Normally, the commissioned work I do is a separate process to the work I do as a passion, but this film was different.  It is everything that I think and feel.  I loved every moment of creating it because the message is so important and so simple.

That is why I have decided to share it with you all.

‘The importance of hearing our children.’

A Sojo Animation film for the BME network, about the importance of listening, hearing, engaging and playing with our children, featuring the most awesome little girl, Tiana and her brilliant parents Sophie and Alex, and also Norman Wright from The Wright Initiative.
Commissioned by Nottinghamshire County Council, put together by the BME Network with support from their corporate equality group.
Massive thanks to Alison Lewis.

Hooray!  You know you’re doing good stuff when you hit the pages of Leftlion.  I love this magazine.  Supporting all things awesome in Nottingham since back in the day when I was singing to earn my pennies instead of animating.

Thanks for this lovely coverage of Big Bad Wolf.  Here is a link to the online version.

I’m so very excited to announce that the Sojo Doodles Sticker App is now available in the App Store.

Here’s a little preview…

A little animation, that I made in a day, in answer to the burkini madness that hit the news a little while ago.

My latest Sojo animation ‘Big Bad Wolf’ has gone a little nuts over on our Sojo Facebook page, with over 30,000 views!  For a post that hasn’t been sponsored, that’s pretty BRILLIANT!   Well done to Amahrya, the little girl who created such a fabulous ending for the story, that everybody felt compelled to share it.

Many of you have been asking about the process and how the ‘Big Bad Wolf’ became the animation it is.  I promise I will write a blog post explaining all… but for now, you could have a peek at this lovely Cameo Launch article all about Sojo Animation! Eeeeeek!  I gave away quite a lot of secrets, so check it out 🙂

Here it is, all of your amazing creations in one lovely animation.

I just want to say how much I enjoyed working with all of you.  To think that our youngest animator was only 4 years old and our oldest was 12 years old!  You all worked so brilliantly together, and the characters you created were awesome.

I hope you all feel super proud.

Also I’d like to say thank you to Nottingham Lakeside Arts.  It is always such gorgeous place to work, building wise, but also staff wise.  You’re all lovely!

 I absolutely LOVE receiving emails from The Spark Arts asking for me to join them for an event, and I shall tell you why.  

The Spark Arts are, firstly, a wonderfully enthusiastic and positive team of creative people who are open to infinite possibilities when it comes to fresh ways to bringing the arts to children; giving visual artists, like me, the opportunity to have a lovely flexible brief to work with.  And secondly they are fully tapped into the creative scene in Leicester, with strong links to the community.  The Spark Arts rely on teams of, quite frankly, brilliant volunteers who help with many of their events and I would like to say a gigantic thank you to the team of volunteers I had with me on Monday.  They were AWESOME! 
This was my pet rhino for the day. We grabbed a quick photo before the event kicked off.

   
   
Ok…so it was rainy. When I say rainy, I mean it! But the crazy weather didn’t stop our Sojo marquee from bursting with beautiful balloon flowers, snakes and headdresses all created by the hundreds of wonderful families who braved the sogginess into Leicester City Centre. 

Yesterday it was all happening at The Curve in Leicester!  

You can be sure, if The Spark Arts are putting on a event, then it’s going to be pretty special, and yesterday was just that.  From the moment the doors opened at The Curve, the whole space was filled with the sound of little feet, giggles and excitement.

I sat, with a team of awesome Spark volunteers, on the mezzanine with my ‘Hop Island’ workshop all ready to go and waited for the the happy noises to reach my part of the building and then all of a sudden…WHOOSH! It happened!  Hop Island suddenly became a very exciting place indeed.

   
   No longer were there just two people trapped on a rather empty looking island.  Now there were volcanoes with magma pumping stations, talking trees, tigers, pirates, play parks, acid flame pits, monsters and princesses in castles.

Hop Island was transformed by the brilliant imaginations of the children and their families in Leicester, and I would like to share with you some of the pictures I took of their wonderful creations.  Enjoy!

Hop Island Gallery

The fourth ‘Thunk’ in a series of short animations celebrating the imaginations, artwork and voices of young children in Nottingham. Thank you to Amahrya, the most wonderfully imaginative four year old ever, and her brilliant mama.