Splashes
of colour and life from three teachers
Three teachers from the British School in Colombo come together
for an exhibition of their work at the Havelock Gallery in June.
Robert Sloper,
a chemistry teacher has been painting for some 20 years. His work
is fascinating for the intensity of colours he uses.
Beach scenes
where you can almost hear the children shouting and the water splashing,
landscapes reminding you of French impressionists, and pictures
of Sri Lankan women that resemble Gaugin's most famous work.
Robert Sloper
has exhibited widely in his native Oxfordshire in England, but has
drawn much of his inspiration from his travels. These have been
in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Since coming to Sri Lanka,
almost two years ago, he has worked on local themes, with particular
interest in the people and landscapes. Examples of his earlier work
can be found on the website
www.sunnyside-studio.com.
Ali Fryer enjoys
photography, "particularly here where there are so many wonderful
colours and facial expressions. Also, the act of taking photographs
of people is an enjoyable and rewarding one as Sri Lankans seem
to love to pose for the camera!" she says.
"Photography
is purely a hobby for me, which I have shared with several keen
students at the British School on a recent exploration to Anuradhapura.
I hope people will enjoy sharing some of my experiences."
Ali teaches
English and Drama at the British School, but is leaving Sri Lanka
this summer to take a director of drama post in the UK and to research
some crosscultural theatre issues for her PhD.
Mohan Sudusinghe
is a professional dancer, has his own dance and aerobics studio
and teaches dancing at the British School. His other love is painting,
and he paints mostly dancers.
Mohan says,
"I hope to continue to pass on this love for dance and art
to those whom I train. This I believe is the best lesson I could
pass on."
The Group exhibition
will be at the Havelock Place Bungalow from June 8 to 18.
Poetry
that revealed an oasis in a drab desert
As an American expatriate, coming to the Middle East for the first
time at the ripe old age of 65, I was homesick for rain, mud puddles,
rainbows , the four seasons, and the green green grass of home.
Looking back, not forward, I could only see the beauty in the familiar.
An old American song expressed my feelings "When you shall
see flowers that lie on the plain, lying there, dying for one drop
of rain - Then you may borrow some taste of my sorrow."
Feeling dry
and thirsty, I felt no joy in this alien land!
But that was
before I met Charmaine and read her thirst quenching poems. They
were better for me than a whole case of bottled water.
After dipping
into "Impressions of Oman and Zanzibar" and her other
poetry I could begin to see from afar, an oasis in my desert. Charmaine's
poetry has given me new eyes to see and a new direction to follow.
I now look torward
to life here as an old stranger in a new paradise. Her sensitivity
has helped me to look up instead of just looking around. In America
I visited many gardens with a distracting confusion of many colours
and varieties of flowers and plants. My fellow Americans, God bless
them, didn't feel Mother Nature was fully dressed without a landscaper,
patios, decks, fountains, bridges and ponds, and a garden gnome
or two all this leading to a swimming pool.
I accepted those
things as requirements for beauty, but through Charmaine's poetry
I have come to the realization that they are "only made of
clay" and God's creation is here to stay. Charmaine has helped
me to lift my eyes to the hills and see them in a different way.
"Caramel
coloured jebels of sandy terrain, some like a lunar landscape, others
taking sinuous forms beckoning me". When you are sixty-five
years old, you don't often find many sinuous forms beckoning you!!
I always thought
treeless mountains were brown and ugly, now I see them in an entirely
different way!! Caramel coloured!
Thank you Charmaine
for going a long way to cure my homesickness and with your liquid
aromatic words for filling me with wonder, and praise for my Creator
who lives not only in New York and Oman and Zanzibar.
Her words sum
up what Oman is becoming to me.
"This then, is the magical land of the Middle East
A land of mountains, frankincense and dishdashas."
Now as I abide in these alien lands, the sights and sounds reach
out to my soul and welcome me.
Quartet
in harmony
The Transworld piano quartet with Rohan de Silva - piano, Jagdish
Mistry - violin, Ashan Pillai - viola and Damian Martinez - cello
will perform at the Lionel Wendt Theatre, Colombo on June 9 and
10. Sri Lankan-born pianist Rohan De Silva and internationally acclaimed
violist Ashan Pillai, will team up with Indian-born violinist Jagdish
Mistry and Spanish cellist Damian Martinez for these two concerts.
The programme will feature works by Mozart, Benjamin Britten, Beethoven
and Brahms.
The proceeds from the concerts will go towards a Music Development
Project designed by Ashan Pillai and The British Council together
with the Western Music Department of the Ministry of Education.
The project is to encourage children aged between 7 and 12 years
to participate in a wider international music environment through
music workshops in schools around the country. The first phase will
comprise workshops in Kurunegala, Kandy, Panadura and Colombo and
will be conducted between June 11 and 15 by the four visiting musicians,
together with Sri Lankan percussionist, Krishna.
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