Loïs Cordelia: Blog https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog en-us (C) Loïs Cordelia (Loïs Cordelia) Wed, 19 Jul 2023 17:15:00 GMT Wed, 19 Jul 2023 17:15:00 GMT https://www.loiscordelia.com/img/s/v-12/u1051813440-o416941054-50.jpg Loïs Cordelia: Blog https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog 90 120 Invisible Sequins and Fairytale Silhouettes https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2023/6/invisible-sequins-and-fairytale-silhouettes A brand new book by Kate Trethewey, Invisible Sequins, features fairytale silhouette illustrations by Loïs Cordelia. The book is: "A fairy tale about a young girl who struggles to accept her differences. Her world is a beautiful place, filled with magical creatures.  But as she grows, she realises that no one else shares her gift. To them, the world is drab, grey and without magic. Follow her story as she navigates the ups and downs that come with having her unique perspective, and allow yourself to be inspired as she learns to accept and embrace who she truly is."

The book is now available to purchase via Hecate Publishing.

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(Loïs Cordelia) art books children cut-paper faerie fairies fairytale hecate publishing jan pienkowski kate trethewey lois cordelia magical other worlds paper-cutting publishing silhouettes suffolk https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2023/6/invisible-sequins-and-fairytale-silhouettes Fri, 16 Jun 2023 21:00:15 GMT
Love Lincolnshire Heart Locket https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2023/6/love-lincolnshire-heart-locket
A trail of more than 30 giant Heart statues launches today (10th June 2023) in Lincoln, UK. The HeART Trail features a mixture of bespoke and painted sculptures, and supports St Barnabas Hospice, which helps care for 12,500 patients every year.

Artist Loïs Cordelia was among the artists commissioned to create bespoke Hearts. She writes: "When I first saw the Heart sculpture, I thought immediately of a heart locket, as a symbol of something precious, a place to preserve treasured memories and keepsakes. Creating a Heart Locket on a theme of Love Lincolnshire is quite a challenge. I'm building it mostly out of wire and metal, attaching items of significance including small pin badges from my wonderful sponsors at the Lincolnshire Coop, as well as found items, upcycled jewellery, and so on."

Loïs's sculpture is now on public display in the picturesque setting of the Lincoln Cathedral Gardens until 4th September.

Visitors are encouraged to add a 'love lock' padlock to the sculpture.

Location:

11 Eastgate, Lincoln LN2 1QG

What3Words

sulk.emerge.loves


Below: Photo credit - Lincolnshire Co-Op, June 2023, used with kind permission



 


 

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(Loïs Cordelia) art bespoke co commissions heart lincolnshire lockets locks love op public sculpting sculpture trails wire https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2023/6/love-lincolnshire-heart-locket Sat, 10 Jun 2023 21:06:29 GMT
Ed Sheeran and Framlingham Castle on the back of a Labrador https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2023/6/castle-on-the-dog What better excuse to visit your local library this summer than to see all 40 Suffolk Libraries PAWS-itivity Labradors? The dog sculptures, each one lovingly reimagined by an artist, will be on display at libraries across Suffolk from late July 2023. Later in the Autumn, they will be auctioned to raise funds for Suffolk Libraries - your chance to own an original and unique piece of art.

Ipswich-born artist Loïs Cordelia was delighted to be one of the artists commissioned for the trail. She tells the behind-the-scenes story of her Ed Sheeran themed Labrador in a short film (below).

Castle on the Dog will be on display at Ipswich County Library from 24th July.

 




When I was six years old, I broke my leg
I was runnin' from my brother and his friends
And tasted the sweet perfume of the mountain grass I rolled down
I was younger then, take me back to when I

Found my heart and broke it here
Made friends and lost them through the years
And I've not seen the roaring fields in so long, I know I've grown
But I can't wait to go home

I'm on my way
Drivin' at ninety down those country lanes
Singin' to "Tiny Dancer"
And I miss the way you make me feel it's real
We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill

Excerpt from the lyrics of Ed Sheeran's Castle on the Hill

As an artist, I specialise in unusual requests.

I was given the challenge of reimagining a lifesize model Labrador with a theme of Ed Sheeran, for Suffolk Libraries' PAWS-itivity art trail.

My favourite song of Ed's, Castle on the Hill therefore inspired Castle on the Dog.
 

The figurine of Ed starts out as a wire skeleton, just the right scale to sit on the dog's front leg.

The guitar body and many of the other details are sculpted out of Apoxie Sculpt clay. I constantly look back at reference photos of Ed, his guitar and the castle. Gradually the hands and face of the figurine take shape, with the aid of various sculpting tools and fingers. Wetting the clay or allowing it to dry a bit helps achieve the correct consistency for carving the most intricate details. I've been sculpting miniature figurines out of wire and clay since I was seven. The sculpture often looks quite bizarre at this early stage, but eventually it begins to look more human. The addition of hair, beard and glasses are all particularly important to make it recogniseably Ed Sheeran.

The castle in question is Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, which Ed fondly remembers in his nostalgic lyrics.

I base my model of the castle on a map to make it as accurate as possible, and use stainless steel angle and flexible mounting brackets bent into shape to give it structural rigidity. The whole thing is then threaded together with wire, very much as you would sew a garment from pieces of fabric.

Back to the guitar, which is a complex three dimensional form. It took a fair bit of experimenting, trial and error, to find objects that were just the right shape to make the neck and finger board: a silver spoon and a plastic fork not only look about right but also add a lot of strength to the sculpture, especially when bent or trimmed into shape.

I use Apoxie Sculpt to secure the neck and fingerboard in place, plus flattened paper fasteners for the pegs.

Back to Ed, who now has to have his glasses fitted,  more hair added, and more beard too.

I can now paint the guitar body, using acrylic paints, to make it look more like polished wood.

I bulk out the figurine with aluminium foil, ready for adding clothing.

Six pieces of very thin wire will make the guitar strings, wrapped around a tiny piece of serrated plastic knife to space them equally apart. They are attached to the guitar with more Apoxie Sculpt.

Ed's albums and guitars are distinguished by mathematical symbols, so the divide sign is very important for Castle on the Hill.

Once the finger board markers have been added, I can finally finish stringing the guitar, and add finishing touches of paint.

Now to secure Ed to the dog's forelimb. Apologies, this looks like a painful operation for both Ed and the Labrador!

Back to stitching the castle together, which I'm pleased to see now holds together well, so I can begin positioning it on the dog's back, but it still needs a lot more structure adding to make the flat castle grounds, and the Poor House, which is made of layers of foamboard stuck together with PVA, and fine wire mesh for the tiled roof.

At last, the castle is ready to be attached to the dog, making it as level as possible. I use air drying silk clay to bulk out the hill, and pipe cleaners to make the tiny trees that grow inside the castle grounds. Foam clay creates a textured surface for the lawn and pathways. It looks like Framlingham Castle in the snow as I begin to cover the framework with Apoxie Sculpt clay, and carve details of the architecture.

I sculpt Ed's shoes out of Apoxie Sculpt, too, and then add his clothes using plaster bandage and paint.

I add a bit more colour, and suddenly it begins to look like Ed.

More detail on the castle, and more paint to change the season. Soon it looks like full summer.

Now that the castle on the dog was just about finished, I google 'does Ed Sheeran have dogs'? It turns out that Ed is a serious cat lover, so of course I had to add a little cat curled up beside him, so that you might not even notice it if you don't know it's there. The cat is made out of Apoxie Sculpt and painted with acrylics. I think it's enjoying Ed's strumming on his guitar.

As a finishing touch I darkened the dog's coat, to make Ed and his castle stand out more.

So now I can create my own sunset over the castle on the hill, or more precisely the castle on the dog.

I hope you've enjoyed this behind the scenes view of miniature sculpting in progress.

My partner Jason Curtis and our friend and fellow artist Anne-Marie Byrne have also created designs for the PAWS-itivity trail. You can see all 40 Labradors gathered at the Suffolk Show on 31st May and 1st of June 2023 at Stand 462. After that they will be on display at many of the Libraries across Suffolk, before being auctioned to raise funds for Suffolk Libraries in the autumn.

Many thanks for watching.

 

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(Loïs Cordelia) art castle dogs ed framlingham guitar ipswich labradors libraries miniatures pawsitivity sculpting sheeran suffolk therapy https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2023/6/castle-on-the-dog Thu, 01 Jun 2023 20:45:00 GMT
Weaving a Giant Food Web for the Food Museum https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2022/6/weaving-a-giant-food-web-for-the-food-museum

I've been weaving a giant web out of wire in the woods at the Food Museum in Stowmarket
(formerly the Museum of East Anglian Life).

'We Are All Connected' is a giant 'web of life' sculpture made of wire and food related metal items.

Wire is used to bind everything together and suspend all the elements of the sculpture aloft, including intricately detailed riverside fauna and flora.

Wire represents the interconnectedness of all things.

Metal cutlery and kitchen utensils emphasise the theme of food, in reference both to the food web and the Food Museum.

Eight artists were commissioned to create riverside sculptures for the new trail, which launched on 22nd June 2022 and remains on permanent display at the Food Museum, celebrating the rich biodiversity of the surrounding riverland area.

My web of life is populated with more than a dozen animals and plants, each one sculpted out of the most unlikely things!

How many will you spot?

A hedgehog made of forks and a gravy boat.
A butterfly made of a butter knife, tongs and spoons.
A great crested newt made of two toast racks.
Acorns of egg cups.
Hops of spoons.
Willow leaves of fish knives.
A stag beetle made of a ladle.
A bream made of chicken wire.
A carp made of a fish platter, toast rack and fish slices.
A kingfisher made of bowl strainers and table knives, with a whisk caught in its beak.
An  oxlip made of 50 teaspoons.
Grain made of long-handled teaspoons.
An otter made of kitchen utensil holders, fish slices and a sardine tin.
A bat made of sphaghetti tongs, spoons and a soup ladle.
A trio of field mushrooms made of colanders and bird feeders.
An owl made of two bird feeders, a mini butter knife, bowl strainers and a fish slice.
A lizard made of chicken wire.
A bee made of an ice cream scoop, gravy boat, grapefruit spoons for the eyes, tea diffusers for pollen sacs, and a wine bottle rack for the honeycomb.
And of course a spider, made of a spider sieve skimmer, a lemon juicer and sugar tongs.


Through food, through energy, through the web of life, we are all connected.


Photographs by David Bülow-Osborne, used with kind permission

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(Loïs Cordelia) art biodiversity cutlery food food museum lois cordelia metal public art recycled sculpture trail stowmarket suffolk upcycled we are all connected web of life wire sculpture https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2022/6/weaving-a-giant-food-web-for-the-food-museum Wed, 22 Jun 2022 10:00:00 GMT
Your chance to WIN this Owl https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2022/3/bighoot_raffle_nocturne Following the success of Pigs Gone Wild 2016 and Elmer's Big Art Parade Suffolk 2019, Ipswich will host its third sculpture trail this summer: The Big Hoot 2022. A flock of fifty Owl statues will appear on the streets of Ipswich, each one painted or otherwise transformed by a different artist.

Local artist, speed-painter and self-confessed night owl Loïs Cordelia has painted an Owl that features some of her favourite floodlit scenes of Ipswich by night, rendered in a painterly, impressionistic style using lots of iridescent paints, a large brush and palette knives to give a layered effect. Much of the fine detail is scratched back into the paint.

The design is called Nocturne. Loïs writes: "A nocturne is a composition (usually musical, but occasionally visual) inspired by the night. Being a night owl myself and an artist, I love painting floodlit nocturnal scenes. Here are some of my favourite Ipswich townscapes by night." Nocturne is generously sponsored by Ipswich Borough Council.


Unusually, this particular Owl will not be auctioned after the Big Hoot Ipswich trail ends in September. Instead, it is being raffled with £5 tickets, to support St Elizabeth Hospice. For your chance to WIN Nocturne, go to LuckyTicket. The raffle runs from now until September. Nocturne was unveiled at the Ipswich Town Hall last weekend, as part of the Reunion event, bringing together a number of Pigs, Elmers and a couple of Owls.

Nocturne is Loïs's thirtieth public art design since 2016 when she painted a golden Pig called Pig-geswyk.

The The Big Hoot 2022 trail runs from 19th June to 3rd September 2022.


Above: Loïs Cordelia at work on Nocturne at the Hold (Suffolk Archives) last month. Photo by Nigel Smith, used with kind permission.


Above: Lois Cordelia with Councillor Sarah Barber who helped choose Loïs's Owl design

Below: Loïs Cordelia with her partner and fellow Wild in Art artist Jasön Curtis

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art art trails big hoot ipswich ipswich ipswich borough council lois cordelia night scenes owls palette knife speed-painting st elizabeth hospice suffolk townscapes wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2022/3/bighoot_raffle_nocturne Mon, 14 Mar 2022 15:56:21 GMT
Giant Papercut Installation for CambridgeBID Window Wanderland https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2022/1/cambridgebid-window-wanderland The Cambridge Window Wanderland is a community arts project that aims to bring light into one of the darkest times of the year. From early January 2022, windows of offices, libraries and other venues across the city will host temporary silhouette and papercut art installations by various artists. The public display ends on the 23rd of January.

Ipswich artist and papercut specialist Loïs Cordelia is one of four artists commissioned by the Cambridge BID to create a Window Wanderland installation for ground floor windows on Station Road, a key route for commuters and tourists into the city, directly opposite Cambridge Rail Station. Loïs has reimagined three favourite iconic Cambridge landmarks as a trio of giant paper-cut tableaux: the fountains of the Botanical Gardens, the Fitzwilliam Museum facade, and the Bridge of Sighs. Each of the three designs measures 220 cm high by 142 cm wide and is currently (until 23rd January) installed on public view in the street level windows of the 50/60 Building on Station Road.





Loïs remarks: "I've been cutting out of paper since high school days. My usual preferred tool is a surgical scalpel, as most of my paper-cut artwork tends to be relatively small scale and extremely intricately detailed - to the point where I sometimes need a magnifying glass and even have to stop breathing while I cut out! These giant Window Wanderland designs are by far the largest paper-cut artworks I've ever done, hence I had to work in a much looser style, using not only a scalpel but also scissors, pattern shears and various sizes of hole punch in order to speed up the process, as I only had a week or so in which to create the entire set.

"I'll admit, the sheer scale of the project was quite daunting but I always love a challenge. I taped together multiple sheets of A1 size black card, which is much more durable than the paper I normally cut out of but also much tougher to slice through. I had to completely rearrange my studio furniture in order to have a blank wall big enough to suspend each design and be able to step back from it to see how the design was shaping up while I sketched it out. As an artist, I love the challenge of creating the illusion of perspective to lead the viewer's eye into the picture, but in order to get the angles right I need to be able to step back from my canvas and see it from a distance. This was particularly important in the case of the neoclassical portico of the Fitzwilliam Museum."



"After sketching out, I took each section down and laid it across my cutting mat to cut out the negative shapes, being very careful to avoid tearing the card in the process. Every time I wanted to check how the overall design was progressing, I had to pin it back up on the wall - it was quite a work out! But bit by bit, cut by cut, each design emerged. My studio floor soon became covered in thousands of randomly shaped bits of black card.

"I travelled to Cambridge on the 4th of January to install the trio of giant paper-cuts in the ground floor windows of the 50/60 Building. It was the first time I'd been able to see them against an illuminated backdrop as I'd intended them. I was relieved to find I'd got the measurements correct after nearly a week of cutting out! I was really pleased with the results. I particularly like the way that you can sit inside and see people walking by and cars and buses passing through the paper-cuts - it adds an interactive dynamic to the artwork. I hope that people will enjoy seeing the pieces and feel uplifted and inspired. Anyone can take part in the Window Wanderland - all you need is an illuminated window, some paper, scissors and some way of temporarily fixing the silhouettes on the inside of the glass. Why not have a go?"



The following photos show the behind-the-scenes process.

       

From outside looking in - photo credits: Maggie Bennett - used with kind permission:
Photo credit: Maggie Bennett, Cushman & Wakefield. Used with kind permission.
Photo credit: Maggie Bennett, Cushman & Wakefield. Used with kind permission. Photo credit: Maggie Bennett, Cushman & Wakefield. Used with kind permission. Photo credit: Maggie Bennett, Cushman & Wakefield. Used with kind permission. Photo credit: Maggie Bennett, Cushman & Wakefield. Used with kind permission.

Special thanks: Jenny Granshaw (Cambridge BID), Maggie Bennett (Cushman & Wakefield), Annie Laughrin (Wild in Art).

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(Loïs Cordelia) 50/60 Building art botanic gardens bridge of sighs cambridge cambridgeBID cut-paper fitzwilliam museum lois cordelia paper-cutting silhouette window wanderland https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2022/1/cambridgebid-window-wanderland Wed, 05 Jan 2022 19:16:22 GMT
Intricate Paper Lightboxes celebrate Repton's visions of Sheringham Park https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2021/12/papercut-lightboxes-sheringham-park Three years on from the 2018 bi-centenary of landscape gardener Humphry Repton (1752 - 1818), a trio of intricate papercut lightboxes celebrating his vision of Sheringham Park are today being reinstalled on permanent display at the Sheringham Park National Trust Visitor Centre in Norfolk. The lightboxes were originally created to feature as part of the National Trust's Repton Revealed: Illuminating his Vision at Sheringham Park light show which took place in November 2018, directed by Richard Milner, also featuring a mesmerising display of light installations by award winning arts collective Tundra.

The three lightboxes were created by Ipswich artist Loïs Cordelia, inspired by and bringing to life pages of Repton's famous leatherbound "Red Book" of Sheringham Park. Repton's 'Red Books' were richly illustrated landscaping plans that he meticulously researched, compiled and presented to his clients to help them envision their landscape's potential. Repton ingeniously included paper flaps to demonstrate 'before and after' versions of the same scene.

Loïs based her papercuts on three of Repton's original watercolour paintings of Sheringham Park, reimagining each one as an intricate, three-dimensional papercut tableau. Each layer is cut out of paper using a surgical scalpel. Illuminated from behind, every tiniest detail is apparent. A blue tinged light symbolises Sheringham's proximity to the sea, referencing his poetry. Now that the lightboxes are beng reinstalled at the Sheringham Park Visitor Centre, they can be viewed alongside the Red Book itself. Loïs says: "I'm delighted that the lightboxes are going to remain at Sheringham Park, where they belong. It seems especially appropriate that they are being reinstalled today at Winter Solstice, when we are all most in need of light. I hope visitors will enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed creating them three years ago."

Loïs is currently (Dec 2021) working on an exciting illuminated papercut installation for the windows of the 50/60 office building on Station Street in Cambridge, as part of the 'Window Wanderland' project. Her artwork will be on display from 6th January until 23rd January 2022. Watch this space.

The scenes depicted in Loïs's Sheringham Park lightboxes include the orangery, a windswept coastal path with a pair of hunters and their dogs, and a view of Sheringham Hall with the figure of Repton himself sitting in the foreground sketching.

Orangery


Above: Repton's original watercolour from the Sheringham Park Red Book.
Below: Behind the scenes photos show Loïs's layering technique.





Windswept coastal path with a pair of hunters and their dogs




View of Sheringham Hall with the figure of Repton himself sitting in the foreground sketching





Loïs Cordelia at Sheringham Park in November 2018

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(Loïs Cordelia) art coast cut-paper humphry repton lois cordelia national trust norfolk repton revealed richard milner sheringham sheringham hall sheringham park https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2021/12/papercut-lightboxes-sheringham-park Wed, 22 Dec 2021 15:26:02 GMT
Palette, Pallet, Palate - new Pallet Art Bar inspires Exhibition https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2021/12/palette-pallet-palate A brand new art bar called Pallet is opening next week in Stowmarket's picturesque Old Fox Yard, adjacent to the existing art gallery Fox Yard Studio, taking its name and inspiration from the multiple meanings of a wooden 'pallet', artist 'palette' and gourmet 'palate'. Appropriately, the inaugural exhibition will feature the pallet and palette themed artworks of Loïs Cordelia and her partner Jasön Curtis.





Pallet Bar manager Ella-Marie Gill talks about the name: "Pallet:
We took inspiration from pallets to design the bar itself and also the logo. Our logo represents a pallet alongside our chosen colour theme. Another main focus of ours is sustainability, for the site we chose to work with Will Build Developments who specialise in sustainable construction. Palette: We are an arts bar supporting local artists, showcasing their art on our walls which is for sale and will be changed every two months. We will also be having live painting taking place on the walls from more local artists, to create Murals. Palate: At Pallet we have had (many) drink tastings to find the right drinks for our customers. We have chosen a variety of local drinks, mainly from Suffolk. We have everything from wine, beer, coffee, spirits and more." Ella speaks about her own new role as Bar Manager: "I have always had a passion for hospitality since I started working in the industry when I was sixteen. As soon as I worked in a bar, I have never looked back. Being the Bar Manager of Pallet is a dream come true and I am so excited to be opening our doors Friday."

The idea for the exhibition came about quite spontaneously. When Ipswich-based artist couple Loïs and Jasön heard about the new art bar, they were immediately struck by the name 'Pallet' and its connection with their own work, specifically their mutual preference for unconventional canvases. With less than a week to prepare, they swiftly assembled a collection of original works, with several being created specifically for this - their first joint exhibition.


Jasön Curtis - Palette Knife Paintings on Reclaimed Wooden Pallet Boards

Recently renewing his focus on art after a lifelong career in engineering, Jasön Curtis prefers to be known as a 'creative spirit'. His work for Pallet includes an array of original nautical themed paintings onto recycled wooden pallet boards. He comments: "I may use brushes in my work, but prefer a blade, sponge, palette knife or Ka-bar, together with a keen eye and a broad imagination to envisage the scene and use the blade on wood to give the desired effect.


"The important thing when working with either wood or leather is to work with the beauty of nature's grain, flow with it, rather than battle against it. It's all ergonomics. As Bruce Lee said, 'Be like water'."

Water is a prevalent theme in Jasön's work. He reminisces: "Having spent most of my childhood in the Caribbean I have a fondness for blue skies, crystal waters and sailboats. But it was in the early 80s that my spiritual adventure started. My parents were both radicals, artists, adventurers, and very eccentric, hence I spent much of my time surrounded by great sculptors and artists of the period, who were a massive influence on me. It was a truly bohemian lifestyle, and I soaked it up.


"The late 90s was the pinnacle of my bohemian career. I reached my own personal plateau in short story writing, sculpting and poetry, winning a couple of prestigious titles. But I yearned for something a little more grounding, so I became an engineer. Fast forward 20 years and here I am today. The engineering story was good fun and working with the best manufacturers in the world was an opportunity I will always remember with fondness, but I'm back, back with my art, back with a glint in my eye and an imagination that's unsuppressed."

Since Jasön resumed his creative journey in August, he ploughed into painting with such enthusiasm that he very soon ran out of canvases. He stumbled on a pile of old wooden pallets in the garden. When he began chopping them up with an axe, he noticed how the natural wood grain caused some of them to crack and splinter into the most beautiful, dramatic shapes, and the idea struck him that these would make extraordinary one-of-a-kind canvases. Using a blow torch to seal and harden them further enhanced the patterns of the grain.

Jasön also has some of his paintings for sale in his Etsy shop: 1440CreativeSpirit. The number 1440 is a reference to archery, one of Jasön's greatest passions since his adolescent years spent growing up in the wilderness of Mid Wales, after his parents moved there from the Caribbean.

Below: Jasön Curtis, the 'Creative Spirit', at work in his studio, November 2021.



Jasön moved from Cambridgeshire to Ipswich a year ago to join Loïs. It was a relief to be reunited after nearly nine months of separation due to the pandemic.

Jasön and Loïs first met in 2015, a connection that was forged through their unusual mutual passion for precision blades: Loïs uses a surgical scalpel to create intricately detailed papercut designs, while Jasön uses a variety of knives and other tools in his handcrafted leatherwork. Interestingly, both artists now also exploit the flexible blades of palette knives in their acrylic paintings to balance printed precision with the characteristic imperfections of knife painting.


Below: 'Gourmet Palate', palette knife acrylics on artist palette, Loïs Cordelia


Loïs Cordelia - Palette Knife Paintings on Artist Palettes

Loïs first began experimenting with palette knife painting in 2015 and was instantly hooked. With her pre-pandemic emphasis on painting live in public settings, she often demonstrated and taught using palette knives, being keen to introduce fellow artists to their uniquely expressive mark-making potential. She remarks: "Many artists briefly try palette knife, bizarrely expecting the blade to behave like a brush, and when it doesn't, they swiftly become frustrated, give up and go back to brushes. But it's not a brush. It's a tool with its own unique voice. There are lots of things you can do with a palette knife that you can't possibly achieve with a brush, or that would take a hundred times longer.

"I know some people are put off by the unfortunate negative connotations of the word 'knife', but in our language - as artists, creatives, engineers and bushcraft enthusiasts - a knife is only ever creative, never destructive. If only young people today were taught about the creative and life-saving value of knives. I should say that palette knives are not designed as sharp, cutting knives, but rather they have blunt, flexible blades that can be used to print, place, pull, ripple,  move, smudge and smoosh the paint. Smooshing (not to be confused with smooching!) is one of my favourite techniques - an effortless combination of smoothing and mashing that picks up and highlights the slightest texture of the substrate, whether wood, canvas or paper.

"Hearing about the new Pallet art bar set me thinking also of times I have painted directly onto wooden artist palettes. Ordinarily, of course, an artist uses a palette to lay out small amounts of paint for ease of mixing colours prior to painting onto a canvas, but I found the traditional kidney shaped palette to be an interesting and challenging canvas in its own right. Some of my artist palette paintings are set out with my paints arranged around the edges, showing how individual colours have flowed into the resulting artwork."

Below: "Autumn Palette", palette knife acrylics on wooden artist palette, 60 x 40 cm.


Loïs comments: "I have a reputation for being a 'speed-painter'. If anything, using palette knives in place of brushes speeds me up even further! I rarely take more than an hour on an individual painting.

"Palette knives allow you to layer light colours on top of dark or dark on top of light while the underlying paint is still wet. They let you trim, place and print paint with remarkable precision, while at the same time forcing you to loosen up your style. They allow you to plaster the paint on thickly in a richly textured, three dimensional impasto style, or spread it out so thinly that it merely accentuates the grain of the canvas."


Above and below: Work in progress on 'Painted Lady'

Loïs first discovered Fox Yard Studio a few weeks before the first covid lockdown. The proprietor Samanta Bell was hoping to launch the new gallery that Spring, but the pandemic delayed its official opening by many months. Loïs kept in touch with Samanta throughout lockdown. "Samanta and I had an instant affinity, not least because of our shared love of foxes! In the middle of the Old Fox Yard, you can see a beautiful bronze statue of Misty the Fox."

Earlier this year, Loïs created one of twelve murals for the Stowmarket Library Garden project, in collaboration with Fox Yard Studio and Modece Architects.



Loïs and Jasön hope you will enjoy their first joint exhibition at Pallet and perhaps be inspired to look at pallet boards and artist palettes in a new light. The exhibition runs until mid February. Pallet is open Monday to Saturday from 3.00 pm until 11.00 pm and serves a delicious array of drinks.

Pallet is located adjacent to Fox Yard Studio in the heart of Stowmarket.


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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art blades exhibition fox yard studio impasto jason curtis knife painting knives lois cordelia modece architects old fox yard palette knife palettes pallet art bar pallets stowmarket suffolk https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2021/12/palette-pallet-palate Sat, 04 Dec 2021 15:57:24 GMT
Foreverland Mural celebrates Biodiversity of the Rattlesden Riverland, Stowmarket https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2021/11/foreverland-mural-celebrates-biodiversity The enclosed courtyard garden at Stowmarket Library in Suffolk has recently undergone a remarkable transformation. The library teamed up with local art gallery Fox Yard Studio and sustainable architecture specialists Modece to reimagine the garden as a vibrant community space for all to enjoy. Inspired by the image of book-binding, the project is named 'Stitching Stowe', and weaves together stories of Stowmarket, past, present and future. Stories have been collected from many sources including community engagement events. In Summer 2021, twelve artists were commissioned to interpret those stories and themes on a zodiac of mural panels, each in their own artistic style.

Ipswich artist Loïs Cordelia was chosen to create a mural on the theme of the extraordinary biodiversity of the Stowmarket riverlands of the Rattlesden and Gipping.

She was introduced to local resident Judith Thompson, who kindly showed Loïs around her beautiful riverside small-holding and told her in great detail about some of her magical encounters with the native wildlife.



The mural design was largely inspired by Judith's poem Foreverland which is woven into the riverland map in the centre of the mural itself. Loïs managed to squeeze in fifty-one species (see key below) of animals, trees, plants and fungi, sculpting each one using modelling paste and palette knives, and then bringing it to life with iridescent acrylic paint colours. Foreverland celebrates the extraordinary biodiversity of the River Rattlesden and also of the River Gipping before its canalisation as the Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation in 1793.

In the words of the Reverend A G H Hollingsworth (in his 1844 book The History of Stowmarket):

"... down to the year 1790 the Gipping presented a scene of quiet beauty, peculiarly English, undisturbed, and partaking of the gentle features of the richly wooded park, or verdant farm .......... as if the river loved to dream ...”

Stowmarket's two rivers led to the town’s growth and prosperity through the ages and this mural especially reflects the rich biodiversity currently evident along the River Rattlesden valley. This valuable wildlife corridor which provides a mosaic of habitats is worth protecting, especially now when we are coming to realise that so much wildlife is under mortal threat.





The highly tactile, semi-relief mural is now on permanent public display in the newly refurbished Stowmarket Library Garden.

Loïs has also been recently commissioned to create one of eight sculptures for the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket, on a similar theme to her Stowmarket Library mural, scheduled to be revealed in Spring 2022.



Key to the Mural


 
1) Oak Quercus robur
2) Weevil Hunting Wasp Cerceris arenaria
3) Brown Hawker Dragonfly - Aeshena grandis
4) Osier Willow Salix viminalis
5) Red Underwing moth Catocala nupta
6) Peacock Butterfly Aglais io
7) Clifden Nonpareil moth Catocala fraxini
8) Oak Beauty moth Biston strataria
9) Pair of Otters (including one that was rescued by Judith Thompson) Lutra lutra
10) Brown Long-eared Bat Plecotus auritus
11) Stag Beetle Lucanus cervus
12) Coral Tooth Fungus Hericium coralloides
13) Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus
14) Common Hop Humulus lupulus
15) Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna
16) Ash Fraxinus excelsior
17) Musk Beetle Lampyris noctiluca
18) Oak Quercus robur
19) Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
20) Turkeytail Fungus Trametes versicolor
21) Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus
22) Great Crested Newt Triturus cristatus
23) Silky Gallows Spider Phycosoma inornatum
24) Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur
25) Redwing Turdus iliacus
26) Holly Ilex aquifolium
27) Mirror Carp Cyprinus carpio carpio
28) Common Bream Abramis brama
29) Common Carp Cyprinus carpio
30) Yellow Striped Bear Spider Arctosa fulvolineata
31) Ivy Hedera helix
32) Red Fox Vulpes vulpes
33) Fieldfare Turdus pilaris
34) Snowdrop Galanthus nivalis
35) Tawny Owl Strix aluco
36) Oxlip Primula elatior
37) Hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus
38) Barred Grass Snake Natrix helvetica
39) Primrose Primula vulgaris
40) Snake's Head Fritillary Fritillaria meleagris
41) Water Vole Arvicola amphibius
42) Common Toad Bufo bufo
43) Alder Alnus glutinosa
44) Eel Anguilla anguilla
45) Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata
46) Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus
47) Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna
48) Common Lizard Zootoca vivipara
49) Comma Butterfly Polygonia c-album
50) Jay Garrulus glandarius
51) Tree Creeper Certhia familiaris

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(Loïs Cordelia) art biodiversity fox yard studio gipping judith thompson lois cordelia modece modece architects rattlesden riverlands stitching stowe stowe stowmarket stowmarket library suffolk libraries wildlife https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2021/11/foreverland-mural-celebrates-biodiversity Sun, 14 Nov 2021 21:58:45 GMT
Jesus meets the Fairies - trio of limited edition prints now available https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2021/11/jesus-meets-the-fairies-limited-edition-prints A trio of richly detailed new and original illustrations by Loïs Cordelia reimagine traditional Christian imagery in a faerie setting, in which Jesus rubs shoulders with fairies, pixies and elves. The three pictures were commissioned by Andrew Boddy of Oddbodenterprises and are exclusively available as limited edition giclee prints of 200 via his Edinburgh-based Etsy store. The designs include The Last Supper (based on Leonardo da Vinci's famous original), Enter the Light of the World (a light-hearted Christmas Nativity with elvish pantomime in progress) and King of Kings (Christ in a woodland glade surrounded by faerie musicians), all created as original pen and ink drawings, layered together digitally with elements of mixed media drawings, paintings and photography to evoke the light and lustre of the faerie realms.

To order prints: Oddbodenterprises




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(Loïs Cordelia) art art collectors elves faerie fairies fairytale giclee prints jesus last supper limited edition lois cordelia nativity pixies https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2021/11/jesus-meets-the-fairies-limited-edition-prints Sun, 14 Nov 2021 19:10:42 GMT
Lest We Forget - coffee and cut-paper evoke National Trust wartime stories https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2021/11/lest-we-forget-national-trust-wartime-stories #LestWeForget #RemembranceDay
Coffee painting and papercut silhouettes combine to evoke a bygone era in this two-minute-silence stop-motion animation, commissioned by National Trust in the Midlands.

 


The film references the following National Trust properties and WW1/WW2 connections:

Melford Hall, fields of poppies in the Suffolk countryside
Attingham Hall and WW1 convalescence ward
Belton Hall WW1 Hospital
Oxburgh Hall and Upton Hall Kitchen Garden, Dig for Victory
Tranmer House, Sutton Hoo
Women's Land Army, Lumberjills of the Women's Timber Corps, Culford, Suffolk
Sheringham Hall, Sheringham Park and Pillbox
Dunwich Heath, Operation Kruschen 1943
Clumber Park Memorial
Blickling Hall RAF Oulton, Norfolk

Loïs painted each scene using coffee pigment to suggest the inky sepia tone of old photographs, adding small amounts of finer detail digitally. Each human figure is cut out of paper and hinged with paper fasteners to articulate the movement of limbs and gestures one frame at a time. It takes about an hour to create a second's worth of stop motion footage.

 

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(Loïs Cordelia) animation art coffee painting cut-paper lest we forget national trust paper-cutting poppies remembrance stop motion suffolk https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2021/11/lest-we-forget-national-trust-wartime-stories Sun, 14 Nov 2021 17:54:04 GMT
Dance Wise explores the science, psychology and healing powers of dance https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2020/11/dance-wise A new book, Dance Wise, by internationally celebrated dancer and choreographer Stefan Freedman explores the science, psychology and healing powers of dance.



When the Covid pandemic prevented Stefan from continuing his busy programme of teaching Circle Dance around the globe, he turned instead to writing. This extraordinary book is the result, presenting 38 years' worth of experiences and insights, demonstrating how dance can assist in recovery from trauma, addictions, and stroke, and even bring healing to fractured communities.

Stefan combines research from the fields of brain science, neurology and psychology, linking with timeless parallels from mythology and folklore, presenting the whole with a dash of humour. The book has immense implications for mental health, but can equally be used to help inspire first dance steps in young children, and even in adults who think that dance is beyond their grasp, with fun, imaginative and simple-to-follow activities.

The book is accompanied by a resource-rich companion website: dancewise.net



Stefan writes: "Dance has been a surprising and powerful therapeutic path for me, with life changing discoveries along the way. This gives me the inspiration, as a 68 year old in the ‘harvesting’ time of my life, to chart the journey and pass on as many useful insights and tools as I can do in one book."



Dance Wise includes cover and vignette illustrations as well as freestyle brushpen hand-lettering by artist Lois Cordelia, created specifically for the book. Lois is an avid dancer herself, and most of her artwork is directly or indirectly inspired by the expressive freedom of movement that she finds in dance. She was delighted when Stefan asked her to create a series of illustrations for his new book, which was, at the time, still in the process of evolving. Lois resonates deeply with the themes, imagery and messages of Dance Wise.

The proverbial wise owl appears on the cover of the book - arguably a surprising choice of imagery for a book about dance. Do owls dance? It would appear so. Both Stefan and Lois are self-confessed night owls.

Dance Wise is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle (e-book) form. Order your copy today.



Previous Collaborations

Stefan and Lois have previously collaborated on a number of music, art, film and fundraising projects, including Malka, a film dedicated to refugee children, which has travelled around the globe since its Ipswich premier in 2016, being screened at more than a dozen international film festivals. Malka has touched the hearts of diverse audiences and cultures through the universal languages of music, song and visual art, and raising several thousand pounds for refugee support charities in the process.


Stefan Freedman (second from left) and Lois Cordelia (far right), with Andy Mapplebeck and Adrian Lush (middle), with some of the musical instruments and visual artwork for Malka, 2016 (photo credit: Tony Mounter, with kind permission)

More recently, Stefan and Lois collaborated on Land of No Today, a 75th birthday tribute song to Bob Marley, premiered in Ipswich in February 2020, a few weeks before lockdown. The launch event continued the fundraising efforts of Malka, helping to raise funds for Suffolk Refugee Support.

Both Malka and Land of No Today have inspired their own dance choreographies.

Stefan and Lois are both connected with local Ipswich and Suffolk based charity Inside Out Community, promoting arts for mental health and wellbeing. Inside Out Community is one of the case studies referenced in Stefan's new book to demonstrate the healing potential of dance.

 

Dance Wise is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle (e-book) form. Order your copy today.
 

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(Loïs Cordelia) art choreography circle dance collaboration dance dance wise healing ipswich lois cordelia mental health music neurology psychology recovery stefan freedman suffolk trauma well being wellbeing https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2020/11/dance-wise Thu, 12 Nov 2020 00:57:46 GMT
Wolf Woman - A Journey through Art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2020/8/wolf-woman---a-journey-through-art Do you run with wolves? To put it another way, are you in touch with your wild side, or have you locked it away in line with society's expectations of how a woman (or whatever gender, for that matter) should behave?

I was asked by Nicole Schmidt of Mythos Podcast to create some artwork on the theme of the Wolf Woman to feature as part of her 'Wild Women' event in August 2020. This is the story of my journey into the wilds.

The new film premiered on 18th August 2020 to coincide with Nicole's virtual international evening of live storytelling on the theme of women and wolves. You can watch my film here:


 

Part 1: Gathering Bones

As an artist, I always believe in acting things out. In this case, I decided to walk in the steps of the Wolf Woman, who, according to folklore, wanders the deserts and barren places gathering bones. I gathered the next best thing: wooden sticks. My search took me into the heart of our beautiful local woodland, which I have known and loved since childhood.

A tree skeleton lies in state, the sunlight filtering through a rent in the canopy caused by its fall.

The Wolf Woman of legend is so named because she hunts mostly for the bones of wolves. Patiently, she collects every tiniest bone, making sure that none is missing. The skeleton must be complete. When she has found them all, she takes them back to her lair, polishes them, arranges them into a perfect sculpture, and sings over them by the fire until flesh grows back over the bones and a living wolf springs up and runs off into the wilderness, turning into a laughing wild woman as it does so.

My journey took me through a variety of different wild spaces. The wild can take many different forms, even in the quiet East Anglian countryside. Through this simple, timeless activity, I reconnected with my own wild side, gathering bones to create a sculpture. Even a pinecone might be useful.

Connecting with your wild side doesn't have to be dangerous or savage. It might be as simple as doing something you've always wanted to do but felt inhibited. Go for it.

Back at my creative lair, I mused over how to connect the bones I'd gathered. I wanted the sticks still to be visible and recogniseable for what they are, but the structure to be strong and stable. So I chose aluminium armature wire (which I often use in my sculptures) to begin binding the sticks together, rather like connective tissue and sinews holding bones in place. Sticks and twigs can be quite brittle, so it's important to be careful when binding them, not to force them into a shape, but spend time, first, feeling with your fingers and hands how they will best fit together. The more sticks are bound, the stronger the overall structure becomes. Every now and then I had to pause to rescue tiny ant and spider hitchhikers who had accompanied me back from the wilds.

After establishing a backbone for my sculpture, I began to add appendages. Bones and sticks are not all that different in their role of supporting the softer, more delicate parts of the organism. To make a figure sculpture that is structurally sound as well as beautiful and in proportion, I generally start by creating the spine and then gradually work outwards to shape the limbs, head, tail and any other features.

When working in three dimensions, I also strongly recommend turning the evolving sculpture around while you're working on it, to see how well it works from different angles. Sculptures are rarely designed only to be seen from one aspect. Placing mirrors behind your work can help.

Health and safety are vital, too. If you're using wire, ideally keep most of it coiled up while you're twisting the end into shape, as it's less likely to hurt you. If in any doubt, wear goggles.

Gradually, my sculpture took form, evolving a bit further with each new twig that I added and secured in place, and I thought of the Wolf Woman assembling her sculpture of bones.

Although the story of 'La Loba' (the Wolf Woman) sounds purely macabre to most modern ears, it teaches us the power of preserving our wildness - as women, yes - but the same can be said of any gender. I would suggest that it is particularly relevant to anyone creative: artists, poets, dancers. However well-meaning, society fears what it does not understand and seeks to control it. Hence, our natural wildness, freedom and creativity have to be tamed and controlled. No wonder many of us lose our creative spark when growing up.

My sculpture now has four legs and you can see the overall shape emerging but, like a baby animal, it's still a bit shakey on its feet. It will need reinforcement.

Whenever we spend time reconnecting with our wild side - for example, when we stand in awe beside a thundering waterfall, or dye our hair a crazy colour, or dance like noone's watching - we return to our everyday lives immeasurably enriched. If our search has been long and diligent enough, we come back with bare bones, so to speak, or raw materials for something abundantly exciting and creative: maybe the inspiration for a new artwork or book, or a creative solution to a problem we couldn't otherwise solve, or simply a feeling of energy and abundance that gives us a new spring in our step.

Next time you feel stuck getting into the spirit of your creative theme, remember: it's always worth acting things out.
 

Part 2: Song of the Wolf Woman

It's interesting that art 'mediums' are so-called. They possess nothing inherently creative in themselves. They are just paint colours or brushes or inks. Until an artist picks them up and uses them to express meaning, beauty and emotion. They are like the lifeless bones that the Wolf Woman gathers.

In this case, I'm using acrylic paints and a palette knife on a sheet of black card. As Leonardo da Vinci said: “A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.”

Picking up the tiniest slivers of paint colours, I press the blade flat, allowing the paint to pick up the slight texture of the card. This atmospheric technique is called 'smooshing', a combination of smoothing and mashing.

Now I'm picking up colours along the edge of the blade and 'placing' the paint on the black card to begin to define edges and outlines. You can do many things with a palette knife that you cannot easily do with a brush, including the effortless techniques I'm showing you here. But don't take my word for it - why not have a go at knife painting?

Negative shapes begin to emerge, which become positive, because they read as silhouettes. I'm painting from imagination, imagining the song of the Wolf Woman channeling life into the bones she has gathered, and the flames dancing around her in the night. Let's paint her, too, swaying as she sings over the bones as they spring to life.

In this story, the Wolf Woman is a medium, a channel, for the life force that flows through her to animate the otherwise lifeless bones. She is not the life-giver. In the same way, an artist is not the source of the inspiration that flows through them - though they may inspire others. An artist is a medium, too. If you struggle to express yourself creatively, it may well be helpful to think in these terms. The chances are that you're trying too hard. Before you even start, you've set yourself an unreasonable goal of creating a masterpiece, and when it doesn't work out quite the way you imagined it, you feel frustrated.

We speak of the creative flow for a reason. If instead of trying to force our artwork to conform to our vision of perfection, we allow the creative flow to take over and let our ego step aside, we will witness the magic that happens. The flames will dance around us. The dusty bones that we've gathered will begin to come to life.

When did you last venture into the wilds of your art studio, assemble your dusty collection of paints and breathe fresh life into them? To be truly creative is to connect with your wild side and let that untamed spirit flow through you, whether in the form of a painting, a poem, or a dance. Go on. See where your journey into the wilds takes you.


Part 3: The Shadow Self

I've found two stunning photographs, one of a Native American woman, the other of a wolf. Let's combine them and see what happens, and let's try another art medium while we're at it: coloured pencil on black paper.

I begin sketching very lightly using a dark colour and minimal pressure, so the resulting lines are only just visible on the black paper. Whenever you first set out with a pencil or a brush, I would suggest easing off the pressure, keeping your arm and wrist loose, allowing freshness and movement to permeate your marks. If at all possible, keep that looseness going throughout every stage of your work. The finishing touches may need a bit more precision, but try not to labour them even then.

The composition of this piece is inspred by the ancient Roman two-headed deity Janus, who looks simultaneously to the past and the future. Janus gives his name to January, which stands on the threshold of a new year yet looks back to the old. In this case, the twin heads are human and animal, woman and wolf, indicating our dual nature. We are humans, yet we are wild animals.

Roald Dahl captures this perfectly in 'Fantastic Mr Fox'. My partner Jason and I have watched Wes Anderson's animated film of this book more times than I can remember. The animal characters are so fully human, and yet they are 'wild animals'. When Mr Fox and his companions go on a brave rescue mission into the wilds, they encounter the lone wild wolf, who does not speak, or even approach them, yet fox and wolf raise paws in recognition of the bond between them. The wolf is the shadow self. Wild. Untameable.

In the same way, when we head out into the wilds on a creative mission, we may glimpse and connect with our wild shadow self, the Wolf Woman.

Folklore and mythology are riddled with tales of creatures that are half-human half-animal: unicorn, mermaid, centaur, minotaur, werewolf. In every case, they demonstrate the human's shadow self*, their wildness, which cannot be divorced from their human self, because it is part of them. If we or others attempt to lock away our wild shadow self, it will become self-destructive, frustrated, depressed, anxious, sometimes violent. This has a huge bearing on mental health.

If instead of attempting to cage the wild animal side of our nature, we acknowledge it, connect with it, run wild with it, we will become fully balanced human beings, nourished and refreshed by the wilderness, realising our creative potential.

Back to acrylics and palette knife. I'm going to use the 'smooshing' technique that you saw me using earlier to paint an atmospheric background, to lift the two portraits into the foreground by evoking an indistinct backdrop, which could be swirling mists, or clouds, or stars. Iridescent paints are most effective used on a black background.

I use the placing technique, too, to define the boundaries between the hazy background and sharply focussed foreground.

The background represents the wilderness, the vast and unknown landscape of our soul, which often seems hazy and indistinct, even intangible. But it is an invitation to explore, discover and dream.


Part 4: Don't Let Them Tame You

As I said earlier, it's always worth acting things out. In part 1, we set out into the wilds to gather dusty bones. In part 2, we breathed life into them through the creative flow. In part 3, we reconnected with our shadow self. It's time we danced in celebration of our wild, untameable selves!

For this piece, I'm going to start with a loose, dancing coloured pencil sketch, which will form the basis of a precise and intricate design.


Most of my artwork is inspired by dance on one level or another. In this case, I'm trying to evoke the spirit of freedom and euphoria that I feel when I dance.

As American dancer Isadora Duncan said, "You were wild once. Don't let them tame you".

Dance is a huge part of my life. I don't do steps. I just dance, as the spirit or the music moves me. So for the last part of my journey in the steps of the Wolf Woman, I headed back out into the wilds and did something I've always to do: I wild danced.


Coloured pencil shows up surprisingly well on black paper. Gradually I shift to lighter colours, finetuning some of the detail of the design, ready for the next stage. Stepping back from my work is crucial to seeing how well it's working as a whole.

When I'm happy with the overall composition, I take my scalpel and fit a new blade. I've been doing paper-cutting for more than twenty years. This is a Swann-Morton surgical blade. I hasten to add that it's non-sterile. For the record, I do not do brain surgery in my spare time. I begin cutting out the most crucial, detailed and intricate parts of the design, including the eyelash, the facial features and the fingers. This may be counterintuitive if you're new to paper-cutting, because it is the opposite to painting, where you begin with a wash of background colour and end with the dot of highlight in the eye, for example.

Working with a surgical blade gives you enormous scope for detail, but it can also lead to designs that are detail-obsessed and rigidly pedantic. This is why I start with a loose sketch, sometimes almost a scribble, to balance the precision of the surgical blade with free-flowing lines.

At intervals, I hold the paper-cut up to a light source, which throws everything into sharp silhouette and obscures the pencil marks.

Some of the paper strands I cut are no thicker than the pencil lines that informed them.


When it comes to cutting out sweeping curves, I move my whole body with the rhythm of the lines.

Like dancing, paper-cutting is an immersive, meditative, timeless activity. The more you cut away, the more the design emerges from the paper, rather like when a sculptor chips away at a stone block.

 

Not all my paper-cuts take the form of pure silhouette, but it is a fundamental principle of paper-cutting: positive versus negative. Silhouettes are powerful, because they are universal. They do not show the colour of skin, hair or eyes, and therefore people can more easily relate to the figures and engage imaginatively with them and their activities.

The silhouetted figures in my paper-cuts are often elongated to suggest how they long to reach out beyond the confines of their physical body or form. They express that longing for ultimate freedom and wildness, of melting into spirit. In dance, more than any other artform, I have felt reconnected to my own wildness.

Remember: You were wild once. Don't let them tame you.

 

I hope you've enjoyed these insights on my journey into the wilds of creativity, art and dance. I'd love to hear of your own journeys. If you enjoyed this film, please do leave a comment and share the video with your friends and fellow creatives. If you haven't already done so, please click 'subscribe' for free updates about upcoming films on my channel.


Visit Lois Cordelia's YouTube Channel

'Wolf Woman: a Journey through Art'

Artwork and #GoProArt Film by
Lois Cordelia, August 2020
www.LoisCordelia.com
@LoisCordelia @LoisCordeliaArtist

For Jason, with all my love. "Good luck out there!"

Inspired by 'Women Who Run with the Wolves:
Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype'

by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.

Created for 'Wild Women' event hosted by Nicole Schmidt
Mythos Storytelling www.mythosstorytelling.com
Mythos Podcast www.mythospodcast.com


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* Lois has recently completed a series of illustrations for a new book, 'Dance Wise' by Stefan Freedman, which goes into a lot more detail about the 'Shadow Self' and its implications for mental health and healing. Stefan's book is due to be published later this Summer. Watch this space! :-)

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art clarissa pinkola estes creative journey cut-paper dance female empowerment folklore legend live art demo lois cordelia mythos podcast mythos storytelling nicole schmidt paper-cutting portraits rewilding scalpel speed-painting wilderness wolf wolf woman wolves women who run with the wolves https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2020/8/wolf-woman---a-journey-through-art Tue, 18 Aug 2020 22:41:54 GMT
Better to Travel Hopefully - The Ups and Downs of the Creator's Journey https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2020/7/the-creators-journey-podcast-inteviews-lois-cordelia Do you struggle with 'blank page syndrome'? Are you hampered by self-doubt or unrealistic expectations in your creative practice?

Whether you are a writer, poet, composer, or painter, your journey as a creator is rarely a smooth one. It tends to be full of detours and self-doubt. It often arrives at a completely unintended destination. But for all this, it is exciting and colourful. As David Bowie put it: “I don’t know where I’m going from here but I promise it won’t be boring." Importantly, the journey itself can be intensely therapeutic for both the creator and the viewer, listener or reader.

As an artist, I have always been fascinated by the agonies and ecstasies of the creative journey, and therefore I was delighted to be asked by Ed Ngai to be a guest on The Creator's Journey podcast. The interview took place earlier this month, sadly not face to face, due to lockdown restrictions. Listen to the full interview here.



Parts of the creator's journey must be alone, but few creatives can thrive in isolation. Lockdown has been a testing time for many of us. For my own part, right up until a few weeks before lockdown, I was always busy creating my art live in public, interacting with passers-by and actively engaging people in conversation while I painted. Since March, I have had to drastically change the ways in which I maintain my practice as a socially engaged artist, attending online networking events and webinars, and shifting my 'live' demonstrations and tutorials to my YouTube Channel.

For a long time previously, in the spirit of artist networking, I'd had in mind to visit our local Ipswich Creatives Meet-Up group, a monthly group for creative professionals and aspiring professionals in the creative sector to meet, network, share ideas and inspiration. I'd never yet managed to attend the group, as I was always too busy travelling and teaching around East Anglia and beyond, but when I saw that the event had shifted to an online setting after the lockdown, I was very pleased that I could finally attend. I was given a warm welcome by the group's coordinator, Ed Ngai, who also runs the Led Community group, where people can share creative local news, events, artwork and projects. Ed kindly invited me to be the subject of his next podcast for The Creator's Journey, an invitation which I gladly accepted.

Thinking of the creative process as a journey rather than a destination may help people who struggle to overcome the pressure of their own expectations. If we begin with the intention to create a masterpiece, the pressure of that unrealistic expectation may well cripple our true creativity. If on the other hand, we set out with nothing more than the intention to travel hopefully, enjoy the journey, wander off down those intriguing detours, maybe even get lost a little, then the pressure is off. We allow ourselves time to play and experiment, even to learn from trial and error.



The most important lesson I learned from years spent working as an artist assistant alongside children's illustrator Jan Pienkowski was his revolutionary approach to so-called 'mistakes'. Talking with Ed in the interview, I relate the anecdote of how Jan would welcome a 'mistake' as a gift in disguise. Being a devout Catholic, Jan would exclaim: 'It is the Lord who speaks!" and, while anyone else might have screwed up their paper in frustration and started again, he allowed an unexpected error to inspire a stroke of genius.

The word 'journey' may evoke ideas of an epic voyage over a vast terrain on a scale of The Lord of the Rings or The Odyssey, taking years to complete. The creator's journey can seem equally as arduous and time-consuming, sometimes painful, the thought of which may be sufficient to put off the faint-hearted before they even begin - a likely contributor to 'blank page syndrome'. As Ernest Hemmingway said: "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." Many would-be artists are too scared to break the blank uniformity of their canvas because they want the first mark they make to be perfect, signaling a perfect end result. This intense pressure can kill true creativity. Too often, the actual results will be lifeless, rigid and pedantic.



But the creator's journey doesn't have to be long and arduous. If you're prone to putting too much pressure on yourself, try thinking of it more as a lighthearted amble through the countryside, for example. When you set out for a walk in the woods, you don't generally have a precise destination in mind, because that's not the purpose of your journey. Indeed, your likely destination is to return back home in time for tea. But think how enriching the experience of wandering amid trees and meadows and running water can be. We hear birdsong, glimpse wildflowers and butterflies. We might even stumble over a fallen log and by chance discover some overgrown path we never knew existed that leads us to a beautiful hidden lake.

This is how I view my journey as an artist and creator. I set out to be playful with my tools, techniques and materials. I travel with an open mind, and see where that journey takes me. And often I dance as I go!

Enjoy your journey, and hope to cross paths along the way!

Listen to the full interview here. Special thanks to Edmund Ngai.



 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art artist's block blank page syndrome confidence creative block creative flow creativity cut-paper ed ngai interview ipswich ipswich creatives meet-up live art demo lockdown lois cordelia mental health music paper-cutting pigs gone wild podcast portraits scalpel sculpture speed-painting suffolk the creator's journey wellbeing well-being wild in art winston churchill workshop writer's block https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2020/7/the-creators-journey-podcast-inteviews-lois-cordelia Tue, 21 Jul 2020 23:13:18 GMT
Land of No Today - a Tribute for Bob Marley's 75th birthday https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2020/4/land-of-no-today-a-tribute-for-bob-marleys-75th-birthday We live in challenging times. A recent art-music-film collaboration between Ipswich-based duo Stefan Freedman (music and lyrics) and Lois Cordelia (artwork and film) takes inspiration from the visionary Bob Marley to bring us a reassuring message of hope and love. Land of No Today was launched in Ipswich on 8th February 2020 during a colourful and heartwarming celebration that also marked what would have been Bob Marley's 75th birthday (6th February).

A few months on, amid the global coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, the film's message seems more relevant than ever, and Stefan has generously released the film for public viewing online and encourages sharing far and wide.

DVDs of the film are also available for sale from Stefan Freedman.

Stefan and Lois previously (2016) collaborated on Malka, a film dedicated to refugee children, which has since travelled around the globe, being screened at more than a dozen international film festivals, touching the hearts of audiences of many cultures through the universal languages of music, song and visual art, and raising several thousand pounds for refugee support charities in the process.



Land of No Today tells the story of a feisty young teenager, Zina, surrounded by poverty and people who have lost hope. Marley's spirit shows Zina how one heart with a burning vision can inspire others. But can she navigate the stormy seas and turn things around?

Inspired by the visionary Bob Marley and his song One Love, the short film is a tonic for all who are physically or mentally adrift. Told in music with humour and vibrant artwork, its message is that we are not alone. Together, we can overcome storms and find our way to shore. The narrative entrusts the young generation to end oppression and build a new society.



Film Launch, February 2020

The film was launched at the Quaker Meeting House in Ipswich on Saturday 8th February 2020 amid a joyful 75th birthday celebration for the legendary Bob Marley, with half of all proceeds going to Suffolk Refugee Support (linking back once again to Malka).

Bob Marley is known and loved all over the world as a pioneer of reggae music and Jamaican culture, but more than this, he has become an enduring symbol of the power of peace and love in overcoming struggles, and as such became Stefan's inspiration for Land of No Today.

The film launch featured a delicious Caribbean buffet (a work of art in itself) and live music on balafon and kore, alongside the Ipswich Reggae Choir, whose vibrant songs infused the celebration with a party atmosphere that soon inspired everyone to get up and dance. Artist Lois Cordelia speed-painted live during the singing and dancing, creating an energetic portrait of Bob Marley, which then sold by silent auction to raise funds for Suffolk Refugee Support.

The combination of ticket sales, silent art auction and associated Facebook fundraising link raised at least £265 for Suffolk Refugee Support.


Stefan and Lois would like to thank everyone who contributed to this heartwarming event by offering their time, expertise, equipment, culinary skills, ingredients, transport, photography (below photo credits: Tony Mounter and Chris Coupe - used with kind permission), and dancing spirit!

Please consider supporting the film's creator Stefan Freedman by purchasing a copy of the DVD of Land of No Today. DVDs of the film are available for sale directly from Stefan Freedman.













LAND OF NO TODAY

Directed by Stefan Freedman


This short film arises from the burning passion of 'One Love',
and the urgent relevance of its message today.

Enormous credit goes to
Bob Marley and The Wailers
for many key ideas, words and imagery.


Music and lyrics written and arranged by Stefan Freedman
- inspired by Bob Marley and The Wailers

Music Production

Lead vocals: Zina

Backing vocals and jabber: Stefan Freedman

Tenor sax: Adrian Lush

Bass guitar, lead guitar (wah-wah), keyboards and rhythm guitar: Stefan Freedman

Drums: Jamie Robertson

Studio sound engineering: Jake Aylward

Music editing, mixing and percussion FX: Stefan Freedman and Jake Aylward

Editorial Consultant: Stuart Buckman

Artwork, film and animation: Lois Cordelia
www.LoisCordelia.com

Visual production, camerawork and film editing: Lois Cordelia

With special thanks to Gem (Gemstone Melodies)

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(Loïs Cordelia) #bobmarley75 art bob marley film ipswich lois cordelia music one love portraits reggae stefan freedman suffolk https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2020/4/land-of-no-today-a-tribute-for-bob-marleys-75th-birthday Sat, 18 Apr 2020 00:03:01 GMT
Interview: GoPro Speed Art at Sailmakers Shopping Centre https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2020/1/interview-gopro-speed-art-at-sailmakers-shopping-centre If you've walked through Sailmakers Shopping Centre in Ipswich lately, chances are you'll have seen local artist Lois Cordelia painting live at her easel, as part of the Home of Suffolk Arts and Crafts (HOSAAC) monthly art and craft market. Lois joined HOSAAC in Autumn 2019 and has been an active member ever since, taking part in their public events in Ipswich and elsewhere at every opportunity. The first piece she painted live at Sailmakers on 5th October 2019, a portrait of a jaguar, was sold before the acrylic paint had even dried.


Above: Lois beside her 99 minute painting of the interior of Sailmakers Shopping Centre, which includes some of her fellow HOSAAC stallholders. January 2020. Photo credit: ChristineAnn Kidd, used with kind permission.

In January 2020, Alistair Syme (Ceidiog) interviewed Lois about her upcoming events at Sailmakers, her involvement in HOSAAC, and an exciting new feature that is allowing her to record an intimate "artist's eye view" of her creative process: a Go-Pro camera. Most people use Go-Pro cameras to film energetic, high-speed activities such as mountain-biking, sky-diving or swimming, so why not speed-painting? Alistair's full interview is reproduced here, with kind permission:

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An Ipswich artist just might be the quickest draw in the east and she’ll be demonstrating her skill – and recording it on real-time video - at a busy shopping centre in the town this week.

Lois Cordelia specialises in speed painting, capturing a subject in double-quick time and she’ll be bringing her talents to Sailmakers Shopping Centre as part of the mall’s latest three-day craft fair which starts on Thursday (January 23).

The event is being staged by local group Home of Suffolk Arts and Crafts and Lois, 37, has now added a new tool to her quick draw skills, a Go-Pro camera strapped to her chest.


Photo credit: Lee Markwell 2020 - used with kind permission

 

It captures not just the painting but also the artist’s interaction with her subject and the audience with Lois definitely not a fan of the alone-in-a-garret style of working.

The addition of the Go-Pro, which she’ll be wearing this week, is a new innovation after she was presented with it by partner Jason Curtis for Christmas and she said: “I do various forms of art from paper-cutting using a surgical scalpel to mixed-media sculpture and video as well as painting but I’m doing more and more speed-paining now and using the Go-Pro gives me a way to record the process.

“I started painting ‘live’ about ten years ago and enjoy working in public and like to engage with people and chat to them about what I’m doing – I find it very stimulating and I definitely don’t want them to be quiet just because I’m at work.

“I see myself as a community artist and feel like I’m giving something to people when they see me working there because it’s not something they often see ‘live’.”


Photo credit: Lee Markwell 2020 - used with kind permission

 

Sailmakers Shopping Centre Manager Mike Sorhaindo said: “We’ve formed a really good relationship with the craft group and Lois certainly brings something new and exciting to our events at the Centre.

“She’s a very talented professional artist and it’s fascinating to see her at work and to be able to ask her questions about what she’s doing and maybe even be the subject of one of her quick-fire paintings as well.”

Lois’s artistic talents were apparent at an early age and she was producing recognisable portraits by the age of seven before developing her skills at Northgate High School in Ipswich where she was inspired by art teacher Dan Emery who told her: “Lois, you need to do something more sophisticated and use more colour.”

She actually studied Arabic at Edinburgh University, inspired by the beauty of the script, but has been a professional artist since graduating and has worked across East Anglia including on major works of public art like the Elmer Trail sculptures for Ipswich’s St Elizabeth Hospice.


Above: Lois with one of her three Elmer elephant designs for Elmer's Big Parade Suffolk 2019

 


Photo credit: Lee Markwell 2020 - used with kind permission

Elsewhere her public art has been displayed from Edinburgh to Jersey and she has also worked part-time for 20 years as an assistant in the London studio of children's author-illustrator Jan Pienkowski including contributing illustrations to his best-selling Meg and Mog books.

She joined HOSAAC recently and as well as taking part in their events she works with them as an administrator and has particularly enjoyed reaching out to the public at Sailmakers.

She said: “I love to share my art with them and they tell me anecdotes while I’m painting and I enjoy working from life at the shopping centre and am always keen to have volunteers sit for me there.

“It’s brilliant that Sailmakers can showcase the work of the members of HOSAAC. There’s brilliant camaraderie between us and the staff there and manager Mike Sorhaindo have been very supportive.

“The actual space we occupy is so lovely because it’s so well lit and I can display my paintings so that shoppers can see them as they go and down the escalators.”


Photo credit: Lee Markwell 2020 - used with kind permission
 

For more on Lois go to https://www.loiscordelia.com/ and for more on what’s happening at Sailmakers Shopping Centre go to www.sailmakersshopping.co.uk and to https://www.facebook.com/SailmakersShopping

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics alistair syme art craft market home of suffolk arts and crafts hosaac interview ipswich live art demo lois cordelia mike sorhaindo portraits sailmakers shopping centre speed-painting suffolk https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2020/1/interview-gopro-speed-art-at-sailmakers-shopping-centre Sat, 18 Jan 2020 17:59:00 GMT
Lions, Lilies and the Mona Lisa: #Leonardo500 https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/7/lions-of-windsor-leo-nardo-lion-celebrates-500-years A pride of more than 45 majestic lions is arriving in Windsor, UK, next month: from 10th August to 28th October 2019, the Lions of Windsor & Maidenhead art trail will feature individually decorated, super-sized lion sculptures displayed across the Royal Borough, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria and raising funds for local charities.

Ipswich community artist Lois Cordelia is very excited to have had her Leonardo da Vinci inspired design selected for the Lions of Windsor art trail, and is looking forward to bringing her lion Leo-nardo to life next week (29th - 31st July), speed-painting live outside the premises of the Cosmetic Doctor Clinic (2 Curfew Yard, Thames Street, Windsor, SL4 1SN) who have generously sponsored the design for the trail. Lois welcomes an audience while she paints, so don't be shy - come and watch work in progress at 2 Curfew Yard during the following times (N.B. these timings are approximate and may be subject to slight alteration): Monday 29th July 1.00 pm onwards, Tuesday 30th July 9.30 am - 11.30 am, Wednesday 31st July 10.00 - 2.00 pm.


Follow: @LionsofWindsor @CosmeticDoctorClinic @LoisCordelia #Leonardo500

What links Lions, Lilies and the Mona Lisa?

2019 marks 500 years since the death of Leonardo da Vinci, best known as an artist, though equally as accomplished in the sciences, music, mathematics, engineering, anatomy, astronomy, and so on. Remarkably, Leonardo created at least two animatronic robotic lions in the early 1500s, which moved, walked, and opened up to reveal lilies inside.

The King of France was so impressed by Leonardo’s genius, he invited him to his court. Leonardo arrived by mule, bringing many paintings, including the Mona Lisa, which has remained in France ever since.

Lois's design references this episode and many more from Leonardo's life, illustrating scenes from his childhood, his love of birds, flying and nature, as well as some of his extraordinary inventions, which include the helicopter, parachute, bicycle, and countless others. The design also incorporates some hidden features and puzzles inspired by aspects of Leonardo da Vinci's life.


N.B. The full design cannot be revealed until the trail goes live on 10th August - watch this space! :-)

Below: Lois's speed-painterly re-interpretation of the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa


Follow: @LionsofWindsor @CosmeticDoctorClinic @LoisCordelia #Leonardo500

Cosmetic Doctor Clinic are proud to be sponsoring Leo-nardo and hosting Lois and her lion as she speed-paints the design live outside Windsor's leading skin rejuvenation and aesthetic treatment clinic next week. Natallia of Cosmetic Doctor Clinic writes:

"Cosmetic Doctor Clinic is delighted to sponsor our magnificent LEO-NARDO as we strongly believe in kindness, love, and nobility. This is why we chose the lion which represents the man, who over the past 500 years continues to influence the world and emphasizes the beauty of humans, art and the Universe. Never formally educated, Leonardo had a witty intellect and passion for secrecy, harmony, and proportions.

"Let [yourself] be inspired by history and his works, Lois’s artistic interpretation and inventiveness in her painting of the lion and join in the fun by solving the secret puzzles incorporated into the design. We would love to see [you] participate in this celebration, come visit us, and support the worthy causes and the businesses of Windsor in making this a success."

Leo-nardo is Lois's 21st public art commission in 3 years. Leonardo da Vinci is also one of Lois's greatest heroes. She quotes his timeless wisdom about painting, proportions and art in almost every workshop she teaches: "Art is never finished. It is only abandoned."

Below: Lois's two miniature lion mascots Leonardo and Leopold look forward to watching Lois bring Leo-nardo to life. The heraldic lion pendant is exquisitely handmade by Of Cats and Wren Designs  - with many thanks :-) 
🐾🦁🎨

Follow: @LionsofWindsor @CosmeticDoctorClinic @LoisCordelia #Leonardo500

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art art trails leonardo 500 leonardo da vinci lions of windsor live art demo lois cordelia mona lisa portraits public art speed-painting windsor windsor castle https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/7/lions-of-windsor-leo-nardo-lion-celebrates-500-years Tue, 23 Jul 2019 20:30:57 GMT
Saddle Up a Centaur for Newmarket, Suffolk https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/6/saddle-up-a-centaur-for-newmarket-suffolk Follow the Animal Health Trust via Twitter: @ahtofficial

A herd of 17 horses will gallop into Newmarket, Suffolk, from 8th July until 22nd September 2019, forming Saddle Up, a unique art trail of equine-themed artworks. The Animal Health Trust (AHT) is joining with local and national artists, local businesses, organisations and community groups to present this inspiring free public event on the streets of Newmarket this Summer.

Each horse-themed piece has been created specially for the Saddle Up trail, designed by an artist or artists responding to the brief: "What does the word 'horse' mean to you?" Artists have interpreted the theme of 'horse' in many different and creative ways, hence the trail includes a wide range of sculptures, paintings and textile artworks, which also vary greatly in scale.

Saddle Up a Centaur

Local Suffolk-based artist Lois Cordelia is very excited to have been commissioned to create one of the 17 pieces for the Saddle Up trail. Her mixed media sculpture will represent a mythical half-horse, half-human centaur. The piece will be named by a local school - Lois is intrigued to hear what their choice of name will be! Her idea is to sculpt a female centaur queen, bringing a timeless mythical figure to life, combining the powerful energy of the horse and its legendary associations with the theme of female empowerment. The story of the centaur may originate in ancient tribes who were so skilled in horse-back archery that they were thought to be one with their horse counterparts. Lois's partner Jason is an archer and has given Lois some coaching in archery, which helps her to replicate an authentic archery pose in her artwork.

Live Sculpting Demonstration at Tindalls, 18th - 19th June

Lois is seen here (below) creating the wire 'skeleton' for her centaur sculpture, in preparation for a special two day live sculpting demonstration at Tindalls Art (50-52 High Street, Newmarket): drop by at the art store on Wednesday 18th or Thursday 19th June (10.00 am - 4.00 pm) to watch work in progress on the sculpture, meet the artist, ask questions and be inspired.

Lois Cordelia will demonstrate her mixed-media sculpting techniques, combining wire, Mod-roc (plaster of Paris modelling rock), polymer clay (Fimo), acrylic paint, found objects, foil, and other materials. Her sculptures evoke dramatic movement and dance, complemented by exquisitely carved details of facial features and hand gestures. Lois welcomes an audience while she works, so don't be shy - come along and watch, ask questions, and be inspired to have a go yourself! Lois's mixed-media sculptures are often inspired by fantastical and mythological themes. Working from imagination, she incorporates a myriad of unexpected items into her miniature figurines, allowing them to evolve and take on a life of their own.

Lois frequently teaches art workshops and performs live art demonstrations at all four branches of Tindalls (Newmarket, Cambridge, Colchester and Ely), who are one of the leading stockists of art materials in East Anglia. When she was first approached by the Animal Health Trust to design a sculpture for the Saddle Up trail, she immediately had in mind to collaborate closely with Tindalls, creating most of the sculpture live in-store at the Newmarket branch. She was thrilled when Tindalls enthusiastically agreed to host her live sculpting demonstration. Her finished piece will be on prominent display in the window of the art shop for the duration of the trail.



Tindalls will also be a stockist of the Saddle Up trail maps, so pop in and be inspired to engage with your creative side on many levels!



Explore the Saddle Up Art Trail

Discover the location of each of the 17 horse-themed artworks in Newmarket by following the trail map. From Monday 8 July 2019, which marks the official start of the trail, you will be able to download the map from the Saddle Up art trail page or pick up a copy from Tindalls (50-52 High Street, Newmarket) or Palace House Museum.

Adjacent to each artwork, trail-visitors will find a letter of the alphabet - collect all the letters, unscramble them to find a phrase, and send it to the AHT to enter the Saddle Up prize draw!

Public art trails have become increasingly and deservedly popular in recent years. They benefit artists at all stages of their careers, they provide a fun, free, interactive arts experience for families, children and individuals of all ages who enjoy the trails, they promote walking and getting outside in the fresh air, they boost local businesses, community groups and organisations who sponsor each piece for the trail, they bring many thousands of visitors (often from hundreds or thousands of miles away) to the town or city and nurture the local economy, and last but by no means least they raise much needed funds and awareness for the charity concerned, in this case, the Animal Health Trust.

Follow the Animal Health Trust via Twitter: @ahtofficial



About Lois Cordelia

Lois Cordelia is a versatile freelance artist based at her home studio in Ipswich, Suffolk, with a strong emphasis on community engagement through her art practices. She interacts live with the public while painting, sculpting, paper-cutting, and also especially when creating designs for public art trails. She is a popular tutor and speaker, leading creative workshops for a variety of age groups. Her artwork has appeared in numerous art trails all over the British Isles.

Lois's centaur sculpture for Saddle Up will be her 19th public art trail piece to date (her first being a pig called Pig-geswyk for Pigs Gone Wild 2016, Ipswich). This Summer, besides her design for the Saddle Up trail, you can see more of her work as part of Elmer's Big Parade Suffolk (Ipswich), Oor Wullie's Big Bucket Trail (Edinburgh), and Go Wild Gorillas (Jersey, Channel Islands).

Below: Lois with some of her mixed-media sculptures in progress at previous live demonstrations at Tindalls stores.



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About the Animal Health Trust

The AHT is a Newmarket based charity that exists to enable horses, dogs and cats around the world to live happier and healthier lives. The AHT employs over 240 vets, scientists and support staff who work side by side to develop new diagnostic tests, treatments, vaccines, new technology and knowledge for the better diagnosis, prevention and cure of disease. The charity also provides a clinical referral service for veterinary surgeons in practice, promotes postgraduate education and communicates its findings to others to benefit animals all around the world. The AHT receives no government funding and all the money raised from its veterinary clinics and fundraising events such as the Saddle Up Art Trail is reinvested into the Trust. The charity relies on its generous donors, sponsors and supporters to fund its vital work. The AHT is proudly supported by its President, HRH The Princess Royal and its Trustees.

Follow the Animal Health Trust via Twitter: @ahtofficial


 

 

 

 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics aht animal health trust archery art art trail cats centaur dogs exhibition horses ipswich live art demo lois cordelia newmarket public art saddle up sculpting sculpture suffolk tindalls veterinary https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/6/saddle-up-a-centaur-for-newmarket-suffolk Mon, 17 Jun 2019 00:17:00 GMT
Sculpting a miniature Johannes Brahms and his piano https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/6/sculpting-a-miniature-johannes-brahms-and-his-piano Lois loves a creative challenge, especially in three dimensions. She was recently commissioned to create a miniature model of German composer Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) sitting playing at his grand piano. Destined to be shipped to Germany (where it will ultimately be housed in a Brahms museum), the piece had to be strong and durable, but also lightweight, hence Lois used a wide variety of materials in her design, including foam and foamboard, automotive ducktape, angle and mounting brackets, cardboard, matchsticks, paper fasteners, plastic drinking straws, cotton thread, buttons and badges. This page shows a photographic record of the stages of progress. Commissions are always welcome - please contact Lois to discuss.

Below: Lois beside her finished sculpture of Johannes Brahms and his grand piano. May 2019


The piano sculpture can be displayed open or closed (see video below), rather like a real grand piano. Lois is very grateful to Ute and John Cooper, who kindly allowed her to view their beautiful grand piano in detail at close quarters, to help her in designing this miniature model.

Johannes Brahms was a German composer, pianist and conductor, often grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs". There are many photographs of Brahms, as well as a number of drawings, including the two sketches of him in profile below by Willy von Beckerath (1868 - 1938): "Johannes Brahms at the Piano", on which Lois based her sculpture.




Below: The finished sculpture stands beside a pile of books that helped with research and photographs.



Stages of Sculpting Progress

Lois began by cutting out the overall shapes from sheets of black foamboard, which is relatively strong but extremely lightweight. She attached angle brackets for the three legs.


Below: Paper fasteners make convincing pedals.

A black plastic drinking straw conceals the strong aluminium wire that links to the pedals from the underside of the piano.

Pairs of car audio system mounting brackets are riveted together and bent into shape to create the characteristic curves of the piano.


Clamps are applied while glue sets. Meanwhile, the piano keyboard is underway, with pieces of matchstick painted black, fixed to a piece of white foamboard.

Layers of thinner 'funky foam' sheet obscure the metal brackets.


Pieces of strong cardboard are used to make the piano lid. The piano is beginning to shape up.

Black automotive duct tape is used to cover most of the piano to strengthen, protect and seal the structure, and to suggest the sheen of polished wood.

The inner frame of a grand piano is a complex structure and has to be simplified for the miniature sculpture. Lois cuts the frame out of another sheet of white foamboard.


Work begins on sculpting the figure of Johannes Brahms, using wire for the basic structure.


Lois constructs a three-legged piano stool out of oddments of metal, pin badges and wooden buttons, threaded onto aluminium wire, which will attach to the figure of Brahms for added strength.

The finished piano stool.

Lois sculpts the head and facial features, the hands and feet (shoes) of the figure out of Fimo (polymer clay) modelling material, which must be baked at low temperature in the kitchen oven in order to harden it. Tools include traditional wax/clay modelling tools, a surgical scalpel, and other items.


The wire figure is 'fleshed out' with aluminium foil, and then coated in Plaster of Paris modelling rock (Mod-roc) and acrylic paint.

Finishing touches are added with a small brush.

Work resumes on the piano. Lois sews the strings of the piano frame, now painted rich gold. Metal rivets from an old rucksack reinforce the round holes in the frame.


Another piece of foamboard is inserted and shaped to make the music stand.

Raising the piano up slightly with small additional 'wheel' fixings on the bottom of each leg.

The lid is hinged in place. Lois finds some appropriate music manuscript, which is printed out very small and then stained with teabags. The sculpture is complete.


Lois demonstrates how the piano unfolds (30 second video):


The music is derived from a facsimile of a manucript in the Yale University archive. Hear it played here by Tamas Vasary (1982).






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(Loïs Cordelia) art classical music commissions composers figurine germany grand piano historical johannes brahms lois cordelia manuscript miniature mixed media museum piano sculpture victorian https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/6/sculpting-a-miniature-johannes-brahms-and-his-piano Mon, 10 Jun 2019 00:45:15 GMT
Oor Wullie goes Wild in Art! https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/4/oor-wullie-goes-wild-in-art The first ever nation-wide public art trail is coming to the streets of Scotland's cities this Summer: Oor Wullie's Big Bucket Trail will run for 11 weeks from 17th June until 30th August 2019 across Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness, raising vital funds for Scotland's children's hospital charities. The trail is a Wild in Art event, and would not be possible without the support of DC Thomson Media.

The Oor Wullie comic strip first appeared in the DC Thomson newspaper The Sunday Post more than 80 years ago (1936), with drawings by cartoonist Dudley D. Watkins, featuring a playful, mischievous, but overall good natured character named Wullie Russell, with spiky hair and dungarees. Wullie's most famous accessory is his bucket, hence Oor Wullie's Big Bucket Trail depicts him sitting astride his upturned bucket, laughing. In a 2004 survey, Oor Wullie was voted 'Scotland's favourite son', beating William Wallace, Sean Connery and Rabbie Burns in the top four! Wullie is evidently a much loved and enduring part of Scottish heritage.

Ipswich artist, speed-painter and Wild in Art veteran Lois Cordelia is very excited to have been commissioned to paint two of the Oor Wullie statues for Oor Wullie's Big Bucket Trail. She will travel to Edinburgh later this month (April 2019) to bring her two designs to life, both of which feature her characteristic silhouette illustrations. Lois studied Arabic at the University of Edinburgh from 2002 - 2006 and held several of her earliest art exhibitions in Scotland's capital, so she is doubly proud to be involved in the trail and looking forward to returning to Edinburgh. She has called her two designs: Dance in the Rain and Wullie Gone Wild. Both pieces will ultimately be auctioned in support of the life-affirming work of Edinburgh Children's Hospital Charity (ECHC).

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Above: A tiny teaser of Dance in the Rain  - N.B. Lois cannot reveal the full design until the trail goes live on 17th June. Watch this space!

Dance in the Rain

Directly inspired by the playful, laughing character of Wullie sitting on his bucket, combined with Lois's memories of Edinburgh weather, this design imagines Wullie tipping a bucket full of paint over his own blank canvas, reminding us all to laugh, dance and surround ourselves with colour and beauty. As the saying goes: Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about learning to dance in the rain. Always carry a bucket full of paint to throw at the blank canvas of life! Lois is sure that Wullie would approve.


Lois writes: "I lived in Edinburgh for 4 years while studying Arabic at the University of Edinburgh, and often danced in the rain! I must confess, I learned to dance because the heating in my first year student digs didn't work, and dancing round my room was the only way to keep warm. But I swiftly realised that dance was liberating, uplifting and fun. I've never looked back. Dance is a huge influence in every aspect of my artwork. I dance most of my creations into being."

Dance in the Rain is kindly sponsored by an anonymous donor - Lois would like to express her gratitude for their generosity in making this possible and for their support for Oor Wullie's Big Bucket Trail.



Above: Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia will travel to Edinburgh (where she studied Arabic at the University of Edinburgh) to bring her two designs to life later this month (April 2019).

Wullie Gone Wild

A pan-Scotland art trail would be incomplete without a celebration of Scotland's rich heritage of wildlife, hence Wullie Gone Wild. This title is also a homage to creative event producers Wild in Art, whose sophisticated public art trails have inspired and benefited millions of people of all walks of life over the last decade. Wild in Art will always be wild at heart. Exploring the rich biodiversity of Scotland's beautiful and distinctive fauna and flora, Wullie takes a walk on the wild side. Recent re-wilding conservation programmes have successfully reintroduced species such as the beaver and wolf, and there are plans afoot to bring back the lynx to Scotland. How many species will you spot in this design?

Wullie Gone Wild is generously sponsored by Standard Life Aberdeen. Lois is very grateful for their support for Oor Wullie's Big Bucket Trail. Standard Life Aberdeen are proud investors for a better future: "We do it to make a difference – to the lives of our clients and customers, our employees and our shareholders". The firm's involvement in Scotland's first nation-wide public art trail confirms their commitment to making a difference in the lives of countless families, trail visitors, tourists, local businesses, and children's hospital charities.

Below: a tiny teaser of Wullie Gone Wild - N.B. Lois cannot reveal the full design until the trail goes live on 17th June. Watch this space!

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Below: Special thanks to Adele for the loan of these Oor Wullie annuals! :-)

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Wild in Art

Creative event producers Wild in Art (founded 2008) have successfully facilitated the raising of more than £10 million for charitable causes to date, and made art accessible and engaging for millions of people.

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art art trails d. c. thomson dance edinburgh edinburgh children's hospital charity exhibition lois cordelia oor wullie oor wullie's big bucket trail scotland scottish silhouettes speed-painting wild in art wildlife https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/4/oor-wullie-goes-wild-in-art Tue, 16 Apr 2019 23:24:02 GMT
Durrell Gardiens' Gorilla illustrates that We Are All Connected https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/4/durrell-gardiens-gorilla-illustrates-that-we-are-all-connected "The world is as delicate and as complicated as a spider's web. If you touch one thread you send shudders running through all the other threads. We are not just touching the web, we are tearing great holes in it."

These are the evocative words of Gerald Durrell (1925 - 1995), conservationist and founder of the world famous Jersey Zoo (part of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, often known simply as 'Durrell') in Jersey, Channel Islands. Jersey Zoo is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2019. To mark this occasion, Durrell is working in partnership with Wild in Art to present Go Wild Gorillas, a large scale community art project, with a focus on the beautiful Gorilla family at the zoo, and encouraging people to re-connect with nature. From 27th July until 14th October 2019, more than 30 life-size Gorilla statues, each one lovingly designed and hand-painted by an artist, will go on display around the town centre of St Helier, in the parks, open spaces and parishes of Jersey, and neighbouring Channel Islands, forming a mass exhibition to engage communities, raise awareness and funds.

We Are All Connected

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia is delighted to have had her design We Are All Connected chosen by the Durrell Gardiens and will travel to Jersey in May 2019 to paint it onto one of the Gorilla statues for Go Wild Gorillas. The Durrell Gardiens are the true 'guardians' of Durrell, a small group of dedicated individuals who ensure the zoo's wellbeing by supporting its vital conservation work through annual donations, fundraising, events, and acting as Durrell Ambassadors worldwide.

Lois's design was inspired directly by the words of Gerald Durrell cited above, comparing the world's eco-system to a giant spider's web, which is characterised by its complexity and interconnectedness, but sadly a spider's web is also extremely fragile, and destroying parts of it will affect the rest of the web. All things in nature are connected. Nothing has evolved in isolation. Every organism depends on other organisms for food, shelter, habitat, life processes, and often a myriad of other intricate symbiotic relationships that scientists are still only just beginning to understand.

The symbol of the spider's web links with Lois's papercut artwork, in which she creates intricately detailed designs by cutting out of paper: every tiniest detail of the papercut is connected, often via strands as thin as pencil lines.


Above: a tiny teaser of We Are All Connected -
N.B. Lois cannot reveal the full design until the trail goes live on 27th July. Watch this space!

The theme of interconnectedness also emphasises Durrell's initiative to "better connect a million people with nature" by 2025. Beauty is one of many pathways that help us to re-connect with the natural world. Public art trails focus on the beauty of art, while also encouraging people to get outdoors and engage with others and the environment. Re-connecting with nature makes people healthier and more productive. Hence, Go Wild Gorillas 2019.

Lois read most of Gerald Durrell's books as a teenager and was greatly inspired by his stories of an idyllic childhood growing up on the island of Corfu, hilarious anecdotes of family life among the Durrells and their friends, and later worldwide expeditions to preserve endangered animals and found a zoo in Jersey.

Below: Lois Cordelia holds a recent portrait of her childhood hero, Gerald Durrell. Her fluffy mascot is not a Gorilla, but a Dodo - emblem of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.



Sneak Preview: Watch live painting in progress

Lois Cordelia will paint her design onto a blank three-dimensional Gorilla canvas at Jane James Ceramics (20 Commercial Buildings, St Helier, Jersey JE2 3NB)
between Monday 6th - Wednesday 8th May 2019. All are welcome to drop by, glimpse a sneak preview of work in progress, ask questions and be inspired.

Appropriately, Wednesday 8th May will also be the 93rd birthday of Sir David Attenborough, who is one of Durrell's patrons! Lois will be very proud to celebrate along with the Durrell Gardiens.

See map below for location of painting space.






Grand Gorilla Auction

On 6th November 2019, the 30+ Gorilla statues will be auctioned to raise vital funds for Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the new Gorilla home at the zoo - your chance to own a unique Gorilla!


Wild in Art

Creative event producers Wild in Art (founded 2008) have successfully facilitated the raising of more than £10 million for charitable causes to date, and made art accessible and engaging for millions of people.

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art conservation dodo durrell durrell gardiens durrell wildlife ecology gerald durrell go wild gorillas gorillas jersey jersey zoo live art demo lois cordelia speed-painting wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/4/durrell-gardiens-gorilla-illustrates-that-we-are-all-connected Tue, 16 Apr 2019 17:25:52 GMT
A Colourful Vision of St Clement's Church, Ipswich Arts Centre https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/2/a-colourful-vision-of-ipswich-arts-centre-st-clements-church Follow: @ipsartscentre (Twitter) @ipswichartcentre (Facebook)

The medieval church of St Clement's near the Waterfront in Ipswich, Suffolk, is slowly being transformed into a new arts and culture hub: the Ipswich Arts Centre will become a dynamic venue for music, theatre, dance, exhibitions, events and more. St Clement's Church remained empty and disused for thirty years prior to the start of its transformation, driven by a group of dedicated volunteers.

As part of this process, an exciting history project (made possible through the Heritage Lottery Fund) has begun to capture the memories and little known stories associated with the church and its surroundings. Inspired by three women who shared their recollections of the church during the 2017 Heritage Open Day, the Ipswich Arts Centre Memories Project has captured a wealth of personal memories and narratives from members of the public since May 2018. The outcomes of the Memories Project will be displayed in an exhibition at the Waterfront Building at the University of Suffolk on Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th February 2019.

Local Ipswich artist and speed-painter Lois Cordelia was asked to create a big, bold, brightly-coloured contemporary painting of St Clement's Church, to feature as part of the Memories Project exhibition. Hanging alongside a display of memories of the past, this new painting of the church would evoke the glowing future of the Ipswich Arts Centre.

Lois made the most of the early Spring sunshine on the afternoon of Thursday 21st February to paint a picture of the church, setting up her easel in situ, and talking with many local residents and passers-by while she painted. Lois chose a blank black canvas as her starting point, to symbolise the church's reemergence out of obscurity. Appropriately, vibrant colours on a black background are reminiscent of a stained glass window. Metallic and iridescent paints also catch the light in unexpected ways as the viewer walks past.

Lois's finished painting of St Clement's Church will be 'unveiled' by the Mayor of Ipswich when she officially opens the Memories Project exhibition next week.

The free entry exhibition will be open to the public on Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th February, 9.00 am - 8.00 pm. Official Opening by the Mayor of Ipswich: Wednesday 27th at 1.00 pm. Celebration Evening with Guest Speakers and live speedpainting demonstration: Thursday 28th 6.00 pm - 8.00 pm. All warmly welcome. Refreshments available.


Above: Lois Cordelia paints a colourful contemporary vision of the medieval St Clement's Church in Ipswich, February 2019.



For more information about the new Ipswich Arts Centre: please visit ipswichartscentre.org

For more information about the Memories Project, please contact Nicola via [email protected] or 07930019823

 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art exhibition ipswich ipswich arts centre live art demo lois cordelia memories project speed-painting st clements church suffolk https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/2/a-colourful-vision-of-ipswich-arts-centre-st-clements-church Thu, 21 Feb 2019 22:37:22 GMT
Malka's journey goes on: 15 International Film Festivals and counting ... https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/1/malkas-journey-continues When Stefan Freedman and Lois Cordelia began collaborating in 2016 on a short film about a young girl refugee called Malka, they had no idea that she would go on to travel from Ipswich all over East Anglia and then all over the globe, touching people's hearts wherever she went: the Ipswich-based film collaboration is continuing its journey around the globe, having been selected for screening at fifteen international film festivals to date.

(Stefan and Lois are currently collaborating on an uplifting new film project behind the scenes - watch this space!)

Dedicated to refugee children everywhere, Malka is a short non-profit film that aims to reach out to the public and promote empathy and understanding of refugees, seen through the eyes of a child. To date, it has been selected for screening as part of nine international film festivals in Europe, the USA, the Middle East and Asia, and been the subject of several successful fundraising events for refugee support charities.

At its official launch at Red Rose Chain in Ipswich in April 2017, the Malka film raised more than £1000 for Suffolk Refugee Support. It has gone on to raise similar amounts at further fundraiser events in Diss and Norwich, for the Hoxne based charity Next Stop Symi which takes vital supplies to trapped refugees on the Greek island of Symi and elsewhere, and
the Norwich Refugee support charity New Routes, a vibrant local charity working to settle and integrate refugees.

Since Autumn 2017, the film has been selected for screening as part of the following fifteen international film festivals and events:

Feedback Film Festival (best of Under 5 Minute Film Festival), Toronto, Canada (April 2019)
Political Edge Film Festival (CEFF MKE), Milwaukee, USA (Feb 2019)
International Shorts Film Festival (3-7 December, 2018), Melbourne, Australia (Dec 2018)
WSTL Film Festival (WRPN.TV Short, Tight and Loose), Delaware, USA (Nov 2018)
MikroFAF - International festival of DIY and indie short film, Belgrade, Serbia (October 2018)
Awareness Film Festival (Heal One World), California, USA (Sep - Oct 2018)
7th Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival, India.
19th Annual Woodstock Museum Film Festival, New York, USA
Near Nazareth Festival (NNF), Nazareth, Israel
Subud World Congress 2018 ('Poems For Peace') in Freiburg, Germany
Films for World Peace film festival, Washington DC (2018)
London Rolling Film Festival, London UK (May 2018)
Documentaries Without Borders Festival in Delaware, USA (2017)
Woodengate Film Festival in Maramures County, Romania (2017)
Symi International Film Festival, Greece (2017)



Malka evokes the journey of a young girl refugee, Malka, and her mother across wilderness and hardship in search of safety. The film features haunting acoustic music and lyrics by Stefan Freedman, accompanied by atmospheric mixed media illustrations by Lois Cordelia. The film in its entirety can be viewed here. Public sharing of the film is encouraged.

Her journey continues.





Responses to Malka

The film has been circulated widely on the Internet and social media, inspiring a wealth of heartfelt and emotional responses, such as the following:

"Fascinating, astounding, haunting, very beautiful. An amazing venture for a great cause. A phrase that springs to mind: 'a modern Gesamtkunstwerk' of real beauty."
 

"I love this video. Through it I have felt the plight of refugees in a way that no amount of other media coverage could have done. Well done to all who have been involved in making it."
 

Stefan Freedman remarks: "The feedback from many people is passionate, nuanced and strongly affirming. My brother's (face-to-face) was the most surprising of all to me. He said that of all the creative projects over the years this one had gone furthest. Emotionally powerful and professionally impressive."

 

The development and future of Malka

Stefan Freedman was travelling on a train a few years ago when the idea for Malka first came to him. The music that began to flow together in his mind was originally inspired by a traditional Bulgarian folk tune. Stefan shaped his own lyrics to fit the music, evoking the words of a refugee mother to her young daughter, Malka, seeking to reassure her in the midst of unfamiliarity and confusion.
 

In Stefan's words:

"When Adrian [Lush] first urged me to record 'Malka' it was simply because he felt it was an exceptional song. We liked the idea of putting it on YouTube to share with friends. Once Lois started producing artwork, so captivating and emotive, I realised that the narrative needed exactly the right voice with an equal power. So delighted that my first choice vocalist, Sebastiana, was willing to come from Norwich to record with us.
"Malka seems to have a life of her own! ... The Malka video has the potential to serve in three ways. It touches people and creates empathy (even people like my brother who generally is not sympathetic with the refugee cause!). The artwork and music contain nuances, symbolism and many layers which provide an excellent stimulus for discussion. And as we've discovered and proven it can be the focus around which effective fundraising can be arranged." (- Stefan Freedman, May 2017)


Stefan is a teacher of traditional, sacred and circle dance, travelling worldwide to lead workshops and other events incorporating live music and displays. His dances use evocative music from all continents.
 

Thank You

Stefan and Lois wish to extend heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped Malka along her journey, including all musicians, sound engineering and support, everyone who attended fundraising events and helped out with catering, promotion, press, radio and media coverage, ticket sales and facilities, those who have sold copies of Malka on DVD to help raise additional funds for refugee support, those who gave talks as representatives of the refugee support charities, those who assisted with transport and set-up, and everyone who bid in the silent auctions.

Special thanks go to Joanna Carrick of Red Rose Chain for hosting Malka's Ipswich launch in April 2017, Madeline Lees of the Angel Cafe in Diss, and Harford Community Centre in Norwich. Stefan and Lois are also extremely grateful to all of the judging panels who have selected Malka for screening as part of international film festivals around the globe and have thereby brought her message to touch the hearts of many more.






 

Music
The music for Malka features the distinctive voice of Czech singer Sebastiana Black (based in Norwich), accompanied by a haunting mix of sounds created by various ancient musical instruments including the sackbut, shawm, bass viol and bowed psaltery. Musicians Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush and Andy Mapplebeck are all Ipswich-based.

Below: Czech singer Sebastiana Black (lead vocals)

Below: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.


Above: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above:  Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Lyrics


Malka

(dedicated to refugee children)
 

Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
While there is still some light to guide us
Sorrel soothes our tired feet
Lovage we can eat
Look out for somewhere they won't find us

"When will we be going home?"
Malka, our future is unknown
Each day we'll be moving on
Till the danger's gone
We're following a road to freedom
Sing once more your favourite song
Keep your spirit strong
Hold all your dreams until you need them

"When can I play with my friends?"
Malka, so many paths were taken
Strangers, unfamiliar words
Like migrating birds
That vanish over moonlit mountains
Some day in another land
We'll dance hand in hand
We'll wash our feet in sparkling fountains


Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
Tomorrow we'll have better weather
Soon we'll stop and build a fire
Burning with desire
That one day there'll be peace forever

© Stefan Freedman


Artwork
Ipswich-based artist Lois Cordelia began creating the artwork for Malka in May 2016. Over the following 6 months, she assembled a series of more than 60 visuals, inspired by Stefan's lyrics. Lois's mixed media illustrations combine painting, drawing, paper-cutting, brushpen, photography and digital effects, layered together to heighten the emotional intensity of each image.

One of the challenges that Lois faced was how to convey both the traumas and the aspirations of the young girl, Malka, in ways that touched people's emotions without being unbearably painful to watch. The film hints at the trials and hardships that Malka and her mother endure, but also plants seeds of hope for a brighter future.

Lois wanted her pictures to have a universal appeal, hence her depictions of Malka embrace various ages and different nationalities. She also emphasises the value of using creative activities as therapy for refugee children, suggesting how the young girl could express her memories of trauma through her own paintings. Remembering how to paint as a child was an important part of Lois's journey following in the footsteps of Malka.





 



Below: Circle Dancing, led by Stefan Freedman



Below: Zaramo in concert: Birgitta Campbell fiddle, Sebastiana Black vocals, John Firmin accordion, Kim Redshaw djembe. Norwich, March 2018.

Below: Zaramo in concert, with Stefan Freedman



Below: Lois Cordelia (Malka visual artist), with some of the artwork for the film, and two fresh paintings completed during the Norwich fundraiser.


Below: The mother and child painting chosen by the winner of the silent art auction.


Below: More live acoustic music by Salman Toheed of the Blasian band


Below: Zaramo in concert: Birgitta Campbell fiddle, John Firmin accordion, Kim Redshaw djembe, Sebastiana Black vocals. Norwich, March 2018.



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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art asylum seekers dedicated film international film festival ipswich lois cordelia london malka music paper-cutting portraits refugee children refugee support refugees sebastiana black speed-painting stefan freedman suffolk https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/1/malkas-journey-continues Thu, 24 Jan 2019 20:52:45 GMT
Sneak Preview: 'Hope' Elmer celebrates Adoption and Fostering https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/1/sneak-preview-hope-elmer-celebrates-adoption-and-fostering If you're in Ipswich, Suffolk, this Summer, you will scarcely fail to notice a herd of 50 elephants, each lovingly hand-painted by an artist according to a unique design. These elephants represent the much loved children's book character Elmer the Patchwork Elephant who is celebrating his 30th birthday in 2019, hence Andersen Press have teamed up with creative event producers Wild in Art to present Elmer's Big Parade Suffolk. The Ipswich Elmer trail is the much anticipated sequel to Pigs Gone Wild 2016 and will continue to raise vital funds for St Elizabeth Hospice.

Hope

Local Ipswich artist, speed-painter and Wild in Art veteran, Lois Cordelia is currently bringing to life one of her three Elmer designs called Hope, a celebration of family bonds and togetherness, commissioned by and generously sponsored by Suffolk Fostering and Adoption.

Celebrating the life-changing influence of fostering and adoption to nurture a child's development through hope, this Elmer design depicts families in all shapes and sizes, connected via the branches of a giant family 'tree'. Elephants, too, are well known for their complex social lives, including their capacity to adopt an orphaned or abandoned calf. Elmer reminds us in particular to celebrate our individuality and be proud of who we are: every child should have the hope, security and love they need to manifest their fullest potential.


Above and below:
A miniature cuddly toy Elmer adopts five new friends: the charming hand-knitted collection of dolls that serve as ambassadors for the vital work of Suffolk Fostering and Adoption , which also feature in silhouetted form on Lois's Elmer design Hope. N.B. Work in progress - the full design cannot be revealed publicly until the trail launches in June 2019!


The same five dolls sit comfortably while watching the early stages of Elmer painting in progress: N.B. Work in progress - the full design cannot be revealed publicly until the trail launches in June 2019!






Lois is currently busy painting two Elmer designs (E=MC2 and Hope) for Elmer's Big Parade Suffolk, working live at Endeavour House, Ipswich, this week (Tuesday 22nd until Friday 25th January 2019, 9.00 am - 5.00 pm). Visitors are welcome! (Please check in at reception and let them know you've come to visit Elmers in progress.)




Lois's previously painted one of the Pigs ("Pig-geswyk") for Pigs Gone Wild 2016, as well as one of the early pre-launch Elmer statues ("Imagination Can Take You Anywhere").




Above: Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia beside her first Elmer design "Imagination Can Take You Anywhere"


Three Elmer statues including Elmer the Patchwork Elephant (painted by Michelle Turton), "Astronaut" (designed and painted by Mik Richardson) and "Imagination can take you anywhere" (by Lois Cordelia) were originally unveiled on 25th October 2017 during St Elizabeth Hospice's official Ipswich "Big Reveal" event. The Ipswich Elmer trail is the much anticipated follow-on from Pigs Gone Wild 2016 and will continue to raise vital funds for St Elizabeth Hospice. 

Below: The official unveiling at Ipswich Town Hall on 25th October 2017.





Mik Richardson's "Astronaut" and Lois Cordelia's "Imagination can take you anywhere"



 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics adoption andersen press art elephants elmer the elephant exhibition fostering ipswich live art demo lois cordelia pigs gone wild silhouettes speedpainting speed-painting st elizabeth hospice suffolk suffolk adoption suffolk fostering wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/1/sneak-preview-hope-elmer-celebrates-adoption-and-fostering Wed, 23 Jan 2019 22:33:57 GMT
E=MC2 (Elmer = Multi-Coloured Squares) in progress https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/1/e-mc2-elmer-multi-coloured-squares-in-progress To celebrate the 30th birthday of Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, Andersen Press have teamed up with creative event producers Wild in Art to present Elmer's Big Parade Suffolk, which will witness a herd of 50 elephants appear on the streets of Ipswich this Summer, each painted by an artist. The Ipswich Elmer trail is the much anticipated sequel to Pigs Gone Wild 2016 and will continue to raise vital funds for St Elizabeth Hospice.

E=MC2

Local Ipswich artist, speed-painter and Wild in Art veteran, Lois Cordelia is currently bringing to life one of her three Elmer designs called E=MC2 (Elmer = Multi-Coloured Squares), inspired by one of her heroes: Albert Einstein. E=MC2 celebrates creativity and imagination and is generously sponsored by the University of Suffolk.

"Elmer = Multi-Coloured Squares" is no doubt a useful way of introducing young Elmer fans to Einstein’s iconic equation: Energy = Mass x Constant (Speed of Light) Squared. But Elmer, like Einstein, reminds us that imagination and creativity are just as valuable as scientific knowledge, maybe more so. Question everything. Be playful. Think sideways, diagonally, and in spirals, rather than just in straight logical lines, because the components of life do not fit into neat square boxes. A beautiful creative mind can influence the world just as powerfully as a strong gravitational force can warp the dimensions of the universe.


Above: Work in progress on a portrait of Albert Einstein. Photo credit: University of Suffolk.



N.B. Work in progress - the full design cannot be revealed publicly until the trail launches in June 2019!

(Above and below)
Appropriately, the force of gravity assists in the painting! Lois deliberately allows the paints to run, dribble and intermingle, and so the design partly paints itself, re-imagining the boundaries of Elmer's grid in the form of a 'messy', painterly patchwork.
N.B. Work in progress - the full design cannot be revealed publicly until the trail launches in June 2019!


Lois is currently busy painting two Elmer designs (E=MC2 and Hope) for Elmer's Big Parade Suffolk, working live at Endeavour House, Ipswich, this week (Tuesday 22nd until Friday 25th January 2019, 9.00 am - 5.00 pm). Visitors are welcome! (Please check in at reception and let them know you've come to visit Elmers in progress.)




Lois's previously painted one of the Pigs ("Pig-geswyk") for Pigs Gone Wild 2016, as well as one of the early pre-launch Elmer statues ("Imagination Can Take You Anywhere").




Above: Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia beside her first Elmer design "Imagination Can Take You Anywhere"


Three Elmer statues including Elmer the Patchwork Elephant (painted by Michelle Turton), "Astronaut" (designed and painted by Mik Richardson) and "Imagination can take you anywhere" (by Lois Cordelia) were originally unveiled on 25th October 2017 during St Elizabeth Hospice's official Ipswich "Big Reveal" event. The Ipswich Elmer trail is the much anticipated follow-on from Pigs Gone Wild 2016 and will continue to raise vital funds for St Elizabeth Hospice. 

Below: The official unveiling at Ipswich Town Hall on 25th October 2017.





Mik Richardson's "Astronaut" and Lois Cordelia's "Imagination can take you anywhere"



 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics albert einstein andersen press art e=mc2 elephants elmer the elephant exhibition ipswich live art demo lois cordelia pigs gone wild portraits speed-painting st elizabeth hospice suffolk university of suffolk wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2019/1/e-mc2-elmer-multi-coloured-squares-in-progress Wed, 23 Jan 2019 21:53:16 GMT
Repton Revealed closing night features Remembrance Tribute https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/11/repton-revealed-closing-night-features-remembrance-tribute *** Book your tickets now. And please remember to dress warmly! ***

Last chance to see: the National Trust's Repton Revealed: Illuminating his Vision at Sheringham Park continues until Sunday 11th November, featuring a mesmerising display of light installations by award winning arts collective Tundra, in celebration of the 2018 bi-centenary of landscape gardener Humphry Repton (1752 - 1818). The closing night will also feature a specially commissioned One Minute's Silence animation screened at 19.18 to mark Remembrance Sunday.




The One Minute's Silence film is by East Anglian artist Lois Cordelia, who also created three papercut lightboxes to feature as part of Repton Revealed, inspired by and bringing to life pages of Repton's famous leatherbound "Red Book" of Sheringham Park. Lois has based her papercuts on Repton's original watercolour paintings of Sheringham Park, reimagining each one as an intricate, three-dimensional papercut tableau. Each layer is cut out of paper using a surgical scalpel. Illuminated from behind, every tiniest detail is apparent and the effect is truly magical.









Above: work in progress on one of the papercut lightboxes, October 2018

Repton Revealed takes you on a nocturnal journey through stunning displays of light and beauty, walking the mile-long path that connects the visitors centre to Sheringham Hall itself. Lois's lightboxes will be located inside the Ling House, which is a small hut thatched with ling heather half way along this path. Continue along the path to the stunning reveal of Tundra's grand finale, evoking Repton's vision of Sheringham Hall as a "fairytale" palace.

Book your tickets now. And please remember to dress warmly!




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(Loïs Cordelia) art arts cut-paper exhibition light installation light show lightboxes lois cordelia national trust norfolk paper-cutting scalpel sheringham sheringham park tundra winter https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/11/repton-revealed-closing-night-features-remembrance-tribute Sat, 10 Nov 2018 15:39:52 GMT
The Snowman celebrates his 40th birthday at MediaCityUK https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/10/the-snowman-celebrates-his-40th-birthday-at-mediacityuk Believe it or not, The Snowman is 40 this year. First published in 1978, Raymond Briggs' children's picture book tells the story of a little boy who builds a real Snowman. It was adapted as an animated film, released in Christmas 1982, with music by Howard Blake, including the famous song Walking in the Air sung by Aled Jones. To celebrate the Snowman's 40th birthday, MediaCityUK are hosting Walking with the Snowman a very special festive wintry art trail of 12 giant Snowman sculptures, representing the 12 Days of Christmas. The trail is presented by Wild in Art (the team behind the widely acclaimed Bee in the City trail) in collaboration with Penguin Ventures and is raising valuable funds for Children in Need.

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia is one of twelve artists involved in the project, and was asked to speed-paint her design for "Eleven Pipers Piping" as the launch sculpture for the trail on site at MediaCityUK earlier this week (October 2018). Lois wanted to emphasise cultural diversity in her design and so she spent some time researching pipe instruments from all over the world. The full list includes: the Highland Bagpipes, the Native American Flute, the Didgeridoo, the Pibgorn, the Medieval Shawm, the Indian Bansuri, the Clarinet, the Recorder, the Pipe Organ, the Panpipes, and the Ancient Greek Double Pipes. Lois also wanted to represent both male and female, old and young, from different periods of history, so the musical instruments are played by a diverse band. Imagine the sound of these Eleven Pipers Piping! Woven in amongst the pipers, varied excerpts of pipe music tie together the elements of the design: Auld Lang Syne, Flight of the Condor, and J. S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue.

Come along to MediaCityUK between 22nd November to 6th January to visit all twelve Snowmen!

Facebook: TheSnowmanWalk
Twitter: @TheSnowmanWalk










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(Loïs Cordelia) 11 pipers piping 12 days of christmas acrylics art bbc bee in the city children in need christmas exhibition festive live art demo lois cordelia manchester mediacityuk penguin books raymond briggs salford salford quays speed-painting the snowman wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/10/the-snowman-celebrates-his-40th-birthday-at-mediacityuk Thu, 25 Oct 2018 01:25:50 GMT
Papercut Lightboxes bring to life pages of Repton's Red Book https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/10/papercut-lightboxes-bring-to-life-pages-of-reptons-red-book For seven nights this November, Sheringham Park on the north Norfolk coast will be transformed by a display of light, in celebration of the 2018 bi-centenary of landscape gardener Humphry Repton (1752 - 1818). From 2nd - 4th and 8th - 11th November 2018, the National Trust's long-awaited Repton Revealed: Illuminating his Vision at Sheringham Park will feature a mesmerising display of light installations by award winning arts collective Tundra.

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia is very excited to have been commissioned to create three papercut lightboxes to feature as part of the display, inspired by and bringing to life pages of Repton's famous leatherbound "Red Book" of Sheringham Park. Lois has based her papercuts on Repton's original watercolour paintings of Sheringham Park, reimagining each one as an intricate, three-dimensional papercut tableau. Each layer is cut out of paper using a surgical scalpel. Illuminated from behind, every tiniest detail is apparent and the effect is truly magical.









Above: work in progress on one of the papercut lightboxes, October 2018

Repton Revealed takes you on a nocturnal journey through stunning displays of light and beauty, walking the mile-long path that connects the visitors centre to Sheringham Hall itself. Lois's lightboxes will be located inside the Ling House, which is a small hut thatched with ling heather half way along this path. Continue along the path to the stunning reveal of Tundra's grand finale, evoking Repton's vision of Sheringham Hall as a "fairytale" palace.

Book your tickets now. And please remember to dress warmly!




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(Loïs Cordelia) art cut-paper exhibition festival of lights humphry repton illuminations ipswich landscape architect landscape gardener landscapes lightboxes national trust norfolk paper-cutting red books repton revealed scalpel sheringham hall sheringham park tundra tundra arts https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/10/papercut-lightboxes-bring-to-life-pages-of-reptons-red-book Fri, 19 Oct 2018 19:44:15 GMT
'Goldie' Snowdog celebrates the Four Seasons https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/8/goldie-snowdog-celebrates-the-four-seasons Snowdogs Discover Ashford is a free public art trail coming to Ashford, Kent, this Autumn, featuring 35 giant Snowdog statues, each one hand-painted by an artist. The trail runs from 12th September until 18th November 2018, and is a Wild in Art event, brought to you by Ashford Borough Council and Pilgrims Hospices. Ipswich-based artist and speed-painter Lois Cordelia was commissioned to paint two of the 35 giant Snowdogs for the trail, and travelled to Ashford, Kent, in July, to bring her designs to life during a three day public art demonstration at County Square shopping centre. One of her two designs is called Goldie.



Above: a small part of Lois's design, 'Goldie'. N.B. Lois cannot reveal the full design publicly until the trail goes live on 12th September!


Goldie
Sponsored by Golding Vision

Kent is known as the 'Garden of England'. Lois's design Goldie is inspired by her love of painting landscapes and garden scenes using gold, shimmering and iridescent paints to evoke the beauty of every season. Goldie is generously (and appropriately)
sponsored by Golding Vision, the community development arm of Kent housing association, Golding Homes, who suggested the name Goldie, as an affectionate pet name for the Snowdog.

The saying goes, a dog (even a Snowdog) is not just for Christmas, but loyally accompanies our footsteps throughout the year. A dog can be your best friend but needs to be loved and cherished. Walking is a great way to show your love, not just for your dog but for yourself, too, and what better way to witness the beauty of Nature changing throughout the seasons than to head outside!






What is a Snowdog?

Raymond Briggs' much beloved children's book The Snowman is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Its television adaptation first appeared in 1982. This film is powerful and haunting because it is wordless. For this reason, it makes sense that the 2012 sequel The Snowman and the Snowdog features a dog, the Snowdog, because dogs communicate so effectively without words - as do public art trails. These days, people rarely visit galleries or museums to see art – instead, art springs up on every street corner.


About Lois Cordelia:

At one end of the scale, Lois is a speed-painter with a big brush, sweeping strokes, lots of energy and bold colours, creating portraits, wildlife art, landscapes and townscapes. She loves big canvases – especially three-dimensional ones, like giant Snowdogs! At the other end of the scale, she cuts intricate designs out of paper, using a surgical scalpel, and sculpts detailed miniature figurines from imagination.

Lois remarks: "I'm happiest working live in public, especially in the company of other artists. There is a completely different dynamic when creating live, talking with people while I paint, absorbing ideas and inspiration."


This year, you can see Lois's work as part of the following public art trails: Hoodwinked 2018 (Nottingham), Let's Go Quackers (Ironbridge and Telford), Minerva's Owls of Bath (Bath), Bee in the City (Manchester), Bangers and Cash (Sheffield to Monte Carlo art rally), and Snowdogs Discover Ashford (Ashford).







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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art ashford ashford borough council four seasons golding homes kent live art demo lois cordelia portraits public art snowdog trails snowdogs speed-painting the snowman and the snowdog wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/8/goldie-snowdog-celebrates-the-four-seasons Sun, 26 Aug 2018 13:05:51 GMT
Snowdog commemorates the War Dogs of WW1 https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/8/snowdog-commemorates-the-war-dogs-of-ww1 Snowdogs Discover Ashford is a free public art trail coming to Ashford, Kent, this Autumn, featuring 35 giant Snowdog statues, each one hand-painted by an artist. The trail runs from 12th September until 18th November 2018, and is a Wild in Art event, brought to you by Ashford Borough Council and Pilgrims Hospices.


Above: a small part of Loi
s's design, along with Snowdog and wardog mascots :-) N.B. Lois cannot reveal the full design publicly until the trail goes live on 12th September!

Ipswich-based artist and speed-painter Lois Cordelia was commissioned to paint two of the 35 giant Snowdogs for the trail, and travelled to Ashford, Kent, in July to bring her designs to life during a three day public art demonstration at County Square shopping centre. One of her two designs is called Lest We Forget the War Dogs (1918-2018).


Lest We Forget the War Dogs (1918-2018)

Sponsored by Ashford Borough Council

With so many events this year commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War (1918), it is nevertheless easy to forget the 20,000 brave war dogs who were trained in dangerous front line duties, bringing first aid to the wounded, alerting soldiers to enemies, leaping across trenches, carrying messages between outposts, pulling machinery and equipment, and boosting morale among the troops. Some wore gas masks and had food, water and medical supplies strapped to them. Some became decorated with war medals. Lois's design Lest We Forget the War Dogs (1918-2018) is especially inspired by a quotation from a 1916 newspaper, which observes: "A watchdog never barks; at the most he will use a low growl to indicate the presence or approach of a hostile force. More often than not the mere pricking of the ears or the attitude of expectancy is sufficient to put his master on his guard."



Lois remarks: "I've never had dogs of my own, though have often looked after other people's and witnessed their loyal devotion. Many of the dogs of WW1 were beloved family pets, who were sent away to be trained for the war effort. In researching war dogs, I was deeply moved by the stories and anecdotes I found, but most of all by photographs of the dogs, which brought the stories vividly to life. My design is based on a few of these references. I hope it will touch many hearts and remind people of how much we owe to the war dogs."

Lois adds: "Where else can you walk through a town centre and find a piece of history as startling as the WWI tank in the centre of Ashford? It seems especially meaningful and poignant in this centenary year, and fits with the commemorative theme of Lest We Forget the War Dogs (1918-2018)."



Ashford Memorial Gardens commemorate both WW1 and WW2.



The design is generously sponsored by
Ashford Borough Council and will be appropriately placed in Ashford Memorial Gardens for the duration of the trail. It will still be there on Armistice Day 2018.


What is a Snowdog?

Raymond Briggs' much beloved children's book The Snowman is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Its television adaptation first appeared in 1982. This film is powerful and haunting because it is wordless. For this reason, it makes sense that the 2012 sequel The Snowman and the Snowdog features a dog, the Snowdog, because dogs communicate so effectively without words - as do public art trails. These days, people rarely visit galleries or museums to see art – instead, art springs up on every street corner.



About Lois Cordelia:

At one end of the scale, Lois is a speed-painter with a big brush, sweeping strokes, lots of energy and bold colours, creating portraits, wildlife art, landscapes and townscapes. She loves big canvases – especially three-dimensional ones, like giant Snowdogs! At the other end of the scale, she cuts intricate designs out of paper, using a surgical scalpel, and sculpts detailed miniature figurines from imagination.

Lois remarks: "I'm happiest working live in public, especially in the company of other artists. There is a completely different dynamic when creating live, talking with people while I paint, absorbing ideas and inspiration."


This year, you can see Lois's work as part of the following public art trails: Hoodwinked 2018 (Nottingham), Let's Go Quackers (Ironbridge and Telford), Minerva's Owls of Bath (Bath), Bee in the City (Manchester), Bangers and Cash (Sheffield to Monte Carlo art rally), and Snowdogs Discover Ashford (Ashford).






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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics armistice art ashford ashford borough council centenary finnslaw kent live art demo lois cordelia portraits public art snowdog trails snowdogs speed-painting the snowman and the snowdog war dogs wild in art ww1 https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/8/snowdog-commemorates-the-war-dogs-of-ww1 Sun, 26 Aug 2018 12:40:06 GMT
Sheffield to Monte Carlo Rally Exhibition & Auction now live! https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/7/sheffield-to-monte-carlo-exhibition-of-rally-car-bonnets *** Bidding on all car bonnets is now live via the online auction page. ***

An unusual and diverse exhibition of designs painted onto rally car bonnets has opened to the public at the beautiful Winter Garden in the heart of Sheffield and runs throughout August 2018. The designs are all part of Bangers and Cash, the UK's first art road show banger car rally, which will travel more than a thousand miles from Sheffield to Monte Carlo in September 2018. This exciting venture will help to end youth homelessness by raising funds for Sheffield's youth housing charity Roundabout through the sale of each car bonnet at auction. Bidding is already live via the online auction page. Please support this great cause and bid generously for unique pieces of art. Roundabout helps to provide shelter, support and life skills to young people (aged 16-24).

Following the month long exhibition (throughout August 2018) at the Winter Garden, the 23 rally car teams will take on the 1219 mile Sheffield to Monte Carlo challenge in a car worth £650 or less - but each car bonnet has been hand-painted by an artist featuring a unique design and will hopefully raise far more than the value of the car itself for the Roundabout youth homelessness charity.

Exhibition location: Winter Garden, Surrey Street, Sheffield S1 2LH
Exhibition dates: 27th July - 31st August 2018
Opening Times: Daily 8am - 8pm, except Sundays 8am - 6pm.

Follow: @BangersCashUK @RoundaboutSheff

Ipswich artists Anne-Marie Byrne and Lois Cordelia are very excited to have had their designs selected for inclusion in the art car rally. Anne-Marie and Lois both frequently paint designs for public art trails around the UK - they met and became friends through Pigs Gone Wild 2016 in Ipswich. Anne-Marie's rally car bonnet design is called Van Go (sponsored by Horbury Group) and features her delightful adaptation of Vincent van Gogh's swirling style of painting to evoke the excitement of the car rally.

Lois's design Imagination Can Take You Anywhere takes its inspiration from a famous quotation of Albert Einstein: "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere", and celebrates themes of travel, transport and progress - at whatever speed - conveyed via dramatic silhouettes on a brightly coloured backdrop.


Above: Lois Cordelia with Imagination Can Take You Anywhere, sponsored by Signs Express Sheffield, painted on the car bonnet of a red Ford Focus. June 2018.

Below: Anne-Marie Byrne (Amberdreams) at work on the collosal car bonnet of a Jaguar, painting her design Van Go, sponsored by Horbury Group. June 2018.


Sheffield to Monte Carlo road rally art revealed from Sheffield Live on Vimeo.



Lois's rally car bonnet has been generously sponsored by Steve and Carol Morris of Signs Express Sheffield, whose granddaughter helped choose the design from among those shortlisted. Lois has a reputation for being a 'speed-painter', working with a big brush, sweeping strokes and unusual canvases (often three-dimensional), but this is her first time to paint a design onto a rally car: speed-painting takes on a new meaning! But progress is more important than speed - especially in ending youth homelessness - and so the design depicts not only swift movers and high flyers but also those who move slowly and modestly, like the snail, or those who travel via the power of imagination and curiosity, like an astronomer observing the distant stars.

Lois travelled to Sheffield in late June 2018, working live in situ at Signs Express Sheffield, to paint her design onto the bonnet of a red Ford Focus, ready for inclusion in the rally. She began by sanding down the original surface of the car bonnet, coating it with primer, and then painting an imaginative array of dramatic silhouettes on a rich rainbow coloured background. The silhouettes include figures in motion, animals, cars, musical notation (a reference to Herbie's Theme Tune), and the Sheffield skyline, all drawn and painted by hand.

Below: beginning to sand down the original painted surface of the Ford Focus bonnet

Below: Painting the background rainbow in sweeping brushstrokes


Above: All the silhouettes were drawn by hand and then filled in with black paint.







Below: with the whole team at Signs Express Sheffield. Special thanks to Steve Morris. June 2018.


The Route

The Bangers and Cash car rally will start in Sheffield on Friday 21st September 2018, with the first overnight stop being in Brussels, Belgium. On Saturday 22nd September, the teams will travel from Brussels via Luxembourg and Strasbourg, to Lucerne, Switzerland. On Sunday 23rd, the rally continues via St Gotthard's Pass, Lugano, Lake Como, and Monza to Milan, Italy. On Monday 24th September, the teams will reach the grand finale of Monte Carlo itself, before going on to celebrate and enjoy a well-earned rest in Nice, France. On Tuesday 25th, the teams will head home towards Sheffield.

Auction Now Live!

Bidding for all the car bonnets is now live via the online auction page, to raise funds for Roundabout and help end youth homelessness. Don't miss your chance to purchase a unique piece of artwork on an unusual canvas that will be a talking point for years to come. Happy Bidding! :-)

Competition
There will also be a competition running during the exhibition at the Winter Garden, asking the public to upload their favourite photos and selfies with the car bonnets to social media using the hashtag #BangersandCashComp. There will be a range of prizes (including several donated by some of the artists) on offer!


Follow: @BangersCashUK @RoundaboutSheff





Roundabout




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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art bangers and cash charity lois cordelia monte carlo rally cars roundabout homeless sheffield signs express sheffield silhouette speed-painting https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/7/sheffield-to-monte-carlo-exhibition-of-rally-car-bonnets Sat, 28 Jul 2018 00:10:01 GMT
BeeYOUtiful Bee now at Portland Street, Manchester https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/7/beeyoutiful-adoption-counts-bee-now-at-portland-street-manchester A swarm of 100 giant Bees has landed in Manchester, forming a stunning public art trail called Bee in the City. Each Bee statue is hand-painted by an artist and features a unique design. Wild in Art and Manchester City Council have brought together Manchester’s communities and businesses to create this trail, which runs from 23rd July until 23rd September 2018.

Ipswich artist and 'speed-painter' Lois Cordelia is proud to unveil her Bee design Bee-You-ti-ful, which is generously sponsored by local adoption agency Adoption Counts. The design celebrates the power of adoption to transform a child's life into a world of love, creativity and imagination, as any child should have.

Bee-You-ti-ful is now on public view outside Manchester One on Portland Street, Manchester.

BeeYoutiful at Portland Street, Manchester
Photo credit: Michael Phillips @thisisourmanchester Shared with kind permission. July 2018

Above: Bee-You-ti-ful, outside Manchester One on Portland Street, Manchester.
Photo credit: @thisisourmanchester, shared with kind permission. July 2018.


The design is inspired by themes of adoption, childhood and families (in all shapes and sizes), and features Lois's characteristic silhouette drawings over a mottled background of soothing iridescent and pastel colours. The silhouette style is adapted from Lois's work in the intricate paper-cut medium. She remarks:

"I love using silhouettes in my artwork, whether hand-drawn or cut out of paper, because they are so evocative. The simplest silhouetted human figure can give us goosebumps, because the absence of facial features means that we can easily relate to it. It is universal. Details such as the colour of skin, eyes or hair are irrelevant. I also like to play with the sense of scale, juxtaposing miniature figures with giant flowers, feathers and insects.

"This Bee is definitely the most complex three-dimensional canvas I have ever had the privilege and challenge of working on. With its six legs, narrow wings and delicate antennae, it is like a whole landscape of cliffs, caves and mountains, which I gradually populated with a host of tiny figures and animals to suggest a child's imaginative world. The structure of the Bee's legs in particular created many unexpected illusions, so that for example the trailing branches of a weeping willow appear to move in the breeze as you walk past the Bee."

A number of short 'bee' quotations appear in the design, alongside key words such as 'love', 'hope', 'Mum', 'Dad, 'family', and so on. Inspiring words include a saying of Coco Chanel: "Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself", reminding us to be true to ourselves. Even the word 'beautiful' contains its own instruction: 'Bee-YOU-ti-ful'. Follow your heart, make a bee-line for the things you love - just like a bee flies to find nectar.

Lois tells the story of Bee-You-ti-ful in this short (5 minute) film:



Clare Riley of Adoption Counts saw Lois painting part of her Bee design at the painting space in Manchester. She remarks: “It was amazing to watch Lois at work, drawing illustrative families and incorporating the words of some of our adoptive parents into the design. She really captured the essence of what we do; creating happy families, empowered throughout their adoption journey. Adoption Counts is very proud to be sponsoring, or should we say, adopting our very own Bee in the City Bee and look forward to unveiling her beautiful artwork on 4th July to celebrate our one year anniversary.”

Lois wishes to extend special thanks to Annie Laughrin of Wild in Art for her help and support in making this Bee possible.












Short video clip of work in progress on a tiny part of the design, using a Posca marker pen to add fine details.
Following the end of the trail, the Bees will each be auctioned off to raise valuable funds for local charities.


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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics adoption adoption counts art bee in the city bees childhood children fostering lois cordelia manchester paper-cutting public art trail silhouettes speed-painting wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/7/beeyoutiful-adoption-counts-bee-now-at-portland-street-manchester Fri, 27 Jul 2018 12:32:37 GMT
Malka film makes 9 International Film Festivals to date https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/7/malkas-journey-continues When Stefan Freedman and Lois Cordelia began collaborating in 2016 on a short film about a young girl refugee called Malka, they had no idea that she would go on to travel from Ipswich all over East Anglia and then all over the globe, touching people's hearts wherever she went.

Dedicated to refugee children everywhere, Malka is a short non-profit film that aims to reach out to the public and promote empathy and understanding of refugees, seen through the eyes of a child. To date, it has been selected for screening as part of nine international film festivals in Europe, the USA, the Middle East and Asia, and been the subject of several successful fundraising events for refugee support charities.

At its official launch at Red Rose Chain in Ipswich in April 2017, the Malka film raised more than £1000 for Suffolk Refugee Support. It has gone on to raise similar amounts at further fundraiser events in Diss and Norwich, for the Hoxne based charity Next Stop Symi which takes vital supplies to trapped refugees on the Greek island of Symi and elsewhere, and
the Norwich Refugee support charity New Routes, a vibrant local charity working to settle and integrate refugees.

Since Autumn 2017, the film has been selected for screening as part of the following nine international film festivals and events:
Symi International Film Festival, Greece (2017)
Woodengate Film Festival in Maramures County, Romania (2017)

Documentaries Without Borders Festival in Delaware, USA (2017)
London Rolling Film Festival, London UK (May 2018)
Films for World Peace film festival, Washington DC (2018)
Subud World Congress 2018 ('Poems For Peace') in Freiburg, Germany
Near Nazareth Festival (NNF), Nazareth, Israel
19th Annual Woodstock Museum Film Festival, New York, USA
7th Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival, India.


Malka evokes the journey of a young girl refugee, Malka, and her mother across wilderness and hardship in search of safety. The film features haunting acoustic music and lyrics by Stefan Freedman, accompanied by atmospheric mixed media illustrations by Lois Cordelia. The film in its entirety can be viewed here. Public sharing of the film is encouraged.

Her journey continues.





Responses to Malka

The film has been circulated widely on the Internet and social media, inspiring a wealth of heartfelt and emotional responses, such as the following:

"Fascinating, astounding, haunting, very beautiful. An amazing venture for a great cause. A phrase that springs to mind: 'a modern Gesamtkunstwerk' of real beauty."
 

"I love this video. Through it I have felt the plight of refugees in a way that no amount of other media coverage could have done. Well done to all who have been involved in making it."
 

Stefan Freedman remarks: "The feedback from many people is passionate, nuanced and strongly affirming. My brother's (face-to-face) was the most surprising of all to me. He said that of all the creative projects over the years this one had gone furthest. Emotionally powerful and professionally impressive."

 

The development and future of Malka

Stefan Freedman was travelling on a train a few years ago when the idea for Malka first came to him. The music that began to flow together in his mind was originally inspired by a traditional Bulgarian folk tune. Stefan shaped his own lyrics to fit the music, evoking the words of a refugee mother to her young daughter, Malka, seeking to reassure her in the midst of unfamiliarity and confusion.
 

In Stefan's words:

"When Adrian [Lush] first urged me to record 'Malka' it was simply because he felt it was an exceptional song. We liked the idea of putting it on YouTube to share with friends. Once Lois started producing artwork, so captivating and emotive, I realised that the narrative needed exactly the right voice with an equal power. So delighted that my first choice vocalist, Sebastiana, was willing to come from Norwich to record with us.
"Malka seems to have a life of her own! ... The Malka video has the potential to serve in three ways. It touches people and creates empathy (even people like my brother who generally is not sympathetic with the refugee cause!). The artwork and music contain nuances, symbolism and many layers which provide an excellent stimulus for discussion. And as we've discovered and proven it can be the focus around which effective fundraising can be arranged." (- Stefan Freedman, May 2017)


Stefan is a teacher of traditional, sacred and circle dance, travelling worldwide to lead workshops and other events incorporating live music and displays. His dances use evocative music from all continents.
 

Thank You

Stefan and Lois wish to extend heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped Malka along her journey, including all musicians, sound engineering and support, everyone who attended fundraising events and helped out with catering, promotion, press, radio and media coverage, ticket sales and facilities, those who have sold copies of Malka on DVD to help raise additional funds for refugee support, those who gave talks as representatives of the refugee support charities, those who assisted with transport and set-up, and everyone who bid in the silent auctions.

Special thanks go to Joanna Carrick of Red Rose Chain for hosting Malka's Ipswich launch in April 2017, Madeline Lees of the Angel Cafe in Diss, and Harford Community Centre in Norwich. Stefan and Lois are also extremely grateful to all of the judging panels who have selected Malka for screening as part of international film festivals around the globe and have thereby brought her message to touch the hearts of many more.






 

Music
The music for Malka features the distinctive voice of Czech singer Sebastiana Black (based in Norwich), accompanied by a haunting mix of sounds created by various ancient musical instruments including the sackbut, shawm, bass viol and bowed psaltery. Musicians Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush and Andy Mapplebeck are all Ipswich-based.

Below: Czech singer Sebastiana Black (lead vocals)

Below: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.


Above: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above:  Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Lyrics


Malka

(dedicated to refugee children)
 

Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
While there is still some light to guide us
Sorrel soothes our tired feet
Lovage we can eat
Look out for somewhere they won't find us

"When will we be going home?"
Malka, our future is unknown
Each day we'll be moving on
Till the danger's gone
We're following a road to freedom
Sing once more your favourite song
Keep your spirit strong
Hold all your dreams until you need them

"When can I play with my friends?"
Malka, so many paths were taken
Strangers, unfamiliar words
Like migrating birds
That vanish over moonlit mountains
Some day in another land
We'll dance hand in hand
We'll wash our feet in sparkling fountains


Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
Tomorrow we'll have better weather
Soon we'll stop and build a fire
Burning with desire
That one day there'll be peace forever

© Stefan Freedman


Artwork
Ipswich-based artist Lois Cordelia began creating the artwork for Malka in May 2016. Over the following 6 months, she assembled a series of more than 60 visuals, inspired by Stefan's lyrics. Lois's mixed media illustrations combine painting, drawing, paper-cutting, brushpen, photography and digital effects, layered together to heighten the emotional intensity of each image.

One of the challenges that Lois faced was how to convey both the traumas and the aspirations of the young girl, Malka, in ways that touched people's emotions without being unbearably painful to watch. The film hints at the trials and hardships that Malka and her mother endure, but also plants seeds of hope for a brighter future.

Lois wanted her pictures to have a universal appeal, hence her depictions of Malka embrace various ages and different nationalities. She also emphasises the value of using creative activities as therapy for refugee children, suggesting how the young girl could express her memories of trauma through her own paintings. Remembering how to paint as a child was an important part of Lois's journey following in the footsteps of Malka.





 



Below: Circle Dancing, led by Stefan Freedman



Below: Zaramo in concert: Birgitta Campbell fiddle, Sebastiana Black vocals, John Firmin accordion, Kim Redshaw djembe. Norwich, March 2018.

Below: Zaramo in concert, with Stefan Freedman



Below: Lois Cordelia (Malka visual artist), with some of the artwork for the film, and two fresh paintings completed during the Norwich fundraiser.


Below: The mother and child painting chosen by the winner of the silent art auction.


Below: More live acoustic music by Salman Toheed of the Blasian band


Below: Zaramo in concert: Birgitta Campbell fiddle, John Firmin accordion, Kim Redshaw djembe, Sebastiana Black vocals. Norwich, March 2018.



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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art asylum seekers dedicated film international film festival ipswich lois cordelia london malka music paper-cutting portraits refugee children refugee support refugees sebastiana black speed-painting stefan freedman suffolk https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/7/malkas-journey-continues Wed, 25 Jul 2018 22:06:18 GMT
Robin [Hood] disguised as Green Man of Sherwood Forest https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/7/robin-hood-disguised-green-man-sherwood-forest Saturday 7th July 2018 witnessed the launch of Hoodwinked 2018, Nottingham's stunning new public art trail, featuring a twist of the tale of local legendary outlaw Robin Hood: 33 giant Robin statues have flocked to the streets of Nottingham, each one hand-painted by an artist. This free public art trail is presented by Nottingham City Council in partnership with creative events producers Wild in Art and charity partner Nottinghamshire Hospice, for whom the Robin symbolises hope after the passing of a loved one. Wild in Art is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

The Sheriff of Nottingham Councillor Catharine Arnold attended the official Hoodwinked 2018 launch party in the picturesque grounds of Nottingham Castle on the evening of Thursday 5th July, at which many of the Robin sponsors and artists were also present.

Green Man of Sherwood Forest

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia is proud to publicly reveal her design entitled Green Man of Sherwood Forest, which is generously sponsored by Benoy. Graham Cartledge CBE of Benoy writes: "We are delighted to show our support to Nottinghamshire Hospice, a very well-deserving local charity. The Hoodwinked initiative will attract visitors and locals alike, encouraging people in our community to connect through creativity - something that is at the heart of what our designers do at Benoy."

You can find Green Man of Sherwood Forest in Trinity Square, Nottingham, from 7th July until 30th September 2018. He looks forward to meeting you! ;-)

Left to right: the Sheriff of Nottingham, Jason Curtis, Green Man of Sherwood Forest, Lois Cordelia, Graham Cartledge (Benoy)
Photo credit: Whitefoot Photography. Used with kind permission.

Above - left to right: the Sheriff of Nottingham, Jason Curtis (model for the two portraits of the Green Man), Lois Cordelia (artist), Graham Cartledge (CBE of Benoy). Nottingham Castle, Thursday 5th July 2018. Photo credit: Whitefoot Photography - used with kind permission.

About Benoy

Benoy is a global family of design specialists committed to delivering world-class solutions for the built environment. Balancing creative vision with commercial viability, Benoy works with clients to create iconic destinations that enrich people’s lives, strengthen communities, enhance nature, and deliver lasting economic value. Benoy was founded by Gordon Benoy as a small architectural company in rural Nottinghamshire. Today, it has design studios in the United Kingdom, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. The company is primarily known for its global retail architecture, with projects such as Westfield London UK, Elements, Hong Kong, and ION Singapore. Its philosophy is that 'creativity and viability are not mutually exclusive'.





Lois's partner Jason (appropriately also an archer and expert leatherworker) kindly agreed to model for the two portraits of the Green Man, one of which winks in a mischievous spirit.

Left to right: Graham Cartledge (Benoy), Lois Cordelia,Green Man of Sherwood Forest, Jason Curtis, the Sheriff of Nottingham
Photo credit: Whitefoot Photography. Used with kind permission.

Nottingham Castle, Thursday 5th July 2018. Photo credit: Whitefoot Photography - used with kind permission.
Photo credit: Whitefoot Photography. Used with kind permission.
Nottingham Castle, Thursday 5th July 2018. Photo credit: Whitefoot Photography - used with kind permission.



Lois and Jason were accompanied by this impetuous little fox, all clad in Lincoln green. Jason had made a miniature longbow and an exquisite hand-embossed leather quiver for the fox, who goes by the affectionate name of Fluff, and was quite the star of the show! Jason designs and creates stylish, high quality and ethically sourced leather goods to commission for personalised gifts, costume and historical reenactment. He specialises in archery equipment and holsters.



Lois tells the story behind her Robin design in this 4 minute video:



Lois has recently explored the theme of the Green Man in a variety of unusual art mediums, including paper-cutting, creative cartography, and upcycled plastic straws. Now she is proud to have depicted this timeless symbol on a public art statue in the heart of Nottingham.

Lois remarks: "The Green Man or Foliate Face often appears in ancient carvings as a face surrounded by oak leaves. It is generally interpreted as a symbol of the endless cycles of rebirth, re-growth or re-greening in Nature. In today's world, it has an urgent ecological relevance, reminding us of the fragile balance of Nature. It is as if we stand face to face with the spirit of Nature, who meets us with a calm, level gaze... or a playful mischievous grin! Many Green Man carvings suggest this playful game of hide and seek amongst the foliage. I have often incorporated Green Man imagery into my artwork, capturing different facial expressions and characters.

"Many folklorists claim that the legend of Robin Hood is derived from the ancient image of the Green Man, or related figures such as Jack in the Green or Robin Goodfellow (Puck). No surprise that Robin Hood is clothed in Lincoln Green. The mischievous outlaw could be hiding in any disguise!"

Lois travelled to Nottingham in April to paint her design onto the Robin statue, painting live alongside other Hoodwinked 2018 artists in a public painting space at intu Broadmarsh.

Follow: @Hoodwinked2018




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(Loïs Cordelia) archery art trail benoy green man hoowinked 2018 live art demo lois cordelia longbow nottingham nottingham city council portraits robin hood robins sherwood forest speed-painting wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/7/robin-hood-disguised-green-man-sherwood-forest Fri, 13 Jul 2018 12:04:17 GMT
Lois brings two designs to life for "Snowdogs Discover Ashford" (Kent) https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/6/lois-brings-two-designs-to-life-for-snowdogs-discover-ashford-kent Snowdogs Discover Ashford is a free public art trail coming to Ashford, Kent, this Autumn, featuring 35 giant Snowdog statues, each one hand-painted by an artist. The trail runs from 12th September until 18th November 2018, and is a Wild in Art event, brought to you by Ashford Borough Council and Pilgrims Hospices.

What is a Snowdog?

Raymond Briggs' much beloved children's book The Snowman is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Its television adaptation first appeared in 1982. This film is powerful and haunting because it is wordless. For this reason, it makes sense that the 2012 sequel The Snowman and the Snowdog features a dog, the Snowdog, because dogs communicate so effectively without words - as do public art trails. These days, people rarely visit galleries or museums to see art – instead, art springs up on every street corner.


Painting Live at County Square, Ashford: 17th - 19th July

Ipswich-based artist and speed-painter Lois Cordelia has been commissioned to paint two of the 35 giant Snowdogs for the trail, and will travel to Ashford, Kent, in July, to bring her designs to life during a three day public art demonstration (17th - 19th July) at County Square shopping centre. Lois welcomes an audience, so don't be shy - drop by, see work in progress on the two dogs and ask questions.

Lois's two designs are called Lest We Forget the War Dogs (1918-2018) and Goldie.

Lest We Forget the War Dogs (1918-2018)

Sponsored by Ashford Borough Council

With so many events this year commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War (1918), it is nevertheless easy to forget the 20,000 brave war dogs who were trained in dangerous front line duties, bringing first aid to the wounded, alerting soldiers to enemies, leaping across trenches, carrying messages between outposts, pulling machinery and equipment, and boosting morale among the troops. Some wore gas masks and had food, water and medical supplies strapped to them. Some became decorated with war medals. Lois's design Lest We Forget the War Dogs (1918-2018) is especially inspired by a quotation from a 1916 newspaper, which observes: "A watchdog never barks; at the most he will use a low growl to indicate the presence or approach of a hostile force. More often than not the mere pricking of the ears or the attitude of expectancy is sufficient to put his master on his guard."

Lois remarks: "I've never had dogs of my own, though have often looked after other people's and witnessed their loyal devotion. Many of the dogs of WW1 were beloved family pets, who were sent away to be trained for the war effort. In researching war dogs, I was deeply moved by the stories and anecdotes I found, but most of all by photographs of the dogs, which brought the stories vividly to life. My design is based on a few of these references. I hope it will touch many hearts and remind people of how much we owe to the war dogs."

Lois adds: "Where else can you walk through a town centre and find a piece of history as startling as the WWI tank in the centre of Ashford? It seems especially meaningful and poignant in this centenary year, and fits with the commemorative theme of Lest We Forget the War Dogs (1918-2018)."

The design is generously sponsored by
Ashford Borough Council and will be appropriately placed in Ashford Memorial Gardens for the duration of the trail. It will still be there on Armistice Day 2018.



Goldie
Sponsored by Golding Vision

Kent is known as the 'Garden of England'. Lois's design Goldie is inspired by her love of painting landscapes and garden scenes using gold, shimmering and iridescent paints to evoke the beauty of every season. Goldie is generously (and appropriately)
sponsored by Golding Vision, the community development arm of Kent housing association, Golding Homes, who suggested the name Goldie, as an affectionate pet name for the Snowdog.

The saying goes, a dog (even a Snowdog) is not just for Christmas, but loyally accompanies our footsteps throughout the year. A dog can be your best friend but needs to be loved and cherished. Walking is a great way to show your love, not just for your dog but for yourself, too, and what better way to witness the beauty of Nature changing throughout the seasons than to head outside!

Sunlit Woodland (35 minutes speed-painting)Sunlit Woodland (35 minutes speed-painting)Acrylic on board
80 x 60 cm. 11th February 2017


About Lois Cordelia:

At one end of the scale, Lois is a speed-painter with a big brush, sweeping strokes, lots of energy and bold colours, creating portraits, wildlife art, landscapes and townscapes. She loves big canvases – especially three-dimensional ones, like giant Snowdogs! At the other end of the scale, she cuts intricate designs out of paper, using a surgical scalpel, and sculpts detailed miniature figurines from imagination.

Lois remarks: "I'm happiest working live in public, especially in the company of other artists. There is a completely different dynamic when creating live, talking with people while I paint, absorbing ideas and inspiration. Come and see me at work on my two Snowdogs between 17th to 19th July at County Square shopping centre – I look forward to meeting you!"


This year, you can see Lois's work as part of the following public art trails: Hoodwinked 2018 (Nottingham), Let's Go Quackers (Ironbridge and Telford), Minerva's Owls of Bath (Bath), Bee in the City (Manchester), Bangers and Cash (Sheffield to Monte Carlo art rally), and Snowdogs Discover Ashford (Ashford).





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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics armistice art ashford ashford borough council centenary finnslaw golding homes kent live art demo lois cordelia portraits public art snowdog trails snowdogs speed-painting the snowman and the snowdog war dogs wild in art ww1 https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/6/lois-brings-two-designs-to-life-for-snowdogs-discover-ashford-kent Sat, 23 Jun 2018 14:51:39 GMT
HerschOwl has landed in Queen Square, Bath https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/6/herschowl-has-landed-in-queen-square-bath Now on display in Queen Square, Bath, HerschOwl is an Owl inspired by the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, and forms part of Minerva's Owls of Bath, a stunning free public art trail of 80 giant Owls, perched in various prominent locations around the World Heritage city this Summer. The trail of quirky Owl designs, each hand-painted by an artist, will attract many thousands of visitors of all ages to the city while helping to support and promote local businesses and charities. The Owls, which represent super-sized versions of the Little Owl (Athene Noctua) species, will be on display all over the city from 25th June until 10th September.

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia was commissioned to paint her design Night Owls of Bath: the Herschels - or HerschOwl for short - onto one of the giant Owl statues. The design is generously sponsored by Mogers Drewett Solicitors of Bath, who have created an atmospheric short film (see below) about Lois's painting of the Owl during a live art demonstration on location at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy.


Above: Lois Cordelia with HerschOwl

A short film (5:35) by Mogers Drewett showing the painting of HerschOwl


HerschOwl is inspired by two historical 'night owls' of Bath, astronomer-musicians William and Caroline Herschel, whose home in New King Street is now the Herschel Museum of Astronomy. The design celebrates William and Caroline Herschel's extraordinary contribution to the nocturnal pursuit of astronomy. William accidentally discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 using a homemade telescope in his back garden. At the time, he thought he'd discovered a star and named it after King George III, but this proved so unpopular that he renamed it “Uranus” to match the other Roman and Greek planetary names. William first moved to Bath in the mid 1760s when he was appointed as organist of Octagon Chapel. His sister Caroline joined him there a few years later, and they worked together building telescopes. William is credited with the discovery of several moons of Uranus and Saturn, seasonal variation in the Martian polar caps, and infrared radiation. The Herschel Museum of Astronomy kindly agreed to host Lois and her Owl while she brought her design to life in May 2018 in the beautiful setting of its Georgian period back garden (where William discovered the Planet Uranus).

Lois was over the moon to paint an Owl inspired by the stars for Minerva's Owls of Bath, and is very grateful to Mogers Drewett for sponsoring her design, which will be her 8th public sculpture trail piece to date. Lois writes: "Like many artists, I am often a night owl. I love painting night skies using shimmering paints and swirling brush strokes. To be painting my astronomy inspired Owl in the very spot in which William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 will make this brief residency at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy extremely meaningful and special for me."

The design features a number of silhouette vignettes of William and Caroline Herschel, along with appropriate details that visitors to the Museum will recognise: the garden sundial with robin, foxgloves and cat, an orrery, and some of the instruments from the Music Room. Lois remarks that the silhouette style is a reference to the Georgian period, when cameo portraits were a popular way of capturing a likeness for posterity. Lois is well known as a paper-cut artist herself, creating intricate silhouette style designs by cutting out of paper using a surgical scalpel. In this case, she drew the designs in outline and then filled them in with black paint.










Herschel Museum of Astronomy

You can visit the Museum at: Herschel Museum of Astronomy, 19 New King Street, Bath BA1 2BL
The Museum is open to the public on weekdays from 1-5 pm. Please see the Museum website for admission charges and other information.

Minerva's Owls of Bath

The name of the trail is a reference to the Goddess Minerva, to whom the temple of the Roman Baths was dedicated when it was built in 1 AD. The owl was a sacred symbol of Minerva, Roman goddess of Wisdom, and is featured in the stone temple pediment at the Roman Baths Museum.

Award winning BBC TV Wildlife presenters Michaela Strachan and Chris Packham have become official 'Owlbassadors' for the trail. Chris Packham will also be painting one of the Owls himself, helping to raise funds for the UK Little Owl Project. The scientific name of the Little Owl is Athene noctua, which neatly links with Minerva, Athene being the Greek version of the Roman Goddess.

The trail will raise funds for several local charities: the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, the BANES Carers Centre, the Roman Baths, and the UK Little Owl Project.

Did you know...? The collective noun for a group of owls is a "parliament" of owls.



Follow: @OwlsofBath #OwlsofBath





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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art bath herschel museum herschowl little owls live art demo lois cordelia minerva's owls of bath mogers drewett owls of bath paper-cutting public art speed-painting trail https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/6/herschowl-has-landed-in-queen-square-bath Sat, 23 Jun 2018 11:04:41 GMT
#LetsGoQuackers trail continues until 17th August https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/6/lets-go-quackers-trail-continues-until-19th-august Donate: Let's Go Quackers Follow: @LetsGoQuackers

Ten giant Ducks are continuing to bring smiles and win the hearts of visitors young and old alike in Shropshire. The popular family-orientated Let's Go Quackers has suffered a series of unfortunate vandalism setbacks since it launched on 5th May, but thanks to the restorative efforts of 'Duck doctors' and the valiant support of local fans, the art trail is continuing in Ironbridge, Shropshire until 8th July 2018, before relocating to Southwater, Telford from 14th July until 17th August (coinciding with Telford's Carnival of Giants event). The Ducks will then be auctioned in September to raise valuable funds for local charities: Severn Hospice and the Jayne Sargent Foundation. The trail is the idea of local resident Julie Ward, who has worked tirelessly to bring her dream to life, successfully securing an impressive bid from Telford & Wrekin Council's Pride in Your High Street fund to ensure that the trail goes ahead.


Each of the Ducks is hand-painted by an artist, either working to their own design, or in collaboration with local school children or students and others who submitted a design for one of the Ducks. The trail organisers received an overwhelming 750+ design submissions for the 10 Ducks. It was an extremely difficult decision to choose just 10 designs to appeal to every age group and to reflect the local history and heritage of Telford and Ironbridge. The full list of Duck artists includes: Nicky Meecham, Jenny Leonard, Donna Newman, Alicia Hollis, Traci Moss, Jackie Coyle, Shropshire Fine Art, Lois Cordelia, Lizzie Moretti and Megan Evans.

An excellent and richly illustrated blog by writer Tilly Horseman discusses in detail each of the ten Ducks, their surrounding points of interest and the trail route of Let's Go Quackers through the World Heritage landscape of Shropshire.

Ross Minton has also created a brief vlog of Let's Go Quackers with the help of his young daughter:


Miniature Replica Ducks

A number of the artists will bring miniature versions of their Duck designs to life: Dr Duck by Nicky Meecham, C-Elli-Brate by Traci Moss, Coalbrookedrake by Donna Newman, and Once Upon A Fairytale by Lois Cordelia (see below). The miniature Ducks will be auctioned in addition to the ten giant Ducks, raising additional funds for Severn Hospice and the Jayne Sargent Foundation.

Watch this space for auction news, coming soon...!


Donate: Let's Go Quackers Follow: @LetsGoQuackers


Once Upon a Fairytale

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia travelled to Telford in April to paint a steampunk-fairytale inspired design onto one of the Ducks: Once Upon a Fairytale. The steampunk theme of her design was partly inspired by the history of Ironbridge and Telford and their links with the Industrial Revolution, and partly by the distinctive steampunk-style goggles of the Duck statues themselves. Combining a quirky mix of imagery in her characteristic black silhouette style on a rich antique gold background, Lois hopes her design will appeal to trail visitors of every age-group, allowing them to spot lots of fun and unexpected details.

Photo credit: Marian Byrne. Used with kind permission.

Photo credit: Marian Byrne, June 2018. Reproduced with kind permission.

Photo credit: Marian Byrne. Used with kind permission.
Photo credit: Marian Byrne, June 2018. Reproduced with kind permission.

Photo credit: Marian Byrne. Used with kind permission.
Photo credit: Marian Byrne, June 2018. Reproduced with kind permission.

Photo credit: Marian Byrne. Used with kind permission.

Photo credit: Marian Byrne, June 2018. Reproduced with kind permission.
Photo credit: Marian Byrne. Used with kind permission.
Photo credit: Marian Byrne, June 2018. Reproduced with kind permission.

Photo credit: Marian Byrne. Used with kind permission.
Photo credit: Marian Byrne, June 2018. Reproduced with kind permission.




Lois Cordelia with Once Upon A Fairytale, April 2018





Trail Map: Ironbridge 5th May - 8th July 2018


Photo credit: Julie Ward, May 2018, reproduced with kind permission.

The timing of the trail is very apt: Telford celebrates its 50th year in 2018. Telford is named after civil engineer Thomas Telford (1757-1834) who engineered many road and rail projects in Shropshire. It is often known as "the birthplace of industry". Today, Telford is the largest town in Shropshire and one of the fastest growing towns in Britain. Nearby Ironbridge is located in the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge and takes its name from the famous Iron Bridge that crosses the River Severn. Opened in 1781, the Iron Bridge was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron.

Julie Ward's idea for Let's Go Quackers was originally inspired by seeing the 2013 Wild in Art trail GoGoGorillas. She said: “I wanted to do something like this ever since I first saw the gorillas on social media, but I didn’t dare hope it would be possible.  When news of the High Street Fund was announced I knew this was my opportunity to make it happen.  To qualify for funding, the idea had to be innovative, engaging and have a bit of longevity.  It also needed to show that there would be wider benefits for the community and for others.  I really believe the ducks will be all of these things.

“My next job was to source the ducks. Where do you go to buy giant ducks? When I was looking around I heard about some 9ft ducks that were for sale in a charity auction after being part of an art trail in Liverpool.  My bid secured the ducks and proceeds went to Macmillan.

“The most important thing to me is that they bring fun to our community, visitors to Ironbridge and smiles to everyone’s faces.”

Donate: Let's Go Quackers Follow: @LetsGoQuackers




 Let's Go Quackers is not Lois Cordelia's first Duck related venture. She previously created a unique trio of "duck-transformations" for the Grand Norwich Duck Race 2017 (raising funds for Break children's charity), using Duck-tape, cable-ties, galvanised steel wire and other utilitarian materials to sculpt miniature figurines onto the backs of large rubber ducks. The Ducks and their riders took part in the duck race in August 2017 in Norwich, staying afloat and upright thanks to their heavy ballast of engineering bricks strapped beneath them!




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(Loïs Cordelia) art auction ducks ironbridge jayne sargent foundation lets go quackers lois cordelia public art severn hospice shropshire southwater speed-painting telford trail https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/6/lets-go-quackers-trail-continues-until-19th-august Tue, 19 Jun 2018 19:50:43 GMT
"Bee-You-ti-ful" Bee celebrates life-changing theme of adoption https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/6/-bee-you-ti-ful-bee-celebrates-life-changing-theme-of-adoption Bee in the City is a free public art trail coming to Manchester this Summer, featuring a swarm of about 100 giant Bees, located all over the city, each one hand-painted by a different artist. The trail runs from 23rd July until 23rd September 2018. Wild in Art and Manchester City Council are bringing together Manchester’s communities and businesses in the creation of this stunning trail.

Ipswich artist and 'speed-painter' Lois Cordelia travelled to Manchester in June to paint her design Bee-You-ti-ful onto one of the giant Bees. The design is generously sponsored by local adoption agency Adoption Counts. The design celebrates the power of adoption to transform a child's life into a beautiful world full of love, creativity and imagination, as any child should have.

Clare Riley of Adoption Counts saw Lois painting part of her Bee design at the painting space in Manchester. She remarks: “It was amazing to watch Lois at work, drawing illustrative families and incorporating the words of some of our adoptive parents into the design. She really captured the essence of what we do; creating happy families, empowered throughout their adoption journey. Adoption Counts is very proud to be sponsoring, or should we say, adopting our very own Bee in the City Bee and look forward to unveiling her beautiful artwork on 4th July to celebrate our one year anniversary.”

Coco Chanel once wrote: "Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself", reminding us to simply be true to ourselves. Even the word 'beautiful' contains its own instruction: 'Bee-YOU-ti-ful'. Follow your heart, make a bee-line for the things you love - just like a bee flies to find nectar.

Following the end of the trail, the Bees will each be auctioned off to raise valuable funds for good causes.

The design features Lois's characteristic silhouettes. Below: a couple of small excerpts. N.B. the full design cannot be revealed publicly until the unveiling on 4th July. Watch this space!



Short video clip of work in progress on a tiny part of the design, using a Posca marker pen to add fine details.


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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics adoption adoption counts art bee in the city bees childhood children fostering lois cordelia manchester paper-cutting public art trail silhouettes speed-painting wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/6/-bee-you-ti-ful-bee-celebrates-life-changing-theme-of-adoption Tue, 12 Jun 2018 23:25:46 GMT
Speedpainting from Sheffield to Monte Carlo! https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/6/speedpainting-from-sheffield-to-monte-carlo Bangers and Cash, the UK's first art road show banger car rally is set to travel from Sheffield to Monte Carlo this September.

A number of rally car teams will take on the challenge, navigating the 1219 mile route in a car worth £650 or less - but each of these cars will also have a very special feature: its bonnet will have been hand-painted by an artist featuring a unique design inspired by the rally. Bangers and Cash will help tackle youth homelessness by raising valuable funds for Sheffield's youth housing charity Roundabout, providing shelter, support and life skills to young people (aged 16-24). Prior to setting off on their travels, the car bonnets will all be exhibited at Sheffield's beautiful Winter Garden throughout August 2018.

Ipswich artists Anne-Marie Byrne and Lois Cordelia are very excited to have had their designs selected for inclusion in the art car rally. Anne-Marie and Lois both frequently paint designs for public art trails around the UK - they met and became friends through Pigs Gone Wild 2016 in Ipswich. Anne-Marie's rally car bonnet design is called Van Go (sponsored by Horbury Group) and features her delightful adaptation of Vincent van Gogh's swirling style of painting to evoke the excitement of the car rally. Lois's design Imagination Can Take You Anywhere takes its inspiration from a famous quotation of Albert Einstein: "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere", and celebrates themes of travel, transport and progress - at whatever speed - conveyed via dramatic silhouettes on a brightly coloured backdrop.

Lois's rally car bonnet has been generously sponsored by Steve and Carol Morris of Signs Express Sheffield, whose granddaughter helped choose the design from among those shortlisted. Lois has a reputation for being a 'speed-painter', working with a big brush, sweeping strokes and unusual canvases (often three-dimensional), but this is her first time to paint a design onto a rally car: speed-painting takes on a new meaning! But progress is more important than speed - especially in ending youth homelessness - and so the design depicts not only swift movers and high flyers but also those who move slowly and modestly, like the snail, or those who travel via the power of imagination and curiosity, like an astronomer observing the distant stars.

Lois will travel to Sheffield in late June 2018 to paint her design onto the bonnet of a red Ford Focus, ready for inclusion in the rally.

The Route

The Bangers and Cash car rally will start in Sheffield on Friday 21st September 2018, with the first overnight stop being in Brussels, Belgium. On Saturday 22nd September, the teams will travel from Brussels via Luxembourg and Strasbourg, to Lucerne, Switzerland. On Sunday 23rd, the rally continues via St Gotthard's Pass, Lugano, Lake Como, and Monza to Milan, Italy. On Monday 24th September, the teams will reach the grand finale of Monte Carlo itself, before going on to celebrate and enjoy a well-earned rest in Nice, France. On Tuesday 25th, the teams will head home towards Sheffield.

Following the rally, the car bonnets will be sold at auction in October to raise additional funds for Roundabout.

Below: a small excerpt of Lois's design Imagination Can Take You Anywhere featuring Lois's characteristic silhouette art style. N.B. Lois cannot reveal her full design publicly until the exhibition opens on 1st August.
Bangers and Cash Artist packBangers and Cash Artist pack

And (below) a teaser of Anne-Marie Byrne's rally car bonnet design: Van Go (sponsored by Hanbury Group)






Roundabout




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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art bangers and cash charity lois cordelia monte carlo rally cars roundabout homeless sheffield signs express sheffield silhouette speed-painting https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/6/speedpainting-from-sheffield-to-monte-carlo Tue, 12 Jun 2018 20:01:27 GMT
Night Owls of Bath at Herschel Museum of Astronomy https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/5/night-owls-of-bath-at-herschel-museum-of-astronomy A flock of 80 giant Owls is coming to the World Heritage city of Bath this Summer, forming an exciting free public art sculpture trail: Minerva's Owls of Bath. The trail of quirky Owl designs, each hand-painted by an artist, will attract thousands of visitors of all ages to the city while helping to support and promote local businesses and charities. The Owls, which represent super-sized versions of the Little Owl species, will appear perched all over the city from 25th June until 10th September.

The name of the trail is a reference to the Goddess Minerva, to whom the temple of the Roman Baths was dedicated when it was built in 1 AD. The owl was a sacred symbol of Minerva, Roman goddess of Wisdom, and is featured in the stone temple pediment at the Roman Baths Museum.

Award winning BBC TV Wildlife presenters Michaela Strachan and Chris Packham have become official 'Owlbassadors' for the trail. Chris Packham will also be painting one of the Owls himself, helping to raise funds for the UK Little Owl Project. The scientific name of the Little Owl is Athene noctua, which neatly links with Minerva, Athene being the Greek version of the Roman Goddess.

The trail will raise funds for several local charities: the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, the BANES Carers Centre, the Roman Baths, and the UK Little Owl Project.

Follow: @OwlsofBath #OwlsofBath

Night Owls of Bath: the Herschels

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia has been commissioned to paint her design "Night Owls of Bath: the Herschels" onto one of the giant Owl statues. Lois's design is inspired by two historical 'night owls' of Bath, astronomer-musicians William and Caroline Herschel, whose home in New King Street is now the Herschel Museum of Astronomy.


Above: William with his telescope - a small excerpt of Lois's design, which features her characteristic silhouette depictions of the Herschels in the style of Georgian period cameo portraits. N.B. Lois is not allowed to reveal her full Owl design until the trail goes live in July! Watch this space...

Lois's Owl design celebrates William and Caroline Herschel's extraordinary contribution to the nocturnal pursuit of astronomy. William accidentally discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 using a homemade telescope in his back garden. At the time, he thought he'd discovered a star and named it after King George III, but this proved so unpopular that he renamed it “Uranus” to match the other Roman and Greek planetary names. William first moved to Bath in the mid 1760s when he was appointed as organist of Octagon Chapel. His sister Caroline joined him there a few years later, and they worked together building telescopes. William is credited with the discovery of several moons of Uranus and Saturn, seasonal variation in the Martian polar caps, and infrared radiation.

The Herschel Museum of Astronomy has kindly agreed to host Lois while she paints her Owl on Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th May 2018 in the beautiful setting of its Georgian period back garden (where William discovered the Planet Uranus).

Address: Herschel Museum of Astronomy, 19 New King Street, Bath BA1 2BL
Open to the public: weekdays 1-5 pm. N.B. Lois's live painting demonstration will take place on Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th May 2018, 1 pm - 5 pm.
Please see the Museum website for admission charges and other information.

Lois's Owl has been generously sponsored by Mogers Drewett Solicitors of Bath. Lois writes: "I am over the moon to be painting an Owl inspired by the stars for Minerva's Owls of Bath, and am very grateful to Mogers Drewett for sponsoring my design, which will be my 8th public sculpture trail piece to date. Like many artists, I am often a night owl. I love painting night skies using shimmering paints and swirling brush strokes. To be painting my astronomy inspired Owl in the very spot in which William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 will make this brief residency at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy extremely meaningful and special for me."

N.B. Lois is not allowed to reveal her full Owl design until the trail goes live in July! Watch this space...

Did you know?
The collective noun for a group of owls is a "parliament" of owls.






 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art astronomy bath goddess minerva herschel museum live art demo minerva's owls roman heritage romans speed-painting https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/5/night-owls-of-bath-at-herschel-museum-of-astronomy Tue, 22 May 2018 17:14:27 GMT
Ipswich Hospital "Blossometer" shows Blossom Appeal progress https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/5/ipswich-hospital-blossometer-shows-blossom-appeal-progress The Ipswich Hospital Charity launched its ambitious Blossom Appeal in October 2017, with the aim of raising £2.5m to build a new dedicated breast cancer care centre at Ipswich Hospital. The appeal has so far raised just over £100,000.

A new 'Blossometer' in the form of a blossom tree decal was installed last week on the wall of the main Outpatients entrance at Ipswich Hospital, and will serve henceforward as a life-affirming visual record of the total sum raised to date. Every blossom represents an amount donated to the appeal. The tree silhouette was jointly designed by Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia and Matt Denton of Signs Express Ipswich.

Lois's mother Erika received successful treatment for breast cancer at Ipswich Hospital 18 years ago, and so it felt particularly meaningful for Lois to contribute a tree silhouette to help support the new breast centre project.

For more information, please visit the Blossom Appeal website. To donate, please click here.

 




Above: Lois Cordelia beside the new Blossometer, May 2018. Photo credit: Angela, used with kind permission.


Blossom Appeal LOGO CMYK with Safe ZoneBlossom Appeal LOGO CMYK with Safe Zone

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(Loïs Cordelia) blossom appeal blossom tree blossometer breast cancer breast centre charity decal fundraising hospital ipswich ipswich hospital lois cordelia silhouette suffolk https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/5/ipswich-hospital-blossometer-shows-blossom-appeal-progress Tue, 22 May 2018 14:53:22 GMT
Malka makes London Film Festival Debut, Sun 27th May 2018 https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/5/malka-makes-london-film-festival-debut-sun-27th-may-2018 An Ipswich-based art-music-film collaboration dedicated to refugee children, Malka, by Stefan Freedman and Lois Cordelia, which has already been screened as part of international film festivals in the USA, Greece and Romania, is about to make its London West End debut after being selected as part of the London Rolling Film Festival on Sunday 27th May 2018.

Tickets to the film festival are free but must be booked in advance, and the audience will vote for their favourite film on the night. The event takes place from 12 noon until 6 pm on Sunday 27th May at Phoenix Artist Club, 1 Phoenix Street, London WC2H 8BU. The afternoon will include screenings of a number of shortlisted films, interviews and Q&A sessions. The winning film will be announced at the end of the evening.


Malka is a short non-profit film that aims to reach out to the public and promote empathy and understanding of refugees, seen through the eyes of a child. At its official launch in Ipswich in April 2017, the Malka film raised more than £1000 for Suffolk Refugee Support. It has gone on to raise similar amounts at further fundraiser events in Diss and Norwich, for the Hoxne based charity Next Stop Symi which takes vital supplies to trapped refugees on the Greek island of Symi and elsewhere, and the Norwich Refugee support charity New Routes, a vibrant local charity working to settle and integrate refugees.

During Autumn 2017, the film was selected for screening as part of three international film festivals: the Symi International Film Festival in Greece, Woodengate Film Festival in Maramures County, Romania, and the Documentaries Without Borders Festival in Delaware, USA. The London Rolling Film Festival will mark Malka's UK film festival debut. Meanwhile, Malka has also been chosen for screening during the Films for World Peace film festival in Washington DC.


 

"Malka" is dedicated to refugee children everywhere, evoking the journey of a young girl refugee, Malka, and her mother across wilderness and hardship in search of safety. The film features haunting acoustic music and lyrics by Stefan Freedman, accompanied by atmospheric mixed media illustrations by Lois Cordelia. The film in its entirety can be viewed here. Public sharing of the film is encouraged.

Responses to Malka

The film has been circulated widely on the Internet and social media, inspiring a wealth of heartfelt and emotional responses, such as the following:

 

"Fascinating, astounding, haunting, very beautiful. An amazing venture for a great cause. A phrase that springs to mind: 'a modern Gesamtkunstwerk' of real beauty."
 

"I love this video. Through it I have felt the plight of refugees in a way that no amount of other media coverage could have done. Well done to all who have been involved in making it."
 

Stefan Freedman remarks: "The feedback from many people is passionate, nuanced and strongly affirming. My brother's (face-to-face) was the most surprising of all to me. He said that of all the creative projects over the years this one had gone furthest. Emotionally powerful and professionally impressive."

 

The development and future of Malka

Stefan Freedman was travelling on a train a few years ago when the idea for Malka first came to him. The music that began to flow together in his mind was originally inspired by a traditional Bulgarian folk tune. Stefan shaped his own lyrics to fit the music, evoking the words of a refugee mother to her young daughter, Malka, seeking to reassure her in the midst of unfamiliarity and confusion.
 

In Stefan's words:

"When Adrian [Lush] first urged me to record 'Malka' it was simply because he felt it was an exceptional song. We liked the idea of putting it on YouTube to share with friends.

"Once Lois started producing artwork, so captivating and emotive, I realised that the narrative needed exactly the right voice with an equal power. So delighted that my first choice vocalist, Sebastiana, was willing to come from Norwich to record with us.

"Once finished, the creative project seemed to merit an 'unveiling'. ... The unofficial one (for friends) was at the Ipswich Quakers on 17th March 2017, and the official open-to-public one was at the Red Rose Chain's Avenue theatre on 28th April. Combining the first public showing with a talk from SRS, entertainments and a meal - as a fundraiser for refugees - seemed to follow on naturally. I can't now recall who first suggested it or when, but how could it have been otherwise? Malka seems to have a life of her own!

"I couldn't in my wildest dreams have imagined the event raising over £1,000 for SRS. Very thrilled about this result. Big heartfelt congratulations to all involved.

"What happens next? The Malka video has the potential to serve in three ways. It touches people and creates empathy (even people like my brother who generally is not sympathetic with the refugee cause!). The artwork and music contain nuances, symbolism and many layers which provide an excellent stimulus for discussion. And as we've discovered and proven it can be the focus around which effective fundraising can be arranged." (- Stefan Freedman, May 2017)

Stefan is a teacher of traditional, sacred and circle dance, travelling worldwide to lead workshops and other events incorporating live music and displays. His dances use evocative music from all continents.
 

Thank You

Stefan and Lois wish to extend heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in making the fundraiser events a success, including all musicians and support, everyone who attended and bought tickets for the events, helped out with catering, promotion, press, radio and media coverage, ticket sales and facilities, sold copies of Malka on DVD, gave talks, assisted with transport and set-up, and everyone who bid in the silent auction. Special thanks go to Joanna Carrick, Red Rose Chain, Madeline Lees, the Angel Cafe in Diss, and Harford Community Centre in Norwich.






 

Music
The music for Malka features the distinctive voice of Czech singer Sebastiana Black (based in Norwich), accompanied by a haunting mix of sounds created by various ancient musical instruments including the sackbut, shawm, bass viol and bowed psaltery. Musicians Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush and Andy Mapplebeck are all Ipswich-based.

Below: Czech singer Sebastiana Black (lead vocals)

Below: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.


Above: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above:  Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Lyrics


Malka

(dedicated to refugee children)
 

Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
While there is still some light to guide us
Sorrel soothes our tired feet
Lovage we can eat
Look out for somewhere they won't find us

"When will we be going home?"
Malka, our future is unknown
Each day we'll be moving on
Till the danger's gone
We're following a road to freedom
Sing once more your favourite song
Keep your spirit strong
Hold all your dreams until you need them

"When can I play with my friends?"
Malka, so many paths were taken
Strangers, unfamiliar words
Like migrating birds
That vanish over moonlit mountains
Some day in another land
We'll dance hand in hand
We'll wash our feet in sparkling fountains


Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
Tomorrow we'll have better weather
Soon we'll stop and build a fire
Burning with desire
That one day there'll be peace forever

© Stefan Freedman


Artwork
Ipswich-based artist Lois Cordelia began creating the artwork for Malka in May 2016. Over the following 6 months, she assembled a series of more than 60 visuals, inspired by Stefan's lyrics. Lois's mixed media illustrations combine painting, drawing, paper-cutting, brushpen, photography and digital effects, layered together to heighten the emotional intensity of each image.

One of the challenges that Lois faced was how to convey both the traumas and the aspirations of the young girl, Malka, in ways that touched people's emotions without being unbearably painful to watch. The film hints at the trials and hardships that Malka and her mother endure, but also plants seeds of hope for a brighter future.

Lois wanted her pictures to have a universal appeal, hence her depictions of Malka embrace various ages and different nationalities. She also emphasises the value of using creative activities as therapy for refugee children, suggesting how the young girl could express her memories of trauma through her own paintings. Remembering how to paint as a child was an important part of Lois's journey following in the footsteps of Malka.





 



Below: Circle Dancing, led by Stefan Freedman



Below: Zaramo in concert: Birgitta Campbell fiddle, Sebastiana Black vocals, John Firmin accordion, Kim Redshaw djembe. Norwich, March 2018.

Below: Zaramo in concert, with Stefan Freedman



Below: Lois Cordelia (Malka visual artist), with some of the artwork for the film, and two fresh paintings completed during the Norwich fundraiser.


Below: The mother and child painting chosen by the winner of the silent art auction.


Below: More live acoustic music by Salman Toheed of the Blasian band


Below: Zaramo in concert: Birgitta Campbell fiddle, John Firmin accordion, Kim Redshaw djembe, Sebastiana Black vocals. Norwich, March 2018.



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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art asylum seekers dedicated film international film festival ipswich lois cordelia london malka music paper-cutting portraits refugee children refugee support refugees sebastiana black speed-painting stefan freedman suffolk https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/5/malka-makes-london-film-festival-debut-sun-27th-may-2018 Fri, 04 May 2018 16:22:09 GMT
Let's Go Quackers! Ten Giant Ducks come to Ironbridge https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/5/lets-go-quackers-ten-giant-ducks-come-to-ironbridge Donate: Let's Go Quackers Follow: @LetsGoQuackers

Tomorrow, Saturday 5th May 2018 sees the launch of Let's Go Quackers, a fun family-orientated art trail for Summer 2018. Ten giant Ducks will be displayed on the high street of Ironbridge, Shropshire (5th May - 8th July) and then move to Southwater, Telford (from 15th July) to coincide with Telford's Carnival of Giants event, bringing smiles to visitors young and old alike, and raising valuable funds for local charities (Severn Hospice and the Jayne Sargent Foundation). The trail is the idea of local resident Julie Ward, who has worked tirelessly to bring her dream to life, successfully securing an impressive bid from Telford & Wrekin Council's Pride in Your High Street fund to ensure that the trail goes ahead.


Each of the Ducks has been hand-painted by an artist, either working to their own design, or in collaboration with local school children or students and others who have submitted a design for one of the Ducks. The trail organisers received an overwhelming 750+ design submissions for the 10 Ducks. It was an extremely difficult decision to choose just 10 designs to appeal to every age group and to reflect the local history and heritage of Telford and Ironbridge. The full list of artists includes: Nicky Meecham, Jenny Leonard, Donna Newman, Alicia Hollis, Traci Moss, Jackie Coyle, Shropshire Fine Art, Lois Cordelia, Lizzie Moretti and Megan Evans.


Donate: Let's Go Quackers Follow: @LetsGoQuackers


Once Upon a Fairytale

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia travelled to Telford in April to paint a steampunk-fairytale inspired design onto one of the Ducks: Once Upon a Fairytale. The steampunk theme of her design was partly inspired by the history of Ironbridge and Telford and their links with the Industrial Revolution, and partly by the distinctive steampunk-style goggles of the Duck statues themselves. Combining a quirky mix of imagery in her characteristic black silhouette style on a rich antique gold background, Lois hopes her design will appeal to trail visitors of every age-group, allowing them to spot lots of fun and unexpected details.








Trail Map: Ironbridge 5th May - 8th July 2018


The timing of the trail is very apt: Telford celebrates its 50th year in 2018. Telford is named after civil engineer Thomas Telford (1757-1834) who engineered many road and rail projects in Shropshire. It is often known as "the birthplace of industry". Today, Telford is the largest town in Shropshire and one of the fastest growing towns in Britain. Nearby Ironbridge is located in the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge and takes its name from the famous Iron Bridge that crosses the River Severn. Opened in 1781, the Iron Bridge was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron.

Julie Ward's idea for Let's Go Quackers was originally inspired by seeing the 2013 Wild in Art trail GoGoGorillas. She said: “I wanted to do something like this ever since I first saw the gorillas on social media, but I didn’t dare hope it would be possible.  When news of the High Street Fund was announced I knew this was my opportunity to make it happen.  To qualify for funding, the idea had to be innovative, engaging and have a bit of longevity.  It also needed to show that there would be wider benefits for the community and for others.  I really believe the ducks will be all of these things.

“My next job was to source the ducks. Where do you go to buy giant ducks? When I was looking around I heard about some 9ft ducks that were for sale in a charity auction after being part of an art trail in Liverpool.  My bid secured the ducks and proceeds went to Macmillan.

“The most important thing to me is that they bring fun to our community, visitors to Ironbridge and smiles to everyone’s faces.”

Donate: Let's Go Quackers Follow: @LetsGoQuackers




 Let's Go Quackers is not Lois Cordelia's first Duck related venture. She previously created a unique trio of "duck-transformations" for the Grand Norwich Duck Race 2017 (raising funds for Break children's charity), using Duck-tape, cable-ties, galvanised steel wire and other utilitarian materials to sculpt miniature figurines onto the backs of large rubber ducks. The Ducks and their riders took part in the duck race in August 2017 in Norwich, staying afloat and upright thanks to their heavy ballast of engineering bricks strapped beneath them!





 

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(Loïs Cordelia) art fairytale ironbridge jayne sargent julie ward lets go quackers public art trail severn hospice shropshire steampunk telford https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/5/lets-go-quackers-ten-giant-ducks-come-to-ironbridge Fri, 04 May 2018 14:55:30 GMT
Faces in the Leaves of Sherwood Forest: Hoodwinked 2018 https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/5/faces-in-the-leaves-of-sherwood-forest-hoodwinked-2018 Britain's most familiar and best loved garden bird, the Robin, is notoriously antisocial, not only towards other bird species, but also its own. However, Nottingham will witness a round of Robins flock to its streets this Summer as part of Hoodwinked 2018, capturing the playful spirit of local legendary outlaw Robin Hood. This free public art trail is presented by Nottingham City Council in partnership with creative events producers Wild in Art and charity partner Nottinghamshire Hospice, for whom the Robin symbolises hope after the passing of a loved one.

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia has been commissioned to paint one of thirty-three Robins after her design entitled Green Man of Sherwood Forest was chosen to be sponsored by Benoy. Graham Cartledge CBE of Benoy writes: "We are delighted to show our support to Nottinghamshire Hospice, a very well-deserving local charity. The Hoodwinked initiative will attract visitors and locals alike, encouraging people in our community to connect through creativity - something that is at the heart of what our designers do at Benoy." Lois has recently explored the theme of the Green Man in a variety of unusual art mediums, including paper-cutting, creative cartography, and upcycled plastic straws. Now she is preparing to paint the Green Man onto an unexpected canvas: a giant Robin statue.

On the subject of her involvement in the Nottingham art trail, Lois remarks: “Have you seen faces in the leaves of Sherwood Forest? Many folklorists claim that the legend of Robin Hood is derived from the ancient image of the Green Man, or related figures such as Jack in the Green or Robin Goodfellow (Puck). No surprise that Robin Hood is clothed in Lincoln Green. The mischievous outlaw could be hiding in any disguise! Speaking as a Wild in Art addict, I can’t wait to start painting my Robin for Hoodwinked. It means a lot to be part of this (my seventh public art trail), and I’m very grateful to Benoy for sponsoring Green Man of Sherwood Forest. I often link the Green Man with the legend of Robin Hood in Lincoln Green in my artwork. My partner Jason (appropriately also an archer) has kindly agreed to model for the Green Man.”



Lois will travel to Nottingham later this month to paint her design onto the Robin statue. She will be working in a public painting space in intu Broadmarsh. Lois welcomes an audience of all ages while she paints, so don't be shy - come along on Monday 14th May circa 10.30 am - 4.00 pm, watch, ask questions, and be inspired! Please note: the full design of each Robin cannot be revealed until the trail goes live on Saturday 7th July 2018, but you can catch a sneak preview of work in progress on some of the Robins if you drop by at the painting space.

Follow: @Hoodwinked2018

Location of the Painting Space:
intu Broadmarsh
Lister Gate, Nottingham NG1 7LB, on the ground floor next door to Made in Nottingham.






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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics archery art exhibition green man hoodwinked ipswich live art demo lois cordelia nottingham nottinghamshire hospice portraits robin hood robins sherwood forest speed-painting wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/5/faces-in-the-leaves-of-sherwood-forest-hoodwinked-2018 Fri, 04 May 2018 14:14:03 GMT
Where do you go to buy giant Ducks? Let's Go Quackers! https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/4/where-do-you-go-to-buy-giant-ducks-lets-go-quackers Follow @LetsGoQuackers

Ten giant Ducks will form part of Let's Go Quackers, a fun family-orientated art trail coming to Ironbridge in Summer 2018 and then moving to Southwater, Telford to coincide with Telford's Carnival of Giants event, bringing smiles to visitors young and old alike, and raising valuable funds for local charities (Severn Hospice and the Jayne Sargent Foundation). The trail is the idea of local resident Julie Ward, who has worked tirelessly to bring her dream to life, successfully securing an impressive bid from Telford & Wrekin Council's Pride in Your High Street fund to ensure that the trail goes ahead.


Each of the Ducks will be hand-painted by an artist, either working to their own design, or in collaboration with local school children or students and others who have submitted a design for one of the Ducks. The trail organisers received an overwhelming 750+ design submissions for the 10 Ducks. It was an extremely difficult decision to choose just 10 designs to appeal to every age group and to reflect the local history and heritage of Telford and Ironbridge. The full list of artists includes: Nicky Meecham, Jenny Leonard, Donna Newman, Alicia Hollis, Traci Moss, Jackie Coyle, Shropshire Fine Art, Lois Cordelia, Lizzie Moretti and Megan Evans.


Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia will travel to Telford in April 2018 to paint a steampunk-fairytale inspired design onto one of the Ducks: Once Upon a Fairytale. Lois is very excited to have been chosen as one of the artists for Let's Go Quackers, and to be bringing her design to life for the trail. The steampunk theme of her design was partly inspired by the history of Ironbridge and Telford and their links with the Industrial Revolution, and partly by the distinctive steampunk-style goggles of the Duck statues themselves. Combining a quirky mix of imagery in her characteristic black silhouette style on a rich antique gold background, Lois hopes her design will appeal to trail visitors of every age-group, allowing them to spot lots of fun and unexpected details.

Note:
Once Upon a Fairytale is currently still available for sponsorship (in part or as a whole) by a local business or individual. Sponsorship packages start at only £160 per single board, or £1200 to sponsor the whole Duck, which will be prominently sited in Ironbridge, World Heritage site, for 8 weeks of the first part of the trail, then moving to Southwater, Telford (the heart of Telford), outside Telford’s Shopping Centre, to showcase the Ducks further linking to the Carnival of Giants event also celebrating Telford’s 50th Anniversary. The trail will attract many visitors. If you or your business are interested in having your name, logo and message on a billboard attached to the plinth at the base of the Duck and supporting this exciting venture in aid of fantastic local causes, please don't hesitate to contact Julie Ward: [email protected] or 07966520537.


Above: Sneak preview of Once Upon A Fairytale ... Lois is not allowed to reveal the full design until the trail goes live. Watch this space...!

The timing of the trail is very apt: Telford celebrates its 50th year in 2018. Telford is named after civil engineer Thomas Telford (1757-1834) who engineered many road and rail projects in Shropshire. It is often known as "the birthplace of industry". Today, Telford is the largest town in Shropshire and one of the fastest growing towns in Britain. Nearby Ironbridge is located in the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge and takes its name from the famous Iron Bridge that crosses the River Severn. Opened in 1781, the Iron Bridge was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron.

Julie Ward's idea for Let's Go Quackers was originally inspired by seeing the 2013 Wild in Art trail GoGoGorillas. She said: “I wanted to do something like this ever since I first saw the gorillas on social media, but I didn’t dare hope it would be possible.  When news of the High Street Fund was announced I knew this was my opportunity to make it happen.  To qualify for funding, the idea had to be innovative, engaging and have a bit of longevity.  It also needed to show that there would be wider benefits for the community and for others.  I really believe the ducks will be all of these things.

“My next job was to source the ducks. Where do you go to buy giant ducks? When I was looking around I heard about some 9ft ducks that were for sale in a charity auction after being part of an art trail in Liverpool.  My bid secured the ducks and proceeds went to Macmillan.

“My plan now is to get business sponsorship for each duck and work with local artists, community groups, schools and others to submit fun designs to decorate the ducks that reflect Telford. The most important thing to me is that they bring fun to our community, visitors to Ironbridge and smiles to everyone’s faces.”




 Let's Go Quackers is not Lois Cordelia's first Duck related venture. She previously created a unique trio of "duck-transformations" for the Grand Norwich Duck Race 2017 (raising funds for Break children's charity), using Duck-tape, cable-ties, galvanised steel wire and other utilitarian materials to sculpt miniature figurines onto the backs of large rubber ducks. The Ducks and their riders took part in the duck race in August 2017 in Norwich, staying afloat and upright thanks to their heavy ballast of engineering bricks strapped beneath them!






 

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(Loïs Cordelia) art artists ducks engineering fairytale industry ironbridge jayne sargent foundation julie ward lets go quackers lois cordelia severn severn hospice shropshire steampunk telford trail wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/4/where-do-you-go-to-buy-giant-ducks-lets-go-quackers Mon, 02 Apr 2018 23:27:14 GMT
Norwich Malka Event raises £1300 for Norwich Refugees https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/3/norwich-malka-event-raises-1300-for-norwich-refugees A heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make our third Malka-inspired fundraiser (Norwich, Sunday 4th March 2018) such a beautiful, memorable and successful event: together, we raised around £1300 for the vital work of the Norwich Refugee support charity New Routes, a vibrant local charity working to settle and integrate refugees.

The richly varied programme included live acoustic music and singing by The Fire Doves, a number of traditional circle folk dances with live accompaniment by zesty band Zaramo (including Norwich-based singer Sebastiana Black, whose haunting vocals bring the little girl Malka's journey to life in the film), a number of acoustic songs with guitar sung by Salman Toheed of Blasian, a reading of two poems by an Egyptian Norwich resident, an introductory talk by New Routes, a double screening of Malka (with and without subtitles), an exhibition of the artwork featured in the film and live speed-painting by Lois Cordelia, and a generous buffet of finger-foods and cake.

At its official launch in Ipswich in April 2017, the Malka film raised more than £1000 for Suffolk Refugee Support. Malka is a short non-profit film that aims to reach out to the public and promote empathy and understanding of refugees, seen through the eyes of a child. A second fundraiser event at the Angel Cafe in Diss in July 2017 raised more than £600 in addition for the Hoxne based charity Next Stop Symi which takes vital supplies to trapped refugees on the Greek island of Symi and elsewhere. During Autumn 2017, the film was selected for screening as part of three international film festivals, including  the Symi International Film Festival in Greece, Woodengate Film Festival in Maramures County, Romania, and the Documentaries Without Borders Festival in Delaware, USA.

Below: Circle Dancing, led by Stefan Freedman




Below: Zaramo in concert: Birgitta Campbell fiddle, Sebastiana Black vocals, John Firmin accordion, Kim Redshaw djembe. Norwich, March 2018.

Below: Zaramo in concert, with Stefan Freedman



Below: Lois Cordelia (Malka visual artist), with some of the artwork for the film, and two fresh paintings completed during the Norwich fundraiser.


Below: The mother and child painting chosen by the winner of the silent art auction.


Below: More live acoustic music by Salman Toheed of the Blasian band


Below: Zaramo in concert: Birgitta Campbell fiddle, John Firmin accordion, Kim Redshaw djembe, Sebastiana Black vocals. Norwich, March 2018.



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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art blasian ceilidh circle dance cut-paper dance east anglia exhibition film fundraiser ipswich live art demo lois cordelia malka music new routes norfolk norwich paper-cutting portraits refugee support refugees sebastiana black speed-painting stefan freedman suffolk zaramo https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/3/norwich-malka-event-raises-1300-for-norwich-refugees Sun, 04 Mar 2018 23:56:44 GMT
Malka Celebration Sun 4th March: fundraising for Norwich Refugees https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/2/malka-celebration-sun-4th-march-raising-funds-for-refugees-in-norwich A short film called Malka, dedicated to refugee children (2017, dir: Stefan Freedman) is continuing to raise valuable funds to help refugees in East Anglia and far beyond. Following its screening at two very successful fundraising events in Ipswich and Diss last year, Malka will be the focus of a third event at Harford Community Centre in Norwich on Sunday 4th March 2018 (2.00 pm - 5.00 pm). All proceeds will go to New Routes, a vibrant local charity working to settle and integrate refugees in Norwich.

The event will feature a double screening of Malka (with and without subtitles), followed by a concert of live music by The Fire Doves, an exhibition of the artwork featured in the film and live speed-art by Lois Cordelia, a reading of two poems by an Egyptian Norwich resident, a varied buffet of finger-foods and cake, and an opportunity to take part in a number of traditional circle folk dances with live accompaniment by zesty band Zaramo. Zaramo includes Norwich-based singer Sebastiana Black, whose haunting vocals bring the little girl Malka's journey to life in the film. The afternoon will also feature an introductory talk by New Routes.



Date: Sunday 4th March 2018
Times: 14.00 - 17.00.
Venue: Harford Community Centre, Hall Road, Norwich NR4 6ET
Tickets: £10 for an adult or £5 for a student. Refugees and Asylum-seekers are welcome for a nominal £1. Advance tickets can be purchased from Kate O'Rourke [email protected] or 01603 662842. Tickets can also be purchased on the door if places are still available.

 

At its official launch in Ipswich in April 2017, the Malka film raised more than £1000 for Suffolk Refugee Support. Malka is a short non-profit film that aims to reach out to the public and promote empathy and understanding of refugees, seen through the eyes of a child. A second fundraiser event at the Angel Cafe in Diss in July 2017 raised more than £600 in addition for the Hoxne based charity Next Stop Symi which takes vital supplies to trapped refugees on the Greek island of Symi and elsewhere. During Autumn 2017, the film was selected for screening as part of three international film festivals, including  the Symi International Film Festival in Greece, Woodengate Film Festival in Maramures County, Romania, and the Documentaries Without Borders Festival in Delaware, USA.

Below: The visuals for the Malka film were created as mixed media illustrations by Lois Cordelia, including a blend of acrylic paintings, brushpen, paper-cutting and drawing, layered digitally.


 

Above: Musicians including Sebastiana Black and Stefan Freedman performing a live concert during the Ipswich Malka fundraiser in April 2017.
 

Music
The music for Malka features the distinctive voice of Norwich-based Czech singer Sebastiana Black, accompanied by a haunting mix of sounds created by various ancient musical instruments including the sackbut, shawm, bass viol and bowed psaltery. Musicians Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush and Andy Mapplebeck are all Ipswich-based.

Below: Czech singer Sebastiana Black (lead vocals)

Below: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.


Above: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above:  Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.
 

Lyrics

Malka

(dedicated to refugee children)

Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
While there is still some light to guide us
Sorrel soothes our tired feet
Lovage we can eat
Look out for somewhere they won't find us

"When will we be going home?"
Malka, our future is unknown
Each day we'll be moving on
Till the danger's gone
We're following a road to freedom
Sing once more your favourite song
Keep your spirit strong
Hold all your dreams until you need them

"When can I play with my friends?"
Malka, so many paths were taken
Strangers, unfamiliar words
Like migrating birds
That vanish over moonlit mountains
Some day in another land
We'll dance hand in hand
We'll wash our feet in sparkling fountains


Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
Tomorrow we'll have better weather
Soon we'll stop and build a fire
Burning with desire
That one day there'll be peace forever

© Stefan Freedman


 Artwork
Ipswich-based artist Lois Cordelia began creating the artwork for Malka in May 2016. Over the following 6 months, she assembled a series of more than 60 visuals, inspired by Stefan's lyrics. Lois's mixed media illustrations combine painting, drawing, paper-cutting, brushpen, photography and digital effects, layered together to heighten the emotional intensity of each image.

One of the challenges that Lois faced was how to convey both the traumas and the aspirations of the young girl, Malka, in ways that touched people's emotions without being unbearably painful to watch. The film hints at the trials and hardships that Malka and her mother endure, but also plants seeds of hope for a brighter future.

Lois wanted her pictures to have a universal appeal, hence her depictions of Malka embrace various ages and different nationalities. She also emphasises the value of using creative activities as therapy for refugee children, suggesting how the young girl could express her memories of trauma through her own paintings. Remembering how to paint as a child was an important part of Lois's journey following in the footsteps of Malka.





Above: "Circle of Dance, Music and Art" paper-cut artwork by Lois Cordelia

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia will perform a live speed-painting demonstration as part of the Sunday 4th March event in Norwich, painting along with the live music, to evoke the spirit of the film. Much of the artwork that Lois created for the Malka film will also be on display. A silent art auction running throughout the afternoon will raise additional funds for New Routes, as will the sale of Lois's greetings cards featuring the above "Circle of Dance, Music and Art" paper-cut artwork design. Two silent auctions of Lois' paintings for Malka have so far raised more than £500 for refugee support charities.

Below: Lois Cordelia performs live speed-art during the Ipswich Malka fundraiser in April 2017.



"Malka" is a short film (less than 5 minutes's duration) dedicated to refugee children everywhere, evoking the journey of a young girl refugee, Malka, and her mother across wilderness and hardship in search of safety. The film features haunting acoustic music and lyrics by Stefan Freedman, accompanied by atmospheric mixed media illustrations by Lois Cordelia. The film in its entirety can be viewed here. Public sharing of the film is encouraged.


Responses to Malka

The film has already been circulated widely on the Internet and social media, inspiring a wealth of heartfelt and emotional responses, such as the following:

 

"Fascinating, astounding, haunting, very beautiful. An amazing venture for a great cause. A phrase that springs to mind: 'a modern Gesamtkunstwerk' of real beauty."
 

"I love this video. Through it I have felt the plight of refugees in a way that no amount of other media coverage could have done. Well done to all who have been involved in making it."
 

Malka director Stefan Freedman remarks: "The feedback from many people is passionate, nuanced and strongly affirming. My brother's (face-to-face) was the most surprising of all to me. He said that of all the creative projects over the years this one had gone furthest. Emotionally powerful and professionally impressive."

 

The development and future of Malka

Stefan Freedman was travelling on a train a few years ago when the idea for Malka first came to him. The music that began to flow together in his mind was originally inspired by a traditional Bulgarian folk tune. Stefan shaped his own lyrics to fit the music, evoking the words of a refugee mother to her young daughter, Malka, seeking to reassure her in the midst of unfamiliarity and confusion.
 

In Stefan's words:

"MALKA is the name of a seven year old girl. She is fleeing from extreme danger, looking for refuge. The inner world she inhabits - feelings, images, fears and hopes - is as real and viscerally present as the external one. She and her mother are the focus of a short (four and a half minutes) animation in which Malka represents refugee children everywhere.

"Her name means 'little one' in Bulgarian, and in both Arabic and Hebrew means 'queen'. The name came to me spontaneously while I wrote the song and only afterward I discovered the meanings.

"Today with an unprecedented number of displaced people seeking refuge, the media is full of stories about 'the refugee crisis'. This fuels fear and protest. Nations are putting pressure on other nations to take more refugees while negotiating to reduce their own intake. 

"So the popular perception is one of grave uncertainty and risk, of facing a human tsunami. A 'refugee problem'. We become defensive and completely lose sight of the individual adult or child - unwillingly caught up in events they would never have chosen. The aim of this short film is to enchant viewers and evoke a feeling of understanding and empathy. The viewer is given glimpses not only of Malka's nightmarish memories, but of dreams and hopes that sustain her through hardship.

"My hope is that the film will open up the question that perhaps knowing or supporting even one person or family seeking refuge will be a rewarding experience. The short film has been used as a focal point for successful refugee fundraisers in collaboration with Suffolk Refugee Support."

(- Stefan Freedman, February 2018)

Stefan is a teacher of traditional, sacred and circle dance, travelling worldwide to lead workshops and other events incorporating live music and displays. His dances use evocative music from all continents.

 

Thank You
Stefan and Lois wish to extend heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in making all the fundraiser events a success, including all musicians and support, everyone who attended and bought tickets for the events, helped out with catering, promotion, press, radio and media coverage, ticket sales and facilities, sold copies of Malka on DVD, gave talks, assisted with transport and set-up, and everyone who bid in the silent auction. Special thanks go to Joanna Carrick for agreeing to co-host the launch event at Red Rose Chain, and to Madeline Lees and the Angel Cafe, Diss.





 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art dance exhibition fundraiser ipswich live art demo lois cordelia malka music new routes norwich portraits refugee children refugees speed-painting stefan freedman https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2018/2/malka-celebration-sun-4th-march-raising-funds-for-refugees-in-norwich Fri, 09 Feb 2018 20:17:38 GMT
Green Man straw sculpture installed at Akeman Pub, Tring https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/12/the-akeman-oakman-and-the-green-man Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia was recently involved in a pioneering art project to transform a vast stockpile of discarded plastic drinking straws into a meaningful sculpture for Oakman Inns and Restaurants, inspired by topical campaigns to #BanTheStraw and #TrashPlastic. Lois's finished sculpture of a giant Green Man has now been installed in its new home: the beautifully refurbished Akeman Pub in Tring, Hertfordshire. The commission is one of several Lois has completed via MyArtBrief, an innovative online art commissioning platform that connects artists directly with clients. Lois has swiftly become the "most commissioned artist" at MyArtBrief since she joined in February 2017.

Belinda Boyd, writing for Oakman Inns, reports:


The Akeman, Oakman and The Green Man
A decade of happy memories provides a small gift for planet


7th December 2017: One of Tring’s favourite pubs, The Akeman, will be celebrating its tenth birthday this month as the first of what has now become a major force in the Pub Industry, Oakman Inns.

The Akeman recently underwent a major refurbishment and an extension into the shop next door providing a new wood-fired pizza oven in the extended open kitchen, more seating in the enlarged restaurant and two cosy ‘parlour rooms’ with a dedicated servery - which have all received many favourable and admiring comments from their regulars. One change has been the display of a large and unusual wall sculpture of a giant Green Man, commissioned by Oakman’s CEO, Peter Borg-Neal, which is made from tens of thousands of plastic straws.



A Green Man is a sculpture or other representation of a face surrounded by leaves, branches or vines. It was originally known as a Foliate Head and was commonly used as a decorative architectural ornament. Green Men are frequently found in carvings on both secular and ecclesiastical buildings, and in 1939 inspired Julia, Lady Raglan to produce a paper “The Green Man in Church Architecture” where the term “Green Man” was first used, later to become the preferred label. Prior to that, green forested figures came with a variety of names and formed a variety of European cultures. Lady Raglan’s work was invaluable in establishing the Green Man as a legitimate object of historical and anthropological study.

Peter Borg-Neal’s commission was prompted by seeing evidence of the appalling and direct impact of discarded straws on so many sea creatures, and he decided to ban single-use plastic drinking straws from all 20 of their pubs to mark Earth Day 2017 (22nd April). However, this meant he had a stockpile of over 60,000 unwanted plastic straws – which he could hardly throw away!

Peter said: “We take sustainability seriously in our business, and having seen a tragic video of a turtle with a straw embedded deep in its nose, we became the first pub group to #BanTheStraw in the UK, which has inspired other pub groups to follow suit. Sending our stock of plastic straws to landfill was not an option so we decided to find an artist to refashion them into a sculpture that epitomised Oakman Inns’ culture.”



Ipswich sculptor, Lois Cordelia, was commissioned to design and create a wall-mounted sculpture which incorporates several tens of thousands of the unwanted plastic straws, threaded, woven and bunched together on a sturdy frame of steel wire. Lois said: “It was a privilege to work with Oakman Inns on such an unusual and pioneering brief, which came to me through the innovative MyArtBrief website. From my initial thoughts of creating a giant Oak tree out of the straws, the Green Man evolved to incorporate not only oak leaves but many other distinctive elements of native British fauna and flora. People's
response to this creative 'upcycling' has been overwhelmingly positive.”






The Green Man theme is intrinsically linked with Oakman Inns and its name. According to some sources the first recorded use of “Ake Man” suggests that the name was a personal or even a nickname for a hard man, one as strong as oak. The surname as Oakman or Okman was occupational for a forester or perhaps a charcoal maker.

The arboreal theme continues throughout the group, as Oakman also owns The Akeman Inn in Kingswood, near Bicester and the soon-to-be redeveloped Royal Foresters in Ascot. The company also owns four Beech Houses, designed to be relaxed casual dining and drinking pubs and The Cherry Tree in Olney, which opens next Spring after its conversion from a Care Home.

The Akeman in Tring is not only the first pub in the widely acclaimed group, but is also managed by Peter Borg-Neal’s son, Éamonn, who started work in the pub as a kitchen porter as a 16-year-old. Peter said: “I started working in the pub trade in exactly the same way. You have to start at the bottom and if you run your own business, you have to know and understand how to do every job. I am so proud of Eamonn and where he is today.”


Ban the Straw campaign:

To mark Earth Day this year (22nd April), Oakman Inns was the first UK pub group to ban all single-
use plastic straws from their pubs, offering instead a biodegradable alternative on request. Quickly
branded as #StrawsSuck, more pub and restaurant groups have joined them and it has even
become the subject of legislation in some US States.


 

About Oakman Inns:
The company was founded by entrepreneur and CEO Peter Borg-Neal. The first Oakman Inn was The Akeman in Tring in 2007, which quickly won an award for outstanding design and conservation work, with which the pub group has become synonymous. The multiple award-winning company established the new concept of the ‘modern public house’ and has successfully transformed both historic and modern buildings into contemporary spaces that have a strong sense of identity and integration within the local communities that they serve. Offering a high standard of food, drink and service ‘The Oakman Collection’ comprises 20 contemporary Inns with letting rooms and ‘all-day’ pubs across Berkshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands. The Four Alls in Warwickshire is closed for refurbishment and will open along with three new sites in the first half of next year.

The pub group is proud of its reputation for looking after its growing team. They have developed a specially designed training and career development academy called ‘Oakmanology’ to help each individual to be the best they can be.

In November, they were the first pub company to receive the Princess Royal Training Award for training excellence and won the British Institute of Innkeepers’ National Innovation in Training Award (NITA) for Best Casual Dining Training Programme. Ranked 8 th in the Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to Work For 2017, it’s the highest rated hospitality company in the List. Over the last four years, the group has also won seven Publican Awards.


 

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(Loïs Cordelia) akeman art ban the straw green man lois cordelia my art brief oakman inns plastic sculpture https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/12/the-akeman-oakman-and-the-green-man Fri, 08 Dec 2017 15:11:06 GMT
Free-fall: Art from Poetry and Poetry from Art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/11/free-fall-art-from-poetry-and-poetry-from-art Ekphrasis is a Greek term referring to a creative process in which one art medium relates or responds to another. Poet and artist Karen Dennison's recent compilation Free-fall is an exploration of this idea, in which visual art inspires poetry, which in turn inspires visual art, and so on.

Free-fall is a continuation of the chain of responses in the Book of Sand and Blueshift pamphlets. It begins with a poem in response to Blueshift’s final piece, Disappointment, by Sam Smith. This poem was given to an artist to respond to, whose artwork was given to a different poet to respond to and so on, resulting in a sequential series of poetry and art.

Lois Cordelia is one of a number of visual artists whose work features in Free-fall. Lois created this mixed-media illustration, "Reveal the Secret Night", in response to Karen Dennison's poem "This Tree", incorporating an intricate paper-cut design. Lois's illustration then inspired the poem "Changeling" by Rosie Sandler, and so the ekphrasis continued to evolve between visual art and poetry.



Free-fall features poems by Oz Hardwick, Pam Thompson, Karen Dennison, Rosie Sandler, Alex Toms, Caroline Davies and Kerry Hammerton, and artworks by Hannah Willow, Tara Pandey, Lois Cordelia, Sam Smith, Julia Watson, Heidi Jukes and Karen Dennison.

"A long time in the meticulous making, this very, very beautiful collection of words and pictures, lovingly curated by Karen Dennison, is a thing of beauty. Treat yourself."

It is available to buy for £5 per copy via Karen Dennison's website: https://kdennison.wordpress.com/free-fall/



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(Loïs Cordelia) anthology art cut-paper ekphrasis free-fall karen dennison paper-cutting poetry https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/11/free-fall-art-from-poetry-and-poetry-from-art Fri, 24 Nov 2017 00:09:27 GMT
Naval themes inspire NutCrackers for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/11/naval-themes-inspire-nutcrackers-for-portsmouth-historic-dockyard The not-to-be-missed Victorian Festival of Christmas returns to the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard next month, running for three days only from Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd December 2017 (daily 10.00 am - 5.00 pm), with a stunning centrepiece trail of 12 giant nautical themed Nutcracker statues. In addition, the festival boasts a bustling Christmas Market of more than 150 stalls selling hand-crafted items and curiosities, and the chance to watch and sing along with traditional Victorian street performers and musicians, as well as lots of other exciting and fun-filled activities for all the family.

The Nutcracker trail is presented by Wild in Art in association with Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and will consist of 12 giant soldier statues, each one inspired by a nautical brief, celebrating key historical figures, ships or themes, brought to life by artists including Deven Bhurke, Donna Newman, Jess Perrin, Lois Cordelia, Megan Evans and Rachel Blackwell. Most of the statues have been painted on-site at the Dockyard. #NutcrackersOnParade

After the festival finishes, some of the sculptures will be auctioned off for NMRN, a registered charity run by the National Museums Royal Navy, while others will be displayed in the grounds of the museum at the historic royal dockyards.

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia's Nutcracker design responds to a brief called "Poor Powder Monkeys". The so-called Powder Monkeys were yong boys (aged about 10 - 14) who were recruited into the navy in the 1800's and exploited for their small size to run and fetch gunpowder from the ship’s hold and carry it to load the artillery guns onboard warships. Their job was demanding and dangerous. Lois's design features a collection of dramatic silhouette vignettes telling the stories of the daily life of the powder monkeys. On the back of the Nutcracker, Lois has painted an evocative portrait in sepia tones based on the most famous photograph of a powder monkey, dated circa 1864.

Lois travelled to Portsmouth in November 2017 to paint her design onto a blank Nutcracker statue. Being a speed-painter, Lois completed the entire paintwork in about 8 hours.

#NutcrackersOnParade




"Poor Powder Monkeys"

















Miniature #NutcrackersOnParade :-)

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(Loïs Cordelia) art christmas monkeys" nutcracker portraits portsmouth historic dockyard portsmouth harbour powder speed-painting victorian festival of christmas wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/11/naval-themes-inspire-nutcrackers-for-portsmouth-historic-dockyard Thu, 23 Nov 2017 20:28:11 GMT
Elmer: Imagination Can Take You Anywhere https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/11/elmer-imagination-can-take-you-anywhere The much loved children's book character Elmer the Patchwork Elephant is approaching his thirtieth birthday in 2019, and to celebrate this, Andersen Press have teamed up with creative event producers Wild in Art to present Elmer's Big Art Parades 2019. There will be Elmer trails in several UK towns and cities in the Summer of 2019, including Ipswich.

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia was asked to paint one of the early pre-launch Elmer statues. Lois called her fairytale-inspired design "Imagination can take you anywhere". The fairytale theme is appropriate, as Andersen Press is named after Hans Christian Andersen.

Three Elmer statues including Elmer the Patchwork Elephant (painted by Michelle Turton), "Astronaut" (designed and painted by Mik Richardson) and "Imagination can take you anywhere" (by Lois Cordelia) were unveiled on 25th October 2017 during St Elizabeth Hospice's official Ipswich "Big Reveal" event. The Ipswich Elmer trail is the much anticipated follow-on from Pigs Gone Wild 2016 and will continue to raise vital funds for St Elizabeth Hospice.


Above: Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia beside her Elmer design for Elmer's Big Art Parades 2019



Painting Elmer the Elephant for Elmer's Big Art Parades 2019


Below: The official unveiling at Ipswich Town Hall on 25th October 2017.





Mik Richardson's "Astronaut" and Lois Cordelia's "Imagination can take you anywhere"



Work in progress series

How many elephants can you spot? :-)







Lois's 17 month old niece Matilda came to visit and kindly let her Aunt borrow her Elmer books and toy. Here she is with her Dad, inspecting progress :-)








 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics andersen press art elmer the patchwork elephant elmer's big art parades fairytale ipswich lois cordelia pigs gone wild speed-painting st elizabeth hospice suffolk wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/11/elmer-imagination-can-take-you-anywhere Thu, 23 Nov 2017 18:27:52 GMT
Nasty Women : Architecture Exhibition, London 26 Oct - 18 Nov https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/10/nasty-women-architecture-exhibition-london-26-oct---18-nov ** Opening Night: Thursday 26th October, 6.00 pm - 9.00 pm - All welcome! **

Anise Gallery London are delighted to be joining the global Nasty Women art movement for its next exhibition: "Nasty Women : Architecture", which runs from 26th October to 18th November 2017. Set up by female artists in New York last year, the name was derived from a comment Donald Trump made to Hilary Clinton. The movement has since organised a number of exhibitions and events with the aim of raising awareness of women’s rights and raising funds for women's charities around the world.

Our Nasty Women : Architecture exhibition is being co-curated by Aesthetica Art Prize Winner and V&A digital resident Rachel Ara and art writer Issey Scott. With an all female exhibition of work inspired by architecture, we are hoping to raise funds for South London Rape Crisis. Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia joins a small number of female artists whose work has been selected for this show, including Carla Gannis, Sophie Neville and Hannah Honeywill.

In keeping with Anise Gallery's established ethos of curating and promoting architectural art work, the exhibition will showcase innovative work that takes its inspiration from architecture, geometry, the urban environment and infrastructure. Proceeds from the sale of artwork will be split between the artist and the South London Rape Crisis charity.

Lois Cordelia will exhibit a collection of about 100 of her recent life drawings, each one superimposed on the pages of a book of architectural photography. The original book is called "The House of God" and features photographs of sacred spaces: churches, cathedrals, temples, mosques, synagogues, shrines, and so on). The male and female life sketches in the book seek to re-establish the sacredness of the naked human body - often considered indecent in the context of religion and societal norms - by superimposing it over the architecture of places of worship of every culture. Hence, it ties together the exhibition's architectural theme with the Rape Crisis charity, working to re-empower rape victims and represent a journey into healing after the body's violation through rape.

Lois Cordelia runs a life drawing group in her hometown of Ipswich, along with friend and life model Kaz Garrad. Lois has filled a number of books with life sketches in this style, working over photography of architecture, space, the planet earth, ancient megalithic monuments, shipwrecks, and so on. Lois also runs a monthly interfaith Art and Spirituality forum in Ipswich.

Nasty Women : Architecture runs from 26th October to 18th November 2017 at the Anise Gallery, which is located along historic Shad Thames just past the former Design Museum building and opposite Conran’s head office. It is situated near to Bermondsey Street, the home of the Fashion and Textiles Museum and White Cube and within 5 minute walk of the fantastic Maltby Street Market.

Opening Night: Thursday 26th October 2017, 6pm - 9pm.
Exhibition runs: 26th October to 18th November 2017
Gallery Opening Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11.00 am - 5:00 pm
Address: Anise Gallery, 13A Shad Thames, LONDON SE1 2PU - scroll down for map.








 

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(Loïs Cordelia) anise gallery architecture art life drawing lois cordelia london nudes rape crisis sacred space https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/10/nasty-women-architecture-exhibition-london-26-oct---18-nov Thu, 19 Oct 2017 16:21:31 GMT
Now on Ebay: Jane Austen portrait, proceeds to Ark Cancer Centre Charity https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/10/now-on-ebay-portrait-of-jane-austen-raising-funds-for-ark-cancer-centre-charity Happy bidding!

A portrait of celebrated English novelist Jane Austen, painted in the space of 60 minutes during the
Sitting With Jane BookBench auction in Basingstoke last month is now listed on Ebay, in a bid to raise valuable funds for Ark Cancer Centre Charity. Ipswich-based artist and speed-painter Lois Cordelia whose BookBench design "Look Upon Verdure" fetched the second highest bid of the evening at £6,750, based the portrait on one of a few surviving depictions of Jane Austen, in celebration of Austen's recent appearance on the new ten pound note. Lois painted live while talking with visitors to the auction.

The portrait (acrylic on canvas) measures 23 x 16.5 inches and is signed by the artist. The Ebay auction will run for 10 days, ending 13th October. Please bid generously, as all proceeds go directly to the charity.


The listing can be found here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152727956395?ssPageName=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649



Sitting With Jane was one of numerous events this year marking the 200th anniversary (2017) of English novelist Jane Austen's death. Each BookBench in the trail was painted by a professional artist to feature an Austen inspired design, sponsored by the generosity of local businesses, and located on public view at various locations in and around Basingstoke for ten weeks over the Summer. Presented by Wild in Art and Destination Basingstoke, in association with Festival Place, the trail has raised more than £100,000 for the charity to date.

 

Photo credit: Adrian Lovell

Lois Cordelia's BookBench design "Look Upon Verdure" fetched the second highest bid of the evening at £6,750
. Thanks to the generosity of Laura and Matt at The Topiary Salon, Lois's BookBench will remain in Old Basing near Basingstoke and will still be on view to visitors. Appropriately for a beauty salon, the BookBench is not only decorative but also functional.




Below: Laura and Matt Haystaff of The Topiary Salon with Lois Cordelia and "Look Upon Verdure" at the auction, 15th September 2017. Photo credit: Adrian Lovell


Photo credit: Adrian Lovell
Sitting With Jane BookBench Auction, Basingstoke
Photo credit: Adrian Lovell
September 15th 2017
Photo credit: Adrian Lovell
Sitting With Jane BookBench Auction, Basingstoke
Photo credit: Adrian Lovell
September 15th 2017


Photo credit: Jason Curtis


"Look Upon Verdure"


Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia had her design "Look Upon Verdure" chosen for the trail and travelled 150 miles to Basingstoke in February to paint it onto a BookBench. Lois took 4.5 hours (interspersed with breaks!) on Tuesday 28th February to transform the blank white BookBench, using acrylic paints, lots of metallic and iridescent colours and a large brush. She had also prepared her own paper-cut stencils of two quotations of Jane Austen, illustrating her love of Nature, in which Lois set herself the special challenge of imitating Austen's handwriting and even her signature (as it appears on her will - see below). Jane invites us to pause in our hectic modern lifestyles, sit with her on a bench and rest our eyes on nature, gardens and greenery: “To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.” (Jane Austen, Mansfield Park)

Lois's BookBench was on public display in the middle of the village of Overton, near Basingstoke, from 17th June until 31st August 2017.

 
 

Follow: @LoisCordelia @SittingWithJane @JAusten200 @Basingstoke #SittingWithJane @Ark_Charity
 


Above: Lois with Clare and Amanda from De La Rue



Below: Lois created her own set of paper-cut stencils to evoke the beautiful handwriting of Jane Austen, including this interpretation of Austen's signature.

Below: Lois uses her own hand-made paper-cut stencils to transfer Jane Austen's quotations onto the BookBench.

"Look Upon Verdure"#SittingWithJane teaser: using my own #papercut #stencils to evoke #JaneAusten's elegant #handwriting :)
"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment."
Sitting With Jane - Wild in Art - De La Rue plc - Basingstoke - Festival Place @JAusten200 #LookUponVerdure

Lois' design "Look Upon Verdure" has been generously sponsored by De La Rue, whose headquarters are located near Basingstoke.

The trail has encouraged visitors to explore both well known and less frequented parts of north Hampshire, from beautiful villages and rural landscapes that have scarcely changed since Austen's time to modern visitor attractions, landmarks and great shopping.

Meanwhile, Lois Cordelia is very excited to have recently secured her fourth Wild in Art commission, which will remain top secret until the big reveal on 25th October 2017... Stay tuned! :-)









 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics ark cancer art auction basingstoke jane austen live art demo lois cordelia portraits sitting with jane speed-painting wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/10/now-on-ebay-portrait-of-jane-austen-raising-funds-for-ark-cancer-centre-charity Wed, 04 Oct 2017 16:51:44 GMT
Giant Green Man sculpted out of discarded plastic drinking straws https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/9/giant-green-man-sculpted-out-of-discarded-plastic-drinking-straws Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia has undertaken some unusual commissions in her time, but among the most challenging to date has been her recent opportunity to create a giant Green Man sculpture out of tens of thousands of discarded plastic drinking straws. The commission is one of several she has completed via MyArtBrief, an innovative online art commissioning platform that connects artists directly with potential clients. Lois has swiftly become the "most commissioned artist" at MyArtBrief since she joined in February 2017.

Oakman Inns

Lois was commissioned earlier this Summer by Oakman Inns and Restaurants to transform their vast stockpile of black plastic drinking straws into a work of art. Oakman Inns is a UK based pub company who place great emphasis on sustainability, hence they have recently taken the pioneering decision to ban all plastic drinking straws from their business, inspired by a number of recent media campaigns to #TrashPlastic. The plastic straws have been replaced with paper ones, and only upon specific request from customers. Meanwhile, rather than place 60,000 plastic straws into landfill, Oakman Inns chose to commission an artist to refashion them into a meaningful sculpture.

The Green Man theme is intimately linked with Oakman Inns. Two of their pubs are named The Akeman, which is another name for "Oak Man" or "Green Man". The Oakman Inns logo is an oak leaf. Lois's Green Man sculpture will eventually be located at The Akeman Pub at Tring in Hertfordshire, following its refurbishment later this Autumn. Being a lover of trees and Green Man imagery, Lois engaged wholeheartedly with the spirit of this brief and went on to complete a wall-mounted sculpture incorporating several tens of thousands of the drinking straws, threaded, woven and bunched together on a sturdy frame of steel wire.


Straw Sculpting in progress - early stages






The Green Man

The piece features a traditional Green Man face surrounded by oak leaves as well as a host of intricately detailed smaller sculptures that depict distinctive elements of native British woodland flora and fauna: fern fronds, dandelions, fungi, blackthorn, grasses, swallowtail butterfly, dragonfly, and even a spider's web, suggesting the immense web of interwoven biodiversity supported by the Oak tree. The predominant green and gold colour scheme is inspired by Lois's visits to see the famous Green Man carvings on the ceiling bosses of the Norwich Cathedral cloisters.

The theme is reminiscent of one of Lois's best known papercut works: Gaze of the Green Man (2015), which has inspired a number of poetic compositions and was also published in the first edition of acclaimed US journal A Beautiful Resistance, which has subsequently featured several of Lois's papercut designs. The original framed papercut of Gaze of the Green Man is currently on display at the beautiful family-owned Sugar and Spice Mediterranean Bistro in Llandrindod Wells. Jess and Paul who own Sugar and Spice have also been inspired by this project to insist on banning plastic drinking straws from their restaurant.

Below: Gaze of the Green Man, scalpel papercut, 2015
Gaze of the Green ManGaze of the Green Man"Gaze of the Green Man"
Scalpel paper-cut. Approx. 40 x 50 cm. April 2015.
The Green Man looks away from the viewer with a poignant, wistful expression. The spider's web hints at the fragile interconnectedness of Nature. A dandelion clock implies transience, but also proliferation. A butterfly suggests rebirth.



Lois's first experiment in straw sculpture was to create this giant Dragonfly, which seems to evoke a prehistoric age in which such large insects were perhaps preyed on by small carnivorous dinosaurs.





The spider's web is a recurring feature in Lois's artwork, representing the interconnectedness of all things. Weaving her own web out of plastic drinking straws has only deepened Lois's existing respect for spiders! Meanwhile, the butterfly is an enduring symbol of transformation and rebirth, which seemed especially appropriate for a sculpture that transforms plastic rubbish into art.




 

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(Loïs Cordelia) akeman art commissions drinking straws eco art green man lois cordelia my art brief oakman inns pagan plastic recycle reuse sculpture trash plastic https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/9/giant-green-man-sculpted-out-of-discarded-plastic-drinking-straws Mon, 18 Sep 2017 23:51:48 GMT
"Look Upon Verdure" raises £6,750 for Basingstoke Cancer Charity https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/9/jane-austen-bookbench-raises-6-750-for-basingstoke-cancer-charity Friday 15th September witnessed the grand finale of the widely acclaimed public art trail Sitting With Jane, with 24 unique Jane Austen inspired BookBenches being auctioned at the Ark Conference Centre in Basingstoke, to raise valuable funds for Ark Cancer Centre Charity. Presented by Wild in Art and Destination Basingstoke, in association with Festival Place, the trail has raised an impressive £95,700 for the charity.

Sitting With Jane was one of numerous events this year marking the 200th anniversary (2017) of English novelist Jane Austen's death. Each BookBench was painted by a professional artist to feature an Austen inspired design, sponsored by the generosity of local businesses, and located on public view at various locations in and around Basingstoke for ten weeks over the Summer.

 

Photo credit: Adrian Lovell

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia, whose BookBench design "Look Upon Verdure" fetched the second highest bid of the evening at £6,750, also performed a live speed-painting demonstration during the evening, creating a portrait interpretation of Jane Austen in the space of 60 minutes, in celebration of Austen's recent appearance on the ten pound note. The resulting painting on canvas will be auctioned separately via Ebay in the coming few weeks to raise additional funds for
Ark Cancer Centre Charity - watch this space for details!

Thanks to the generosity of Laura and Matt at The Topiary Salon, Lois' BookBench will remain in Old Basing near Basingstoke and will still be on view to visitors. Appropriately for a beauty salon, the BookBench is not only decorative but also functional.





Below: Laura and Matt Haystaff of The Topiary Salon with Lois Cordelia and "Look Upon Verdure" at the auction, 15th September 2017. Photo credit: Adrian Lovell


Below: Lois's 60 minute speed-portrait of Jane Austen will be auctioned via Ebay in the coming few weeks.


Photo credit: Adrian Lovell
Sitting With Jane BookBench Auction, Basingstoke
Photo credit: Adrian Lovell
September 15th 2017

Photo credit: Adrian Lovell
Sitting With Jane BookBench Auction, Basingstoke
Photo credit: Adrian Lovell
September 15th 2017


Photo credit: Jason Curtis


"Look Upon Verdure"


Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia had her design "Look Upon Verdure" chosen for the trail and travelled 150 miles to Basingstoke in February to paint it onto a BookBench. Lois took 4.5 hours (interspersed with breaks!) on Tuesday 28th February to transform the blank white BookBench, using acrylic paints, lots of metallic and iridescent colours and a large brush. She had also prepared her own paper-cut stencils of two quotations of Jane Austen, illustrating her love of Nature, in which Lois set herself the special challenge of imitating Austen's handwriting and even her signature (as it appears on her will - see below). Jane invites us to pause in our hectic modern lifestyles, sit with her on a bench and rest our eyes on nature, gardens and greenery: “To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.” (Jane Austen, Mansfield Park)

Lois's BookBench was on public display in the middle of the village of Overton, near Basingstoke, from 17th June until 31st August 2017.

 
 

Follow: @LoisCordelia @SittingWithJane @JAusten200 @Basingstoke #SittingWithJane @Ark_Charity
 


Above: Lois with Clare and Amanda from De La Rue



Below: Lois created her own set of paper-cut stencils to evoke the beautiful handwriting of Jane Austen, including this interpretation of Austen's signature.

Below: Lois uses her own hand-made paper-cut stencils to transfer Jane Austen's quotations onto the BookBench.

"Look Upon Verdure"#SittingWithJane teaser: using my own #papercut #stencils to evoke #JaneAusten's elegant #handwriting :)
"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment."
Sitting With Jane - Wild in Art - De La Rue plc - Basingstoke - Festival Place @JAusten200 #LookUponVerdure

Lois' design "Look Upon Verdure" has been generously sponsored by De La Rue, whose headquarters are located near Basingstoke.

The trail has encouraged visitors to explore both well known and less frequented parts of north Hampshire, from beautiful villages and rural landscapes that have scarcely changed since Austen's time to modern visitor attractions, landmarks and great shopping.

Meanwhile, Lois Cordelia is very excited to have recently secured her fourth Wild in Art commission, which will remain top secret until the big reveal in October 2017... Stay tuned! :-)









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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics ark cancer centre art basingstoke bookbenches de la rue destination basingstoke jane austen live art demo lois cordelia overton portraits sitting with jane wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/9/jane-austen-bookbench-raises-6-750-for-basingstoke-cancer-charity Mon, 18 Sep 2017 18:43:22 GMT
Malka film selected for International Film Festival in Greece https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/9/malka-film-selected-for-international-film-festival-in-greece An Ipswich-based film collaboration dedicated to refugee children, Malka, by Stefan Freedman and Lois Cordelia has been selected for screening as part of the Symi International Film Festival in Greece between 18th to 22nd September 2017.

 

At its official Ipswich launch in April, hosted by the Red Rose Chain, the film raised more than £1000 for Suffolk Refugee Support. Malka is a short non-profit film that aims to reach out to the public and promote empathy and understanding of refugees, seen through the eyes of a child.


A further fundraiser event at the Angel Cafe in Diss in July raised more than £600 in addition for the Hoxne based charity Symi which takes vital supplies to trapped refugees on the Greek island of Symi and elsewhere. A third fundraiser event is planned for Norwich next February.



Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia performed two live speed-painting demonstrations as part of the April launch evening, painting along with the live music, to evoke the spirit of the film. The Malka launch also featured an exhibition of some of Lois' artwork for the film. Two silent art auctions of Lois' paintings for Malka have raised more than £500 for refugee support charities.


"Malka" is a short film (4 m 52 s) dedicated to refugee children everywhere, evoking the journey of a young girl refugee, Malka, and her mother across wilderness and hardship in search of safety. The film features haunting acoustic music and lyrics by Stefan Freedman, accompanied by atmospheric mixed media illustrations by Lois Cordelia. The film in its entirety can be viewed here. Public sharing of the film is encouraged.

Responses to Malka

The film has already been circulated widely on the Internet and social media, inspiring a wealth of heartfelt and emotional responses, such as the following:

 

"Fascinating, astounding, haunting, very beautiful. An amazing venture for a great cause. A phrase that springs to mind: 'a modern Gesamtkunstwerk' of real beauty."
 

"I love this video. Through it I have felt the plight of refugees in a way that no amount of other media coverage could have done. Well done to all who have been involved in making it."
 

Stefan Freedman remarks: "The feedback from many people is passionate, nuanced and strongly affirming. My brother's (face-to-face) was the most surprising of all to me. He said that of all the creative projects over the years this one had gone furthest. Emotionally powerful and professionally impressive."

 

The development and future of Malka

Stefan Freedman was travelling on a train a few years ago when the idea for Malka first came to him. The music that began to flow together in his mind was originally inspired by a traditional Bulgarian folk tune. Stefan shaped his own lyrics to fit the music, evoking the words of a refugee mother to her young daughter, Malka, seeking to reassure her in the midst of unfamiliarity and confusion.
 

In Stefan's words:

"When Adrian [Lush] first urged me to record 'Malka' it was simply because he felt it was an exceptional song. We liked the idea of putting it on YouTube to share with friends.

"Once Lois started producing artwork, so captivating and emotive, I realised that the narrative needed exactly the right voice with an equal power. So delighted that my first choice vocalist, Sebastiana, was willing to come from Norwich to record with us.

"Once finished, the creative project seemed to merit an 'unveiling'. ... The unofficial one (for friends) was at the Ipswich Quakers on 17th March 2017, and the official open-to-public one was at the Red Rose Chain's Avenue theatre on 28th April. Combining the first public showing with a talk from SRS, entertainments and a meal - as a fundraiser for refugees - seemed to follow on naturally. I can't now recall who first suggested it or when, but how could it have been otherwise? Malka seems to have a life of her own!

"I couldn't in my wildest dreams have imagined the event raising over £1,000 for SRS. Very thrilled about this result. Big heartfelt congratulations to all involved.

"What happens next? The Malka video has the potential to serve in three ways. It touches people and creates empathy (even people like my brother who generally is not sympathetic with the refugee cause!). The artwork and music contain nuances, symbolism and many layers which provide an excellent stimulus for discussion. And as we've discovered and proven it can be the focus around which effective fundraising can be arranged." (- Stefan Freedman, May 2017)

Stefan is a teacher of traditional, sacred and circle dance, travelling worldwide to lead workshops and other events incorporating live music and displays. His dances use evocative music from all continents.

A smaller follow-up fundraising event is already scheduled for Sunday 16th July 2017 (17:00 - 19:00) at the Angel Cafe in Diss, Norfolk.

 

Thank You

Stefan and Lois wish to extend heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in making the fundraiser events a success, including all musicians and support, everyone who attended and bought tickets for the events, helped out with catering, promotion, press, radio and media coverage, ticket sales and facilities, sold copies of Malka on DVD, gave talks, assisted with transport and set-up, and everyone who bid in the silent auction. Special thanks go to Joanna Carrick for agreeing to co-host the launch event at Red Rose Chain, and to Madeline Lees and the Angel Cafe, Diss.






 

Music
The music for Malka features the distinctive voice of Czech singer Sebastiana Black (based in Norwich), accompanied by a haunting mix of sounds created by various ancient musical instruments including the sackbut, shawm, bass viol and bowed psaltery. Musicians Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush and Andy Mapplebeck are all Ipswich-based.

Below: Czech singer Sebastiana Black (lead vocals)

Below: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.


Above: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above:  Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Lyrics


Malka

(dedicated to refugee children)
 

Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
While there is still some light to guide us
Sorrel soothes our tired feet
Lovage we can eat
Look out for somewhere they won't find us

"When will we be going home?"
Malka, our future is unknown
Each day we'll be moving on
Till the danger's gone
We're following a road to freedom
Sing once more your favourite song
Keep your spirit strong
Hold all your dreams until you need them

"When can I play with my friends?"
Malka, so many paths were taken
Strangers, unfamiliar words
Like migrating birds
That vanish over moonlit mountains
Some day in another land
We'll dance hand in hand
We'll wash our feet in sparkling fountains


Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
Tomorrow we'll have better weather
Soon we'll stop and build a fire
Burning with desire
That one day there'll be peace forever

© Stefan Freedman


Artwork
Ipswich-based artist Lois Cordelia began creating the artwork for Malka in May 2016. Over the following 6 months, she assembled a series of more than 60 visuals, inspired by Stefan's lyrics. Lois's mixed media illustrations combine painting, drawing, paper-cutting, brushpen, photography and digital effects, layered together to heighten the emotional intensity of each image.

One of the challenges that Lois faced was how to convey both the traumas and the aspirations of the young girl, Malka, in ways that touched people's emotions without being unbearably painful to watch. The film hints at the trials and hardships that Malka and her mother endure, but also plants seeds of hope for a brighter future.

Lois wanted her pictures to have a universal appeal, hence her depictions of Malka embrace various ages and different nationalities. She also emphasises the value of using creative activities as therapy for refugee children, suggesting how the young girl could express her memories of trauma through her own paintings. Remembering how to paint as a child was an important part of Lois's journey following in the footsteps of Malka.





 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art film festival ipswich lois cordelia malka music paper-cutting portraits refugees stefan freedman suffolk suffolk refugee support symi https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/9/malka-film-selected-for-international-film-festival-in-greece Thu, 14 Sep 2017 22:42:07 GMT
Your chance to bid! Jane Austen BookBench Auction Fri 15th Sep 2017 https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/9/your-chance-to-bid-jane-austen-bookbench-auction-fri-15th-sep-2017 Following on from the widely acclaimed public art trail Sitting With Jane, 24 unique Jane Austen inspired BookBenches will go under the hammer during the official auction in Basingstoke on the evening of Friday 15th September 2017, to raise valuable funds for Ark Cancer Centre Charity.

This unique free public art trail has marked the 200th anniversary (2017) of English novelist Jane Austen's death. The BookBenches have each been painted by a professional artist to feature an Austen inspired design, and were located on public view at various locations in and around Basingstoke for ten weeks over the Summer.

Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia designed and painted one of the BookBenches (scroll down for more details), and will be speed-painting live during the auction at The Ark Conference & Events Centre, Dinwoodie Drive, RG24 9NN Basingstoke. Her resulting painting will be auctioned separately in the coming few weeks to raise additional funds for
Ark Cancer Centre Charity - watch this space for details!

 

"Look Upon Verdure"


Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia had her design "Look Upon Verdure" chosen for the trail and travelled 150 miles to Basingstoke in February to paint it onto a BookBench. Lois took 4.5 hours (interspersed with breaks!) on Tuesday 28th February to transform the blank white BookBench, using acrylic paints, lots of metallic and iridescent colours and a large brush. She had also prepared her own paper-cut stencils of two quotations of Jane Austen, illustrating her love of Nature, in which Lois set herself the special challenge of imitating Austen's handwriting and even her signature (as it appears on her will - see below). Jane invites us to pause in our hectic modern lifestyles, sit with her on a bench and rest our eyes on nature, gardens and greenery: “To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.” (Jane Austen, Mansfield Park)

Lois's BookBench was on public display in the middle of the village of Overton, near Basingstoke, from 17th June until 31st August 2017.

 
 

Follow: @LoisCordelia @SittingWithJane @JAusten200 @Basingstoke #SittingWithJane @Ark_Charity
 


Above: Lois with Clare and Amanda from De La Rue



Below: Lois created her own set of paper-cut stencils to evoke the beautiful handwriting of Jane Austen, including this interpretation of Austen's signature.

Below: Lois uses her own hand-made paper-cut stencils to transfer Jane Austen's quotations onto the BookBench.

"Look Upon Verdure"#SittingWithJane teaser: using my own #papercut #stencils to evoke #JaneAusten's elegant #handwriting :)
"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment."
Sitting With Jane - Wild in Art - De La Rue plc - Basingstoke - Festival Place @JAusten200 #LookUponVerdure

Lois' design "Look Upon Verdure" has been generously sponsored by De La Rue, whose headquarters are located near Basingstoke.

The trail has encouraged visitors to explore both well known and less frequented parts of north Hampshire, from beautiful villages and rural landscapes that have scarcely changed since Austen's time to modern visitor attractions, landmarks and great shopping. Now that the trail has finished, the BookBenches will be auctioned off on Friday 15th September 2017 to raise much needed funds to support the vital work of Ark Cancer Centre Charity. The trail is presented by Wild in Art and Destination Basingstoke, in association with Festival Place.









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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics ark cancer centre art basingstoke bookbenches cut-paper hampshire jane austen live art demo overton paper-cutting sitting with jane speed-painting wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/9/your-chance-to-bid-jane-austen-bookbench-auction-fri-15th-sep-2017 Thu, 14 Sep 2017 16:20:16 GMT
#BirdWhisperer Project https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/6/-birdwhisperer-project The Bird Whisperer Project was an idea hatched by Amanda Makepeace and Melissa Gay. Each month several artists from around the world create new artwork from the same reference photo and share it online with #BirdWhisperer. Each artist is free to interpret the source material in their own unique voice. Please visit the Bird Whisperer Project to see all the artists' work and the reference photographs. Note: Reference photos are obtained from public domain or used with permission from the photographer.
 

28th June 2017: Golden-Breasted Starling

Title: "Mirror-Starling"
Size: 41 x 23 cm
Media: Acrylic Mirror-Painting
Completed in about 30 minutes.



30th May 2017 Silvery-Cheeked Hornbill

Title: "Silvery-cheeked Hornbill"
Size: 30 x 30 cm
Media: Silver, white and sepia marker pens on cork tile
Completed in about 20 minutes.


 

26th April 2017: Swan

Title: "Swan Lake Metamorphosis"
Approx. 50 x 32 cm
Scalpel Paper-cut
Completed in about 3 hours




29th March 2017: Flamingo

Title: "Flamenco Flamingo"
Approx. 50 x 50 cm
Acrylic Paint, Brushpen, Paper-cut (Scalpel, Pattern Shears, Hole Punches)

Completed in about 1 hour 30 minutes.


February 2017: Vulture


Lois Cordelia joined the Bird Whisperer Project in February 2017, with the theme of Vulture. Her first #BirdWhisperer artwork was a metamorphosis style creative re-imagining of a vinyl record and sleeve:

Title: "The Eve of the War - 30 Minute Vulture Speed-Remix"
Medium: marker pen on vinyl record and sleeve, 30 minutes, 60 x 30 cm.
Original record: Ben Liebrand Remix The Eve of the War.





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(Loïs Cordelia) #birdwhisperer art birds flamingo metamorphosis mixed media remix swan vulture https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/6/-birdwhisperer-project Wed, 28 Jun 2017 22:27:44 GMT
Look Upon Verdure: Sitting With Jane BookBench Trail goes live https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/6/sitting-with-jane-basingstoke-bookbench-trail-goes-live Sitting With Janean art trail of 24 BookBenches inspired by Jane Austen has officially launched in Basingstoke, Hampshire.

This unique free public art trail will mark the 200th anniversary (2017) of English novelist Jane Austen's death. The BookBenches have each been painted by a professional artist to feature an Austen inspired design, and have been located on public view at various locations in and around Basingstoke from 17th June until 31st August 2017.

"Look Upon Verdure"


Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia had her design "Look Upon Verdure" chosen for the trail and travelled 150 miles to Basingstoke in February to paint it onto a BookBench. Lois took 4.5 hours (interspersed with breaks!) on Tuesday 28th February to transform the blank white BookBench, using acrylic paints, lots of metallic and iridescent colours and a large brush. She had also prepared her own paper-cut stencils of two quotations of Jane Austen, illustrating her love of Nature, in which Lois set herself the special challenge of imitating Austen's handwriting and even her signature (as it appears on her will - see below). Jane invites us to pause in our hectic modern lifestyles, sit with her on a bench and rest our eyes on nature, gardens and greenery: “To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.” (Jane Austen, Mansfield Park)

Lois's BookBench will be on public display in the middle of the village of Overton, near Basingstoke, from 17th June until 31st August 2017.


 

Follow: @LoisCordelia @SittingWithJane @JAusten200 @Basingstoke #SittingWithJane @Ark_Charity
 


Above: Lois with Clare and Amanda from De La Rue



Below: Lois created her own set of paper-cut stencils to evoke the beautiful handwriting of Jane Austen, including this interpretation of Austen's signature.

Below: Lois uses her own hand-made paper-cut stencils to transfer Jane Austen's quotations onto the BookBench.

"Look Upon Verdure"#SittingWithJane teaser: using my own #papercut #stencils to evoke #JaneAusten's elegant #handwriting :)
"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment."
Sitting With Jane - Wild in Art - De La Rue plc - Basingstoke - Festival Place @JAusten200 #LookUponVerdure

Lois' design "Look Upon Verdure" has been generously sponsored by De La Rue, whose headquarters are located near Basingstoke.

The trail will encourage visitors to explore both well known and less frequented parts of north Hampshire, from beautiful villages and rural landscapes that have scarcely changed since Austen's time to modern visitor attractions, landmarks and great shopping. After the trail finishes at the end of August, the BookBenches will be auctioned off on 15th September 2017 to raise much needed funds to support the vital work of Ark Cancer Centre Charity. The trail is presented by Wild in Art and Destination Basingstoke, in association with Festival Place.









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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art basingstoke cut-paper de la rue hampshire ipswich jane austen live art demo mansfield park overton paper-cutting piggeswyk scalpel sitting with jane wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/6/sitting-with-jane-basingstoke-bookbench-trail-goes-live Sat, 17 Jun 2017 01:13:52 GMT
Behind the scenes: Painting a SunBear for Birmingham https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/5/behind-the-scenes-painting-a-bear-for-birmingham Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia travelled to Birmingham earlier this week to paint her latest public art commission onto a giant SunBear statue: Taj Mahal by Sun and Moon, which is generously sponsored by (and will be on public display at) Martineau Place shopping centre in the heart of Birmingham for 10-weeks this summer (10th July to 17th September 2017) as part of a free public art trail: The Big Sleuth.

In her usual 'speed-painting' style, Lois completed the paintwork in the space of about 8 hours, using a large brush and shimmering metallic paints. Additionally, she used her fingernails to scratch into the paintwork to suggest intricate carving and architectural forms, and her fingertips to create characterful transitions of colour, evoking the passage of day and night.

Please note: Lois cannot reveal her design in full until the trail goes live on 10th July, so this article contains only a few behind-the-scenes glimpses of work in progress on her recent speed-painting marathon.



Below (video excerpt): Lois paints part of the design using her fingertips to create a colourful and characterful transition between day and night.
Finger painting part of the design for 'Taj Mahal by Sun and Moon' to create characterful transitions of colour, evoking the passage of day and night

Please note: Lois cannot reveal her design in full until the trail goes live on 10th July, so this article contains only a few behind-the-scenes glimpses of work in progress on her recent speed-painting marathon.

Lois Cordelia’s design for The Big Sleuth is called "Taj Mahal by Sun and Moon" and is inspired by one of the major themes chosen for the 2017 trail to mark the 70th anniversary of Indian Independence as well as Birmingham City Council's Year of South Asian Culture (Utsav). In the context of these themes, the regal, grounded stance and cosmic theme of the SunBear suggested to Lois the monumental motif of the Taj Mahal, which has frequently featured in her speed-painting. Visitors to one of India's best known architectural landmarks often remark that the Taj Mahal is as beautiful by moonlight as it is by day, maybe more so.

The SunBear is Lois's third Wild in Art adventure. She previously completed a golden pig, Pig-geswyk, for her hometown's 2016 trail: Pigs Gone Wild, and a Jane Austen inspired BookBench (for Sitting With Jane, Basingstoke). Lois gains a growing reputation as a "speed-painter", working fearlessly in public, performing live art demonstrations in a wide range of venues. She painted her pig, Pig-geswyk, within 2 days, and her BookBench, 'Look Upon Verdure', in the space of 4.5 hours, talking to dozens of visitors as she worked. Sadly, in the case of the SunBear, the allocated painting space in Birmingham city centre was not on public view, but Lois has recorded her progress via a series of photographs, timelapse and video footage, to be released as soon as the trail goes live in July. Watch this space.

Despite being known as a "speed-painter", Lois comments that she never sees painting as a race against the clock. She simply prefers to work swiftly, painting from the shoulder with a big brush and acrylics to create sweeping lines full of movement and energy, even within an apparently static subject matter such as the majestic monument of the Taj Mahal. Her favourite motto is: Less is more.

Lois's paintings often feature shimmering, iridescent and metallic colours, which catch the light in unexpected ways as the viewer walks by. Her pig Pig-geswyk featured twin townscapes of her hometown of Ipswich, rendered in metallic gold and bronze paints, which aptly earned it the epithet of "Shimmering Pig-geswyk" in the local press. Lois's design for Birmingham's The Big Sleuth similarly features iridescent and metallic paints to evoke the beauty of the "Taj Mahal by Sun and Moon".

Below: Lois Cordelia crouches beside Pig-geswyk, Ipswich, June 2016.

Follow: @LoisCordelia @TheBigSleuth #TheBigSleuth @Wild_in_Art

 

Presented by Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity and creative producers Wild in Art, The Big Sleuth will see up to 100 giant bear statues (and bear cubs created by schools and young people) leave their paw prints throughout the city and all over the West Midlands before being auctioned in mid October 2017 to raise money for the charity. The individually designed sculptures (165 cm tall) will appear throughout Birmingham this Summer, inspiring residents and tourists alike to uncover its cultural gems and discover areas they may not have explored before.


Birmingham will be known as Bear-mingham in 2017. The trail goes live on Monday 10th July.

 

The sun bear (Helarctos Malayanus), also called the "honey bear" for its love of honey, is the smallest, least familiar and among the rarest of all bear species, native to tropical forest habitats of Southeast Asia. It is easily recognised by the crescent shaped patch of paler fur on its breast. It is classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The Big Sleuth, so named because 'sleuth' is the collective noun for a group of bears, is the highly-anticipated sequel to Birmingham’s The Big Hoot, which attracted more than 800,000 visitors in 2015 and raised over £625,000 in total for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity. The term 'sleuth' also refers to a detective, which is most appropriate for an art trail that encourages visitors to explore and investigate their surroundings in more detail.

This second free public art trail is expected to attract thousands of local, regional and national visitors to the city.




 

The Big Sleuth is the second mass-participation public arts event to take place in Birmingham.

Sally-Ann Wilkinson, Director of Wild in Art said: “We’re delighted to have some incredibly talented artists involved in The Big Sleuth and we’re so excited to see their creations on the trail this summer. The project transforms streets, parks and public spaces into a fun, free art gallery taking people on a creative journey around Birmingham.”

Elinor Eustace, Deputy Director of Fundraising at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity said: “The Big Sleuth is really important to Birmingham Children’s Hospital as not only will it bring visitors into our fantastic city from all over the UK, but we also hope to raise over half a million pounds to support the pioneering work we do here every day.”

To find out more visit www.thebigsleuth.co.uk

 

Wild in Art
@Wild_in_Art

Wild in Art is one of the leading creative producers of spectacular, mass-appeal public art events which bring together business and creative sectors with schools and local communities to create a shared experience that supports the host city’s sense of identity, its economy and environment, and showcases its creativity and innovation.

Since 2008 Wild in Art has animated cities across the world including Sydney, Melbourne, Cape Town and São Paulo and created trails for the London 2012 Olympics, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Historic Royal Palaces and Aardman Animations.

Wild in Art events have:

Attracted over 6 million additional visitors to host cities across the UK and worldwide
Contributed over £1.2m to local creative communities
Enabled over £8m to be raised for charitable causes
Engaged over 80,000 young people in creative programmes
For further information about Wild in Art visit www.wildinart.co.uk


Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity
One of just four standalone children’s hospitals in the UK, Birmingham Children’s Hospital is a world leader in paediatric healthcare with over 270,000 patient visits every year.

Delivering some of the most advanced treatments, complex surgical procedures and cutting edge research and development, in recent years the hospital’s reliance on charitable giving has increased as the Trust strives to deliver projects that go above and beyond NHS standards.

As a result, every patient and family at Birmingham Children’s Hospital will have been touched by the hospital’s charity in some way. Whether that is a newly refurbished playroom or ward, a state-of-the-art piece of equipment or even a toy at Christmas.

But the impact of fundraising on patient experience is much more than purely financial – it makes a real difference to the services it provides to children and their families during difficult times, pushing boundaries and improving standards of excellence in research, education, treatment and patient experience in order to provide the very best for the children and families in its care.

For more information on Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, please visit www.bch.org.uk.

 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art bears birmingham live art demo lois cordelia martineau place pigs gone wild speed-painting sunbears taj mahal the big sleuth utsav wild in art https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/5/behind-the-scenes-painting-a-bear-for-birmingham Thu, 18 May 2017 22:25:11 GMT
Metamorphosis Speed-Painting for Woodbridge Art Club https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/5/metamorphosis-speed-painting-for-woodbridge-art-club As part of her popular series of speed-painting demonstrations, Lois Cordelia particularly enjoys the challenge of creatively re-imagining an existing canvas, that is to say, not simply obliterating the original image, but exploiting its potential to contribute expressively and aesthetically to a new work. On Wednesday 3rd May 2017, Lois Cordelia performed two live speed-painting demonstrations for the renowned Woodbridge Art Club in Suffolk, painting over unlikely choices of existing imagery on canvas.
For her first demonstration (25 minutes, including commentary), she chose a photographic canvas print of a Buddha statue with candles, which suggested themes of peace, harmony and the balance of light and dark. Hence she decided to paint a woodland scene over it, evoking similar themes.


For her second 45 minute demo, Lois chose a very different photographic canvas print, of colourful and intricately patterned Moroccan bowls. This striking background suggested themes of liveliness and vibrant energy. She swiftly superimposed a portrait of reggae icon Bob Marley, completed within 45 minutes.

Loosely basing her work on black and white photo references, Lois simultaneously reinterprets both the photograph and the canvas, so that the end result is not only a creative fusion of the two images, but also a metamorphosis in its own right. Lois emphasises that this process relies on a fluid, flexible approach to painting, allowing parts of the original image to remain and contribute in unexpected ways.

A photographic series of work in progress is featured below. Special thanks to Iris Howard for taking photographs.

 

Just about to start...









After about 25 minutes:


Next choice of canvas for metamorphosis treatment: Moroccan bowls.


First brushstrokes are the most important...








After 45 minutes:


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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art bob marley live art demo lois cordelia portraits speed-painting suffolk woodbridge woodbridge art club https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/5/metamorphosis-speed-painting-for-woodbridge-art-club Wed, 03 May 2017 23:05:05 GMT
Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia paints a SunBear for Birmingham trail https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/5/ipswich-artist-lois-cordelia-paints-a-sunbear-for-birmingham-trail Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia hit the local headlines last Summer for her golden pig, Pig-geswyk, which formed part of the Ipswich Pigs Gone Wild trail. Lois has since gone on to secure two further Wild in Art commissions, including a Jane Austen inspired BookBench (for Sitting With Jane, Basingstoke) and most recently a giant SunBear, which will be on public display for 10-weeks this summer (July to September 2017) as part of another free public art trail in Birmingham: The Big Sleuth.

 

Presented by Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity and creative producers Wild in Art, The Big Sleuth will see up to 100 giant bear statues (and bear cubs created by schools and young people) leave their paw prints throughout the city and all over the West Midlands before being auctioned in mid October 2017 to raise money for the charity. The individually designed sculptures (165 cm tall) will appear throughout Birmingham this Summer, inspiring residents and tourists alike to uncover its cultural gems and discover areas they may not have explored before.


Birmingham will be known as Bear-mingham in 2017. The trail goes live on Monday 10th July.

 

The sun bear (Helarctos Malayanus), also called the "honey bear" for its love of honey, is the smallest, least familiar and among the rarest of all bear species, native to tropical forest habitats of Southeast Asia. It is easily recognised by the crescent shaped patch of paler fur on its breast. It is classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The Big Sleuth, so named because 'sleuth' is the collective noun for a group of bears, is the highly-anticipated sequel to Birmingham’s The Big Hoot, which attracted more than 800,000 visitors in 2015 and raised over £625,000 in total for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity. The term 'sleuth' also refers to a detective, which is most appropriate for an art trail that encourages visitors to explore and investigate their surroundings in more detail.

This second free public art trail is expected to attract thousands of local, regional and national visitors to the city.

 

Lois Cordelia’s design for The Big Sleuth is called "Taj Mahal by Sun and Moon" and is inspired by one of the major themes chosen for the 2017 trail to mark the 70th anniversary of Indian Independence as well as Birmingham City Council's Year of South Asian Culture (Utsav). In the context of these themes, the regal, grounded stance and cosmic theme of the SunBear suggested to Lois the monumental motif of the Taj Mahal, which has frequently featured in her speed-painting. Visitors to one of India's best known architectural landmarks often remark that the Taj Mahal is as beautiful by moonlight as it is by day, maybe more so.

Lois' design is generously sponsored by Martineau Place shopping centre in the heart of the city of Birmingham.
 

N.B. Lois's design for The Big Sleuth, "Taj Mahal by Sun and Moon" cannot be publicly revealed in full until the trail goes live in July 2017, but stay tuned for behind-the-scenes glimpses...! :-)

Lois is very excited to be embarking on her third Wild in Art adventure. She gains a growing reputation as a "speed-painter" working fearlessly in public, performing live art demonstrations in a wide range of venues. Notably within the context of Wild in Art, she painted her pig, Pig-geswyk, within 2 days, and her BookBench, 'Look Upon Verdure', in the space of 4.5 hours, talking to dozens of visitors as she worked. Lois will travel to Birmingham on 15th May 2017 to paint her design onto a blank Bear statue and plans to complete the entire paintwork within one day, and the varnishing the next. (N.B. Sadly, on this occasion, the allocated painting space in Birmingham city centre will not be on public view, but Lois will record her progress via a series of photographs, timelapse and video footage, to be released as soon as the trail goes live in July.) Despite being known as a "speed-painter", Lois comments that she never sees painting as a race against the clock. She simply prefers to work swiftly, painting from the shoulder with a big brush and acrylics to create sweeping lines full of movement and energy, even within an apparently static subject matter such as the majestic monument of the Taj Mahal. Her favourite motto is: Less is more.

Lois's paintings often feature shimmering, iridescent and metallic colours, which catch the light in unexpected ways as the viewer walks by. Her pig Pig-geswyk featured twin townscapes of her hometown of Ipswich, rendered in metallic gold and bronze paints, which aptly earned it the epithet of "Shimmering Pig-geswyk" in the local press
. Lois's design for Birmingham's The Big Sleuth will similarly feature iridescent paints to evoke the beauty of the "Taj Mahal by Sun and Moon".

Below: Lois Cordelia crouches beside Pig-geswyk, Ipswich, June 2016.

Follow: @LoisCordelia @TheBigSleuth #TheBigSleuth @Wild_in_Art

 

The Big Sleuth is the second mass-participation public arts event to take place in Birmingham.

Sally-Ann Wilkinson, Director of Wild in Art said: “We’re delighted to have some incredibly talented artists involved in The Big Sleuth and we’re so excited to see their creations on the trail this summer. The project transforms streets, parks and public spaces into a fun, free art gallery taking people on a creative journey around Birmingham.”

Elinor Eustace, Deputy Director of Fundraising at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity said: “The Big Sleuth is really important to Birmingham Children’s Hospital as not only will it bring visitors into our fantastic city from all over the UK, but we also hope to raise over half a million pounds to support the pioneering work we do here every day.”

To find out more visit www.thebigsleuth.co.uk

 

Wild in Art
@Wild_in_Art

Wild in Art is one of the leading creative producers of spectacular, mass-appeal public art events which bring together business and creative sectors with schools and local communities to create a shared experience that supports the host city’s sense of identity, its economy and environment, and showcases its creativity and innovation.

Since 2008 Wild in Art has animated cities across the world including Sydney, Melbourne, Cape Town and São Paulo and created trails for the London 2012 Olympics, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Historic Royal Palaces and Aardman Animations.

Wild in Art events have:

Attracted over 6 million additional visitors to host cities across the UK and worldwide
Contributed over £1.2m to local creative communities
Enabled over £8m to be raised for charitable causes
Engaged over 80,000 young people in creative programmes
For further information about Wild in Art visit www.wildinart.co.uk


Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity
One of just four standalone children’s hospitals in the UK, Birmingham Children’s Hospital is a world leader in paediatric healthcare with over 270,000 patient visits every year.

Delivering some of the most advanced treatments, complex surgical procedures and cutting edge research and development, in recent years the hospital’s reliance on charitable giving has increased as the Trust strives to deliver projects that go above and beyond NHS standards.

As a result, every patient and family at Birmingham Children’s Hospital will have been touched by the hospital’s charity in some way. Whether that is a newly refurbished playroom or ward, a state-of-the-art piece of equipment or even a toy at Christmas.

But the impact of fundraising on patient experience is much more than purely financial – it makes a real difference to the services it provides to children and their families during difficult times, pushing boundaries and improving standards of excellence in research, education, treatment and patient experience in order to provide the very best for the children and families in its care.

For more information on Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, please visit www.bch.org.uk.

 

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(Loïs Cordelia) acrylics art bears birmingham exhibition india indian independence live art demo lois cordelia pigs gone wild speed-painting sun bears taj mahal the big sleuth utsav west midlands wild in art year of south asian culture https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/5/ipswich-artist-lois-cordelia-paints-a-sunbear-for-birmingham-trail Tue, 02 May 2017 23:32:18 GMT
Ipswich "Malka" Launch raises £1000 for Suffolk Refugee Support https://www.loiscordelia.com/blog/2017/5/ipswich-malka-launch The official Ipswich launch of a short film, Malka, by Stefan Freedman and Lois Cordelia has raised more than £1000 for Suffolk Refugee Support. Malka is a short non-profit film that aims to reach out to the public and promote empathy and understanding of refugees, seen through the eyes of a child.


The launch event on Friday 28th April featured a rich and varied programme, including an introductory talk by Ian Stewart of Suffolk Refugee Support, three screenings of Malka with and without subtitles, an exhibition and live speed-painting demonstration by artist Lois Cordelia, and live traditional Eastern European music and dance with an 11-piece band that included all of the original Malka musicians. Stefan and Lois spoke about some of the inspiring stories behind their local creative collaboration, and Lois also donated one of her paintings for a silent art auction. Additionally, there was circle dancing and a generous buffet meal.



The event was generously co-hosted by the award-winning Ipswich theatre group Red Rose Chain, whose ethos closely matches that of the Malka project: "Many of our practitioners and volunteers are those whose lives have been turned around by Red Rose Chain. We believe in change and have created a finely balanced, welcoming and creative environment which nurtures our participants, builds their self-esteem and radically improves their life."



Ipswich artist Lois Cordelia performed two live speed-painting demonstrations as part of the evening, painting along with the live music, to evoke the spirit of the film. The Malka launch also featured an exhibition of some of Lois' artwork for the film. A silent art auction raised £250 (a quarter of the total raised by the event).


"Malka" is a short film (4 m 52 s) dedicated to refugee children everywhere, evoking the journey of a young girl refugee, Malka, and her mother across wilderness and hardship in search of safety. The film features haunting acoustic music and lyrics by Stefan Freedman, accompanied by atmospheric mixed media illustrations by Lois Cordelia. The film in its entirety can be viewed here. Public sharing of the film is encouraged.

Responses to Malka

The film has already been circulated widely on the Internet and social media, inspiring a wealth of heartfelt and emotional responses, such as the following:

 

"Fascinating, astounding, haunting, very beautiful. An amazing venture for a great cause. A phrase that springs to mind: 'a modern Gesamtkunstwerk' of real beauty."
 

"I love this video. Through it I have felt the plight of refugees in a way that no amount of other media coverage could have done. Well done to all who have been involved in making it."
 

Stefan Freedman remarks: "The feedback from many people is passionate, nuanced and strongly affirming. My brother's (face-to-face) was the most surprising of all to me. He said that of all the creative projects over the years this one had gone furthest. Emotionally powerful and professionally impressive."

 

The development and future of Malka

Stefan Freedman was travelling on a train a few years ago when the idea for Malka first came to him. The music that began to flow together in his mind was originally inspired by a traditional Bulgarian folk tune. Stefan shaped his own lyrics to fit the music, evoking the words of a refugee mother to her young daughter, Malka, seeking to reassure her in the midst of unfamiliarity and confusion.
 

In Stefan's words:

"When Adrian [Lush] first urged me to record 'Malka' it was simply because he felt it was an exceptional song. We liked the idea of putting it on YouTube to share with friends.

"Once Lois started producing artwork, so captivating and emotive, I realised that the narrative needed exactly the right voice with an equal power. So delighted that my first choice vocalist, Sebastiana, was willing to come from Norwich to record with us.

"Once finished, the creative project seemed to merit an 'unveiling'. ... The unofficial one (for friends) was at the Ipswich Quakers on 17th March 2017, and the official open-to-public one was at the Red Rose Chain's Avenue theatre on 28th April. Combining the first public showing with a talk from SRS, entertainments and a meal - as a fundraiser for refugees - seemed to follow on naturally. I can't now recall who first suggested it or when, but how could it have been otherwise? Malka seems to have a life of her own!

"I couldn't in my wildest dreams have imagined the event raising over £1,000 for SRS. Very thrilled about this result. Big heartfelt congratulations to all involved.

"What happens next? The Malka video has the potential to serve in three ways. It touches people and creates empathy (even people like my brother who generally is not sympathetic with the refugee cause!). The artwork and music contain nuances, symbolism and many layers which provide an excellent stimulus for discussion. And as we've discovered and proven it can be the focus around which effective fundraising can be arranged." (- Stefan Freedman, May 2017)

Stefan is a teacher of traditional, sacred and circle dance, travelling worldwide to lead workshops and other events incorporating live music and displays. His dances use evocative music from all continents.

A smaller follow-up fundraising event is already scheduled for Sunday 16th July 2017 (17:00 - 19:00) at the Angel Cafe in Diss, Norfolk.

 

Thank You

Stefan and Lois wish to extend heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in making the Ipswich launch event a success, including all musicians and support, everyone who attended and bought tickets for the launch event, helped out with catering, promotion, press, radio and media coverage, ticket sales and facilities, sold copies of Malka on DVD, gave talks, assisted with transport and set-up, and everyone who bid in the silent auction. Special thanks go to Joanna Carrick for agreeing to co-host the event at Red Rose Chain.






 

Music
The music for Malka features the distinctive voice of Czech singer Sebastiana Black (based in Norwich), accompanied by a haunting mix of sounds created by various ancient musical instruments including the sackbut, shawm, bass viol and bowed psaltery. Musicians Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush and Andy Mapplebeck are all Ipswich-based.

Below: Czech singer Sebastiana Black (lead vocals)

Below: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.


Above: Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above: Stefan Freedman. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Above:  Left to right: Andy Mapplebeck, Stefan Freedman, Adrian Lush, Lois Cordelia, January 2017. Photo credit: Tony Mounter.

Lyrics


Malka

(dedicated to refugee children)
 

Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
While there is still some light to guide us
Sorrel soothes our tired feet
Lovage we can eat
Look out for somewhere they won't find us

"When will we be going home?"
Malka, our future is unknown
Each day we'll be moving on
Till the danger's gone
We're following a road to freedom
Sing once more your favourite song
Keep your spirit strong
Hold all your dreams until you need them

"When can I play with my friends?"
Malka, so many paths were taken
Strangers, unfamiliar words
Like migrating birds
That vanish over moonlit mountains
Some day in another land
We'll dance hand in hand
We'll wash our feet in sparkling fountains


Storm winds whistle in the sky
Birds cry, flying helter-skelter
Malka, walk a little more
Though your feet are sore
Tomorrow we'll have better weather
Soon we'll stop and build a fire
Burning with desire
That one day there'll be peace forever

© Stefan Freedman


Artwork
Ipswich-based artist Lois Cordelia began creating the artwork for Malka in May 2016. Over the following 6 months, she assembled a series of more than 60 visuals, inspired by Stefan's lyrics. Lois's mixed media illustrations combine painting, drawing, paper-cutting, brushpen, photography and digital effects, layered together to heighten the emotional intensity of each image.

One of the challenges that Lois faced was how to convey both the traumas and the aspirations of the young girl, Malka, in ways that touched people's emotions without being unbearably painful to watch. The film hints at