I interviewed ex-BBC and freelance writer, Barbara Bloomfield, who turned to counselling and therapeutic arts in a career change and went on to write five books about relationships and society. Barbara has a diploma in family therapy, a master’s in creative writing and taught undergraduates for six years at Bath Spa University. She is a former chair of Lapidus International and currently co-editor of the Lapidus Magazine.

Leslie: What were the incidents and factors that led you into your early career in journalism and broadcasting? Continue reading BARBARA BLOOMFIELD – AUTHOR, JOURNALIST AND CREATIVE COUNSELLOR →

I interviewed  actor and theatre director Scott Kyle, best known for his film roles as Ross in Outlander, Clancy in The Angels’ Share, and Corporal Stu Pearson in the film Kilo Two Bravo. Kyle received the 2010 Stage Awards Best Actor Award for his role in the play Singin’ I’m No A Billy He’s A Tim.

After growing up in Rutherglen, Scotland,  the son of a single mother, Kyle worked night shifts at a supermarket in order to study acting. During that time, he founded the NLP Company to create more opportunities for students wishing to act while still in school. Continue reading SCOTT KYLE ACTOR, DIRECTOR, MOVER & SHAKER →

In part two of my interview with prize-winning graphic novelist Rachael Ball, she talks about effective dialogue, her experiences teaching art, her creative highs and lows, and the technical and imaginative work that goes into her art.

Reviewing Rachael’s The Inflatable Woman, Pipedream Comics called it, ‘A Timeless classic that people will read for many years to come.’

Leslie: How do you put together effective dialogue? Continue reading THE WONDERFUL GRAPHIC NOVELS OF RACHAEL BALL (2) →

I interviewed cartoonist and art teacher Rachael Ball, whose first graphic novel, The Inflatable Woman, was listed as a Guardian Best Graphic Novel and one of Paul Gravett’s Top 10 British Graphic Novels for 2015. Amongst Rachael’s other graphic publications are, Wolf  (Self Made Hero, 2018), and a work in progress, The Patsy Papers, which satirises her experience teaching in secondary schools, She also co-ordinates the London branch of ‘Laydeez do Comics‘, which promotes women in comics.

Leslie: Tell us about the making of The Inflatable Woman and its relationship to having cancer.

Rachael: Making The Inflatable Woman was revolutionary for me. It was the first graphic novel/ cartoon strip work I’d done at all in possibly 15 years. Continue reading THE WONDERFUL GRAPHIC NOVELS OF RACHAEL BALL (1) →

I interviewed  Amy Bryce,  composer, curator and performer, about how she co-creates immersive effects in music. Amy has worked as composer in residence for the Stiftung Kunst und Musik für Dresden. Her opera, A Kinder Society, was adapted for film and premiered in the 2021 TONLAGEN Festival in Hellerau. Amy’s work has also been programmed by the BBC Singers on Radio 3, Tête-à-Tête Opera and at the Lilian Baylis Theatre in association with Sadlers Wells.

Leslie: Could you describe what it means when you call yourself on your website a ‘composer, curator and performer’, please? Continue reading AMY BRYCE: THE ART OF IMMERSIVE OPERA →