STORYTELLING AT THE CORO. DOMINIC KELLY AND SJB YEAR 3 AT FURNESS TRADITION FESTIVAL

Brilliant project and proud that Furness Traditions could be a small part of it.

Gordon Jones,Furness Traditions Festival.

The Supper Room at the Coronation Hall has held many great events...Laurel and Hardy waved from its balcony to the crowds below in the 1950's, it has hosted plays, concerts, lectures, arts workshops and the performers at Furness Tradition festival perform an afternoon show that is always special.

This year we were part of the festival, as Dominic Kelly and his Year 3 Storytellers took over the space an delivered their complex, detailed and funny stories to a full-house  that moved around the room, from alcove to alcove.The room was never still or silent, there was activity and interest everywhere.

 Dominic had taught the children the techniques of the Oral Tradition; nothing was written down, all was memorized and delivered with
energy and a degree of theatricality that surprised the audience and underscored the contribution
 of Dominic's methods to the
development of performance and public speaking skills,and the confidence that comes with a round of applause for a
story well delivered.

We captured the atmosphere and the stories with a roving mic..young
people often play up to a microphone..not here; they were engrossed in what they were doing.
It was rather like eavesdropping.

https://soundcloud.com/sjb-three/dominic-kelly-sir-john-barrow-school-artspace-furness-tradition-festival-ulverston-2018

Our thanks to Dominic, his storytellers and the
school for a fine project and a
marvellous morning.

FORD PARK ,HALLOWE'EN.

Many thanks to everyone who came along to take part in our Halloween video for Ulverston's Candlelit Walk...the theme at Ford Park was "Birds", and our SJB3 artist Ellie Chaney rose to the occasion with her performance in John's film, projected al fresco from a ramshackle screening booth on a muddy slope. Visually less Hitchcock than Bill Oddie, the film's soundtrack is from Ste Tyson, who DJ'd on the night with a mashup of classic suspense music and audio tropes.

The Candlelit Walk was ticketed for the first time this year, in order to avoid any crushes, and it seems to have worked; over a thousand people were in attendance, and as the rain kept off till the end it was a very good night of music, light, story, music and mashup, performance and installation...

https://vimeo.com/299477195

The evening aims for homemade  atmosphere rather than Body Horror. More Carpentry than Carpenter. The digital elements evoke Lumiere and Magic Lanternry.  The  workshops involve a lot of artists and makers of all ages and produced an enormous amount of imaginative and highly individual work for the event. You can participate from the inside.
The Walk in many ways is a step into a new world for our youngest attendees and audiences; colour, lights, smoke, distant murmurings  and the smell of wet undergrowth are a potent mix. The liminal nature of these nighttime events affects the onlooker and participant alike and we often hear of examples of a decision having been made in the dark: "next time I'm going to involved." The maker of the magic rather than the subject of it.

ELLIE CHANEY "TINY VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY" BOOK LAUNCH, DEC 8th.

 Ellie Chaney's work for SJB3 is coming to fruition with a book launch
on Dec 8th at Ulverston Library.

"Tiny Voyages Of Discovery" is the result of  9 months in which Ellie has  been researching both freshwater and marine wildlife in the area.  The book is an illustrated journey down Dragley Beck out to the sea, inspired by the story of Lady Barrow who was an accomplished botanical illustrator in her own right.

Ellie's book is available as a softback and limited edition hardback, 

Join us  to meet Ellie and see what she has produced, and to hear more about the project. There'll also be the opportunity to  make your own bookplates to take home.

LEX BLAKEWAY AND ANNA MARIA TRUTER

Felter Lex Blakeway was at the Cottage today. We were putting up
her  interpretation of a piece of work by Botanical Illustrator Ann Maria Truter, later Lady Barrow.

The drawing was sourced by Ellie Chaney as part of her SJB3 research, and Lex's piece will be  in permanent display at the Cottage, with occasional  visits to the Sir John Barrow Monument next summer.

Many thanks to Lex and to our Framer Diana Merrick.

Dan from Green Lane and me were talking earlier about developing the cottage in order to host small exhibitions, so hopefully Lex's piece will soon be part of a collection.

Those of you who were at Lex's SJB3 workshop at he Library during the summer will be interested in her upcoming programme of sessions at the Coronation Hall, where she will alternate with other artists including Artspace Green Room artist Fran Riley. More info from the Coro.

PRINTMAKING AT THE COTTAGE WITH ELLIE CHANEY

Another sunday and more beautiful work from our visitors as Ellie Chaney led a drop-in  Block printing workshop.

Working on small blocks of soft lino our visitors made  highly detailed bookplate designs reflecting Ellie's interest in the flora and fauna in the land around the cottage.

There was a sense of effort and anticipation rewarded every time the small, high-contrast prints emerged fresh from between the blankets and plates of the in-house Bookpress.













"Had a wonderful couple of hours learning to use lino cutting tools & printing the results.
Ellie and John were so helpful, patient and made me feel that I could really achieve something. 
Such good fun and would definitely recommend coming down & experiencing their workshops. Looking forward to the next one."


We'll be following this session up in the autumn so look out for an announcement..

OUR WHITE BICYCLE. HOAD AND THE TOUR OF BRITAIN

A bit of cycledelia for starters...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JhZqWCqKs8

The Cycling Tour of Britain was due to pass through Ulverston on September 7th, and the stages across the country were marked with various artworks including bike designs on fields and the sides of hills.

Alex and me were asked to make one in the shadow of the Sir John Barrow Monument. We made various suggestions as to a safe and temporary material and in the end went for some recyclable layflat drainage tubing and several hundred tent pegs. The design came from a local school, the weather was decent, and by the time I'd been convinced to stick with the original site and scale (sorry mate) it was an enjoyable task.


We decided to avoid paths, bracken and rocks, and we needed space so the angle was the best on offer. And I should say that, yes, if you draw something with two large circles underneath something like Hoad Monument then you had better expect consequences, from some angles at least.

We were joined by spectators, well-wishers and even helpers (thanks to Emily, and to Simon, Sam, Theo and Sonny) These pics (larger images by Lindsay Ward) tell something of the story, and Paul Leviston's drone pic shows the finished piece.

It came down yesterday, having been up for a week. It's been well received, and featured strongly in the live ITV coverage, which gave the Tour, Ulverston - and us - an audience of millions.

Our thanks to UTC, Les Tallon the Monument Keeper, for the use of the Monument as store room and workshop, and to Townlands, Alan Edmondson and his sheep for the use of the land.

OUR NEXT EVENT: PRINTMAKING AT THE COTTAGE WITH ELLIE CHANEY

The latest arts session  from the SJB3 project takes place at the Sir John Barrow Cottage on Sunday 23rd Of September from 11am to 3pm.

Artist Ellie Chaney will be presenting a printmaking workshop in which visitors can design personal Book Plates inspired by those found in Sir John Barrow's books. You will learn simple printing techniques and  make some attractive and useful work, all in the unique and atmospheric of this beautiful 18th Century cottage at Dragley Beck.

Admission is free, materials are provided, and while the session is suitable for all ages and levels of experience children should be accompanied by an adult.

The SJB3 project is organised by Artspace and is supported by Arts Council England, The Sir John Fisher Foundation, Townlands Trust and Ulverston Town Council.