blue the sky

'Cold, the stabbing, the edge its got to be bleak. Gloomy your lonely, if your lonely no doubt your depressed, no support. I was walking down the road, someone had given me directions to Mac Donalds, it was a long road- I stopped for a moment, and couldn't decide which way I had come from and which way I was going. I was delirious from the cold. Danger. You toughen up, I don't know if thats a good thing. I could be out on the street all the time now, quite happy, you hack it. Its hard sleeping rough, hard.

When I was a kid I spent a night in Wales, the weather was horrible, me, my brother and sister spent ages splashing around in the river, it was freezing, but it was a good cold. I was lucky at the time, warm.' Anon.

Joao and Claire

Last week at the Big Issue Offices and The Booth Centre, Claire and I worked with participants gathering their thoughts on the pleasure and pain of warmth and cold. Lines from these reflections were then selected and written onto either the denim for the quilt, or onto ceramics for painting.

'Blue the Sky. I took 56 Sleeping Pills, 56 like a lobster. They said 'stay here, we need to take it out of your blood' I said 'F off, get off,' and I left... vooom  (Joao)

Peter with decorated cup

Many of our encounters are really moving and incredibly frank- people cut to the chase. Their life experiences can sometimes shocking, often expounded in a matter of fact manner, with a show of  British stiff upper lip.

William painting his cup

Next week the next stage begins, the ceramics will be finished off, fired, then photographed, exhibited and in time given back to the participants...