I interviewed Jean Langdon and Pete Greening, two very different artists who often exhibit together. Jean is a potter whose artistic work draws on Ancient Greek forms. She is an expert at creating a range of perfectly-proportioned and classically-inspired pots. Pete is an abstract artist, specialising in ‘Op Art‘. Pete says about himself: “When I went to St Albans FE College in 1970/71, I visited the library just up the road and pulled a book at random off a shelf – it was about Op Art, which was then still a relatively new movement. Looking through the book, and seeing work by Vasarely and Riley (among others) I had a real epiphany, and realised that this was something I would enjoy doing. On the way home I bought some paints and when I got home raided my dad’s store cupboard for a bit of wood, using these materials in the first painting I ever did for my own pleasure. I still have this painting. I never finished my A levels at college – I left at the end of that academic year.” Continue reading OP ART MEETS CLASSICAL POTS – TWO ARTISTS TALK →

I asked novelist Kate Vane about how she discovered her voice as an author. Kate’s latest novel is The Former Chief Executive. She has written for the BBC drama Doctors and has had short stories and articles in various publications and anthologies, including Mslexia and Scotland on Sunday. You can read her blog here.

Kate writes: Continue reading KATE VANE – HOW I FOUND MY VOICE AS AN AUTHOR →

Four young people were lying in the road, ‘locked on’ as partners. One pair had an arm each buried in a connecting steel tube, the other pair were linked by a large grey suitcase. Their ‘locked on’ arms, disappearing into solid blocks, looked like they’d been amputated.

It was eight thirty in the morning outside the ExCel Centre, E. London. The ‘locked on’ couples were blocking the dual carriageway to the London Arms Fair. A queue of lorries and vans delivering weapons and display materials was backed up beyond the approach bridge. It was windy and overcast but the protesters were jubilant and the police had given up threatening to arrest anyone who stood in the road. Continue reading At THE LONDON ARMS FAIR, ARMS TO RENEWABLES DAY →

I interviewed saxophonist, arranger and composer John Altman who has worked with Muddy Waters, Bob Marley Van Morrison, Sting and Eric Clapton and scored music for several famous films including Titanic, Monty Python, Shall We Dance and TV drama Peak Practice. Beginning his work in the late 60s, with his roots in jazz, and still leading his own big band in the UK and USA, John is a prolific and accomplished musician. He is also an ambassador for Alopecia UK. Continue reading JAZZ, ROCK, POP, CLASSICAL, FILM, TV: THE MANY HATS OF JOHN ALTMAN →

I interviewed stand-up comedian Alasdair Beckett-King, winner of the Leicester Mercury and New Act of the Year Shows, 2017/2014. Alasdair was also 2^nd in the Laughing Horse New Act and 3^rd in the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian in 2013; he has performed his comedy on BBC radio as well as at the Glastonbury and Edinburgh Festivals. To quote Alasdair’s website:  ‘He knows quite a lot about 19th century magicians. Tourists often ask to have their photo taken with him, presumably.’

Leslie: Most stand-up comedians aim to have a ‘point of view’ and a persona. What’s yours, please? Continue reading HE’S THE STAND-UP WIZARD… →

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My trip to Shepherd’s Bush Library might have been taken from the pages of a magic realist novel. It was urban and dream-like, featuring a stranger arriving in rush hour at a shopping centre that could have been a film set. Of course there was a back story: an author visit arranged by email, and advertised as a talk about ‘The Beginning, Growth and Development of a Novel’. But the reason given – to study literature drawing on my own experience – was unlikely to appeal to my potential audience. After all, who would want to listen to an unknown 68 year-old author with a small-press background? And why on earth would that author continue, year on year, turning up at hard-to-find spots and addressing tiny audiences, most of them failed or wannabe authors, in order to sell a handful of books? Continue reading WHAT LOVE REQUIRES OF US →

In the second part of my interview with Jo Clutton she talks very honestly and openly about her family and depression, her medication crisis and how that led to her recovery.

Leslie: Can you describe, please, the beginnings of your depression, and how it has changed and developed over thirty years.

Jo: As a child, I was very moody, and my mother would say: “What ARE we going to do with you?” I can remember crying when away on holiday, and claiming I was homesick. I didn’t know why I cried, and my mother lost patience with me. There is a history of depression in the family. My dad could remember his mum, Kitty, lying on the bed when he came home from school, and he said that his granny used to look after him and his sister, my aunt. Of course, this was during the 1930s, when virtually nothing was known about mental health issues and sufferers were dismissed as over-sensitive, as I was by my family. I was teased a lot, and told off for over-reacting! A double whammy. My moods were never talked about or discussed. Continue reading JO CLUTTON – RECOVERING FROM DEPRESSION, LOVING LIFE (Part Two) →