The old harper and the sea beast

The old harper and the sea beast is a story created for “Of sea and shore and the worlds in between”, first performed at the Roundhouse in the Felin Uchaf Centre at Rhoshirwaun, Pwlheli. Click here to hear how it unfolds.

Stick story maps

Stick story maps are a tool that Helen uses with groups creating stories in a particular landscape. Participants are given a stick and some string and encouraged to find objects that illustrate aspects of their story and tie them on as prompts when re-telling their story. The sticks illustrated were created from work in and around the Oriel Gallery in Newtown, Powys whilst working with artist Bec Knight.

Slate marimbas

Rick collects roof slates and uses them to make pentatonic (5 note) marimbas, struck with soft mallets. Each slate must pass the test of having a strong tone when struck. He often incorporates the playing and painting of these in creative schools’ work, then leaving them situated somewhere like the school garden, so they are accessible and playable. These examples are from a project with the primary school at Chirk.

Frances Fisher RIP

“Your book was so real, I thought I was in it.”
(Alice, age 9, re ‘Frances Fisher RIP’)

Frances Fisher, RIP was a the outcome of a project undertaken in 1993-4 as a Sunderland Childrens Live Literature Residency.  The project was initiated and co-ordinated by Sunderland Leisure Libraries and Arts and involved a programme of work with Year 5 and 6 children from four schools. Through the sessions the children developed the storyline and characters, and worked on illustrations with the help of Jonathan Korejko.  The project culminated in the publication of ‘Frances Fisher RIP’, a novel co-written and illustrated by the children, and won the 1995-6 Libraries Initiative Award.