Lisa Horner Writer & Artist

Rose Cleary finished her MA in Art Literature and Society in 2020. She did this in the Netherlands. She has a fresh, intelligent take on local society and is not afraid to challenge decisions by the establishment. I talk with her about her written work and fine art past.  http://rosecleary.com/   Update: - Rose Cleary has a new book out -  https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-French-Girl-Rose-Cleary/dp/1739260120

I just had a really interesting conversation with Laura Whiting who founded DIRECTIONS-BAS in 2019.  The formative project, aimed to begin conversations about the town of Basildon in relation to art and urban life, started out with a very successful film night.  Basildon Film Shorts was held on the 12th October 2019 in The Craft Shed in Basildon.  The evening proceeded with a short introduction from the filmmakers:- Aaron Shrimpton, Maz Murray, Chris Michael, Robyn Murray and Stuart Whipps, preceding each of their films.  More can be found out about this, including links to the films based on Basildon, here .  It ended with great conversations between the filmmakers and the audience and it turned out to be a spectacular evening.  Laura is planning to do another night like this in the future. We spoke about how the film night came about, the quality of the evening compared with watching film online.  We also spoke about the town and its lack of spaces ...

It was lovely talking to Debs Allen-Morgan who started singing at four years old and through the pursuit of her vocation has won 50 awards in competitions.  As well as performing, Debs has been a fully qualified music teacher for many years.  The lockdown in 2020 provided the space for her to evaluate her business and she started The Vocal Academy in September 2020 which has grown from strength to strength.   https://vocal-academy.uk/   https://lisajanehorner.wixsite.com/lisahornerauthor

Neil imparts a great deal of information on Hanningfield Reservoir and what it has to offer the public.  Listen to discover what a gem this Essex Wildlife Trust  ran reserve truly is!  Find out more about volunteering and the marvellous contribution the volunteers are giving. Listening time:- 13 minutes 36 seconds.  https://lisajanehorner.wixsite.com/lisahornerauthor

As I've mentioned before I'm aware that I need to rest my eyes so I am now getting into podcasting.  Also, I think it will great to talk to different people.  It will be a two way thing, I'll be able to help them to reach out to people, letting them know about what they are doing.  For me it will be a way to escape the limitations of lockdown and get to talk to a great bunch of people.  In the coming weeks I have podcasts lined up where I chat to a volunteer, a soprano singer who is also a professional music/vocal teacher, an organiser who has brought together local people/ artists/ filmmakers/ historians and built environment specialists through events.  A poet and fine artist and many more.  https://lisajanehorner.wixsite.com/lisahornerauthor

I have known about Metal Culture, the one that is based in Southend, and their events for some time.  I have often thought of joining one of their events but didn't get around to it.  Last night I plucked up the courage to join their Zoom meeting called 'BASILDON, what next for the Creative Industries in South Essex?'  It was really good actually, I imagined that I would sit observing, feeling too awkward to join in, but in fact I did get involved and added something to the various debates that were going on. To start with we watched six speakers; Aden Hynes from Sculpture Studios who showed a film.  Moira Brock from La Danse Fantastique who showed a film.  Joseph Brennan, an architect.  Clare Mortimer from The Craft Shed.  TIME - Therapy in Musical Expression, who showed a film and then Laura Mauro a writer.  It was really interesting, although I already knew about Sculpture Studios and TIME. There were about forty participants and what struck...