"Conveying a sense of magic in the everyday" – Rozanna Lilley

Lead Past/Present Pets poet Rozanna Lilley reflects on her experience of creating poetry with Studio A artists, Kirstel and Skye Saxon.

I had the privilege of working with the artists Kristel and Skye Saxon. Kristel and Skye are twin sisters and it was immensely rewarding to explore their very different artistic visions during our workshops. Kristel brings an innate poetic sensibility to her gentle observations of the world, her memories of childhood and her interior imaginings. She enjoys writing and sharing her ideas, showing a strong sense of the power of image in both her artistic and her writing practice. I will never forget the lush intimacy of her image of a ‘shower of purple rose petals’ falling inside her bedroom. Skye was initially a little hesitant about writing poetry. But once she realised there were no explicit rules regarding form or content, she transformed into a keen storyteller. Skye decided that she wanted to write about her amazing images of tarot cards. In doing so, she conveyed a sense of magic in the everyday, revelling in somewhat esoteric descriptions of landscapes and animals. One of her favourite places to imaginatively visit is Moominvalley, the creation of Finnish author Tove Jansson. I, too, have been a big fan of everything Moomin since childhood and this shared appreciation threaded through our conversations. For Skye, humour is really important and I think this shines through in her poetry. I hope I helped both Kristel and Skye develop their ability to ‘paint’ images with words; in the process, they both generously allowed me temporary entry into their vivid imaginative lives. As Skye said, ‘we had a howling good time’!