hello friends!

first of all - if you subscribed to this newsletter on a hastily put together handwritten mailing list at a workshop/supper club a few (ooooops, quite a few) months ago. welcome! this is truly the first newsletter i’ve managed to get my ass in gear to send since then!

this is mostly a quick missive to say that i’ve got a workshop upcoming!

we’re making puppets baybeee!!

it will be a very chill, 3 hour session where i’ll guide you through making your very own 3d hand puppet out of recycled materials.

it’s a nice intro to some cardboard sculpture and textile work - great if you’re new to those things but also equally relaxing and enjoyable if that’s already your jam.

at the end i’ll even have some prompts so that we can start bringing our puppets to life and breathing some life into them!! puppet party!

the session is in Cardiff on Sunday 1st March, to book your place visit the eventbrite page . it’s my first workshop of the year, and it’s also the first workshop i’ve put on myself (not being hired by an institution) so it’s a bit of an experiment on my part! i’d love to see you there for some puppety, puppety goodness.

in other news

a few months ago i was lucky enough to be granted arts council wales funding!

i’ve been awarded a Creative Steps grant, which will allow me to rebuild the foundations of my practice so that I will be able to work - and share my work - in a way that is more sustainable for me.

this newsletter is one little piece of that sharing practice! I'm not sure what this space will be, but in tandem with my website I want it to feel like a cool special secret club where I share my work and ideas (and hopefully you share some of yours??) away from the NERVOUS SYSTEM WRECKING environment of instagram/social media, which i’ve genuinely had to come away from for my own mental health.

my practice has started shifting and changing, hopefully in ways that will be EXCITING and WILD and i’d like to share that with you!

i’d love to see you at the workshop and chat irl.

Ren x

P.S. BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

non fic:

how to fall in love with the future: a time travellers guide to changing the world by rob Hopkins

if you’re experiencing the same gripping waves of anxiety that I am because of * gestures vaguely at everything * then this book might be for you? I found it a hopeful balm of pragmatism and creativity.

fic:

vacuum in the dark - jen beagin

I just!! love!!! Jen!!! Beagin!!! her writing is so easy and comfy whilst still being wild and cavorting.