We are constantly developing and growing and the decision has been made to keep all of our content free to all forever*. We do have paid for services and will be setting up an online shop at some point. You can also pay for commissions, coaching and training events.
We also have a donation option. If you like what you see and enjoy the editions FLOW and the LIFE CREATIVE podcast, and would like to support the Driftwood Studio project then all donations are gratefully received.
The amount of £5 is suggested but you can change this to whatever pleases you. Or you can just enjoy the ride. All are welcome.
DRIFTWOOD STUDIO is a collective of artists, educators, writers and coaches. We are committed to building a more creative world for positive change, healthy and productive relationships and a good amount of fun.
Enjoy.
(Donations are used to maintain and develop our growing infrastructure.)
*This does not include separately priced items including but not limited to e-books and product items.
THE MASK
We all wear masks.
We all perform different roles throughout our lives requiring us to ‘be’ differently, too ‘do’ differently. We are all playing a part at some point according to context and company.
To function healthily we all need multiple roles. Parent, writer, friend, lover, professional, employee, daughter, and so on. To be fully ‘us’ we require multiplicity in our day to day existence. Behind these roles it always you - or is it?
There are other masks we wear. The internal ‘parts’ we must play according to the events that have shaped our behaviors, our impulses and emotions. These are the invisible masks that sometimes trip us up and land us in hot water. Sometimes we rely on these masks to protect, usurp and manipulate. Such is the human condition.
Performances within performances; stories within stories; peeling back the layers of the onion is a dangerous business. Revealing ourselves to be vulnerable, inauthentic or contradictory can play havoc on the self. Removing the mask means being exposed as human: flawed, fragile and temporary.
In his brilliant book “Impro,” Keith Johnstone talks about masks and trance in the context of improvised theatre. In the final chapter Johnstone looks at how masks were used by neolithic man. Hunters would wear animal skins to become the animal. By mimicking, or perhaps even ‘becoming’ the prey, the hunter could get closer and make a more efficient kill. In this instance a mask is more than a disguise, it is a means of becoming something ‘other’ for the purpose of survival.
For this reason and others my old director and teacher used to make the statement that
Theatre is a human need
The use of masks in theatre is common place, from Greek tragedy to Japanese Oni masks to the half masks of Commedia dell’arte. In Keith Johnstone’s work with improvised mask work, actors experience powerful responses to the wearing of masks. The same characters emerge again and again no matter who wears the mask. The mask, it seems, contains some archetypal character which the actor is then ‘possessed’ by and is able to create incredibly intuitive and naturally flowing performances with no rehearsal or scripting.
Check out this mask workshop run by Keith. Notice how the masks come alive and the actor is almost being controlled by the character of the mask. The use of the mirror is minimal.
The power of the mask is seen throughout history from religious rites to medical and military applications. Masks very quickly becoming iconic and representative of far more than a simple face covering. For example, the simple white mask worn throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is now synonymous with that event.
Whether it is metaphorical, physical or psychological the mask is a powerful aspect of the human condition and an integral part of out cultural identity and development.
You are reading the June edition of FLOW - the monthly mail-out from Driftwood Studio.
Personally, I love masks. I love the mystery, the symbolism and the deep rooted cultural meaning attached to them. I was therefore thrilled to go to our very own Michelle Ayavoro’s African Mask Workshop at Chorlton Arts Festival. Michelle is a superb textile artist, facilitator and advocate for social change. She has run her own Community Interest Company, and worked extensively in the field of community arts.
Chorlton itself is a creative enclave of Greater Manchester in the North East of the UK. Here you will find any number of artisan bakers, coffee shops, craft ale bars, galleries, actors, artists, writers, performers and a whole gamut of goings on. I have been to a few open mic events in Chorlton and whether you have 30 years experience or are just starting out, you will find warm and supportive audiences.
Michelle’s event at the Lloyds Function Room, was as vibrant and chilled as you would expect to find in this oasis of the arts. When I entered the downstairs bar there was a guy dismantling microphone stands on the stage, whilst another performer was unpacking and getting ready for the evening set. Michelle’s workshop was upstairs, and as I wandered up with my friend Belinda, we did not really know what to expect.
The room was busy with people making, and doing, and chatting, and eating and the music was up-lifting, the vibe was high and the sun was shining. The place was filled with a feeling of togetherness, creative joy and love. In short, this was a Michelle Ayavoro event. I have been fortunate to have done some coaching work with Michelle and I am familiar with her work. Around the edge of the room were her textile portraits which celebrate Black Lives. Her work is colorful, flamboyant and beautifully detailed. There were also pictures of masks and a multitude of materials - feathers, paper of all colours and hues, beads and fur and bits and bats and glue and scissors and mess and glorious chaos.
Belinda instantly got involved in making a mask as I started chatting to a young film maker who I am meeting this weekend to talk about a script he is looking for some help with. This is the really magical thing about these kinds of events - forget social media, this is the real deal. Artists and creatives are highly social animals and want to learn and connect and work with one another. When I told him I am a writer, poet and performer we fell into a conversation about his latest project. Sorry, no spoilers, but who knows what the weekend might bring.
Michelle's Mask Workshop at Chorlton Arts Festival
Behind the Mask
My mind went back to some of my early community arts work. I worked on one project with a social anthropologist using masks and theatre to explore identity in young people on an estate where there was a high degree of social deprivation. The participants were encouraged to make masks depicting how they wanted to be seen. We made superheroes and villains, heroes and magical creatures. The power of the mask is significant. We love to wear masks to become something other, to feel magical and powerful.
But on this occasion, despite the event being all about masks, everyone there was revealed as themselves perhaps a little bit more than we normally are. This is the mark of skilled facilitator such as Michelle. This was a safe space, not because of any impending threat, but because sometimes we need to find ourselves in a place with creative people to guide us. These people show the compassion and encouragement needed for people to feel able to simply be, and play.
You can connect with Michelle via Instagram or via the link at the end of this newsletter.
Exhibits of MIchelle’s which are now on permanent display at “HOME GALLERY” in the City of Manchester, UK.
Driftwood Studio wants to help you make your creative vision a reality.
Through creativity we find meaning, value and purpose.
This is our mission.
All of our Substack content is free*
To help us keep this work growing all donations are gratefully received.
We are excited to announce that our very own Andy Croft - The Troubled Photographer, will soon be moving into a new premises which will be going by the name of Studio 61. Andy has also been covering various events over the last two weeks and will also be covering Manchester Pride. You can find out more about Andy’s work at www.thetroubledphotographer.co.uk
Madeleine Howard is now on the first leg of a trip that will take her half way round the world to Japan and a hiking adventure to Tokyo, Kyoto and Gifu. We cannot wait to hear from Maddie on her return. You can find her on Instagram and we hope she will soon be joining us here on SubStack.
The Workshop in Healey Dell is coming along nicely and we are planning a Driftwood Directors event at this beautiful site in the woodlands just outside Rochdale in July. If you would like to get involved with the Driftwood Directors group please get in touch at info@driftwoodstudio.co.uk. We would love to hear from you and what you are working on right now.
FLOW is from the keyboard of David Nixon - Founder of Driftwood Studio and self certified Chaos Engineer.
I help people explore, develop and understand their own creative flow.
I work by developing trusting and productive relationships.
Here’s what you do next:
Send me a message. We have a conversation. Then we explore.
David Nixon - Writing for performance, visual arts, creative coaching & training
FLOW #5 - Behind the Mask
FLOW #5 - Behind the Mask
FLOW #5 - Behind the Mask
Welcome to FLOW
The monthly newsletter for Driftwood Studio.
UPDATE: FREE FOREVER!
We are constantly developing and growing and the decision has been made to keep all of our content free to all forever*. We do have paid for services and will be setting up an online shop at some point. You can also pay for commissions, coaching and training events.
We also have a donation option. If you like what you see and enjoy the editions FLOW and the LIFE CREATIVE podcast, and would like to support the Driftwood Studio project then all donations are gratefully received.
The amount of £5 is suggested but you can change this to whatever pleases you. Or you can just enjoy the ride. All are welcome.
Support the Studio
DRIFTWOOD STUDIO is a collective of artists, educators, writers and coaches. We are committed to building a more creative world for positive change, healthy and productive relationships and a good amount of fun.
Enjoy.
(Donations are used to maintain and develop our growing infrastructure.)
*This does not include separately priced items including but not limited to e-books and product items.
THE MASK
We all wear masks.
We all perform different roles throughout our lives requiring us to ‘be’ differently, too ‘do’ differently. We are all playing a part at some point according to context and company.
To function healthily we all need multiple roles. Parent, writer, friend, lover, professional, employee, daughter, and so on. To be fully ‘us’ we require multiplicity in our day to day existence. Behind these roles it always you - or is it?
There are other masks we wear. The internal ‘parts’ we must play according to the events that have shaped our behaviors, our impulses and emotions. These are the invisible masks that sometimes trip us up and land us in hot water. Sometimes we rely on these masks to protect, usurp and manipulate. Such is the human condition.
Performances within performances; stories within stories; peeling back the layers of the onion is a dangerous business. Revealing ourselves to be vulnerable, inauthentic or contradictory can play havoc on the self. Removing the mask means being exposed as human: flawed, fragile and temporary.
In his brilliant book “Impro,” Keith Johnstone talks about masks and trance in the context of improvised theatre. In the final chapter Johnstone looks at how masks were used by neolithic man. Hunters would wear animal skins to become the animal. By mimicking, or perhaps even ‘becoming’ the prey, the hunter could get closer and make a more efficient kill. In this instance a mask is more than a disguise, it is a means of becoming something ‘other’ for the purpose of survival.
For this reason and others my old director and teacher used to make the statement that
The use of masks in theatre is common place, from Greek tragedy to Japanese Oni masks to the half masks of Commedia dell’arte. In Keith Johnstone’s work with improvised mask work, actors experience powerful responses to the wearing of masks. The same characters emerge again and again no matter who wears the mask. The mask, it seems, contains some archetypal character which the actor is then ‘possessed’ by and is able to create incredibly intuitive and naturally flowing performances with no rehearsal or scripting.
Check out this mask workshop run by Keith. Notice how the masks come alive and the actor is almost being controlled by the character of the mask. The use of the mirror is minimal.
The power of the mask is seen throughout history from religious rites to medical and military applications. Masks very quickly becoming iconic and representative of far more than a simple face covering. For example, the simple white mask worn throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is now synonymous with that event.
Whether it is metaphorical, physical or psychological the mask is a powerful aspect of the human condition and an integral part of out cultural identity and development.
You are reading the June edition of FLOW - the monthly mail-out from Driftwood Studio.
Share
________
Chorlton Arts Festival
Personally, I love masks. I love the mystery, the symbolism and the deep rooted cultural meaning attached to them. I was therefore thrilled to go to our very own Michelle Ayavoro’s African Mask Workshop at Chorlton Arts Festival. Michelle is a superb textile artist, facilitator and advocate for social change. She has run her own Community Interest Company, and worked extensively in the field of community arts.
Chorlton itself is a creative enclave of Greater Manchester in the North East of the UK. Here you will find any number of artisan bakers, coffee shops, craft ale bars, galleries, actors, artists, writers, performers and a whole gamut of goings on. I have been to a few open mic events in Chorlton and whether you have 30 years experience or are just starting out, you will find warm and supportive audiences.
Michelle’s event at the Lloyds Function Room, was as vibrant and chilled as you would expect to find in this oasis of the arts. When I entered the downstairs bar there was a guy dismantling microphone stands on the stage, whilst another performer was unpacking and getting ready for the evening set. Michelle’s workshop was upstairs, and as I wandered up with my friend Belinda, we did not really know what to expect.
The room was busy with people making, and doing, and chatting, and eating and the music was up-lifting, the vibe was high and the sun was shining. The place was filled with a feeling of togetherness, creative joy and love. In short, this was a Michelle Ayavoro event. I have been fortunate to have done some coaching work with Michelle and I am familiar with her work. Around the edge of the room were her textile portraits which celebrate Black Lives. Her work is colorful, flamboyant and beautifully detailed. There were also pictures of masks and a multitude of materials - feathers, paper of all colours and hues, beads and fur and bits and bats and glue and scissors and mess and glorious chaos.
Belinda instantly got involved in making a mask as I started chatting to a young film maker who I am meeting this weekend to talk about a script he is looking for some help with. This is the really magical thing about these kinds of events - forget social media, this is the real deal. Artists and creatives are highly social animals and want to learn and connect and work with one another. When I told him I am a writer, poet and performer we fell into a conversation about his latest project. Sorry, no spoilers, but who knows what the weekend might bring.
Behind the Mask
My mind went back to some of my early community arts work. I worked on one project with a social anthropologist using masks and theatre to explore identity in young people on an estate where there was a high degree of social deprivation. The participants were encouraged to make masks depicting how they wanted to be seen. We made superheroes and villains, heroes and magical creatures. The power of the mask is significant. We love to wear masks to become something other, to feel magical and powerful.
But on this occasion, despite the event being all about masks, everyone there was revealed as themselves perhaps a little bit more than we normally are. This is the mark of skilled facilitator such as Michelle. This was a safe space, not because of any impending threat, but because sometimes we need to find ourselves in a place with creative people to guide us. These people show the compassion and encouragement needed for people to feel able to simply be, and play.
You can connect with Michelle via Instagram or via the link at the end of this newsletter.
Driftwood Studio wants to help you make your creative vision a reality.
Through creativity we find meaning, value and purpose.
This is our mission.
All of our Substack content is free*
To help us keep this work growing all donations are gratefully received.
Support the Studio
NEWS
FLOW is from the keyboard of David Nixon - Founder of Driftwood Studio and self certified Chaos Engineer.
I help people explore, develop and understand their own creative flow.
I work by developing trusting and productive relationships.
Here’s what you do next:
Send me a message. We have a conversation. Then we explore.
David Nixon - Writing for performance, visual arts, creative coaching & training
Dave Brown - 3D clay work, coaching & training.
Erica Pham - Mixed media artist, tarot & wellbeing.
Madeleine Howard - Writer, performer & education.
Andy Croft - Photography, printing, web building & SEO.
Michelle Ayavoro - Textile artist, inclusion & diversity, facilitator & arts in health.
Denise Bradshaw - Facilitator, educator & creative wellbeing.