Through the magic of social media, I found out about the ‘Between The Tides’ swim-lit festival happening in Whitstable. It was a swimming literary festival, I had to go! This festival helped me to put into words what I have been feeling about swimming for a while now and why I have made it a […]
Author archives: Jen Farrant
40 swims for 40 years
I turned 40 mid June this year. I am very much seeing it as a cause for celebration, and my friends and family, especially my husband, have helped me a great deal in that. Recently I have been getting into open water swimming, I have always loved swimming and it has been instrumental to me […]
Returning to Paid Employment
Very recently I’ve made a big and scary step to going back to paid employment, rather than being a full time freelancer. There is a lot of rhetoric out there that being self employed is the only way to be happy, the only way to have control over your life. I absolutely believed this, but […]
Capturing the creativity of schools
At the end of last term I was utterly privileged to be commissioned by the Royal Opera House Bridge to capture the creative essence of schools who are going to be featured in their book of best arts practice within a variety of schools. It was wonderful to go and see nine different schools from across […]
Save Elm Road Open Space
My local park is under threat of being sold off to make way for a 900 student secondary school. This is in the middle of a warren of tiny residential streets, it is the only open space for quite a way and it is incredibly well used. I am spearheading an apolitical campaign to […]
Returning
About six months ago I started to code. Or, more to the point, code again. I learnt to build websites over 15 years ago, well before WordPress or even any ‘what you see is what you get’ editors, it was in raw HTML code. I stopped when changed jobs and I no longer needed to […]
Having your own space
I am one of the few consultants in my field (arts & culture/not for profit), who has their own website. I have love affairs with social media and then stop. I invest lots of time Tweeting and sharing links. I post lots of photos. And then stop. I’ve had a lot of thoughts about Instagram, […]
168
7 x 24 = 168 7 days a week 24 hours a day 168 hours in a week On my war-board which sits behind and to the left of my desk, the centre currently reads 168 ? It’s there to remind me, every single moment I glance up and to the left (which is where […]
Amanda Palmer makes me deeply uncomfortable
Amanda Palmer is a musician, writer and all round artist. Her relationship with her fans is legendary and intimate- she will sofa surf at her fan’s place and she was one of the first artists to fund an album via Kickstarter. Just do a quick Google search to see how contentious she is – she […]
A day with Nigel Hess
This weekend I was privileged to take part in a rehearsal day with the international composer and director Nigel Hess. My concert band does these sessions every couple of years, we then go on to perform the composer’s pieces in a special concert later in the year. I can’t remember the last time I had […]