Colour me a Hobnob

I have always been mesmerised by colour, in flowers in my garden, in pictures on my walls and in the words of my poems, so it was a theme close to my heart. However, I didn’t reckon on waking with such a rough throat that I could barely whisper. I sounded so sinister that I could have auditioned for a part in Midsummer Murders. Not the best start to a Hobnob.

Seven Lapidus members, attended by my Siamese cat, assembled in my sitting room. I had asked everyone to bring a coloured scarf and we started our session by bundling the scarves into a pillow-case, along with those I had already collected. I had prepared a set of cards with colour words printed on the back, blood-red, silver-grey, mulberry, peacock blue, mother-of-pearl … and so on. We selected three cards each and held them to our chests, like an obscure group of card-sharpers. Then we each said a few words about scenes and memories the words brought to mind.

Next, we read aloud a few poems ‘brimming with colour’ and explored the pictures and feelings they evoked. This went from serious listening to a lively exchange of thoughts and ideas.

Then the piece de resistance – I tumbled the scarves on to the floor. They became a riot of glorious, almost incandescent, colour – blue and bronze, pink and purple, plain and candy-striped, gold and ruby and jet. We scooped the scarves up and ran them through our fingers, a group of women playing with a rainbow – the cat couldn’t believe what she was seeing!

After a coffee and Hobnob break, we settled down to some concentrated writing inspired by the colours heaped on the floor. Those of us who felt confident enough, shared what we had written. Some of the pieces have since been developed into fully-formed poems, other are still fragments of ideas. I’m tempted to say, we produced ‘colour co-ordinated’ poetry, but that’s perhaps pushing it too far – let’s simply agree that the writing was brilliant, even if I was completely speechless by the end of the morning.

Moira Andrew

Members	Awash with Colour
Colour Inspirations	Elaine Holman and Angie Butler
Caroline Carver, Elaine Holman and Angie Butler	Moira Andrew and Angela Stoner