Maria Drummey's Five Things.

Written by Lazy Gramophone on Thursday the 9th of May 2013

Five Things is a series of short journal posts introducing each of the writers and artists involved in our up-coming Time project.

Since the project's inception, the idea has been to create an environment where independent writers and artists could come together in order to share their work. The result of this endeavour is a collection of stories, images and poems based around the theme of time, its pages placing particular focus upon the relationship between words and pictures. By sharing in this way we hope to inspire each other as well as those around us, to draw a diverse audience and so help to illuminate the work of alternative artists and writers everywhere. 


Biography.

I do not have my own website, most of the words are still in my head . . . when inspiration strikes, either on a train, just before sleep, or listening to a beautiful piece of music or enjoying a wonderful illustration, if I am lucky enough, I have a pen and some paper or a scrappy old notebook and can let the words pour out and capture them on the page. I tend to find that the best poems, stories and the beginnings of stories are the ones that flash into your mind when you don't have that pen and paper (the essential artists tools), and like the magical mist on a lake, they are frozen in time and perfection all too briefly, admired and longed for just for a moment and they evaporate before dawn. One of these days, those elusive words I am so happy to even think of, will find the pen and paper and I will jot them down and hopefully you will enjoy the reading of them.



Five Childhood Inspirations.

As my poem for the Time Project is on Childhood and, as I have so many influences I could probably fill a book, I've decided to go back to my very earliest days from when I first picked up a book or watched something burst into life on the screen of the large brown television we had in the living room...

Eric Carle and the Very Hungry Caterpillar must have been one of the earliest books I ever read; in fact it was probably read to me by my Mother before I could even recognise words.  It was so brightly illustrated and quite mind blowing for a very young child with the Caterpillar literally eating holes through the pages of the book, that I'm sure it must have inspired me to create myself - it certainly links well with my love of food and it is just such a clever multi-sensory experience that I have to mention it as a very early influence.

Enid Blyton first set me on the path to being a writer.  Her books were impossible to put down and although they might seem quite gentle and simplistic by today's standards, I was completely inspired by the characters and magical Worlds she created.  Ordinary children such as those in the Enchanted Wood, Magic Faraway Tree series were able to uncover hidden magical worlds and to go on great Adventures and usually still got home before Tea.

Mr Benn - David McKee - It was endlessly fascinating to watch the supposedly humdrum and ordinary Mr Benn slipping into the magical fancy dress shop every week and transforming into a fantastical character, just by selecting a costume and stepping out through the wrong side of the changing room.  The programme had everything to fascinate and stimulate my imagination - costumes, epic adventures all told in a half hour slot, fantastical creatures, hilariously 2 dimensional characters and great peril...always prevented at the final heart stopping moment at the end of each show, when..”As if by magic, the Shopkeeper appeared”.  Pure TV Gold for everyone of a certain age.

Mr Men   - Roger Hargreaves- both the small, exquisitely illustrated paperback books and the cartoon - Arthur Lowe - more famously known as the po-faced Captain Mannering from Dad's Army, had the most comforting voice which gently took me on a journey into the colourful and exciting world of the Mr Men.  There was always a moral to every tale, I particularly remember the endless fright of Mr Jelly - scared of everything and the comeuppance by stomach ache of Mr Greedy, after his epic eating adventure at the top of the Giant's Beanstalk - food again seems to be a strong influence for me - lessons were learnt in a friendly but memorable way and the way in which the tales were written and illustrated was a source of great inspiration for me.  If I were to hear the theme tune now, I would definitely want to sit back and re-visit that magical innocent World.

C.S.Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia - I remember uncovering these in paperback form, mostly defaced by my older brothers and knowing immediately, as I took that first journey through the Wardrobe with the Pevensie Children, that I had stumbled across something truly magical, much as they had.  The Chronicles were full of humour, realism, even with the fantastical hidden magic and the talking animals, danger, epic adventure and noble sacrifice.  I am glad to find that the recent films have taken great care to preserve that magical/enchanted quality without overdoing it - the magic shines more clearly against the stunning New Zealand scenery and the characters both human and magical are very well defined and explored.  Nothing will beat the written World created by C.S. Lewis though and I am happy to go back to these endlessly inspiring books again and again.


The Time Project.

1. Time Book Launch Lazy Gramophone Events Page 

2. Time Book Launch Facebook Page

3. View our Clock page (counting down to the release of Time)

4. An introduction to Time

5. Contributors' Five Things Journal Posts:
- Adam Green
- Bryn Hall
- Inua Ellams
- Zoe Catherine Kendall
- Andrew Walter
- Laura Dockrill
- Mat Lloyd
- Sorana Santos
- Will Conway
- Hannah Stephenson
- Matt Black
- Claire Fletcher
- Carl Laurence
- Zophiel Webb
- Jude Melling
- Stacie Withers
- Tom Hirons
- Megan Leonie Hall
- Vincent J Prince
- Kaitlin Beckett
- Guy J Jackson
- Eliza Gregory
- Jeannie Paske
- Jo Tedds
- Maria Drummey
- Tom Harris
- Liz Adams
- Lola Dupre
- Kirsty Allison
- Alexander Aspinall
- Paul Bloom

6. Buy Time from the Lazy Gramophone Shop 

7. Press/Reviews
(Click the links below to read each article in full)

Huffington Post:
'An intriguing book project from one of the most innovative groups of creative people in the city.' ~ Huffington Post

Fabric Magazine:
'...we'll bet you've never seen time as it's portrayed in this stunning new publication.' ~ Fabric Magazine

Rooms Magazine:
'Time is a treasure box brimming with creativity and fresh talent.' ~ Rooms Magazine

Annexe Magazine:
'Lazy Gramophone's anthology, Time, lives up to the high bar it sets for itself.' ~ Annexe Magazine

MORE...

For more on The Time Project tweet us @lazygramophone or #TheTimeProjectLGP or visit our Time Facebook page.
Tags for this post: Maria Drummey, Time, Five Things, Lazy Gramophone, Inspirations.

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Title: The Time Project - Lazy Gramophone Press
By: LazyGramophone
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