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Splashes of colour and life from three teachers
Three teachers from the British School in Colombo come together for an exhibition of their work at the Havelock Gallery in June.

Robert Sloper, a chemistry teacher has been painting for some 20 years. His work is fascinating for the intensity of colours he uses.

Beach scenes where you can almost hear the children shouting and the water splashing, landscapes reminding you of French impressionists, and pictures of Sri Lankan women that resemble Gaugin's most famous work.

Robert Sloper has exhibited widely in his native Oxfordshire in England, but has drawn much of his inspiration from his travels. These have been in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Since coming to Sri Lanka, almost two years ago, he has worked on local themes, with particular interest in the people and landscapes. Examples of his earlier work can be found on the website www.sunnyside-studio.com.

Ali Fryer enjoys photography, "particularly here where there are so many wonderful colours and facial expressions. Also, the act of taking photographs of people is an enjoyable and rewarding one as Sri Lankans seem to love to pose for the camera!" she says.

"Photography is purely a hobby for me, which I have shared with several keen students at the British School on a recent exploration to Anuradhapura. I hope people will enjoy sharing some of my experiences."

Ali teaches English and Drama at the British School, but is leaving Sri Lanka this summer to take a director of drama post in the UK and to research some crosscultural theatre issues for her PhD.

Mohan Sudusinghe is a professional dancer, has his own dance and aerobics studio and teaches dancing at the British School. His other love is painting, and he paints mostly dancers.

Mohan says, "I hope to continue to pass on this love for dance and art to those whom I train. This I believe is the best lesson I could pass on."

The Group exhibition will be at the Havelock Place Bungalow from June 8 to 18.

Poetry that revealed an oasis in a drab desert
As an American expatriate, coming to the Middle East for the first time at the ripe old age of 65, I was homesick for rain, mud puddles, rainbows , the four seasons, and the green green grass of home. Looking back, not forward, I could only see the beauty in the familiar. An old American song expressed my feelings "When you shall see flowers that lie on the plain, lying there, dying for one drop of rain - Then you may borrow some taste of my sorrow."

Feeling dry and thirsty, I felt no joy in this alien land!

But that was before I met Charmaine and read her thirst quenching poems. They were better for me than a whole case of bottled water.

After dipping into "Impressions of Oman and Zanzibar" and her other poetry I could begin to see from afar, an oasis in my desert. Charmaine's poetry has given me new eyes to see and a new direction to follow.

I now look torward to life here as an old stranger in a new paradise. Her sensitivity has helped me to look up instead of just looking around. In America I visited many gardens with a distracting confusion of many colours and varieties of flowers and plants. My fellow Americans, God bless them, didn't feel Mother Nature was fully dressed without a landscaper, patios, decks, fountains, bridges and ponds, and a garden gnome or two all this leading to a swimming pool.

I accepted those things as requirements for beauty, but through Charmaine's poetry I have come to the realization that they are "only made of clay" and God's creation is here to stay. Charmaine has helped me to lift my eyes to the hills and see them in a different way.

"Caramel coloured jebels of sandy terrain, some like a lunar landscape, others taking sinuous forms beckoning me". When you are sixty-five years old, you don't often find many sinuous forms beckoning you!!

I always thought treeless mountains were brown and ugly, now I see them in an entirely different way!! Caramel coloured!

Thank you Charmaine for going a long way to cure my homesickness and with your liquid aromatic words for filling me with wonder, and praise for my Creator who lives not only in New York and Oman and Zanzibar.

Her words sum up what Oman is becoming to me.
"This then, is the magical land of the Middle East
A land of mountains, frankincense and dishdashas."
Now as I abide in these alien lands, the sights and sounds reach out to my soul and welcome me.

Quartet in harmony
The Transworld piano quartet with Rohan de Silva - piano, Jagdish Mistry - violin, Ashan Pillai - viola and Damian Martinez - cello will perform at the Lionel Wendt Theatre, Colombo on June 9 and 10. Sri Lankan-born pianist Rohan De Silva and internationally acclaimed violist Ashan Pillai, will team up with Indian-born violinist Jagdish Mistry and Spanish cellist Damian Martinez for these two concerts. The programme will feature works by Mozart, Benjamin Britten, Beethoven and Brahms.
The proceeds from the concerts will go towards a Music Development Project designed by Ashan Pillai and The British Council together with the Western Music Department of the Ministry of Education. The project is to encourage children aged between 7 and 12 years to participate in a wider international music environment through music workshops in schools around the country. The first phase will comprise workshops in Kurunegala, Kandy, Panadura and Colombo and will be conducted between June 11 and 15 by the four visiting musicians, together with Sri Lankan percussionist, Krishna.


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