is encouraging arts organisations and funders to join us in this discussion.

In the report Brian McMaster claims that 'out of the society in which we live the greatest culture could grow, but this will only happen if the cultural sector is truly relevant to 21st century Britain and its audiences'. I'd like to invite you all to join with us and take up this challenge.

Please get in touch if you'd like to help with this project - or just reply to this post and tell us what you think makes art excellent.

I look forward to hearing from you.

My Experience as a Writer by Marsail Edwards

2008-01-11T21:47:00.000Z

Art + Power's Professional Writer group meet every Friday to write and talk about their work.
Each week will showcase the writing of one of our writers on this blog. Today it is Marsail's turn and she wrote the following piece as her entry for a forthcoming writing competition. I think we can probably all relate to how passionately she feels about her art.

My Experience as a Writer
by Marsail Edwards

If I didn't have my writing I wouldn't be me. I would be someone else who isn't creative. I wouldn't be able to tell someone a story. I would wonder why I have a brain. My blood is made of my written work and it's all piling up in my red folders. I have to write every day in order to keep myself alive. It's a spirit and I was imagining someone taking away my writing and instead of being me I was a zombie walking around in a circle all the time which was locked away in a terrible dream. I have to keep on writing because its a power which leads all the way down to my heart and into my toes.

My experience as a writer hasn't been all that great because I've had letters saying that we don't want to use your written work at this time but thank you very much for sending it in. I feel I'm not going to to give up trying because that doesn't solve anything. If I don't get my work published or it isn't chosen as one of the 65 of best, at least I can say that I've done what you've asked me to do. I've got letters sent back to me to which is a lot better than having nothing from them. It's very hard being a writer because I get lots of disappointments from entering these writing competitions and it's upsetting for me to be turned down. Maybe someday someone will like my writing and perhaps you, as a competition, could send me some feedback.

Writing is something that I do a lot of, and it is part of me. I had someone say that it wasn't much of a storyline. That upset me and more people say, 'I don't like that because it was boring.' My blood is made up of my writing and I first found this belief inside of me two years ago. The reason why I don't give up trying is because I think my work is going to get published one day. Someone will look at my writing and they will want copies of it. It's like people are saying Marsail was born to try. A lot of time I come up looking at a brick wall. On that wall it's wet because of my tears. It's a very emotional journey and that journey will never end because I will keep on trying.

I know that deep down in my heart I will become a much stronger person than before if I keep going, even though people say that they don't like writing. I can't explain that feeling very well, but I know that writing is a pleasure whenever I do it. It makes me me and keeps me alive.

Who is Hans-Peter Feldmann?

2008-01-11T21:41:00.001Z

Art + Power's Beginning Creative Writing group, which meets every Friday morning at the Arnolfini, have been looking at the work of Hans-Peter Feldmann for creative inspiration. His work is currently being exhibited at the Arnolfini and he is interested in the idea of collecting objects. (You can find information about the exhibition by following this link http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/exhibition.php?id=41)

Today we started thinking about collections and talked about whether what you collect says something about you. Does the fact that you collect stamps or cars or paintings tell us anything about what you are like as a person? Does it give away secrets about what you are really like?

We looked at Hans-Peter Feldmann's collections displayed in the gallery and thought about whether it gave us any clues about him as a person. We imagined that we were spies and looked for clues in the exhibition to find out about his character. We asked ourselves the question 'Who is Hans-Peter Feldmann?' and used our answers to write a poem together. We would like to share our poem with you.

Who is Hans-Peter Feldmann?

He is German and has an eye for the ladies.
He loves dancing and makes movement with shadows.
He works better in the dark.
He looks at the blue sky once a day.

He likes to remind himself of when he was a little boy.
He never gets old because his memories keep him young.
He has been a policeman and a teacher.
His collections are memories of the lives he has lived.

He plays hide and seek behind the curtains.
He has a sense of humour.
He surprises people.
He is playful and silly.

His collections are for other people.
He records their lives.
He preserves objects in photos and behind glass.
He keeps his glass cutters locked in a glass case.

He is a hoarder.
He collects broken things.
He stores his memories.
He can't throw anything away.

He keeps objects around him but he is alone.
He collects objects to replace people.
His books conceal a hidden doorway and behind it we see his real collection.
What does he really collect?

art + power show goes on…..

2008-01-10T17:28:00.000Z

At the start of a new year, good news for art + power, we have received further funding from the Arts Council. Well done to Dave Richmond for his hard work on the bid and to everyone for their support over the year to make art + power a success!

Potential Unlocked!

2008-01-09T13:36:00.000Z

Last year, I met three artists through Jo Taylor, pottery & art teacher at HMP Erlestoke. Jo found a + p though the internet, and invited me to meet the artists. I was really inspired and was amazed how all three artists journeys differ, they seem so approachable, self-aware and had strong direction within their art.

One of the artists called Paul obviously has so much valuable experience and fantastic skills, I believe that with these skills and his experience he has so much to offer to the art community. Gary and Derek have a great deal of potential too, and I was amazed that neither of them had any experience of art before HMP Erlestoke. I can see that they are both fast learners and very expressive in their work.
I was truly impressed with all the artists I met; it was great to see how they have transformed themselves through their art and that they believe in themselves as artists.

a + p has no previous experience of working in partnership with HMP service, however, this is a good opportunity for us to develop relationships with potential participants and it enables them to discuss with us and decide the best possible way for them to move forward with their art.

Jo offered a great possibility of setting up a small joint event in the prison, where some of their artists & ours can put up a display in the space and each give a brief talk about their work, maybe around 5 minutes. A few artists at art + power have already signed up their names on the list to say that they are interested.

For the artists at HMP Erlestoke, it would be a rare opportunity to talk about their work and see other peoples work at first hand. If anyone is interested in this project, please contact art + power.

The Imaginary Games Company : Review

2008-01-07T22:58:00.000Z

The International Day of Disabled People on 3 December 2007 attracted a good audience to Spike Island. art + power's Imaginary Games Company powerfully presented the organisation's work, and the event gave the artists, writers and actors the opportunity to showcase their work.

The speeches by Peter Sutton, Frances Neville, Daniel Bryan, Lisa Ponting, Keith Geldart, Marsail Edwards, Nicola Roe, Dave Pearse and John Vowles were expressive and thought provoking. They shared their artistic experiences and goals.

The actors, John Yianni, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Ballinger and Nicole Roe confidently performed a brief sketch of a heated argument about who invented the game. The action then flowed smoothly into the game.

All the participants were able to be involved in the game which was based on a huge snakes and ladders board. The players used game cards, which were colourfully displayed on the walls, to identify the goals, milestones and barriers on their artistic journeys.

The game gave people a better understanding of art + power's vision. This will also be useful for the outreach.

art + power pass on their congratulations to the artists, actors and writers and thank them for giving up their time to get involved. Thank you also to those of you who filled in games cards.

Please put the International Day of Disabled People (3rd Dec 08) in your new diary - art + power will be organising an event!

Matt Roche sold his painting!

2008-01-07T22:21:00.000Z

art + power want to pass on their congratulations to Matt Roche. Matt completed PASS (Professional Arts Support Scheme) last year. PASS is a one-year professional development course which acts as a springboard for the careers of disabled and socially excluded artists, actors and writers.

Matt sold his second painting 'Suspension Bridge' during the latest exhibition 'Disabling Conclusions' at the Art Gym, Hengrove School last month - Well Done!

New for 2008 : Welcome all!

2008-01-07T21:44:00.000Z

The first post on our new blog!