Picture Post is our new Shallal Studios project in partnership with Project Ability in Glasgow; a fun, creative way to connect with artists who are isolated during COVID-19 via post and video.

​We’ll be publishing regular art activity videos as well as sending out postal art activity packs, so that people who don’t have the internet can be just as involved as others.
It’s also about building a creative community where artists can share the work they have made in response to the activity pack, and see other peoples’ artwork. This will be via our Picture Post webpage, but also via a printed catalogue of peoples’ artwork. We’ll send the printed catalogue to all the artists half way through the project and when it finishes this Christmas.
We hope that our project will give people a sense of being involved in a creative community and feel less isolated. Please visit our gallery here to see the work of our artists from Cornwall and Glasgow as it comes in.
This work is funded by Arts Council England’s COVID Emergency Response Fund, Cornwall Council and The National Lottery Community Fund Reaching Communities.
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Shallal Sketchbooks will be this event with Lou Brett and Pam.....hope to see you there.
Shallal Dance Theatre will be performing at 2pm.
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Excited to be in our first Open Studios with Krowji.
Thank you in advance to Phoebe for co-ordinating the hanging with fellow artists/facilitators and being there and to Lou for our new lovely posters.
Lou and Phoebe along with Colin and other artists have been organising, timetabling and welcoming artists into the Studio this term.
I am thrilled to meet the new artists involved and those we developed this idea for such as Sally Walters, Zoe, Sam and Joseph.
Times as on poster and 
Celebration 11am - 3pm Saturday 27 November

Can't wait, so much to do this term!

Providence meant i returned from a week's holiday to learn we had lost St Peters Hall as our temporary base, and we needed to have somewhere to do our work this term so ..thankfully a ground floor studio at Krowji was empty and thanks to Elisa ( Krowji) and Matt ( Shallal ) we are in quickly and move in our stuff - so much!  that's another story - tomorrow!
( A huge thank you to St Peters Church community who have supported us over 30 years!)

So we are full circle back where we first thought we might be, Krowji, and we shall see if we can stay but we are there till end of January and hopefully beyond. 
In the background dear Lou is working 'her socks of' with funding applications, planning and evaluation etc.
We now have Phobe on the team and it seems the right time for this to really flower - here's hoping....
I was looking for art photos and these paintings by Janice Schneider ( Liskeard group, Out There and BLW) are on postcards in response to "What does Shallal mean to you?"

Thrilled to announce Arts Council Funding for our annual Back Lane West
BLW Residency this year.
So much going on! 
My 'little dream' is exploring poetry book edit and design, thankfully with the help of an old friend and Shallal supporter Matt Osmond and to be published by Atlantic Press http://atlanticpressbooks.com/
There's lots more, as previous post says, so do get in touch to be part of it.
​joannawillis357@gmail.com
Laura Menzies is creating a book which mentions the residencies.

More short films being made in Shallal, new filmmaker Adam Drake is working with Shallal 2, second film out soon and final edit of this one, https://www.adamdrakedidit.com/shallal-dance-film-at-the-beach"I love it!"
I was there in the sun with them and at one point running around holding a phone playing a tune, trying not to be in the shot/get in the way! and it was a few hours and he created this.... beautifully sensitively edited ...
Anna and Maybelle ( the dancers) have worked together on and off for approx 5-6 years.
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Both have been involved in BLW, Anna has never missed it but this year is off to Camberwell Art School but hopes to come back for a weekend.
Eddie Callis just wrote to tell me of the success of some of his Animation and we look forward to hearing more and being at Krowji where we can have those conversations and cups of tea with folk!

The blank canvas of that glorious empty white room/box comes around again.
Space, the element in dance outside the body.
I love walking into some studios: dance, art, ceramics, all that potential waiting...
So after my conversation with Phoebe last week and snatched chats with Barry and others here are some thoughts for this years residency.

Puppets - building on Phoebe's interest and Toby's a week
3D/large images - a week
Images and projection working large - not just in paint, school projectors/acetate....a week?
Electronic music - George, Stuart and Eddie?
Film

Painting stage hangings? for new indoor show 2020?- might wait till next year or need larger space...idea with Anna

Artists already interested:
Jo L - writing
George and Sam every Tuesday, having Tuesdays as collaborative drop in day 
Phoebe a week of exploring puppetry starting with visiting artist workshop
Toby puppetry, shadow plays
Felix Packer R& D large paintings day

Looking forward to this.
Hope to see you there.

Most Fridays Shallal Dance Theatre rehearse in the morning and after lunch we do Art and Production, next Friday we will come to Falmouth to enjoy this exhibition.
We hope to met up with some of the Falmouth based artists and those who attend Express Yourself.
Express Yourself has visiting artists workshops in the next few months...donation ort £3 a session 9.30-10.30 Wednesday mornings at The Dracaena Centre Falmouth. This week they did felting with Shallal Studios artist Laura Menzies.
http://www.shallal.org.uk/express-yourself.html

Many thanks to Falmouth Art Gallery for their unstinting support.
The exhibition is on until 16 February.

Express Yourself are also having a Portraits Exhibition in August in the Community Gallery.

Exhibition up and also launching our new new Instagram
​https://www.instagram.com/shallalarts/
We managed to hang a piece by all the artists except Miles, he has some wonderful large work from our residency, but the smaller pieces needed better materials so i was thrilled to hear last night (when we worked together in Shallal 2) that he was given art materials for Christmas !
Shallal artists often span many mediums of artistic expression. Shallal 2 have a fantastic relationship with Falmouth Art Gallery and it is one of their performance venues, with many shows commissioned and inspired by exhibitions.
www.shallal.org.uk/shallal-2.html

Well the initial offer and idea was to have an exhibition parallel to Shallal 2's commissioned performance, devised and inspired by the Illustration exhibition at Falmouth Art Gallery in December 2018.

The idea was put to Shallal Dance Theatre artists, many of whom are part of Shallal Studios and to Express Yourself emerging artists and Shallal 2.
However we had an extremely busy term leaping from one performance to three before Christmas! All different shows! 
This is my excuse, my eye went off the art work and I was relieved when we had to postpone the hanging till tomorrow! So last week i collected some work and found as i expected that many ideas weren't completed.
So, visual art is not the same as improvised dance in it's production but what it does share in Shallal is this immense reservoir of talent, so we rummaged through what we had....
And it will be worth a visit! 

It is the same as shows, there are some who constantly produce work, some gaining confidence and doing stronger new work and unexpected gems and unknown treasures to enjoy. (As well as some who you want in it but just can't make it or finish it this time - Joseph Wheeler has done some amazing work recently but none is finished.)
And just like creating a show we are waiting to see what sits well in which order etc:
Anna is helping me curate it.
So we expect tomorrow to hang a mixture of work from....
Established Shallal Studio artists:
Zoe Wilton
Toby Bridge
Sam While
Anna Willis


Tina Butler
Alan Way Owl
Jo Willis

Yvonne Hingston
Jane Parfitt
Miles Steadman
Minnie Black
Harry Tims

12 Portrait and 10 Landscape