This place has become a bolthole for me when I have a lot of thinking to do. I walk the estuary when the tide is out, its magnitude and beauty clears my head.
SO MUCH TO DO AND I WANT TO GET IT ALL DONE BEFORE CHRISTMAS!
Firstly I need to design a Giraffe statue for “Worcester Stands Tall 2018” in aid of my mother’s hospice St. Richards. Having loved designing and painting the Cotswold Hare a year ago I have decide to have one large project a year and luckily this seems to be falling in December, a month when I get to be at home and focussed.
My idea for The Giraffe has been approved. I am really happy with it and it has a linking theme to my Hare…….more on this in April 2018 when it is exhibited in the centre of Worcester.
JUBILEE in Manchester was HEAVEN! Even thought the play is violent, offensive and like a sharp stick up the jacksy, it was also liberating, inspiring, romantic and incredibly moving. I am so proud to be going to London with it.
The Lyric Hammersmith will give us all, director/writer and the cast new challenges to bring this remarkable play into a traditional shaped auditorium……but nothing is normal about this production and plans are in motion to take over the space and reinvent it.
Manchester was thrilling.
A great city, but for most of the run I had a personal protection guard with me after a knife incident on stage. In a way the play invited people to protest and we did have a very upsetting situation, which resulted in my being shadowed by a 6ft 6inch protection guard for two weeks.
I asked him…( he is called Oggy)…..does he have to do this kind of thing often, to which he replied yes, everyday, mainly protecting people shopping in case there was a terrorist situation, he would be responsible for getting them out of it safely. It’s another world.
Eight hours after finishing the play in Manchester I was on a plane to Philadelphia, connecting to Pittsburgh and in my baby’s arms within 15 hours.
Joining the King Crimson tour in the USA for the last week of the tour. Pittsburgh is a blur……I slept for 24hours.
(Partly because Oct/Nov were extreme. With full on rehearsals, six concerts, a film role and the stage run.)
But Ann Arbour was vibrant. Great food, lovely people bustling with energy as it is a university town. Then onto Cleveland.
Which was soooooo different. Police with guns visibly showing, friendly, but simply provocative by just being everywhere we went…..restaurants, hotel lobby’s, street corners. One cop pulled a gun on three guys in a shopping mall and everyone paused very briefly and kind of gave a collective “Oh!” We all hid behind pillars then a few seconds later we carried on about our business as if it was completely normal.
But the one place that blew me over and settled in my heart as strongly as Seattle is Milwaukee, it’s very special indeed.
Situated by a huge expanse of a lake that connects to Canada. Clean, ordered, great art museum by the water, friendly and no signs of hard times….it gleamed. We will definitely be returning.
I was there on a Sunday so I discovered they have Sunday closing which was refreshing until I saw PLANET BEAD. A shop that obviously sells beads but also pearls and semi precious stones….I am an avid stone collector. The shop was closed until Tuesday and I flew on Monday.
Looking through the windows there were people inside beading necklaces and I knocked on the door and mouthed “ I promise to spend a lot of money if you let me in”, but they wouldn’t let me in….I will just have to go back.
Bill Rieflin flew into Milwaukee from Seattle.
He has had one hell of a nightmare year (the last 4 years have been hell for him) but he is starting to come out the other side.
He arrived thin, frail and exhausted, but soon he was asking me to run errands for him, which is always a good sign. After 24 hours with us he was bright, perky and back to his old self.
Bill isn’t completely out of the woods. He cannot work until march 2018….but I think he will make it and be back with the team for most of 2018.
We have missed him so much. He is a fighter and he wants to be back working so badly.
On our return from the USA, we found our house and garden lit up like Vegas by many flashing, strobing multi-coloured lights and I was in trouble with The Fripp for asking our team to install a grotto…Fripp thought it all too gaudy but he is coming round.
Even the neighbours have commented…..excellent!
I wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas.
The snow is falling as I write and even if it thaws by Christmas day it is really nice to be reminded of what it is.
The year ends with THE WILDE WILD XMAS SHOW…with myself, Kim Wild and Carol Decker at Manchester ‘s O2 Ritz…….what a way to see the year out……..the night will be rocking.
I want to thank the fabulous team around me who have made 2017 one of the best years ever. Craig Astley, Wongoose, The Doble, John Humphrey, Tim Rose, Paul Nicholson, Kate Way, Mike Nichols, everyone at RAM, Craig Latto, Jamie Brenner, Jack and Beth, TDP, David A Fleming AND everyone who supported us at the shows….HAPPY CHRISTMAS!”
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL LOVE TOYAH XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
But the one place that blew me over and settled in my heart as strongly as Seattle is Milwaukee, it’s very special indeed.
But the one place that blew me over and settled in my heart as strongly as Seattle is Milwaukee, it’s very special indeed.
