What my voice looks like

Last week I went to the recording studio at Ty Cerdd in the Wales Millennium Centre, to record three collections of poetry. I have been thinking for a while it would be a good idea to have a cd as well as the poetry packets to offer.

I really like the space. There's something about all the textured soundproofing around the walls and ceiling, the stillness it gives, the big screen in front of the glass looking through to the studio, and the seclusion within.

Here is Jim Unwin, who recorded my reading, and was wonderfully tuned in to the way I wanted to read and make it sound. He made the session very smooth and painless and I appreciated his patience!

I lined my poetry packets up on the stand in front of the microphone. Then I stood in the small space, and read aloud.

It was very interesting to listen to the poems. I'm always too busy reading them either on the page or out loud, to actually hear them. And I was fascinated to see what my voice looks like. This is how the three winter haiku appear.

A fascinating indoor, inward looking, focussed world.

Then I drove home,  took Thomas out on the rain washed road, and listened to the sound of his hooves. It was a great contrast!

Ready for the Fair

At last, the preparations are over, and all is packed and ready for The Big Skill Craft Fair in Hay on Wye tomorrow. I really like it when it's too late to start anything new, and what I've got is what I've got!

Walking boots an absolute necessity. The fair is in a field which is already very muddy. And I think the umbrella may be useful too, although being curly haired I have no fear of rain.

I went to the fair site earlier this evening to look round and say hello. There was a lovely restored 1900 bow front caravan there. It's for sale.

Hmm, if only my front garden were a little larger. Wouldn't it be a great place to write?!

poems, pictures, and kitchen table publishing

I have been preparing my letterpress haiku pictures for display at the Big Skill craft fair in Hay on Wye next weekend.You can see the pictures close up in a previous post, Printing, Pegasus and Poetry.

The poems are letterpress printed onto pages of old books. I hadn't really thought how to present them, but luckily my friend Jill was able to help. She's an artist and also a picture framer, and we had a very happy afternoon choosing mountboard of different colours, which she then cut for me. And she told me the how to do it and the what to buy.

Cellophane, sellotape, and a ruler are very important. And I am rather pleased with the results. The butterflies look wonderful.

And the Pegasus pictures so dramatic. I am very glad I painted the kitchen blue earlier this year - everything looks so good in front of it.

I do wonder if we will ever be able to eat in the kitchen again though.

 Jill has a wonderful print studio in Madley, with the most fabulous old printing press, which I am going to introduce to my trays of wooden letters after the craft fair. Here's a link to her website, www.theprintshed.net

And here's a poster for the fair. I'm really looking forward to it. And if the weather is like this weekend!

Oak trees, bluebells and the shape of the wind

A windy day on the coast of North Wales, walking on the clifftops and through woodland overlooking Barmouth and the sea.

There were so many oak trees with spring leaves of vibrant green, often with bluebells beneath them. It's impossible to photograph the unique colour of bluebells, so this photo gives an impression only.

The wind blew so strongly I could only just stand upright on the exposed clifftops, and it was still strong when walking sheltered by oak trees and stern geology.

 Descending to sea level, I tried to walk on the beach. A boat stood, deserted by the tide, and I wanted to walk out to it.

However, the strong wind was picking up the top layer of  sand and swirling it round. I could neither see nor breathe properly, so I had to stop. But I noticed the wonderful sand shapes the wind was making, and was reminded of the poet Taliesin and his poem describing the wind as an invisible creature.

Then away to Menai Bridge and the art exhibition of Clive Hicks Jenkins at Oriel Tegfryn. I completely failed to record any of the lovely pictures, but have a nice one of Clive,

and his delightful dog Jack, who stole everyone's hearts!

There are pictures and details of Clive's exhibition on his excellent blog, http://clivehicksjenkins.wordpress.com/

Then home through the darkness past the shadowy mountains.

Printing, Pegasus, and Poetry.

Sunday afternoon, the wind is howling and rain beating down. I am in my shed, printing.

This is the text of a poem about Pegasus. If you look carefully, you can see the errors in my typesetting.

But once that was sorted, I printed onto some pages from an old Romanian book about Roman coins. At least I think that's what it is about. It's one of the books I rescue - so tattered or worn or incomplete that they are never going to be sold. I want the poem to look as though it was part of the original text of the book, but I am not making the print too perfect, or it won't ever be apparent that it's an addition to the page! Fine line to be drawn here.

A lovely opportunity to print the title in one of my new metal fonts. This is 24 point Castellar. Fabulous.

And the finished product hanging up on the washing line. I managed to get three I am happy with, out of six attempts, so that's fine.

I also finished off three other copies of a different poem, with a different look. Here's one of them,

 These prints are coming with me to the Big Skill  craft fair in Hay on 24th to 26th May. It's going to be great fun, and I hope that some of today's prints will find new homes.

Here's a link to their Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/thebigskill
I will also be doing Poems While U Wait at the event. Haven't started limbering up for that yet!

Behind the waterfall.

A waterfall walk through a woodland valley filled with the sound of rushing water. Every vista was impossibly picturesque.

The best waterfall is one you can walk behind. There were a lot of people who had come to do this, picking their way across the very slippery rocks to stand behind the curtain of water.

The energy and moisture in the air makes it difficult to breathe deeply. The waterfall's voice fills the ears. 

I leaned against the mossy rocks, looked at the water before me, and burst into tears.

And then back onto the path, as more people came to spend some moments behind the waterfall.

Prospero and Table Mountain

I walked up  Table Mountain outside Crickhowell, starting on the valley floor, next to the river, and looking up at my destination.

The 'table' makes a wonderful circular viewing platform, with the valleys below and peaks stretching above and away on all sides. In the damp air, the colours were intense and magnified. Breathtaking.

The noise of the wind blotted out all other sounds. Clouds rushed past, ragged hounds in full cry streaming over the ridge. I thought of Prospero saying to Ariel "Thou shalt be free as mountain wind," and thought what a fierce freedom that would be.

How wonderful to see Prospero giving his "this rough magic" speech up here. Breaking his staff and giving up his tiny place in the elemental magical world. I had a tremendous desire to follow the path on the next ridge, and keep walking, into the clouds and away.