Issue 19: Blossom

Editor’s Note

The daffodils are out and the crocuses are blooming, it’s official, spring has sprung and with that I’m excited to introduce you to our new spring issue all about: Blossom. Spring is always a beautiful and cathartic time of regrowth and a symbolic shedding of the old to make way for the new and I for one can’t wait to get my spring clean on.

In this issue we have some vibrant art and some truly moving poems! I personally adored watching the video performance of Najwa Ahmed’s Blossom poem, it is the perfect combination of spoken word and visual art! This issue is best enjoyed, in my opinion, with a takeaway local coffee or hot drink of your choice sitting on a bench in a garden with the perfect Spring breeze and the birds tweeting in the trees surrounding you.

Kirsty Taylor (She/Her) Editor-In-Chief

Blossom

Written by Maria Antonia Jaime

As I felt life blossoming inside myself I felt joy, gratitude, and, for the first time, I felt complete.

I witnessed my seeds become babies, toddlers, perfect human beings filled with curiosity with their endless energy filling the house with noise and lullabies as we played together the neverending game of teaching and learning.

Who was the teacher and who was the disciple? I can affirm that they taught me a lot more than I did. Perhaps the most important lesson that I learnt is what unconditional love meant.

I was able to study and work in all the fields that I wanted as I started to be a more assertive person and, for them, I wished to be the best possible version of myself.

What a pleasure watching them finishing their careers and becoming responsible adults! Blooming into life and helping others, selflessly.

Their smiling faces with their diplomas and their togas, a mixed feeling of pride and defiance is the one image that I will never forget.

I thought that when that day finally arrived, I would start fading out, drowning from inside, in the middle of a ruthless and fierce Canadian winter, reminding me, relentlessly, that my work on this earth is done. What should I do now? What role will I have in their lives once my job is accomplished?

But those were just silly fears. The wheel of life wisely brought me back to their lives, like a caterpillar transformed into a butterfly, I did not wither or cease to exist because I was no longer needed as a caregiver. As for then on, I was ready to enjoy them differently.

Schedules, rules and discipline gave space to a more relaxed way to enjoy each other’s company, as motherhood turned into a sort of long lasting friendship.

I welcomed their blossoming into adulthood, I embraced their maturity and their wisdom. I accepted their helping hands humblingly as now the roles slowly started to reverse.

At this stage of my life I feel overwhelmed with infinite happiness. What a fortune to have been able to enjoy the pleasure to be their mom from their birth to the rest of my days!

By

Maria Antonia Jaime (Patty). Patty is a Veterinary Doctor and Accounting Technician from Argentina who moved to Canada where she received her Environmental Technician degree. She worked as a photographer and has had several painting and photography exhibitions in the Montreal area. She moved to the UK three years ago and works in Adult Education and does sustainable and eco-friendly crochet works.

Illustration by Regan Noelle Smith

BUD

born to the mother of age from this time

Poetry Corner

By Antoni Ooto.

Antoni is a poet whose work is widely published globally in print, online, and in anthologies.He is also a well-known abstract expressionist artist whose paintings are collected throughout the US. Recently, Antoni co-authored The Posture of Trees, a book of poetry, with his wife Judy DeCroce. The underlying themes of persistence, resilience, and hope resonate throughout its pages. They are now working on their second book - a collection of flash-fiction. He lives and works in upstate New York.

An Abandoned Roadside House

stuck here when time assigned a limit its disappearing rhythm of windows its last door latched now currents of spring unsurprised roosted tendrils of weeds drawing away memory this headstone, this wooden hump, as forests crawl through one may turn away but nature does not and home, a word discarded

By Judy

DeCroce.

Judy is an internationally published poet, flash fiction writer, and recently published The Posture Of Trees, a book of poetry with her husband, Antoni Ooto. This year her poem, “One Woman Leads to Another,” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She is also a professional storyteller, and teacher of that genre, as well as offering courses in flash fiction. She lives and works in upstate New York.

I emerge to the cold light growing and responding to the world I cling to my sugar of strength leaving the seed tastes a new day

Flower to Flower

By Regan Noelle Smith. Regan

is a writer, speaker, and poet based in Columbus, Ohio. Through her past history of mental illness and drug abuse, poetry and vulnerability has been a large part of her personal healing and restoration. Because of this, she’s made it her mission to inspire and empower women to self-reflect, find healing, and grow through poetry–whether they are the readers, or the writers. Regan has authored the poetry collections Morning Air, Morning Light and Cloudland: the secret land that only I can see and shares her poetry through her Instagram (@regannoellesmith) and website (regannoellesmith.com).

Butterflies float in the garden, from flower to flower: a reminder, that we are moved from glory to glory, a sweet nectar experience.

The Gallery: María Poyato

Artist: María Poyato, an artist based in Edinburgh, UK.

María’s main areas of creative focus are pottery, photography, and illustration. She has a bachelor’s in Audio-visual Communication, graduated in Illustration by the Edinburgh College and is now working as an apprentice and freelance potter in Mud Station Pottery.

She grew up surrounded by mountains and the beach. Here, she finds inspiration in daily life, wee things, sunny days and the environment that surrounds her.

Generally, in her work you can find a high presence of earthy colours and natural elements and textures, such as plants, flowers and found objects.

At Mud Station Pottery, María helps with the daily chores of the studio, running the classes and working on her own projects while she keeps improving her skills and developing her art.

You can also find her selling her artwork at craft markets around Edinburgh. There’s something in handmade tableware that keeps your soul warm. María likes to make objects that please people, that are cute, comfortable and make you smile. Because beautiful things make us happy. That’s why what you’ll find in her work are mugs, bowls, vases, flower and incense holders and wee characters of the forest like mushrooms, frogs, snails, and other magical animals. She finds inspiration in nature, daily life routines and the small, beautiful things around us.

María is into organic textures and mark-making from found objects, mostly from leaves and flowers. In the near future, she would love to set up her own studio, where she could share her art with other people, deliver fun workshops and be a full-time artist.

Check out her website for more details about her artwork and social media for news and content about her artistic journey.

www.mariapoyato.com

IG @maripoyis

Poetry Corner

She spoke in flowers

She wanted to speak in flowers not words the petals were letters to her heart

She caressed with tongue and forbearance

She argued with rosebuds willing

By Larry

Jaffe.

For his entire professional career, Larry Jaffe has been using his art to promote human rights. He was Poet-In-Residence at the Autry Museum, a featured poet in Chrysler’s Spirit in the Words poetry program, co-founder of Poets for Peace, helped spearhead the United Nations Dialogue among Civilizations through Poetry project, former Poet Laureate Youth for Human Rights, the Florida Beat Poet Laureate, and the recipient of the Saint Hill Art Festival’s Lifetime of Creativity Award. He has six books of poetry: Unprotected Poetry, Anguish of the Blacksmith’s Forge, One Child Sold, In Plain View, 30 Aught 4, Sirens and Man without Borders.

Let me be as apple blossom

White and cylindrical piped from black-caviar let me be as apple blossoms five-pointed star let me perch sit upon the boughs of heavens blue fall ripe and heavy when my time is way past due and rest in your lap for collection, life anew then when all is said and done, I-bid-you-adieu.

By Mark Andrew Heathcote. Mark is an adult learning difficulties support worker. He has poems published in journals, magazines, and anthologies both online and in print. He resides in the UK and is from Manchester, UK. Mark is the author of “In Perpetuity” and “Back on Earth,” two books of poems published by Creative Talents Unleashed.

Pink Snow

Our cherry tree having worn her finery for many days sets it free on a chill spring breeze fills air and garden with pink blossom marbling black hen feathers piling up by pots and plants masking lawn and new plantings. Later, I will layer my pink delight into the compost heaps after I have drunk my tea in sun amid pink snow.

By

Images Sing

A baby’s love song

Blossoms into the world

Similarly the way She did and ended

With a birthday cake

And something juicy

Like maybe an orange

But nothing rhymes

With it so call the gardener

Because flowers know

Poetry.

By

Kim Whysall-Hammond. Kim is a Londoner and an expert in obsolete telecommunications protocols who currently lives in southern England. Her poetry has appeared in Ink, Sweat and Tears, Alchemy Spoon, Amethyst Review, Amaryllis, Littoral, London Grip, Marble Poetry, The Martello and Crannóg. She also has poems in anthologies from Wild Pressed Books, Experiments in Fiction and Palewell Press.

Ann Privateer. Ann is a poet, artist, and photographer. She grew up in the Midwest and now resides in California. Some of her recent work has appeared in Voices 2022 and Third Wednesday to name a few.

Blossom Poem

Click here to watch the video performance of this piece

What's out there if there's nothing inside?

What's to frit, fight and be tight about?

Why upset and be upset when there's only void all around?

We strive and thrive to disguise that deep empty world of lies

Despite the truth the not only truth we do our best to flight to flee our reality

our dinner time with the inner demons

We search for anchors create imaginary, illusionary reasons

to stay

Because we have nowhere else to escape to Or so we think and thus we fear.

Our world existence principles faith believes facts and myths and all details lost in between could just be a means to distract from what's truly real

From what's hidden underneath

The masks

The lies

The smiles

The fucks

The orgasms

The skin

And bones

The blood that's rusting on my palms

The souls that are rustling in our caves

And your lips

Tender as an orange blossom

Between my fingers

As I carrase

nibble and kiss

Only to open my eyes to a mirage

Look down on my feet

Standing on the edge of an abyss

I jump

And your wings break out of my ribcage

I fly

Holding you tight

The wind spanking us

Spreading your feathers

Splitting my wounds

You recoil inside me

Cut through the hardened clay

Go through the other way

Find that sweet spot

And press

Push and squeeze

right through the spine

To the other side where you knew your place Jo

Knew how to manoeuvre

And when to stop

That's your kingdom

That space between my shoulder blades

By Najwa Ahmed. Najwa is a Berlin based Palestinian artist and curator. Her artistic practice varies between: writing, performance, film & video, landart, and visual art. Currently she’s focusing on curation and production of cultural and artistic events.

Artist Spotlight: Victoria Valuk

Victoria Valuk says: ‘Blossom is the season when you prosper and celebrate! No one and nothing can blossom instantly! It takes time to seed, to pour, to educate, to grow, to love and to be loved, to support and to be supported, etc. Blossom is possible after hard work and kind intentions.’

By Victoria Valuk. Victoria is an artist from Europe, she lives and works in Belarus. She took part in more than 80 exhibitions in different countries, was awarded and featured. Victoria Valuk has been running a global solo art-tour-show «Artefact» since February 2021, which has already toured the Caribbean sea and the islands of Saint-Martin, Barbados, Trinidad, countries - Poland, United Arad Emirates, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Norway, etc. Her artworks were shown in the news in the press and on TV. Also there is her personal exhibition “Opera” in Belarus. Please see more https://artvaluk.wordpress. com/collections/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ victoriavaluk/

Things We’re Loving

Find out what the team has been loving recently as well as when they’ve bloomed! This issue we have Thomas Connolly-Brown (Illustrator/Graphic Designer), Kesla Elmore (Editor), Emma Karas (Social Media Assistant), and Kirsty Taylor (Editor In Chief).

Reads

TCB: The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer. Biography of The Dresden Dolls’ lead singer and her life journey through art, being heard, and how to feel comfortable relying on your friends and fan-community.

KE: The Mothers by Brit Bennet. It is the story of two teenage girls who grow up in a small Black community in California and one carries a secret with her that resurfaces in their adulthood. Definitely a true page turner!

KT: I have recently discovered the Scottish author, Jenny Colgan and just finished her Scottish Bookshop Series which I adored as it was the perfect light-hearted warm and fuzzy series.

TCB: Slam Dunk 2023 playlist on Spotify. I’m prepping for this music festival in May. Learned last year that I need to update my song knowledge in order to sing along.

EK: I’ve been listening to a lot of Welcome to Night Vale recently. It’s an old favourite that’s always a delightful mix of spooky and comforting.

KE: I recently rediscovered Marvin Gaye’s classic 1976 album, I Want You. It’s perfect for those sunny long car rides as we head into spring. I’m also loving Ice Spice right now, especially in the gym. I’m always blasting “Princess Diana.”

Watches

TCB: Finally started watching the anime Chainsaw Man. It’s been popular online but I’m usually late to the parties.

EK: The Last of Us- everyone telling you to watch it is right. I’m living for Monday nights.

KE: Also, The Last of Us, and the new season of Love Island!

KT: I was lucky enough to see Wicked recently at the West End and fell back in love with theatre all over again. I am hoping to catch some shows at the Lyceum or Edinburgh Playhouse soon!

Moments We’ve Blossomed

TCB: After countless nightmares about being a bad pet owner, I finally broke and bought a bigger fish tank. I’m starting to enjoy having pets again. Just needed to take that new step.

KE: I just turned 28 in February, and I actually feel a bit older but in the best way possible. I’m realising how important it is to advocate for myself and to honour my own needs personally and in my career.

KT: I have recently discovered the importance of living a slow life and giving myself the time in life to do things I want to do with no pressure. It has been lovely to rediscover parts of myself I forgot existed. One thing I have recognised as I have grown older is finding the time to do these things and being independent enough to enjoy sometimes doing them alone, in the past I would have not done things if no one else could join me.

Small Business Spotlight:

Mallow.and.teal

Mallow.and.teal is an Edinburgh based business that caught the eye of our social media coordinator, Hannah, so she decided to find out more!

What is Mallow.and.teal all about?

Mallow.and.teal is a female-led, Edinburghbased small business, specialising in small batch colourful accessories and printed products. My products are designed by myself, high quality and the earrings are hypoallergenic so can be enjoyed by all.

What inspired you to start making jewellery?

I started my small business in January 2021 while I was on maternity leave from my job as a research scientist. I’ve always enjoyed learning about different crafts (it’s the scientific curiosity in me!) and have been on various introductory courses such as pottery, life drawing, sewing and painting but I’ve never stuck with one practice for any length of time (I’ve usually moved onto the next “shiny” thing…). That was all the case until I found polymer clay and resin. I was so impressed by all the artistic possibilities you could do with these mediums. I loved the bright statement earrings that could be created and after a few months of perfecting these, I opened my Etsy shop. An early goal for the business was to branch out into shops so when I successfully started selling in Scottish Design Exchange. I was so grateful to be part of an exciting Edinburgh art scene full of talented creatives offering sustainable alternatives to fast fashion.

What’s been the biggest highlight since starting Mallow & Teal?

I’ve had some lovely highlights in my time selling earrings. The first came when a brideto-be approached me to make a custom pair of earrings for her wedding. I felt so honoured to be a part of someone’s special day in this way. Another highlight was spotting a talented TV presenter wearing my handmade earrings on her news programme. Also, any time I trade at a market venue feels like a highlight as it’s always such a great atmosphere and I love chatting with my customers in-person and talking about my making process. Our theme for this issue is Blossom. What is your favourite part about Spring?

My favourite part about Spring is the fun Easter arts and crafts I like to do with my 2 and 6 year olds. Last year we made some sustainable rabbit Easter bonnets using paper-mache and items from the recycling bin. I also love seeing the grape hyacinth pop up in our garden borders in spring - a welcome visitor each year.

We absolutely love the fun colours and shapes of your earrings! Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?

A large part of my earring design inspiration comes from my garden. Last year I designed some lilac and green earrings with the image of a Passion flower as the pattern. This plant grows up the side of my house and the flowers look so exotic that it always amazes me that they grow in the UK. I also look at Interior Design magazines as the colour schemes and architecture can be so inspiring.

And lastly, what’s next for Mallow and Teal? Do you have any plans for the future of your business that you can share with us?

2023 will hopefully be an exciting year for Mallow.and.teal. I’ve invested in technology to print my own designs onto products so I’m looking forward to creating some new ranges, and I’ll also be attending craft markets in locations all around Scotland as I’ve realised that the in-person markets are something I really enjoy so it makes sense to do more of this!

You can check out Mallow.and.teal on Instagram and Etsy!

Written by Hannah Matheson

Discovering the Cosy Side of London

This February half term, I was lucky enough to embark on a trip to London to connect with a friend and have some much needed downtime. Yes, I did actually just put London and downtime in the same sentence, and you are probably wondering if I have lost my mind. But although it sometimes feels like it I have indeed not lost my mind, but rather I’ve discovered that there is something particularly comforting about the fact that everyone around you is so busy that they don’t notice you and as a result you can live in your own little world. This is in a way that is so hard to do when growing up in a small village where everyone knows everything about you from your life goals all the way down to your 4th fish’s name. With that in mind I decided I wanted to find the less ‘hustle’ side of London and embrace the more wholesome cosy corners of the city.

For me, one of the most obvious places to find cosy energy is in cafes and I also adore a small independent coffee shop. I’d also like to add that I did in fact meet a true icon in pop culture right now in one of these cafes so that shows you I have good taste. So my first stop was in Soho and was at a gorgeous little Japanese cafe called Omotesando Koffee. This cafe was recommended to me by a friend of mine who I like to think of as a coffee connoisseur and the coffee here did not disappoint! One thing to note is there is minimal seating and no bathroom available here. I also enjoyed an oat milk latte and an incredible smoked salmon bagel at the Tin Shed in Notting Hill - an excellent place for people watching.

However, the cosiest cafe for me was The Barn, an indoor fireplace will always do it for me. I ordered a lovely brunch of a mimosa, iced vanilla oat latte and an eggs benedict and it was perfect. The front main room has the fireplace and a gorgeous rustic farm interior feel but the back part of it does feel a little too live laugh love. Finally, no cosy moment is complete without at least one white hot chocolate (a true obsession of mine) and Dark Sugars did not disappoint with the most decadent white hot chocolate I’ve had so far and in a rare twist some flavour options for white hot chocolate. I did choose to stick to the plain white hot chocolate but may very well go back soon to try the white saffron hot chocolate!

One of the other ways to be cosy in London is to enjoy the arts in any way you can. The highlights for me of seeing art on this trip was the incredible Photographer’s Gallery - the Chris Killip exhibition was particularly well done. Another favourite pastime of mine whilst in London is pretending to read on the tube whilst actually looking at all the incredible fashion happening around me. As well as this London has some gorgeous architecture to wander around for days and I find that Notting Hill and Paddington have a particularly cosy feel to them as you wander their streets. In Notting Hill there is an incredible small art gallery: The Bakery and it showcased loads of incredible work worth checking out. For me the true epitome of cosy energy in the arts comes in two places: the cinema and the theatre, so naturally, I had to visit both. For the theatre I headed to Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre and it most certainly didn’t disappoint. Then for a very coorie in moment with my friend for Galentines day we headed to Greenwich Picturehouse to watch Mean Girls which was all the wholesome energy I needed from London.

So next time you are in London, avoid the busy streets and the honking horns and find some quieter, cosier places in the city because I promise you they do exist.

Written by Kirsty Taylor

Coorie Moments

Written by: Emma Karas

Illustrated by: Thomas Connolly-Brown

Stepping outside and realising it’s warmer than you thought it would be.

Calling an old friend, hearing ‘I missed you!’

A stranger gesturing for you to get on the bus first.

Hearing birds singing after a long winter.

Sitting for a moment to feel the sunshine on your skin.

Breathing deeply and feeling grateful.

Cooking a meal with fresh ingredients.

Feeling safe and opening up to someone.

Feeling a sense of possibility and excitement for the future.

Watching a flock of birds twist and soar in unison.

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Bloosom Moments

This month we ask our contributors to share moment’s where they’ve bloomed recently and these are their replies.

‘I blossomed recently when I painted on my first ever full sheet of watercolour paper.’

- Ann Privateer, author of ‘Images Sing’ poem

‘I paint as well as write. After months of overthinking what to paint and hating the work I did actually manage to do, three days ago I walked up to my easel, plucked an image from my sketchbook, and simply lost myself in the joy of daubing colours. In the end, I even liked the painting! Now I feel able to take on anything.’

-

Kim

Whysall-Hammond,

author of ‘Pink Snow’ poem

‘So as I am a support worker and having worked through the coronavirus at one address, I requested a transfer as I needed a change of scenery. And as it is one of my company’s core values to “Go the extra mile.” I decorated two rooms and made a large outside area for perennial garden plants that I propagated from my garden. I did separate on top of all my other-normal day-to-day duties.’

- Mark Heathcote, author of ‘let me be as apple blossom’ poem

‘Lately and on a personal level I've been doing nothing but blossoming, and it's a choice. Once I had a peek into my past and the obstacles I've overcome, there was a moment of clarity, that even in my darkest moments I was thriving, because standing on an intersection of identities allows me nothing but that. The opportunity to see my past, present and future, lineard right in front of me came through a time travelling bag that was delivered by a friend after almost 4 years of my departure. This bag carried my belongings and writings from that time I spent at a horrendous refugee camp in Belgium. the fact that it was delivered during the premiere of one of my first films in Berlin, made me feel I had to open it right then and there. What I found besides the survival kit of a refugee was a collection of notebooks where I wrote my diaries. Amongst the desperation, pain and fear there was always a sentence about my dreams, which now I'm making come true.’

- Najwa Ahmed, author of ‘Blossom’ poem

‘A few months ago, my wife and I abandoned our suburban lifestyle. Earlier in the year we had sold our business and now we sold our house and bought an RV. We moved way out into the country. This is a big change for me because I have always been a city boy. Now suddenly, I find myself surrounded by cows and farmland. The blossoming effect was immediate. I felt myself fully relax for the first time in quite a while. I have been writing much more thanks to that clean country air.’

- Larry Jaffe, author of ‘She Spoke in Flowers’ poem

‘The moment I blossomed recently would be yesterday morning when I woke up with the first lines to a new poem now titled Too Late.’

- Judy DeCroce, author of ‘An Abandoned Roadside House’ poem

‘I love Edinburgh. I blossom every day while walking its streets and discovering something that I had not noticed before, this can be a monument, a hidden close or a wee street. Sometimes, it is the same street that I see every day but that it is illuminated in a different way by the sunbeams or it could be, simply, the different colours of its amazing sky. Monotony or boredom does not exist in this place. Art and beauty are always just around the corner, and as this city blossoms before my awed eyes, so do I, making yesterday's stroll around the city the last time I blossomed.’

- Maria Antonia Jaime (Patty), author of ‘Blossom’ personal essay

Coming Soon!

As a collective, we have decided to focus more of our time on cultivating a place in the creative community of Edinburgh and finding the voices of many local creatives that we want to Continue The Voice on to give you a new and improved experience of our zine that is dedicated to just that.

So stay tuned on our socials for all the exciting things to come including interviews with local artists, places to get inspired in Edinburgh and our team sharing their coorie moments in their day to day lives!

The Team At Continue The Voice

The driving forces behind Issue 19

Editor-In-Chief: Kirsty Taylor

Editors: Kesla Elmore

Lizzie Lane

Fatima Bouzidi

Graphic Designers: Thomas Connoly-Brown

Kirsty Taylor

Illustrator: Thomas Connoly-Brown

Social Media Coordinator: Hannah Matheson

Social Media Assistants: Patty Guaraní

Emma Karas

Published quarterly by Continue The Voice.

Copyright © 2022 Continue The Voice. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. Artists and writers accredited maintain copyright to their own work so they should not be reproduced without written permission from them also. The views expressed in Continue The Voice are not necessarily those of the contributors, editors or publishers. All information contained in this magazine is for information and information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Continue The Voice does not accept any responsibilities for errors or inaccuracies in such information.