Writers' Workshop Kicks Off

Joey guards his story from the camera's prying eye 

Nothing happens without Costis. 

Making stories

Reading 'Consequences'...

Thursday afternoon at the studio saw the first gathering of theWriters' Workshop, Words on Paper, led by local writer Rachael Pettus.  A small group ranging in age from seven (Joey) to 53 (Rachael's sister Ruth) gathered in the studio, talked a little about the essentials of story making, then began work -- and play.  The younger ones, who had had little formal learning in English, had some difficulty with spelling, but a nearby adult always helped out.

The first exercise was a round of the old party game Consequences, in which each player writes a man's name at the top of a page, folds the paper over, and hands the page to the player on the right -- who then writes the name of a woman, covers it in turn, and hands the paper on... until a story is created involving where the couple met, what they wore, what they said to each other, and what happened 'consequently'.  the game is a rigid form of story-telling, made fascinating and funny by the details provided by each player's imagination.

After a quick refreshment break, we moved on to another form of story creation, the composite story.  Unfortunately we didn't have time for a full round:  each player wrote a beginning on their page before passing it to the right, added a 'middle' to the paper that came to them, before passing that one on and  completing the new page that came from the player to the left.  This allowed a much freer form of writing as each writer built on the paragraphs written by the writer before.

Despite running out of time, we passed around lots of good ideas and Rachael left with the suggestion that participants take some of the images generated by the stories that we had begun, and develop them for next week.

Art in the Park

A cameraman from Paphos t.v. did show up in Heroes' Park on Saturday afternoon, and thanks to Sophia Agathocleous, left after half an hour with an articulate statement about the Art and Wild nature Foundation and its aims in Greek and plenty of colourful footage of children and adults painting and sticking. Combined with a print interview that Doerte gave the Cyprus Weekly last week, that should guarantee us some coverage in the coming week.

This weekend saw us mosaicking leaves and lizards as well as a polka dot fish, and painting a snake and Georges the Giraffe (complete with neon-pink horns) for completion next week. In order to provide some colourful background for the t.v cameraman, the bird and the snail were set up nearby, and the children enjoyed games of Wolf and Sheep during the drink break.

Trash to Treasure in Heroes' Park

Another productive Saturday afternoon passed in Heroes' Park yesterday. We filled in with bottle-tops the sun and the turtle that were painted last week, and in preparation for next week's work -- which we hope will be filmed by Paphos TV -- the children painted a fish and a lizard as well as two leaf shapes.

Passers-by and fans have often stopped to ask just what we are doing on the plastic sheet spread under the pines. We are turning trash to treasure: taking discarded bottle tops and creating colorful mosaics with natural themes, and showing how something beautiful can be created from every-day garbage.

So come and join in! The workshops are free every Saturday afternoon from three until six p.m. in Heroes' Park (opposite Carrefour in Paphos). All children are welcome, as are adult volunteers. Wear old clothes as we use glue and paint!

Recycling in the Park

Just a few photos from last Saturday's recycling workshop: this week we did a beautiful dolphin with varied blues and a big smile and a multi-coloured turtle. Many thanks to all who turned out: we hope to see you again next week - when we'll be doing the sun and the bird panels that were so beautifully painted on Saturday!

Bottle Top Recycling

A few new faces appeared at the Art & Wild Nature Foundation Bottle Top Recycling Workshop last Saturday in Heroes' Park (former Dassoudi) opposite Carrefour. Lise had cut large forms from heavy plywood (which Joey had enthusiastically primed) and we started mosaic-ing a snail and a flower from boxes of previously-sorted bottle tops. When sticking lost it's allure, the paint brushes emerged, and, grasped by eager hands, applied colour to next week's forms, a turtle and a dolphin.

So if you want to turn trash to treasure with us -- and have a good time into the bargain, come along to Heroes' Park next Saturday from three until six. The event is free for children and adult volunteers are always welcome. Wear old clothes: we use glue and paint with abandon and delight!

Mosaics in the Morning

Despite the school holidays, Turtle and Moon is operating during the Easter period except Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The U3A Thursday mosaic session had a good turnout with several projects -- including some from the recent Klimt-inspired workshop -- being finished as well as others being started.