26 Fruits

I’ve always loved the quirk that entrance is one thing as a noun and a completely different thing as a verb. Just a slight shift of pronunciation transforms it. Anita Klein’s art has the ability to entrance, and I hope many of you will experience that at Oxford’s Story Museum in May – as you go through the entrance.

On the eve of that opening, I’m going to keep things very short. Two further joyful collaborations have added to the original one between Anita’s art and my words. First, here’s a short film made by my daughter Jessie. http://vimeo.com/40924372

The film shows Anita at work on the mural and talking about questions I asked about how she made it. It was lovely working with Jessie, it’s not the first time or the last (I hope) as she’s very talented www.jessiesimmons.com

On that film you can also listen to the story that I wrote as the starting point for Anita’s work. A musician friend, Paul Doukanaris, added a new dimension as he’s been working on a new CD by Doukkoshi (his collaboration with producer Chaz Dabat). When I told Paul about Other Worlds at the Story Museum and showed him Anita’s work he told me he’d just finished recording a new piece called “Angels”. I always love that kind of serendipity so it was irresistible to add Doukkoshi’s music to my voice narration. Thanks to Paul and Chaz.

The CD (with the voice narration track and the full musical version) will be available at the Story Museum when the Other Worlds exhibition opens this week. Or you can get one free from me when you buy (or if you have already bought) a copy of The angel of the stories, my novella with Anita Klein illustrations. www.darkangelspress.com