Handshaking for 665 years, Rachel’s Mardy Bum experience and Idolatry.

665 years.

That’s how long it will take if I, or you, were to shake the hand of every body living today. Obviously there’s flaws in this hypothesis; by the time I’ve finished a year of shaking hands, those hands that I’ve shaken may have ceased to exist and new ones may have been created. Additionally as a work colleague pointed out, my hand might ache and disease could be ripe!

I was thinking the other day about how much I want to meet as many people on this planet as possible. I want to know their stories and dreams. What makes them tick, what helps them get back up after down times, what do they want to do with their lives?

Each and every person is wonderfully unique and different to the last.

I’ve had the joy of sharing the last two days with my older brother, Seb. Seb is moving out to Mbarara, Uganda to live and work with AIM, but first he flies to Kenya on Monday where he’ll be spending 3 weeks at a training conference for missionaries all throughout Africa. The rich culture will be so tangible and infectious. I’m reminded of my year studying in Sydney, Australia. Being among people of all ages and backgrounds expanded my mind, enlarged my perspective and strengthened me. I will never regret or forget my experiences; they are precious and humbling.

Recently, Rachel and I have been dancing around our living room to the live footage of Glastonbury 2011. The television was our stage as we pulled stupid dance moves, cheered the singers name and sang to every lyric we did and didn’t know. It was the feeling of community and togetherness that made our feet tap and hands clap. An estimated 177,500 people were at Glastonbury 2011 and many more enviously watching in their living rooms. Our good friend Chris Watt can certainly testify to this years experience.

What an incredible force it is when people come together for a common goal and purpose. That’s why I love live music.

Music brings people together.

On Saturday 24^th June 2011, I made somewhat of a pilgrimage. Not to Bethlehem or St, James Park (Newcastle United Football Stadium) but to Sheffield. Yes, you read that right, Sheffield; the home town of my favourite band since I was a naïve rock loving teenager.

Ever since Arctic Monkeys released their first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m not, my life has changed; mostly for the good. Artcic Monkeys’ blunt and culturally aware lyrics have been my soundtrack for my juvenile and more mature days.

The only piece missing in the Arctic Monkeys puzzle was Alex Turner’s (lead singer) mouth; I was yet to see them live.

For many years, Rachel boasted that she had seen my heroes face to face whilst in a whirlpool moshpit at Leeds Festival easily trumping my claim of only seeing them on a DVD. However, the smug smirk was swiped away with one full swing of Alex Turner’s 6 string Fender at 21:15 hours on the historic Saturday night. A huge blue marquee in The Don Valley Bowl hosted 12,000 people and me that never wanted the night to end. Mr Turner and co entertained us as we gawped and sang back at them in what could be seen as unconditional idolatry.

Confession time: until Rachel and I moved house last weekend, I still owned a pristine poster of Alex Turner. Until now I just couldn’t get rid of my boyhood hero; how could I chuck in the bin like any other piece of junk mail! However, I’ve learnt a lot in my 24 years and I have washed my hands of this hold on my life. I have replaced this poster with a screenprint advertising the two nights Arctic Monkeys spent at the Don Valley Bowl, Sheffield. Incidentally, I had to shove the tube up my trouser leg throughout the gig to prevent it going missing.

As I said earlier, music unites people. Rachel and I arrived fairly early for the gig and sat on the grass outside the tent in festival style sipping local ale. The sun was actually shining upon us and the festival feel was rising. After I relieved myself at the gents porta-urinals (which is also a very communal outing for those in the know) we found the spot at which were to stand to listen to the support acts. Rachel was certainly more aware and analytical of those standing around us given her near death experience at her last Arctic Monkeys gig. Surrounding us were enough older looking fans that Rachel was happy to stay in front of the sound desk with little fear of being flung into a crowd surfing manoeuvre.

Getting to the point, we met a group of eight people who were slightly older than us but equally as passionate. We got chatting to a guy called Martin who worked and lived just up the road from the venue. He was extremely friendly and chatty asking all about us and what we did. Martin mentioned that I was extremely lucky to be married to girl as beautiful as Rachel but quashed any awkward situation by buying me a lager. Martin had very similar music taste to us and pretty much erupted with excitement when we mentioned that our first dance song at our wedding was a B side track by Athlete called Ordinary Angel. Let’s just say, the ice was broken and Rachel ended up on his shoulders as Arctic sang ‘Mardy Bum’ halfway through the gig.

When the gig finished and my jaw was clicked back into its natural position, we hugged and kissed our goodbyes to Martin and friends. We may never see or hear from Martin and co, or even Alex Turner and co, but the memories and handshakes will stay with me forever.

That’s eight handshakes down, only seven billion to go.

Thank you Martin and Arctic Monkeys for shedding that little bit more light on our rich, shiny, idol loving culture.

Exhibition Photo’s, Street Party & Busy Charlie & Lola.

I tell you what! We have been busy bumble bees in recent weeks! There’s a lot to tell you about.

We’ve had birthdays, weddings, a street party, hen do’s (just Rache) and also our art and music exhibition since we last wrote. And there are no apologies either because we’ve loved every minute!

Just take a look at our Charlie & Lola calendar for the last 2 months!

Valley Way Street Party

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I want to start by saying a huge thank you for everyone who came along to our first ever art and music exhibition in the UK. STOP.LOOK.LISTEN. was a huuuuge success. The compliments we’ve had about the feel of the evening have blown us away. As with any big event you host there’s always a sense of nervousness about how people will find it but the evening was so relaxing and exactly how we envisioned it to be. Being with friends from all times and walks of our lives was unique and special.

We felt vulnerable putting our art and music on show as our lives for the past 2-ish years were out in the open. With vulnerability comes freedom and a release from that which you are dealing with. Putting out hearts on canvas, wood and guitar strings has helped us find peace and hope in areas of our lives that are hard and also an increased freedom and joy in the areas of success.

21 out of 31 art pieces on show were sold and many postcards and prints are now in your hands.

Following the success of the exhibition and the huge interest in the art, we have started to sell prints (both A4 and A6) and also have a selection of postcards that were present at the exhibition.

Please see the Art Shop page for all that is on offer.

A BIG shout out goes to Tara Nutt for adding a year to her age – the more we hangout, the more Rachel and I love you! We cannot wait for more cake baking and pizza making!

Our great friends Katy and David Guest have become husband and wife! What a truly amazing day we shared together. Rachel was a bridesmaid and looked stunning in her dress but Katy stole the show with her energy, joy and love for people. Special days ahead with these two.

So, here’s to the last month but an even bigger toast goes to the adventures ahead of us – Rachel and I move across the road into our new bigger house on July 2^nd and will be arranging some house warming get togethers – the kitchen is a lot bigger so we can actually sit at a proper dinner table for meals! Get in there!

Big love as per usual to you all.

Please check out our artwork and tell us which print you’d like!

Darren (& Rachel) Allwright

Will you be my friend?

So for the past I don’t know how many months, I have been working on a little creative textile project.  Darren’s family have connections with a charity in Uganda who run projects for children and part of this charity’s work is an orphanage. I was set the challenge of making some rag dolls for the children out in the orphanage. This greatly excited me as I love anything that connects children with some kind of art form! I set about the task by rummaging through my sewing box, collecting old scraps of clothing and drawing up some designs!

There were many floppy, odd shaped dolls to begin with until eventually I came up with a template I was pleased with! I ended up making about 10 ragdolls in total, not fully realising how long it would take to make each one! Many people were roped in, especially my wonderful husband, who mechanically stuffed arm after arm during episodes of masterchef and even at times pulling him away from full focus on match of the day! ! ha! But we got there in the end and I am so pleased with the outcome! They really are quite cute and I hope they will bring a lot of love and joy to the children out in Uganda.

Last night darren and I put the final little details on them which were small hand written tags introducing themselves and asking ‘will you be my friend ?’ So the little dolls are off on their adventure and I am sure there will be more projects like this to come!

If you would like your own customized doll making then please get in touch!

Thanks for reading! enjoy the pics!

Rache

Blue skies, plane lines and garden shoots!

I love this time of year, watching nature slowly wake up from it’s winter slumber and seeing signs of new life appearing everywhere. Among my favorite things of the spring season is the beautiful cherry blossom trees, so graceful and delicate swaying in the breeze against the clear blue backdrop of the sky. I find myself captured for hours. On my walk home from work each day I pass alleyway’s decked with blossom and when the wind picks up the blossom falls from the trees and I feel like I am getting showered with confetti, it is so magical and brightens up my day.

I find my eyes constantly upwards at the moment. The clear blue sky makes so many more things visible, don’t you think ? We are fairly near to the airport fly paths here, so I find I am always watching planes darting across the sky painting beautiful chalk pictures on the clear blue canvas backdrop.  I genuinely do see the beauty in it. The area in which we live is also the home to a species of bird called Red Kite. My walk home each day makes me very aware of these powerful yet graceful creatures. I am fascinated by how they glide so beautifully along the breeze covering so much space in such a short time scale. At points along my journey the bird is very close and you feel quite intimidated by it thinking you are it’s prey! At these points they are so visible and then within seconds have spurred off and appear on the horizon as a small dot.

We are very amateur when it comes to gardening, but were very excited planting up our first seeds in pots in our garden! Each day feels like Christmas! We excitedly come down stairs to see if any shoots have sprouted! To our delight there is lots going on and I cannot wait for the flowers to come!  Best of all, we found a patch of soil on the front of our house so have planted some sunflower seeds & are having a little competition with the kids in the street of whose will be the tallest! Who said gardening couldn’t be fun!

And take a peek at this little fella who keeps coming to visit us, he’s very cute!

Well I have a couple of weeks of work which is awesome! Joy of Easter Hols! So I have been planning what to do with my time! With the dawn of the STOP.LOOK.LISTEN I am going to be working on some paintings – await the photographs! If the weather continues then the garden will be becoming an outdoor studio! Brilliant! I’ve got some other tasks that need doing so have my to do list – haha who said hols are for resting!!!  And I woke up to this note this morning from Darren , so the first job of the holidays is to mend Darren’s bag and then locate all of the clean washing drying around the house! It’s fun being married!

Enjoy this fun sunny day!

R Allwright

p.s i have realised this is the first un-arty post I have posted!

Le Pouffe. © Amy Humphreys. (& Eggs).

Some of you may have seen this wonderful creation in the corner of some recent STOP.LOOK.LISTEN. planning photo’s. Our beautiful friend Amy Humphreys (whose previous surname was indeed Allwright – a big loss to the Allwright Clan) has made this for us to raise money for a discipleship course he is doing during a year out.

Isn’t it just the best.

Amy has a really great talent and gifting in the area of fabrics and design. It was a blessing to have her make this for us. Our lounge is so much brighter and comfortable now. We even had two energetic kids jump all over it 2 nights running recently and its still standing strong!

If you would like Amy to make you something – anything – then please contact her via email here – amyhumphreys@live.co.uk.

Amy can make pinnies, cushions, wheatsacks, hot water bottle covers and any specific commissions like our pouffe above. Get your minds thinking, look around your house and see how you can make it even better (and at the same time bless someone else!).

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Now, Amy may be able to make Pouffe’s but can she make Eggs and Soldiers?!

Essential to any mans day off breakfast feast. Plus the eggs were runny! Bonus! As we’re on the them of people making things I’d like to mention that the eggs were made by the womb of Rachel’s mums chickens at the bottom of her beautiful garden in Thurcaston, Leicester. Fascinating.

To top things off I had Elbow’s new album on, which, when turned up loud, is exactly the feeling you get when you realise you have runny eggs.

Creative Collaborations

The weekend just gone has been amazing. We spent it with our fabulous friend Samuel Nudds. It was a time of sharing & bringing about creativity and also for the planning of our STOP.LOOK.LISTEN. exhibition. It has definitely got me excited, Things are really shaping up and coming together and the work is really starting to speak. This weekend was the first time that we’ve had all the work laid out as a collective and have started to envision what the whole thing might shape up to look like. I am excited to see how the pieces will develop over this next month.

Here is a sneak peak of the progression so far ! ….

STOP.LOOK.LISTEN.

STOP.LOOK.LISTEN. is, on the face of things, an art and music exhibition.

Underneath the surface it’s an opportunity for people to express their creativity.

Rachel and I have been learning what it looks like to work together since we married each other on 24th July 2010. This has worked its way into our creativity and also into the friendships that we are trying to keep fresh and alive.

STOP.LOOK.LISTEN. gives us the opportunity to bring all these things together.

Our desire this that we can create a place where we can come together as friends, old and new, and share with each other our passions and creativity.

Rachel and I are going to be exhibiting and showing off our art and music becuase that is what we know best. If we were awesome at ballet im sure we’d create a place for that.

We have joined together with our friends Samuel Nudds http://samuelnudds.wordpress.com/ (who designed these awesome invitations that should be in the post to most of you) and Tom Ensom (all round creative genious) to offer you a night of people coming together, sharing their passions for creativity.

This isn’t going to be the last event.

We want to provide a platform and a stage for people to show off and use the gifts and talents that we have.

Never put your light under a dirty bucket.

We hope you can join us on Sat 30th April for a time of community and creativity (and puddings).

Let us know if you have any questions through our facebook event, profile pages or email darrenallwright@gmail.com.

STOP.

LOOK.

AND.LISTEN.

[D.P.A.]

Snap. Crackle. Pop.

I’ve been thinking about the number 3 recently.

There are many beautiful things involved in the number 3.

The thrill of scoring a hatrick in football is so great that even after you score your 4th or 5th, the goals become boring. You get to take home the match ball with 3 but for 1, 2, 4, 5… you get nothing special.

The fastest 3 people in a competition are awarded medals, and rest get trifle or triple decker chocolate cake.

A tricycle is by far the most cool looking mode of transport around, closely followed by a 3 wheeled car that topples over.

Neopolitan ice cream gives you a great selection.

Singing 3 blind mice whilst wearing 3 pairs of 3D glasses is a funny sight.

A tripod has 3 legs purely because 2 just wouldn’t hold your camera still (or at all).

The John Mayer Trio are simply awesome to listen to.

The funniest sports day race to watch or take part in is easily the 3 legged race.

There are 3 primary colours, 3 complimentary colours and they all look great together.

Rachel took 3 apples to work today – a great start to reaching her 5 a day – but has just finished her 3rd donut – she’s cancelled it out.

I came across a story the other day that had the number 3 in a prominent position. There was a guy who lived roughly 1,881 years ago named Peter. Peter had a friend who he used to hang out with called Jesus (Yes, the same Jesus who is part of what is known as the Trinity). These two got to know each other by doing life together. Eating, drinking and wearing sandals and socks. This Jesus guy started causing a stir, so much so that the local leaders wanted to kill him. When Peter was asked by these leaders if he knew of Jesus, unfortunately, he said he didn’t know him. Three times he said no.

Jesus found out about this and reacted in a way that most of us wouldn’t. Three times he said to Peter that he loved him.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

3 times Peter rejected Jesus and 3 times Jesus forgave Peter. Love had wiped away rejection.

I need to love more and reject less. I need to love those who I  reject without even starting a conversation. I need to show love to those who are rejected by society as outcasts.

I’ve responded to this story by creating some art work. It’s a simple piece representing the idea that I am loved even though I often reject this same love. I was working on the idea that in all my situations, all my human events, love is poured out and triumphs over rejection.

3 is a magic number.

Thank you for reading and supporting. (x3)

DPA.

 

 

Brush Strokes & Stencils

The time is 17.43 on 27th Jan 2011.

I’ve picked Rache up from school, watched A Place In The Sun, Home or Away, had a Stir Fry designed by Rachel Allen and now it’s time to create.

I’ve missed this kind of evening that we have together.

We’ve been traveling up the country and walked down to the hills and back.

Our creativity is fueled by the desire to hold an exhibition. We want to show off our work. Celebrate our creativity and showcase our friends creativity too.

We get to work in our own individual ways.

Rache is very slappy happy with her thick paintbrush and I’m extremely delicate with my precise cutting out of bank statements.

We’re making statements.

Art that will make people stop and stare and admire. We want to make art that makes people think. We want people to stop in their busy lives for more than 10 seconds to think.

Think.

In a few months time we’ll have enough artwork for people to stop for an hour, maybe two. That’s a big enough excuse for us to hold an evening celebrating creativity.

We’ll let you know when and where and who when we know.

For now, here’s a taster and a feel for what we’re up to.

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Family Festivities and a Toothill Hootenanny!

First of all, I’d like to say Happy New Year to everyone and anyone!

2010 was a year of massive change for us as the newest Allwright couple to hit the streets: wedding preparation, new jobs, settling back into the English way of living, looking for a house, marriage, honeymoon, moving into a new house, new jobs again, new friends and then….our first christmas as Mr & Mrs Allwright!

It was so special to wake up next to my wife on Christmas morning and open presents from our homemade stockings that Rachel had put together. We were up in Leicester with my mother-in-law Sue, step dad-in-law Tim (there is now this new title) and Anna, Rachel’s sister.

Oh, the dogs were there too…as always!

We ate and ate and ate and even managed to fit in a Christmas Eve run on the snow! We also made a HUGE snowman – well, as you can see below it didn’t even reach my knees! Very poor I know but what can you do with powdery snow but snowboard?

After Christmas dinner, Rachel and I drove down the motorways to 10 Valley Way where my side of the family were waiting eagerly! It’s so nice to come home and still feel like a child opening another stocking and eating more FRUIT pastels!

Christmas has been busy but we’ve thoroughly enjoyed our first Noel together with each other and with our families. I am eternally thankful for the friends and family in our lives and continue to laugh with each and every one of them.

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HOOOOTERNANNY!

This New Years, Rachel and I spent a few days with our lovely friends in the town of Loughborough. We had the best time visiting friends and catching up on the latest news, latest baby sounds and wedding plans.

We loved living with the Wilson Family and have to say that Lauren and Amelie (probably spelt wrong) plus Rich and Ness are adorable. Rachel was blessed by Lauren opening the door of our bedroom and tucking into bed with her and hiding as I came back in with a cup of morning tea.

New Years Eve was spent with 10 of our friends in the Wilson’s kitchen around the perfectly sized wooden table. We all had roles for the dinner and each performed them beautifully. Some were on table design, some on starters, some on mains and Rachel and I were on pudding! Our favourite! We decided to do something we’d never even thought of before and in true Allwright fashion we pulled it off! We made the most luscious chocolate and orange brownies ever! Hmmm…..

Midnight struck and we all piled out onto Toothill Road where neighbours and more friends greeted each other! HAPPY NEW YEAR was the shout and joy and laughter was the atmosphere!

There’s one thing seeing in the new year but it’s another thing to be seeing it in with friends that you truely admire, love and value.

Rachel and I are truely thankful and blessed to have amazing people like you guys around. You know who you are.

Even though we live far away from most friends, we still feel a part of your lives and will continue to sacrifice our time and efforts to see you more and more!

Here’s to the next year in our journey together as a whole bunch and beautiful people.

2011, you have a big task ahead to beat 2010.

Thank you to all our friends for making 2010 a truely memorable year.

Blessings and love to you all.

D Allwright.