Toddler – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | Buddhafield Green Earth Awakening Camp 2014: Review

I’ve never been to Buddhafield but this year my friend Helen of East End Prints persuaded me to join her and a few of her Bristol based friends, all travelling solo with little ones to this year’s much smaller offshoot, Green Earth Awakening Camp. Any reservation I had about attending a specifically Buddhist festival were mollified once it was established that we all consider ourselves ‘Buddhish’ in nature. No surprise then to bump into yet more friends from the world of activism and FSC childrens’ camps.

Held deep in the Somerset countryside, this was a tiny gathering of just a few hundred, with one main meal tent and workshop spaces around a central meeting area and the huge ‘mindfulness’ gong. Before long we were barefoot and enjoying the marvellous weather; glorious sunshine during the day giving way to the occasional shower at night time. One night a mild rainstorm was preceded by the most amazing lightening forks, which we watched move towards us across the valley as dusk fell.

I was determined that this should be a child led experience, so we meandered between different parts of the gathering according to my toddler’s whims. In the past my naturally inquisitive and frenetic nature would have ensured that I attended as many workshops as possible, but being a mother has encouraged me to embrace a different pace of life.

So, we tried felt making (until Snarfle got bored), dressed up as Green Tara, joined in with impromptu group sing alongs, blew giant bubbles, caught bugs in nets in an adjoining field with Pupa Education, played in the paddling pool in Rupa’s sauna area… and danced gloriously naked to drums near the meditation tent (well, the boys did, we weren’t so brazen despite some of the fabled Buddhafield nudity on site). And I located the best friend of my acupuncturist: a monk turned shaman.

We ate beautifully presented and delicious local produce for every meal; home made fermented pickles and potato cakes cooked on a rocket stove and washed down with Sea Buckthorn juice. All made by folks who have lived at Tinker’s Bubble and Embercombe.

Us mothers half heartedly tried to take part in foraging, yoga, Qigong and dance classes (and mainly we failed). Sadly I did not catch up with the latest in Forest Gardening or learn the art of Focussing (a cross between mediation and counselling), but instead we rambled with the kids along an ancient track which bordered the field, made shady by gnarled trees.

The children revelled in the wide open green space, and I marvelled at the easy freedom of the older (mainly home-schooled) kids, who swung from the trees or raced around with sticks and home made bows and arrows. Snarfle became obsessed with the banjo, so I made him one out of odds and ends in the craft area. I’m sure this is how all childhoods should be, all of the time, not just for a few days here and there.

The gathering closed with a ceremony, as it had begun – the whole camp dancing, chanting and offering devotions to the goddess Green Tara, representing compassion and an ecologically minded alternative to our sometimes selfish and greedy ways. It was a fitting end to a magical few days.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday August 6th, 2014 3:54 pm

Categories ,2014, ,Blackdown Hills, ,Bubbles, ,Buddhafield, ,Buddhish, ,East End Prints, ,Embercombe, ,festival, ,Focussing, ,Foraging, ,Forest Gardening, ,FSC, ,Green Earth Awakening Camp, ,Green Tara, ,Mumlife, ,Pupa Education, ,Qigong, ,review, ,Rupa’s Sauna, ,Rupa’s sauna area, ,Sea Buckthorn, ,Snarfle, ,somerset, ,sustainability, ,Tinker’s Bubble, ,Toddler, ,Yoga

Amelia’s Magazine | Thereza Rowe, Hearts: interview and review

A year or so ago Thereza Rowe came over to visit me with an idea for a wonderful, colourful, heartfelt graphic novel. Hearts has now been realised thanks to Toon Books, and I was lucky enough to pick up a copy at the recent ELCAF. The book is aimed at children who are just learning to read, so I have been reading it with Snarfle who is now two years old and in love with letters. He adores the story of a fox travelling through a rich landscape in search of lost love, and asks me to read it again and again. Thereza has a very special way of using clever arrangements of shapes to create a plethora of fantastical images, and although the book is aimed at small people it will appeal just as much to adults, who will probably more closely relate their own lives to this tale of learning to let go and love again.

When and where did you first dream up the central idea behind Hearts?
It was heading up to my final project for my MA in illustration and the core of my research was based on sequential narrative, comics more specifically. In parallel, my personal life was messy as I was dealing with loss; of a dear close one and that of my cat Flash, which happened within the space of a week. A hard time indeed. The narrative reflected this process of rescuing a little battered lost heart and keeping faith / hope alive that things would be ok in the end. Essentially, it kind of worked as a magical part of my own healing process.

Why is Penelope a fox? we all know of your special love for cats…
But I am a fox, didn’t you know?! Penelope the character just happened as I was doodling her whilst crying all over the paper. It was exactly how I was feeling at that particular moment. I wallowed a lot…

What was your process for putting together the illustrations for Hearts?
After that first scene of Penelope sitting on top of a cliff crying her eyes out, the process developed pretty much on a ‘wing it basis‘. That ‘making it up as you go‘ sort of thing.. after she accidentally drops her heart in the ocean, I suppose, due to the sequential nature of the story, each illustration worked as a response to cause and effect of the characters’ actions… I didn’t really know how it would end, up until the last minute. All I wanted is that she should triumph one way or another in retrieving her heart – but at some point that pesky heart had become so troublesome that maybe a new / renewed one would be the answer. But better not give the whole story away!

How did you come up with the Garden of Lost Things?
It comes from the thought of all the things we misplace or lose in life… from tangible ones such as ‘where does that odd sock end up when the washing machine decides to swallow it?‘ all the way to that childhood little something we wish we still had but have absolutely no idea as to what happened to it. And on a more abstract note, feelings and stuff that mattered and/or still matters and lingers at the back of our heads/hearts but we tend to shoo them away until life’s circumstances, for whatever reason, prompts us to look for them and revisit them again.

When you first showed me your idea for Hearts idea it was far longer, how did you edit the whole into a book format that worked?
It was indeed a lot longer… (as I said, there was a lot of wallowing) and my initial idea for it was more like a wordless graphic novel. But when I showed it to Françoise Mouly (editorial director of Toon Books) we both agreed that it would make a great level one Toon book so together we edited it down to suit the first reader level and also decided to give Penelope a wee voice.

How did you get hooked up with Toon Books?
The project was very personal and quite precious to me so naturally I wanted it to get published by a special publisher. I then made a little list with a carefully selected handful of publishers which I knew would take great care of the process of editing the book and that I would be happy to work with and submitted the proposal. As it happened Toon Books was on the absolute top in order of personal preference as I’ve always loved their books and luckily the fantastic Françoise got in touch straight away and I had no doubt that the project would have the happiest possible ending in every sense of the word.

What new projects are you working on?
I am currently sorting out the storyline for my next children’s book and excited to return to working on a commission involving branding / identity which had to be put on hold for a while due to delayed funding but it’s now back on. And, of course, we are also working on an exciting project together, to be announced soon.

Hearts is published by Toon Books, and is available online and at all good bookshops now.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday August 13th, 2014 3:05 pm

Categories ,Brazilian, ,comic art, ,ELCAF, ,First Reader, ,Flash, ,Fox, ,Françoise Mouly, ,Garden of Lost Things, ,Graphic Novel, ,hearts, ,illustration, ,interview, ,Learning to read, ,Lost Love, ,Penelope, ,review, ,Snarfle, ,Thereza Rowe, ,Toddler, ,Toon Books

Amelia’s Magazine | New Designers 2012 Product Design Graduates: Baby and Toddler Products

New Designers 2012
Products by Zoe Tynan-Campbell.

It’s funny how being a new parent suddenly changes what you see: I didn’t see any baby related design at last year’s show, and yet this was all I could see of the product design at New Designers 2012 part two.

New Designers 2012-Emma Doran
At UWE Emma Doran‘s Co-See considered all the important design issues for a new mum and I for one would certainly have loved to test her dual action cot and carry cot, which enables easy co-sleeping by attaching to the side of the bed with a drop down side. Instead I spent those difficult early days hoiking Snarfle in and out of a Moses basket on the floor when he needed to feed during the night, all the time cussing and cursing because my Caesarean section hurt so much. Now he just stays in bed with me. The Co-See was designed in collaboration with The Gro Company, and won a prestigious design award: not hard to see why! Not only is keeping baby close great for bonding between child and mother, but it also far reduces the likelihood of cot death (now known as SIDS).

New Designers 2012-Marcus Broughton
I am planning to do baby-led weaning when the time comes – offering Snarfle small steamed morsels to hold and learn to eat rather than pureeing food – but the design of Marcus Broughton‘s on the go Squeasy weaning pouches were rather delightful. He calls himself a Humanistic Industrial Designer.

New Designers 2012-Ralph Edwards
Before designing his Wholemilk storage system Ralph Edwards conducted some spot on research that identified a need to make it easier to express and store breast milk, enabling fathers to take a bigger role in feeding young babies. You can read about the process on his brilliant website diary here.

New Designers 2012-Jordan Brocklehurst
At Birmingham City University Jordan Brocklehurst had created a set of Penguin Play Safety Reins, which include an inflatable harness that ensures safety near water.

New Designers 2012-Zoe Tynan-Campbell
I loved these designs by Zoe Tynan-Campbell on the 3D Design course at Camberwell College of Arts. Her Stumped Studio makes gorgeous wooden interior accessories and toys.

New Designers 2012-Jack Hadlum
From Ravensbourne product designer Jack Hadlum had come up with the concept of Potions – ‘making mealtime magic‘ – the idea being to inspire fussy eaters to flavour their own food in a creative way with 100% natural ingredients. Fun shaped bottles contained savoury popping candy, sprayable jam and a magic colour changing milk. I can see even the fussiest eater enjoying these! He is also involved in a project called Wood Be Waste with the motto ‘do not recycle a material that can be reused‘ that has produced some lovely desk top products.

New Designers 2012-Nicola Danks

At Coventry University the Bumble range by Nicola Danks ‘addresses the limitations of current child transport products‘. Most pushchairs are so low slung they only afford the wee mite a view of legs and feet; she describes how it’s important for children to be raised to eye level so they can engage more with their caregiver. I have seen some very high rise prams, but Snarfle would far prefer to watch the world go by from chest height in a sling. Nicola’s transport system integrates a carrier, making it easy to transition between different modes of child transport – another brilliant idea.

New Designers 2012-Catalin-Andrei Edu

Most of the industrial designers at Coventry fixated on cars (so not my thing) but I liked these bamboo animals by Catalin-Andrei Edu, which are made using sustainable processes.

New Designers 2012-Jose Olivierab
Jose Oliviera‘s Natures Best cot was inspired by cork production in his home country of Portugal. I love those gorgeous organic curves with a built in mobile, it puts my ancient Moses basket to shame. Jose used cork in its design not only for reasons of sustainability but also because it has qualities incomparable with any other material: it’s light weight, impermeable to liquid, acts as an excellent thermal and acoustic insulator and is resistant to abrasions because of it’s elasticity. I’d love to put my baby to sleep in this cot, but I fear he’s getting too big already.

I have mixed feelings about the quantity of stuff available for babies: when I was little there was hardly anything required to raise a child, and yet now we are drowning in ‘must have’ products. Some have undoubtedly made life easier, but I’m sure we could do without many of the items dubbed ‘mechanical mummies’ and whose production places such a burden on the environment. I am lucky to have been given so many hand me downs and we are frugal in acquiring new stuff when needed, but it’s good to see so many graduates considering both the ecological and inter-relationship implications in their clever new designs.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday July 23rd, 2012 8:47 pm

Categories ,2012, ,Baby, ,Birmingham City University, ,Bumble, ,Camberwell College of Arts, ,Carrier, ,Catalin-Andrei Edu, ,Co-See, ,Co-sleeping, ,Cork, ,Cot, ,Coventry University, ,eco, ,Emma Doran, ,Humanistic Industrial Designer, ,Jack Hadlum, ,Jordan Brocklehurst, ,Jose Oliviera, ,making mealtime magic, ,Marcus Broughton, ,Mechanical Mummies, ,Natures Best cot, ,New Designers, ,Nicola Danks, ,Penguin Play Safety Reins, ,Potions, ,Pram, ,Product Design, ,Ralph Edwards, ,ravensbourne, ,review, ,Sling, ,Snarfle, ,Squeasy, ,Stumped Studio, ,sustainable, ,The Gro Company, ,Toddler, ,UWE, ,Weaning, ,Wholemilk, ,Wood Be Waste, ,Zoe Tynan-Campbell

Amelia’s Magazine | Woodpecker Wooliams at King’s Place: Live Review

Woodpecker Wooliams by Sam Parr

Woodpecker Wooliams by Sam Parr

Turning a corner from King’s Cross station, it was a chill wind that blew as I hurried down York Way. Past those Victorian facades touched by the regeneration that is fast spreading through this part of London, I spied that most modern of constructs, King’s Place. Opened in 2008, a mixture of the artistic and commercial (as well as performance and exhibition space, it’s also home to the Guardian newspaper), this was my destination for the evening.

I’d been to King’s Place once before, to catch Laura J Martin just before Christmas, but tonight’s action was taking place in the venue’s main room, Hall One, a curious space (apparently a structure within a structure, a box sitting on rubber springs to acoustically separate it from the rest of the building, and layered in veneer that comes from the same 500 year old German oak tree) which strangely reminded me of a lecture theatre.

The final day of The Local’s “three day mini-festival of modern-day existential songwriting”, The Stranger The Better, tonight’s fine line-up included Sons Of Noel And Adrian and a solo set by Meursault front-man Neil Pennycook, but opening proceedings was Woodpecker Wooliams.

Hailing from Crawley but based in that musical hotbed-by-the-sea, Brighton, Woodpecker Wooliams (otherwise known as multi-instrumentalist, shaman and bee-keeper Gemma Williams) was apparently once told by Brian Eno not to bother with music. Ignoring his sage advice, she has instead spent time crafting darkly delicate melodies tinged with electronic flourishes and occasionally unsettling lyrics, delivered in an idiosyncratic style that has drawn comparisons with Björk (“creepy, but in a good way” is how the Guardian described her – creepy from Crawley indeed, to borrow a music journo description of another of that town’s famous sons, Robert Smith of The Cure). Touring around the UK and Europe has led to radio sessions (most recently on BBC Radio 6 Music, with Tom Robinson) and the release of her debut album, The Bird School Of Being Human, on Robot Elephant Records.

Woodpecker Wooliams by Gilly Rochester

Woodpecker Wooliams by Gilly Rochester

It was a prompt 7.30pm start and I’d just made it to King’s Place (having come straight from home), but, on discovering that no drinks were allowed in Hall One, I had to endure that most novel of experiences – a sober gig. As Woodpecker Wooliams (tonight, a full band) walked on stage and settled down in their places, the strangeness of the atmosphere was heightened by the fact that the audience was completely hushed, there was none of the background chatter that you normally get in venues.

The set tonight was a run through of tracks from the album, which all have a common theme (in title, at least, as they’re all named after birds). We got songs like Red Kite and the most recent single, Gull, with Williams sat with her harp as around her dissonant electronic drones warbled, backed with skittish drums, an occasional trumpet (and, on Crow, a grainy sample of the Last Post). There was even the parping of a deflating balloon – not the sort of thing you’d normally encounter, especially somewhere as refined as King’s Place! Williams moved behind a keyboard set-up for an incandescent Sparrow, bobbing to the beat as the searing vocals echoed off the laminated walls. The unusual quiet of the hall added to the often eerie nature of the songs, and focussed attention on the performers.

Cheers broke the respectful silence as we reached the end, Williams and band taking the crowd’s applause as they walked off the stage as we, in turn, filed out to lay siege to the bar during the brief intermission.

There don’t appear to be any more live performances on the immediate horizon for Woodpecker Wooliams, at least until an appearance at the End Of The Road Festival during the summer, so we can only wait and see what more magic she is concocts in the meantime.

Written by Richard Pearmain on Tuesday January 22nd, 2013 2:18 pm

Categories ,BBC Radio 6 Music, ,bjork, ,brian eno, ,brighton, ,Crawley, ,End Of The Road Festival, ,Gemma Williams, ,Gilly Rochester, ,King’s Cross, ,King’s Place, ,Laura J Martin, ,Meursault, ,Neil Pennycook, ,Robert Smith, ,Robot Elephant Records, ,Sam Parr, ,sons of noel and adrian, ,the cure, ,The Guardian, ,The Local, ,The Stranger The Better, ,Tom Robinson, ,Woodpecker Wooliams

Amelia’s Magazine | Camp Bestival 2014 Review: Mr. Tumble, Trolleys, Caravans and Mud Pies

Camp Bestival by Maia Fjord.

My final festival this year was Camp Bestival, which we travelled to on our way back from Cornwall. I went to the first ever Camp Bestival in 2008, when the idea of a boutique festival especially aimed at families was a fairly novel idea and it was a much smaller affair. I was there as a performer with the band that I helped to cofound, Cut A Shine, which has long since mutated into a sprawling folk dance collective with only the original cofounder Joe Buirski at the helm. This summer I returned as a parent for the full Camp Bestival experience.

Camp Bestival is by far the biggest festival that I have been to in recent years… which meant long treks across rolling campsites, stinky portaloos (though the compost loos near the main stages were a winner) and a seething mass of families carting their kids around in heavily souped up trolleys – this has surely become a thing only in the past few years? And of course a huge variety of activities, music and food to keep both adults and children entertained. Our journey to Dorset took far longer than expected, so night fell as we introduced a boggle-eyed Snarfle to the sights surrounding Lulworth Castle. It was a lot for a little one to take in!

There were many highlights; I loved spending quality time with Snarfle in the woods, rigging up a play dough electrical circuit with Technlogy Will Save Us and learning how to make a cunning wildlife camera trap with Nature Bytes (both in the Science Tent) and listening to little known acoustic acts at the on the outer reaches of the site, where a camp fire was held in the evenings. Snarfle strummed along on his imaginary guitar whilst we waited for the most excellent wood fired fayre from the Pizza and Puppetry stand: cheapest good food we found and very much worth the long trip across the festival. The Farmer’s Market was also a great place for tasty nosh. As expected Mr. Tumble rocked the largest crowd of the festival, with a sea of toddlers held aloft on their parents’ shoulders. There were little discoveries to be made around every corner… one afternoon we chanced upon the two remaining members of Pan’s People teaching dance to all comers in the pink glow of the Bollywood tent, then we watched a vulture demonstrate his flying skills with Haven Falconry. We sadly missed out on daily discos for mini ravers in the same space, but I caught up with Natasha from Big Fish Little Fish this week and I hear the crowd was jumping.

I adored the creativity of the Caravanserai bar area constructed by Monsieur Bateman, where punters could sit in sawn off caravans below a miniature train constructed out of prams, one still with it’s romany floral arrangements intact! The same guy was behind the fantastical Oberon’s Observatory which we sadly did not enter, and a smaller installation consisting of two old French vans topped with fairytale turrets connected by a bridge.

Cut A Shine were curating activities at the Travelling Barn, where Toucan Uke taught Snarfle the proper way to strum a ukelele whilst singing about penguins.

Camp Bestival had copious sponsors including Yorkshire Tea (Snarfle is now a confirmed fan of milky tea), Duplo, where kids played with piles of brightly coloured bricks before receiving a small gift to take away (the ice creams were a real winner!) and Piriton (free bright yellow sunglasses, yay!)

Project Wild Thing held nature based activities in the ‘Dingly Dell’, where a huge amount of children enjoyed the mud kitchen, making mud potions and digging for treasure. Other nature based activities included building fires, making dens, identifying birds, climbing trees and crafting clay animals. Rob da Bank’s desire to get children away from their screens is admirable and this area proved such a success that the woods were seething with people, and I relished the stillness that we found deeper under the trees.

I enjoyed bits of the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop from the woods (think live rendition of the Doctor Who theme tune) and introduced Snarfle to Cut A Shine, who dedicated a new version of the Circassian Circle dance to Rob da Bank: stepping into the centre of the ring with guns in the air to “rob da bank”. Sophie Ellis-Bexter sang beautifully in a lovely red dress and admitted that her 10 year old son was standing at the side of the stage looking at his phone “what does a mum have to do to get their attention?!” I didn’t get to hear many of the ‘headliners’ because we don’t own a trolley so I was tucked up in our tent by 10pm. There were a plethora of interesting speakers in the Guardian Literary Tent and Snarfle was amazingly tolerant whilst we listened to the voluble and entertaining Kate Tempest chat about her career.

At a festival of this size there are a zillion entertainment possibilities and so of course we barely scratched the surface, but when a festival gets this big it can be a real trek to get around the site, especially with a toddler who refuses to walk. I swear I lugged him miles on my hip over the course of the weekend. Josie and Rob da Bank have done an admirable journey of translating the original anarchic Bestival spirit into something family friendly, and the mass of people testified to a winning formula. For slightly older kids (from about the ages of 6-11) this place must seem like heaven.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday August 14th, 2014 9:43 am

Categories ,2014, ,bestival, ,Big Fish Little Fish, ,Camp Bestival, ,Caravanserai, ,Castle Stage, ,Circassian Circle, ,Cornwall, ,Cutashine, ,Dingly Dell, ,Dorset, ,Duplo, ,Farmer’s Market, ,festival, ,Guardian Literary Tent, ,Haven Falconry, ,Joe Buirski, ,Josie and Rob da Bank, ,Kate Tempest, ,Lulworth Castle, ,Maia Fjord, ,Mini Castle Stage, ,Monsieur Bateman, ,Mr. Tumble, ,Nature Bytes, ,Oberon’s Observatory, ,Pan’s People, ,Piriton, ,Pizza and Puppetry, ,project wild thing, ,Radiophonic Workshop, ,review, ,rob da bank, ,Science Tent, ,Snarfle, ,Sophie Ellis-Bexter, ,Technlogy Will Save Us, ,Toddler, ,Toucan Uke, ,Travelling Barn, ,Yorkshire Tea

Amelia’s Magazine | Buddhafield Green Earth Awakening Camp 2014: Review

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