Consciousness does not die
It is the bridge between dark and light
An insight
We die
Consciousness does not
We become the bridge
Omnibus Theatre, London UK
Middle of March we met at Omnibus Theatre for two evenings, 6 to 10pm, and an afternoon that finished also in the evening at 9pm.
Lauriane, Nicolás, Nelson, Camilla, Calia, Stacey and Sue joined us. We made 7 news dolls and I finished quite a few dolls from previous events.
‘Someone somewhere is being helped right now and doesn’t even know about it.’
‘My third doll. Joyful and magical as always. Thank you Regina!’
It was our last event before social distancing due to coronavirus. Omnibus, as well all other venues, closed their doors and we began our new routine in our homes.
I feel this situation is an extreme wake up call. Nature wants to be healthy. We are Nature. We will invest all our work in loving care in all levels, to ourselves and everything else that surround us. We Nature will be healed.
Thank you so much dearest Omnibus team for all your support and a huge thank you for all the makers, we truly had a wonderful time together.
We will hug again soon!
Boulevard Theatre, Soho, London UK
Last Friday we met at a satelite D&D event ‘ What can mental health workers and Deaf artists do together to improve care for Deaf people?’ at Boulevard Theatre, London.
Boulevard Theatre is a little gem hidden in the middle of busy Soho. It is a stunning contemporary space. There is an intimate arena stage that spins and the space for the audience also spins around. I was amazed! It was a real pleasure to stay with everyone in such beautiful space.
Paul, Momtaz, Nathalie and Camille came to make dolls, we made 5 dolls and we meditate.
‘I loose my heart easily, as well as my mind. I like to put my heart into things I do.’
It was an extraordinary event that left everybody feeling like meeting again as soon as possible. Everybody felt how essential is to have this kind of meetings, essential for the community.
Thank you so much Sarah and Ben for holding the space for all of us, thank you for incredible interpreters and for all makers who spent some time making dolls.
East Dulwich Tavern, London UK
Yesterday we celebrated Jennifer’s birthday in a most beautiful party I have been for ages!
I brought my dolls and Mathew, Charshy, Caterina and Andrew wanted to make some.
We made 4 dolls and we meditate while people around were chatting, playing games, face painting, crafting ribbons, eating a delicious dinner that included vegan cupcakes, and lots of other lovely things.
It was first time I made dolls in a party, it would obviously be at Jen’s magical party!
Meditation pics at Battersea Arts Centre, London UK
Battersea Arts Centre, London UK
We spent a fantastic weekend at D&D15 at the gorgeous Grand Hall at Battersea Arts Centre, London.
My sessions:
‘Help me to put dreams and a heart into my dolls and draw your own doll, I will sew it for you.’
‘Make your full moon necklace made by all full moons you have lived so far, including the one happening today.’
Our makers were: Davinia, Bonnie, Sibylla, Katie, Joannekke, Sanni, Rachel, Nick, Claire, Anna, Suzanne, Natalie, Karri, Nirobi, Kei, Lloyd, Isobel, Anne, Cindy, Fiona, Olivia and Pav.
We made 18 dolls + 4 dolls’ drawings.
We also worked on 4 necklaces. The youngest maker completed hers with 315 full moons. I’ll meet the other makers to complete theirs – 676, 449 and 514 full moons. We will thread all of them with a golden thread to remind us the sun.
The full moon necklace is a ongoing project that I introduced at D&D in 2014, that also happened at BAC, and I brought it back this weekend to celebrate our full moon on Sunday.
‘I really enjoyed being able to have a conversation with Regina that went beyond small talk, while my hands were occupied with the repetitive but therapeutic and productive task of making the doll- the process felt grounding. I’m pleased to be able to be a small part of this lovely project.’
‘Enlightening experience, thank you.’
‘An hour of crafting, bringing people together, a moment of peace in the biggest sense of the word.’
‘What a lovely time, wonderful!’
‘Very calming, loving thing to do.’
‘It feels really special to create something that is part of a bigger whole. A little gesture that will join all the others that were here before.’
‘Lovely to be part of this project and to imagine my doll living in the world. It fostered a sense of camaraderie. Lovely to swap stories with people. After a bad experience I am nervous about closing my eyes in public, but I felt supported to do so by the group.’
‘This session was such delightful refuge. Regina is a wonderful host holding space and facilitating restorative crafts.’
‘I resisted play and making a doll for two days! I feel bad. I need to listen to my heart more and trust.’
‘This practice made me feel like I had permission to slow down, to just be present with myself and people around me. No pressure.’
‘Thank you for helping me put dreams into something, wether it’s a doll, a sentence or just to feel my pulse.’
‘I did my meditation by the BAC beating heart. I will give some more dreams to Regina to use. I found that my doll had a thread ‘vein’ which matched my vein.’
‘Thank you again for providing an oasis of love, calm, heart and dreams at the transformational time of the full moon.’
‘It is a privilege to create another doll.’
‘My deep thanks to Regina for her Dreams and a Heart project – which, for what seems like many years, has created space and time at D&D for reflection and contemplation. A truly special project.’
Thank you for all amazing makers who came to join us, we had a wonderful time together, with lots of joy and friendship.
Thank you so much Olivia, Ben, Sarah, Jeremy, Phelim, Lee, Nick and ALL volunteers who took great care of us so everybody felt really included in the group.
BAC beating heart is full of joy to have received us in its home this weekend. Somehow I feel that it is missing us already…
Thank you SO much everyone!
Battersea Arts Centre, London UK
Yesterday we celebrated the Sunday’s full moon making full moon necklaces at BAC.
It was the second time we made full moon necklaces at BAC. First time was in 2014 when I introduced the project at a D&D event.
We worked on four full moons necklaces with Suzanne, Natalie, Karri and Kei.
The youngest maker completed hers with 315 full moons. I’ll meet the other makers soon to complete their necklaces – 676, 449 and 514 full moons.
We always thread them with a golden thread to remind us the sun.
Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
Last evening we went to the first InPractice event of the year at Royal Academy.
Artists who face all kinds of difficulties come together to share their artwork and life stories.
We started to make dolls at the break between sessions. June and I made one doll each.
It is very inspiring to witness the life and work of artists living under difficult conditions such as mental and/or physical disabilities. It’s a burst of encouragement for all of us and deserved recognition of their amazing achievements.
Thank you so much to InPractice team, and thank you for all artists for sharing their work/life with all of us.
Omnibus Theatre December 2019, London UK
We spent wonderful three evenings at Omnibus this week.
Heather and Sophie came to make dolls. In total we made 9 new dolls while chatting about our lives, our passions and dreams. I also finished some dolls of previous makers.
Some people sat with me, we talked about the project, they loved it!
There was a new ice cream freezer placed right on DaaH corner and the ice cream was delicious!!! I almost had an overdose!!!
In the last evening we celebrated Christmas while singing carols at the cafe bar, it was beautiful!
Thank you Marie and everybody at Omnibus, it is always lovely to be back home, thank you!
Some meditation pics at Omnibus, London UK
