Climb Ev'ry Mountain

Imagine - above us only sky

September has been a very busy month so far. Not busy in a musical sense but I’m optimistic that the situation for us freelance musicians will improve in the coming months and into 2021. People NEED events and weddings and celebrations with live music and I’ve heard talk of the void left by the lack of cultural stimulation that was previously filled by theatres and live music venues. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have my part time job at my little local Sainsbury’s to fall back on - what would I have done without that?!!

With talk last week of another local lockdown here in Kirklees, I decided it was the perfect time to visit my family in North Wales and attempt to tick a big 2020 box - walking up Snowdon. I’ve never been up, not even on the little train (call the NSPCC!! I think my parents were very busy) and at the beginning of last week I had run and walked 980 miles so far in 2020. I mused that getting to 1,000 miles on Snowdon would be an appropriate way to celebrate my accomplishment and so the planning commenced. I’ve accumulated quite a lot of essential equipment since I started pursuing my outdoor activities more seriously so I knew my gear was good to go. I checked the weather forecast for Llanberis obsessively all week and by Thursday, it was looking like a damn fine day with near perfect conditions for September.

Well, I did it! What’s this got to do with music and the harp? You may well ask but I’d rather be up a big mountain than laid in bed bemoaning my situation or drowning my sorrows with alcohol. I’ve missed practicing regularly for specific performances but most of all I’ve missed playing for my own pleasure and I’ll be delving my fingers deep into those resonant strings regularly from this week.

My next post here will be all about my Snowdon adventure, including photos! Here’s a taster:

Mountains and sheep

I’m sure I gained a few greys by the time I got back down

More music maybe?

It’s Thursday evening and it’s already been a busy old week. I always find the shop work challenging as it’s so fast paced. I never quite feel good enough. That’s a familiar theme as a perfectionist performer and I suppose I always try to give my best performance whatever work I’m doing. I used to love working on the tills as I got the chance to chat with customers a bit at quieter times, and try and bring a smile and some cheer to those who needed it. Since the new safety measures have been brought in (screens, masks and the 2 metre rule) I find engaging with customers so much harder. It’s more tiring to read their expressions and a lot of guess work goes on. It’s harder to tell what mood they’re in as I’m focused on going faster and I spend most of my shift looking down at broccoli and bread, drooling as yet another loaf passes under my nose, aromatically warm and crustily fresh from the oven. On the bright side, my till speed is significantly faster and mistakes are minor and minimal. Everything feels a lot more sterile especially communication (sad face) but if I’m more efficient I guess that’s a win from the perspective of the powers that be. I wonder if I can balance things out a bit. Do speed and quality. Hmmm. I can do it at the harp but it takes years of learning, slow practice and plenty of mistakes made along the way.

I’ve always been focused on customer service - customers that leave with smiles on their faces will come back for more. If, however, I bruise their bananas, they won’t be happy!

My obsession with running and walking has transferred to food lately. My feet have been giving me some grief after a straightforward 8 mile walk last Sunday and subsequently I’ve only run twice this week. It’s ok as I’ve been practicing attic yoga and stretching and strengthening exercises, but I’m aware I need some form of regular activity that makes my heart beat faster or I’m not quite right. The weather today was blissful, not too hot with a soothing breeze, and I felt so relaxed after feeling quite unwell yesterday. By the third and final day of my weekly shifts I feel quite run down and I have flu like symptoms. Come Thursday morning they’re gone so I put it down to the air con. Practice this morning was forfeited for 10 minute sessions sitting in the warm sun on my back garden step absorbing vitamin D and pondering how blue the sky was and how quickly summer has flown past. People, we’re almost in September and don’t you wonder where June and July went?!!

I taught two students online today and they had both made significant progress in a week. It filled my heart, really it did. They’re both getting to the stage where I can ask them to order a book, read through the first part of a piece and have figured much of it out on their own. They both started learning with me as complete beginners a couple of years ago and neither of them had much musical knowledge, and no basic theory skills. Since April they’ve been having weekly lessons and they’ve come on in leaps and bounds. That’s so rewarding for me as a teacher. Give a man a fish and all that. Neither student thought their work was of a particularly high standard but I could see such vast improvement where they couldn’t see much change at all. Sometimes we need someone else’s opinion and feedback on our work as we’re not always objective. Any form of learning demands some self criticism and it can be hard to turn the critic off but that’s the aim when we get a piece of music to performance level. “Just shut up and let me enjoy playing!” The slow burn learning process is both challenging and rewarding.

After teaching I went back into my garden and mowed the lawn, did some weeding and aerated the beds. Another thing ticked off the to-do list. I desperately wanted to go for a walk and a picnic, but simply being outdoors on a day like today was enough. The smell of cut grass wafts in through the window rewardingly as I type.

So far this year I’ve run and walked 882 miles. Yes, I know it’s a lot and my feet will definitely thank me if I offer them a week that’s lighter on the miles. I’m aiming for 1,000 miles this year. It’s great to have a goal especially when there are no playing gigs. It gets me up in the morning.

The other thing that I crave on a daily basis is creativity and by 6pm on a Wednesday if I’m not singing, humming, dancing, cooking or reading, I know something’s seriously wrong. I enjoyed preparing a short video clip for a bride last Friday. It was great to have a sort of deadline, a target, a project, and it’s never a bad thing for me to practice my tech and promotional stuff. I made three clips, one of which I sent to a satisfied bride. Another was posted on social media. One more box ticked. I had a lot of fun getting dressed up in one of my favourite play outfits and putting a smidgeon of lippy on. It almost felt like I had a gig! And soon I just might have a gig, or maybe even two…

I'm practicing again!

I’ve been bitten by the practice bug again big time so I won’t be blogging as much as usual over the next few weeks. See the poster below for one of the reasons. I’m really excited to be playing in this concert alongside some lovely talented local musicians. I played through my programme today and you might like it. Why not come along and hear me playing with fire? That’s the new subtitle for my website by the way. What do you think? Does it make me sound like a dragon? It’s meant to indicate that I play with passion, not that I’m a scary animal!

Creative unblocking

Playing

Today is Thursday, and it’s music day! Thursdays are usually free days and I try to fill them with as many notes as I can fit in. Today, dear readers, I just haven’t been in the mood. I’ve succumbed to several seductive distractions and I’ve felt very tired, a feeling I’m convinced is down to the meteorological conditions. The weather outside is frightful, don’t let it snow. (There’s almost always a tune or twenty going on in my head!) I try to fight my fatigue by urging myself to practice. This usually follows a walk, or a bit of a run or some sort of time spent outdoors, but I don’t like getting wet and cold! Jumping in the pool for my aquafit classes ticks that box and provides the bracing boost I need to infuse my day with positive energy. I don’t have time to go to the pool every day, so I can’t wait for some sunshine so I can feel the embrace of the great outdoors again.

I have a busy weekend ahead with more playing than I’ve done for quite some time and my fingers are a bit sore. In an instinctive mood this morning, I played through two steadfast cornerstones from my solo repertoire slowly from memory to warm up and was reassured that it didn’t all sound hideous. Interestingly, the pieces sounded quite fresh. A note to my students reading this - practice has a knack of doing that! You can work like the devil and it may feel like your playing’s getting worse, but great music takes time to mature. I can convince myself that I’m the worst harpist ever if I haven’t racked up a certain number of hours’ practice during the week, which can lead to a downward spiral of no practice at all or a negative approach. Cultivating a healthy sense of responsibility is a useful tool here. So for example, I’ve got a performance/lesson coming up - how do I want to feel and what’s the process I need to implement in order to feel that way? Used well it can provide a healthy motivation. Used poorly it can be a tool for self flagellation and guilt. It’s our choice.

I have a LinkedIn account and I get email notifications from them on a regular basis. This morning’s email opened like this - “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. Those words fill me with sorrow and I’ll be deactivating my account as soon as I have time. I genuinely believe the best advertisement is word of mouth and from recent experience, the word of the mouth of the moment, social media, is no great shakes, at least not the way I’m doing it! There has to be a better way and I’m working on it…

I gave an interesting lesson on Monday. It reminded me how fortunate I am to have an abundance of knowledge and experience, and I’m determined to put my skills to good use. I have a very creative mind which can run riot if I’m not careful in channelling it. I think most creatives are wired similarly. The trick is harnessing that energy by becoming attuned to its ebbs and flows.

I played for an ultra chic wedding last weekend at a spectacular venue. It was like something out of a luxury bridal magazine. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos to show you here as I had quite a lot on my mind. My car exhaust broke late on Friday afternoon, and I got it back just in time for my departure on Saturday morning. My Satnav won’t update so I was trialling an app on my mobile while carefully keeping half an eye on my Satnav, switched to silent, for some form of visual guidance. Needless to say, I arrived at my destination with plenty of time to spare - I’m always aware that incidents like the M62 drama yesterday can happen at any time. It reminded me of a wedding I was playing at a few years ago. I went to pack my car which looked lopsided. I soon realised I had a flat tyre. With the clock ticking, I called my breakdown company, and the mechanic came quite quickly considering it was a Sunday morning. My tyre was fixed and I got to the wedding just in time. I’m often criticised for leaving super early for professional engagements and this is precisely why. I’d rather be there with time to spare for a nap in my car and a coffee than be rushing or, heavens forbid, be late. There ought to be a name for this phenomenon, like Freelancer’s Fear. There probably is, I just don’t know about it. If I’m late or I don’t arrive, I won’t get paid!

This weekend I’m climbing back into the old orchestral saddle and although I feel underprepared by my standards, I’m really excited about playing a beautiful orchestral work and being part of a bigger group of musicians again. Preparing for it has reminded me of my love and passion for orchestral playing and I do feel some sorrow and regret that fewer opportunities come my way these days. I’m on an exciting journey! I’ve enjoyed the discipline of the preparation and the immersion into the music that’s required for a solid performance. I’m nowhere near where I’d like to be with it but I know it’ll be more than good enough. Like one of my teachers Germaine used to say, “On ne peut pas être au four et au moulin”…

Wishing you a great weekend, hopefully with a few more radiant rays of sunshine. Perhaps I’ll see some of you at the Wortley Hall Spring Wedding Fayre on Sunday. I can’t wait to share my harpbeat with you!

Me, Rhian Evans Harpist

at Wortley Hall. Image - John Steel Photography

Reflections, Shadow and Light Manchester Art Gallery

“I was in Manchester recently for a much needed dose of musical inspiration. One of my favourite things is combining business with pleasure which I did with great joy by visiting a very special art gallery indeed.”

Torso

With its angular swoops and curves, this was one of my favourite works by Halima Cassell. Her exhibition was warm, engulfing, immense and poignantly beautiful

You may be justified in wondering why a harpist is writing about an art gallery. I’ve always harboured a fascination with these peaceful places, embellished with a humbling abundance of creativity.

Flow

Halima Cassell

I feel invigorated, stimulated, inspired when I see the wondrous result of months and maybe years of painstaking work. My imagination runs riot pondering the process that’s gone on behind the scenes with vivid clarity. This reflects my journey in music and my own personal artistic creative process with its pretty and not so pretty moments.

Ironic happy face Torture chair

Slice Chair - Matthias Bengtsson

Manchester was my stomping ground for many years on and off and I have a love hate relationship with the city. I love the green spaces that can be found in the most unexpected places, dotted haphazardly in and amongst its concrete architectural confusion of buildings. It’s a hectic city, rendered rabid with busy people clamouring to reach their destinations with critical urgency. I feel like a fish out of water when I’m there, jostled by elbows competing to get on malodorous buses, in lack of my bucolic country comforts. On the day of my visit, I managed a personal best of over 13,000 steps. Go me, and Take That, public transport.

Doves - Barbara Hepworth

Part of “And Breathe… Exploring the relationship between art and mindfulness”

I’ve started taking hundreds of photos in galleries, and mobile phones with gargantuan gigabyte memories make that a snap. I sometimes think I’m missing the point but I forget to have my specs to hand and I can’t absorb all the detail and information in a two hour splurge, so one of my favourite things is getting home to gleefully review what my eye didn’t quite capture. The images add a deeper perspective to my visit.

Phoenix

Halima Cassell

Galleries fascinate me. Why am I irresistibly drawn in by certain works and repelled by others? I used to feel a sense of inadequacy and inferiority about my lack of knowledge and I ridiculed the fact I homed in on details most people consider banal and insignificant. Take Sunday for example. There was a to-do about Da Vinci’s drawings which I didn’t even find. “How could you miss the major exhibition?” I hear you ask. Manchester Art Gallery has so many rarities shrouded in the protective dark chambers of its luxurious Farrow and Ball painted interior that it’s easily done.

Sema

Halima Cassell

Then there’s the allure of evocative trophies from the gift shop, not to mention the café. The waiter and I oohed over the cascading blossom tree confetti we could see through the elongated windows in front of the gallery, providing lush natural contrast to the smooth sandstone building.

City centre safety

Scraping the sky

I found a partner in crime when I confessed to the waitress I was having cake for lunch. My hedonism reined in, I curbed my enthusiastic selection to two fruity numbers, and my tangy orange and almond cake (no ice cream (sad face)) washed down with the best flat white I’ve had in ages fuelled me for one last zing through the galleries. From top to bottom in twenty minutes, now there’s a challenge. I even did the survey on a tablet for the survey curator, albeit slightly begrudgingly, but a promise is a promise. I’d have rather seen the Da Vinci.

Airy lobby

Enwreathed in ingenuity

If you’re in Manchester, I can’t recommend Manchester Art Gallery highly enough. Even if you’re not in Manchester, find an excuse to visit! Here’s another handful of heartfelt memories:

Blue Loop

Rasmussen

Redolent of an amoebic ashtray

Halima Cassell

Top floor

Covetable curios

Open space

Nordic craft and design

“Have you been to Manchester Art Gallery? Which is your favourite gallery? What did you see, and how did it inspire you? Go to the Contact page to get in touch and let me know!”

Photo Blog Post - Comic Relief

I’ve run out of written words this week so I thought I’d somewhat appropriately do a photo blog post for a change. It gives me the opportunity to shout about another one of my local heroes, photographer John Steel. I’ve known John since 2015. We met when I was playing at a wedding fayre in the village, and we’ve collaborated on several projects since. Working with giant John is always a pleasure. His photos are vivacious with a generous dash of fun and he captures rare moments, emotions and personalities. His style is unique, imaginative and artistic - if you like pretty posed portraits, then he’s probably not for you. If you like poetic, poignant, memorable (I ran out of p-words) images, he’s your man. Think brides jumping out of windows, newlyweds bouncing around on space hoppers, men sipping tea up a hill, and even a harpist with her harp on a boggy moor, and you’re there. Despite his stature, he’s discreet and professional, and he offers a personalised service to suit your requirements. Talk to him about skateboards and offer him a brew (milk, no sugar) and you’ll make him a very happy man. His creative work is fabulous and you can check it out by clicking on these buttons:

I asked John if he’d take a few photos of the goings on at Sainsbury’s on Red Nose Day and he was willing to help out. Let me know what you think of the results:

Manager Gina

Using her mobile as a microphone, and Grant from Wedding Fayres Yorkshire making a live video recording of the incredible pie eating contest

Pie face

Manager Ryan

Those lovely Sainsbury’s Local ladies

With an unsuspecting customer

Bizarre and slightly surreal

You don’t see this kind of action every day at your local shop

Just one more wafer thin squirt of cream…

Selling scratch cards for a good cause

Well aisle be

Sainsbury’s Local Holmfirth sure know how to give a warm welcome

The final tot up in my fundraising box was £107!

Thanks to everyone who came to support. You’re the stars!!

Moaning Minnie Designs

Moaning Minnie

Modelling one of her scorching hot herringbone tweed neckscarves

There are times when I really want to shout about people I meet. Moaning Minnie, AKA Julie Taylor, is one of these people. I met her when I was working on the tills at Sainsbury’s one evening and we got talking about weddings. Her pink Docs and funky individual dress sense meant she stood out immediately. I love pink. Then there’s her warm sparkling smile and her contagious laughter. She really is a ray of sunshine. We started chatting a bit more over the weeks since I started working at Sainsbury’s Local in Holmfirth, and she totally brightens my day whenever she pops in for supplies. She’s got a wry dry sense of humour. Julie rocks.

When she told me her company name, I checked her out on social media and caught a glimpse of her working world. It was like discovering a textile wonderland. Her intricate creations stand out and really took me by surprise. I’ve never seen anything like them and I play at quite a few wedding fayres. Her work is a flat-capped nod to her local roots. She crafts her goods from the finest Yorkshire tweed that’s super soft to the touch (I know, I’ve felt her coat!) in stunning unexpected colours. Not only does she bring beautiful designs to life for weddings. I’ve just seen she does bow ties for dogs! Any pussy bows in the pipeline Julie?

Another thing that makes Julie memorable is her company name. She doesn’t moan though - she does great banter with a playful twinkle in her eye.

I love supporting local smaller businesses and I shop locally as much as I can. There are some amazing inspiring creative people out there working from cosy workshops and offices in their own homes.

If you want to know more about Moaning Minnie Designs, click the buttons below: