I’ve had some smashing journal entries from one lovely lady this week, including some she wrote last Summer which helps to show how different this last lockdown has been in comparison to that first one. My favourite piece of all is one written from her dog’s perspective which I think is a FAB idea. This last year has been so different for our pets, it’s good to have some writing like this to remind us of that. She also sent in a beautiful photo of him too. Thank you so muc

Some wonderful correspondences are happening between Sue and Pam. These introductory letters are so interesting, with all of the stories and life journeys, telling how both ladies arrived here in Cornwall around the same time: one returning after living away and the other uprooting to begin a completely new chapter of her life here in Par Bay. What journey’s you have both been on! I love that Pam has now joined Sue’s reading group too, and is making more new friends. When

I was rescued from Benidorm by German Shepherd rescue when I broke my leg and nearly starved. My family collected me from South Wales which was scary as they just put me in the car and drove off. They fed me really nice treats so thought they were ok We got into a routine of me going to my uncle’s house twice a week when my owners are both working . Rest of the time walls at the beach twice a day. Made friends with cats - I would rather have a doggy friend but he is better th

Isolated improv. workshop write-up 10 27/03/2021. What a fantastic session we had!! Who knew what would happen when we decided to come along as a character. Everyone really did an amazing job and it was great to meet these amazing new people, although I have to say it was rather alarming just how many of them were just a tad shady and suspicious with some very questionable pasts. I wouldn't trust a single one of them! Great fun! Denise - A spurned, slightly murderous magicia

We had a very short meeting tonight but it was still lovely to see everyone. When talking about our journals, one lady remarked that her entries often feel quite repetitive these days and she was worried that this would not make interesting reading for others. I still encouraged her to write everything down though because it is a true depiction of what life is really like for many of us during these Covid lockdown times. In the future, when others read what we’ve written an

We had a very short meeting tonight but it was still lovely to see everyone. When talking about our journals, one lady remarked that her entries often feel quite repetitive these days and she was worried that this would not make interesting reading for others. I still encouraged her to write everything down though because it is a true depiction of what life is really like for many of us during these Covid lockdown times. In the future, when others read what we’ve written an

We were delighted with our turnout again last night, we had fifteen people attending: some as audience members; some to read and share other people’s work; and then of course our loyal band of poets, it was great. For some reason I felt more nervous this time, wondering if people really had enjoyed our first session and whether they would return for a second time. These fears were soon allayed when my screen quickly filled up like a ‘Guess Who’ game-board as everyone signed

Isolated improv. A great session again, filled with lots of laughs and smiles. We heard all kinds of late excuses, like ‘My hair got caught in the dishwasher’, ‘I got stuck in a parade’ or ‘My goldfish died and I had to bury it’, and I was so impressed with how long our group could keep these games rolling – such ingenious improvisation skills! We then had a go at a zoom version of ‘park bench’, with our actors coming and going at random intervals, and this brought together t

Getting ready for Open-mic night 2. Can’t believe we’re already preparing for our Open-mic night 2! We’ve had quite a flurry of interest even at this early stage, and the submissions list is growing fast. This time we’re going to produce a pdf booklet of all the poems beforehand so that participants and audience members can have a copy on the night. It will be a lovely keep-sake and also a good back-up plan just in case anyone’s internet lets them down and we have difficulty

Fourth and final workshop, 10/03/2021. This was a session of doubled edged emotions today; on the one hand it was great to see these beautiful houses all reaching completion, but on the other it meant that we’ve come to the end of our workshops and we’ll really miss working with our lovely group. As many participants are using our films, it meant that they are all working on different stages of their designs, so we did a very short demonstration today, showing how to fit the

Another session filled with lots of laughs tonight thanks to all that came! We had a few rounds of ‘World’s Worst’ and met some terrible blind dates, first prison encounters and tour guides. Then we played around with pre-written lines again, but this time working in teams where three of our actors were only allowed to use one line each - which they had to fit into the scene as many times as they could, while the fourth team member lead the scene, helping to bridge the connec

I had a call from Pam and then also Sue today which has completely made my day. They were both ringing to let me know that they’ve been chatting on the phone and have discovered how they both have connections to an old Mill, miles away up North which has been renovated and turned into a bookshop! How amazing is that?! It turns out they have loads in common and they were both so excited about it that they both rang me. It’s so fantastic to hear about our pen-pals becoming re

I received our second completed pitcher piece today. It came from Cathy and is an incredible and also very moving piece of art. She has painted a beautiful portrait of Phil Champion who very sadly lost his life to Covid last year. He was a member of Tywardreath Morris and the portrait shows him in full costume, dancing. What a wonderful tribute. Thank you so much Cathy. If you would like to paint your own piece of pitcher please contact me via email at gillbutler1@gmail.c

So sad that this was the last of our twelve workshops tonight ☹ Where have those weeks gone? And yet, watching you all tonight I can see how much the group has flourished and blossomed. The people who were a little shy to begin with have really come out of their shells and there is an air of confidence amongst the whole group now – even if people aren’t that happy with their poems, they are still happy to read them out to the rest of us, safe in the knowledge that they will

So sad that this was the last of our twelve workshops tonight ☹ Where have those weeks gone? And yet, watching you all tonight I can see how much the group has flourished and blossomed. The people who were a little shy to begin with have really come out of their shells and there is an air of confidence amongst the whole group now – even if people aren’t that happy with their poems, they are still happy to read them out to the rest of us, safe in the knowledge that they will

We had new people joining our workshop today which meant that people were all working at different stages of construction and design. This was great though because it really inspired our newcomers, helping them to see what wonderful things they could achieve. Our demonstrations facilitated independent work and it wasn’t long before the group were completely absorbed in their own designs again. Working with clay is so very engaging at all levels because it feels so automatic

I have not taken part in an online group of any kind previously and was as a result a little hesitant about joining. I need not have been. I was immediately made to feel welcome and at home, which though similar are not the same thing. The format of the session is straightforward and easy to understand and relate to with two main sections, the major task which has a video/ and or poem which leads into and up to it with a link published in advance, and the freewriting session.