Recently, Gill Hands and Ruth Snowden nominated me for an Art 07 Award. The awards aim to recognise the contribution an individual, project or organisation has made to the arts in the NW region, and fall into 4 categories. My lovely wild sisters put my name forward for nomination in the "Unsung Heroes" category, in recognition of those who have worked behind the scene to make something possible. They put me forward for the work I have done with Wild Women and Wild Women Press. On Friday 8th, I found out that I had been selected as one of the 4 finalists for this award.
I was really thrilled to find myself chosen, especially as I am the only Cumbrian based finalist out of 14 in total. It feels somehow fitting to be in this category, as the journey of Wild Women has felt more of a quest that an art project, with its shared journeys of discovery, bizarre twists and turns, fellow adventurers and magical talismans. Of course, it ought to be Unsung Heroine, but there you go.
When I decided to set up Wild Women in 1999, I did so based on an intuitive hunch, a thread of a scent that told me this was what I needed to do. For the few years before, I had suffered with depression and anxiety, so the setting up of a group was a challenge, but as soon as I made the decision, people came along to support me, and pretty soon, I was standing infront of 12 other women, encouraging them to release their wild woman! And 10 weeks later, when I read the poems written by these wonderful courageous women, I said to Adam "We need to publish these" and so, with his help, we set up Wild Women Press, even though neither of us had ever published anything before.
That was 8 years ago, and it has been a wild and wacky journey, and a great success too. The point is...it began, literally, with a dream, and a willingness to follow that dream. Through it, I have met so many amazing women, and men, and have had the honour of sharing the journey with many of those original Wild Women. However hard things have got, and they have been hard (as life can be when you live it without artifice!), the Wild Women, and I include myself in this, have kept creating, kept loving, kept courageous and often, kept laughing. As much as I have given inspiration, I have received it.
So, I just want to say thanks to all the wild women, and men, along the way, for being brave enough to follow their bliss - and a big thanks especially to Gill and Ruth, for putting my name forward for this award. A big Wild Woman howl for you!
http://www.wildwomenpress.com
And if you want to see the announcements, you can go to:
http://commonpeople.blip.tv
I was really thrilled to find myself chosen, especially as I am the only Cumbrian based finalist out of 14 in total. It feels somehow fitting to be in this category, as the journey of Wild Women has felt more of a quest that an art project, with its shared journeys of discovery, bizarre twists and turns, fellow adventurers and magical talismans. Of course, it ought to be Unsung Heroine, but there you go.
When I decided to set up Wild Women in 1999, I did so based on an intuitive hunch, a thread of a scent that told me this was what I needed to do. For the few years before, I had suffered with depression and anxiety, so the setting up of a group was a challenge, but as soon as I made the decision, people came along to support me, and pretty soon, I was standing infront of 12 other women, encouraging them to release their wild woman! And 10 weeks later, when I read the poems written by these wonderful courageous women, I said to Adam "We need to publish these" and so, with his help, we set up Wild Women Press, even though neither of us had ever published anything before.
That was 8 years ago, and it has been a wild and wacky journey, and a great success too. The point is...it began, literally, with a dream, and a willingness to follow that dream. Through it, I have met so many amazing women, and men, and have had the honour of sharing the journey with many of those original Wild Women. However hard things have got, and they have been hard (as life can be when you live it without artifice!), the Wild Women, and I include myself in this, have kept creating, kept loving, kept courageous and often, kept laughing. As much as I have given inspiration, I have received it.
So, I just want to say thanks to all the wild women, and men, along the way, for being brave enough to follow their bliss - and a big thanks especially to Gill and Ruth, for putting my name forward for this award. A big Wild Woman howl for you!
http://www.wildwomenpress.com
And if you want to see the announcements, you can go to:
http://commonpeople.blip.tv
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