I began writing this blog in January 2026 but then abandoned it. Today I have put my phone on airplane mode and started a timer for two hours. I spent the first hour confirming dates with venues for an Autumn tour. The second hour I’m dedicating to finishing this.
I decided that I needed to approach my creativity the way I do with my exercise – doing it regularly, having a set time and structure, not negotiating with myself if I’m not feeling it that day. Just showing up and doing my best. Over time and with consistent effort the results of that have become visible, but more importantly, my nervous system has learned to trust the regularity. It’s harder on some days, but on other days I’m totally crushing it. I’m able to do things physically that I couldn’t a year ago. Creativity is a muscle too.
So what follows is what I began writing in January…
I can’t pretend that I’m not horrified by the events in the world currently. But this blog is where I reflect on my practise as an artist. Please read it in context.
Since I last wrote to you…
I finally started putting together a book of ‘Jeu Jeu la Foille’s Testy Manifesto.’ There is still a lot to do with it before I send off for a proof-copy. I’m not putting a deadline on it just yet.
I began, but didn’t finish several new pieces of writing, including a new one for Wanda.
I interviewed ‘a friend and supporter of my work about his activism work for Palestine, and how collective grief might be demonstrated.
I’m starting to reemerge.
I’ve got a few ideas for the new show, but nothing new has materialised yet.
I’m talking to a couple of community centres about putting on two double bills in the Autumn. This is so I can perform the new show twice and make developments for the second showing. Doing one my existing shows first is a good warm up for everyone, and as they are each only 45 minutes long, it makes sense to pair them.
All of that feels still a long way ahead.
And I’ve found in the past that if I take some time to reflect, it kind of frees me up for the next stage. And I was thinking that maybe those pieces of writing don’t know what they are yet. Maybe all the spark is there, but it hasn’t taken form yet, so it doesn’t have a container.
Sometimes as I am writing something, the form it’s going to take becomes evident, and I follow that. Or sometimes I already have a form it’s going to take, like using the structure of an existing song for example.
I create mood boards and playlists sometimes. I’ve written a few things in workshops, or through an exercise in a book.
And so here is a list all of the containers I create for my words:
The Poetic Monologue
The rhyming poem – repeating structure
The blank verse, rhythmical poem, repeating words or phrases
The ‘Glossary’ Poem
The Beat Poem
The Lecture
The made-up Myth or fairytale
Interaction with objects, set and costume, music or audience ‘volunteers’
The Lip-synch or voice-over
The Haiku
The Sonnet
And back to the present day – March 9th, the day after International Women’s Day.
I am involved in a project called ‘Out of the Shadows’ which aims to celebrate women creatives who have been overlooked in the past. The project is spearheaded by my friend and local artist Michelle, who created exquisite portraits of 25 women who were all powerhouses and trail-blazers in their individual art forms, but most remain virtually unknown. I have decided to resurrect my ‘Living Portraits’ project from my LISPA days (where I costumed each of my fellow actors as characters from Tom Waits’ songs, and asked them to improvise in front of a camera, using the costume as a stimulus) and start a deep dive into the lives and work of some of these amazing women.
It’s a project that will hopefully feed into the new show ‘Jeu Jeu la Foille’s Pithy Obituary’ that I’m presenting for the first time this Autumn. I may find some way to project and incorporate the filmed portraits, or I may create a way to access them separately. I work in an extensive theatrical wardrobe three days a week. It has taken me three and a half years to get it to a workable standard as it was abandoned over covid and the spiders and moths took over. I even had a rat living in the attic at one point. I now have access to an enviable resource, and I’m not taking advantage of it. That is changing this week. We hope to have a completed exhibition for International Women’s Day 2027, and there are all sorts of other spin-off projects happening and art being made for it. I spoke to several other women at the launch yesterday that are lovers of all things costume, so I might also have some collaborators.
I was wondering how to get my creative mojo back, but its action that creates drive, not the other way around. I now only have three minutes left of my creative time. So I will publish this blog, and go on with my day.
It doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to get done.
With love and daffodil trumpets,
JJlF xx
I decided that I needed to approach my creativity the way I do with my exercise – doing it regularly, having a set time and structure, not negotiating with myself if I’m not feeling it that day. Just showing up and doing my best. Over time and with consistent effort the results of that have become visible, but more importantly, my nervous system has learned to trust the regularity. It’s harder on some days, but on other days I’m totally crushing it. I’m able to do things physically that I couldn’t a year ago. Creativity is a muscle too.
So what follows is what I began writing in January…
I can’t pretend that I’m not horrified by the events in the world currently. But this blog is where I reflect on my practise as an artist. Please read it in context.
Since I last wrote to you…
I finally started putting together a book of ‘Jeu Jeu la Foille’s Testy Manifesto.’ There is still a lot to do with it before I send off for a proof-copy. I’m not putting a deadline on it just yet.
I began, but didn’t finish several new pieces of writing, including a new one for Wanda.
I interviewed ‘a friend and supporter of my work about his activism work for Palestine, and how collective grief might be demonstrated.
I’m starting to reemerge.
I’ve got a few ideas for the new show, but nothing new has materialised yet.
I’m talking to a couple of community centres about putting on two double bills in the Autumn. This is so I can perform the new show twice and make developments for the second showing. Doing one my existing shows first is a good warm up for everyone, and as they are each only 45 minutes long, it makes sense to pair them.
All of that feels still a long way ahead.
And I’ve found in the past that if I take some time to reflect, it kind of frees me up for the next stage. And I was thinking that maybe those pieces of writing don’t know what they are yet. Maybe all the spark is there, but it hasn’t taken form yet, so it doesn’t have a container.
Sometimes as I am writing something, the form it’s going to take becomes evident, and I follow that. Or sometimes I already have a form it’s going to take, like using the structure of an existing song for example.
I create mood boards and playlists sometimes. I’ve written a few things in workshops, or through an exercise in a book.
And so here is a list all of the containers I create for my words:
The Poetic Monologue
The rhyming poem – repeating structure
The blank verse, rhythmical poem, repeating words or phrases
The ‘Glossary’ Poem
The Beat Poem
The Lecture
The made-up Myth or fairytale
Interaction with objects, set and costume, music or audience ‘volunteers’
The Lip-synch or voice-over
The Haiku
The Sonnet
And back to the present day – March 9th, the day after International Women’s Day.
I am involved in a project called ‘Out of the Shadows’ which aims to celebrate women creatives who have been overlooked in the past. The project is spearheaded by my friend and local artist Michelle, who created exquisite portraits of 25 women who were all powerhouses and trail-blazers in their individual art forms, but most remain virtually unknown. I have decided to resurrect my ‘Living Portraits’ project from my LISPA days (where I costumed each of my fellow actors as characters from Tom Waits’ songs, and asked them to improvise in front of a camera, using the costume as a stimulus) and start a deep dive into the lives and work of some of these amazing women.
It’s a project that will hopefully feed into the new show ‘Jeu Jeu la Foille’s Pithy Obituary’ that I’m presenting for the first time this Autumn. I may find some way to project and incorporate the filmed portraits, or I may create a way to access them separately. I work in an extensive theatrical wardrobe three days a week. It has taken me three and a half years to get it to a workable standard as it was abandoned over covid and the spiders and moths took over. I even had a rat living in the attic at one point. I now have access to an enviable resource, and I’m not taking advantage of it. That is changing this week. We hope to have a completed exhibition for International Women’s Day 2027, and there are all sorts of other spin-off projects happening and art being made for it. I spoke to several other women at the launch yesterday that are lovers of all things costume, so I might also have some collaborators.
I was wondering how to get my creative mojo back, but its action that creates drive, not the other way around. I now only have three minutes left of my creative time. So I will publish this blog, and go on with my day.
It doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to get done.
With love and daffodil trumpets,
JJlF xx
RSS Feed
