Most of us seek some outlet through which to express ourselves creatively. Whether professional, amateur or somewhere in between, many, if not all of us, seek to draw, paint, movie-make, sing, play, write, act, build, garden, digitise, invent, postulate, transform, scientise, entrepreneurise and such like. What do we get out of this and what drives us? Is such creative expression essential for human health and well-being? Is it an ego-driven display to mask our fear and insecurity? Or is it just a subtle element of the human mating dance?
On The Panel We Had
Mimi Thebo, author for children and adults, and a lecturer in Creative Writing. She’s also involved in the Bath Spa University Artswork CETL, which investigates the relationships between Creativity, Technology and Employability. An American by birth, Mimi has lived in the UK since the miner’s strike and has been married to the same Yorkshire man for 23 years. Mimi’s latest novels, Welcome to Eudora and The Corner Booth Chronicles, are published by Random House USA and concern life in a small, struggling Midwestern town, which suddenly discovers it has become half Mexican.
Kevin Chamberlain started life teaching art and drama, rapidly moved into management and finished corporate life as UK sales training manager for a financial services company. He has been self-employed since 1989 as both a consultant, interim manager, and mentor/coach. He is qualified as a de Bono lateral thinking consultant, studied and qualified in group skills, and studied such areas as counselling, coaching and Mindfullness CBT. Music is his great hobby and he'll be playing an Irish folk tune or two for us during the evening. He believes that "each of us has a creative core, which must surely point to an area of our lives where we experience ourselves as suppressed and vulnerable."
Dr. Christine Mohr, in partnership with a colleague, recently presented her research on "Magical Thinking and the Human Brain", exploring the links between creativity and supernatural belief in associative thinking. Christine obtained a PhD in 2001 for her work on the "neuropsychology of magical belief" at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and has continued working in this field ever since. She currently teaches neuropsychiatry at the University of Bristol.
Nick Sargent is a composer and musician who first recorded and published through the 'production music' libraries of Warner/Chappell and Carlin Music, and his compositions, including full orchestral recordings, continue to have worldwide use in broadcast media. Nick then moved on to produce individual commissions in the areas of advertising, corporate film, conference, theatre and dance. He now leads the Creative Music Technology undergraduate programme for Bath spa University.
The Entertainment Was
Live music from Lenny Savage and Kevin Chamberlain (see above).
A Big Thank You To
Martin Tompkins for the photography, Alexia Tucker for production managing the event (among many other things), Jenna Graves of Snowglobe Events for promotion and consultancy support, Jonathan Turton-Smith for the lighting design, Chapel Arts for the space, SuperMegaActionPlus for the video animation, Thyme and the Present Sense team for the wonderful food and JR Ryan for the original concept.
"Just like to congratulate you for last night, both Rosie and myself thought it was an excellent evening. There was a good cross section of people on the panel which stoked up a lot of enthusiasm in the audience."
Paul Ranford
Consultant, Natural Capital Engineering
"A lovely venue in the heart of Bath. Ably hosted by Pete. Good discussion, music, entertainment, great sound system, good food and a chance to meet new people. Highly commended - why would you not go?"
Kevin Chamberlain
Mentor Coach, Café of Ideas Panellist
"On a scale of one to ten, where ten is the best event of its kind I could ever imagine, I'd rate this event a nine! Plus lovely soup and lovely people. Thank you for having me!"
Mimi Thebo
Author and Educator, Café of Ideas Panellist
