I’m sorry things haven’t been perfect on An Ocean Glimmer at the moment, I’ve just been a little preoccupied with moving to a different part of the United Kingdom. Some of you may know that I used to live in Plymouth, a city in the South West of England. I have lived here my whole life, I have ever only known one house, so it’s been a pretty big thing to move five hours.
As I was receiving offers for interviews around the London/Reading area, I thought it would be good to live with my Uncle in Aylesbury. This does mean though I won’t be living with my parents, sisters and the puppy dog, who I will miss dearly. This all means more differences in my life, something I’m needing to get used to. But it’s all a part of growing up, I’m really excited by this especially to experience it with the partner
I feel like I’ve finally settled in and things are looking bright for myself and Peter, who also moved from Plymouth to live with myself in Aylesbury. Which means a new chapter in our lives together, something that I’m hoping will go well. Seeing as I lived in Plymouth for 21 years, I thought I would sum up some of the things I would miss.
Plymouth is a great city for cafes and restaurants, there’s always a little gem to be found within the city. Not only do we have big names like Wetherspoons, Nandos and Frankie and Benny’s. We’ve also have local favourites like RumpusCosy, Boston Tea Party and Rockets and Rascals.
Recently I attended the preview night for the launch of the DOG SHOW! at Radiant Gallery. The exhibition was designed and curated by a group of nine and ten-year-old children from Plymouth and the Gallery’s resident Miniature Dachshund, Beau. There was a mixture of work at the exhibition including photography, drawing, jewellery, sculptures and even a pooch photo booth!
It was interesting to see the different work that people had produced for the show, it was all focusing around the same topic but it was interesting to see the different takes. The evening was very doggy originated which was nice to see as they all played a massive part to create the exhibition. Their bistro, RumpusCosy made the dogs at home by serving cute doggy treats including Yappuccinos and Woofaccinos along with dog treats.
There were no two pieces alike at the Gallery, they all had very different meanings from one another. Some were even personal meanings to the Artists themselves. This exhibition didn’t have any many pieces as the last one I attended, the Plymouth Young Contemporary Open. The pieces here did still make the exhibition worth while as they are all different. Here are my favourite pieces from the exhibition.
Kev Attwood – Joshy’s Nose
This piece by Kev Attwood I feel is really cute. A photograph of a dog’s nose, it’s just super simple. It’s interesting to see a dog’s nose up this close as its not really a part of a dog that you see this much in depth.Normally you see their face or paws. Noses are just as cute!
Liam Ainscough – Snoopy Dog
So I don’t remember having one of these as a child, but Liam Ainscough has modeled this piece after the Snoopy Dog released by Fisher Price. It’s an up scaled model of the iconic dog toy from the 1960’s which Liam has fond memories playing with as a child. This is super cute as it’s like your childhood is growing up with you in the form of your toys. The attention to detail is just amazing, it looks exactly like the toy.
Mitch Boyer – Big Viv
I first saw these photo-illustration series by Mitch Boyer before the preview night as they were used to advertise the exhibition. They are such a creative idea to mix man and dog together. There’s such a simple message behind these, they explore what life would be like with a small dog turned giant.
Sarah Britten-Jones – Takin’ the Lead
When I first came across these walk along dogs by Sarah Britten-Jones, they seemed a bit scary. With them looking quite realistic and their facial expressions but after a while you see how it’s such a simple and good idea. I really like the fact that they are on wheels so they are able to be pushed around like you’re taking a dog for a walk.
I hope you enjoyed this post and this brief insight into the DOG SHOW at Radiant Gallery. I would recommend going to the exhibition if you live locally. It is now open to the public until Saturday 30 September 2016. So pop on down! For more information follow Radiant HERE on their official Twitter page.
The very first Plymouth Young Contemporary Open (PYCO) exhibition opened at Radiant Gallery and Peninsula Arts Gallery on Friday 1 July. Following on from the success of Plymouth Contemporary Open, PYCO was created to showcase the incredible talent of children and young people, read more here.
With my friend Corinne Bygrave from Organic By Nerve, we are producing a weekly podcast. We’ve thought about creating a podcast using the equipment at our university for sometime now, but now it has actually happened! We had a lot of fun planning these podcasts and even more fun recording them.
The theme of this weeks podcast is our magazine, Sound. We put it together with our fellow students at university and it’s now all over Plymouth! In this weeks podcast we take you through the process of putting the magazine together, alongside playing some summer tunes, discussing Instagram captions and how you can win a family ticket to Dartmoor Zoo.
So without further adieu, here is week one of our podcast series: Work In Progress.
If you loved what you heard, and wish that you could binge-listen (if that’s a thing) to our podcasts, then have no fear, for a brand new podcast will be coming next Friday 17 June! The topic of our next podcast is set to be Spotify Playlists, so if you’re a big fan of music, particularly a mix of any music from the 70’s, all the way up to current tunes, we’ve got you covered.
Social enterprise Effervescent has pioneered the use of empty buildings in Plymouth
with a bold gallery and café project in an old Halifax Bank on Derry’s Cross. Thanks to the generosity of the local community the charity was able to do the entire refurbishment with only one grant of £5,000.
Since opening the Radiant Space gallery has worked in partnership with children’s charities and Plymouth City Council, also working with Plymouth University to train new artists. With an agenda to drive social change, Radiant’s exhibitions are curated by children, young people and vulnerable adults.
The gallery aims to work alongside these groups to develop their skills and knowledge and train them as artists so they can create shows that are relevant and meaningful. The space is funded entirely by donations, by contracts for work and by grants for projects from funders like BBC Children in Need, BIG Lottery and Arts Council England.
In the past exhibitions have explored themes of loneliness, fear of monsters, political
posturing and discomfort. Recently the gallery has hosted a chilling evocation of child sexual exploitation called The Cold Truth, worked on by young people with lived experience. Events on this summer include Superheroes Show opening in mid-May, followed by the Plymouth Young Contemporary Open from July 2 to 9.
The end of July sees the DOG SHOW! a contemporary art show dedicated to dogs. The space also hosts other community and creative businesses including Attik Dance, a youth dance company aimed at young people and Highly Interactive, a small interactive development studio. It also gives room to Positive Futures, run by Plymouth City Council to support children and teenagers aged 10 to 19 and help them avoid crime, drug and alcohol misuse.
Credit: Radiant
Designed by Effervescent director, Eloise Malone, RumpusCosy has a genuine
shabby chic style thanks to an eclectic mix of donated and second-hand furniture. Eloise describes Rumpus as “the sort of place we wanted to hang out in”. Food is sourced as locally as possible.
All fish is caught in Plymouth and fresh cakes are made in house by its bakers. Specialist tea is supplied by Canton Tea Co, JING Tea and Birdhouse Tea Company, while South Devon business Owens Coffee supplies organic, Fair trade beans and trains the baristas at Rumpus.
Around half the staff at Rumpus are young people who worked on arts projects over the last five or six years, who have wanting to stay with Radiant to develop careers in hospitality or catering. All profits made at Rumpus goes towards the work that it does with local children and young people in the community.
An Ocean Glimmer 