Hello, Welcome to "Thanet Inspirations" and I hope you enjoy browsing through the content of my website. My name is Terri and I have been a teacher for many years, but a few years ago, I threw in my resignation and relocated from the hustle and bustle of London to the tranquility of Westgate-on-Sea. There is something about the sea that induces a free and abundant flow of creativity. This sometimes manifests itself by just lying in the bath and thinking. More productively, it forms itself into images, words and dance. Margate, and it's inevitable regeneration, is happening now! Since living here, I have written a childrens' book called "The Bog Monster", set in Ireland, and a short story "The Last Will and Testament", set in Thanet. I have performed my poetry in The Belgian Bar in Ramsgate, and encorporate poetry and anecdotes into my visual work. Many of art works are inspired by promotional poster art of the 1950s and 60s. Pretty girls pose in front of familiar local landmarks, such as the Margate Harbour Arm or the Lido in Cliftonville. The watercolours are colourful and reminiscent of the saucy seaside postcard. The "hey day" of seaside culture is transormed into a transient new setting laced with ideas of revival and future regeneration. Powerful and seductive imagery influence and fashion future trends. The degeneration of the English seaside did not just happen. Package holidays were advertised as more glamourous, and improved technology meant people had the choice to holiday in a warmer climate.... The revival of the English seaside needs to be retrospective, as well as embracing the future. Margate is a place of happy childhood and family memories.
| The colourful "Gaiety"(in the old fashioned way) has a charming, alluring and reminiscent quality, enticing memories of the good old times. The "Kiss me Quick" hats, the saucey postcards, the "oooooooooooohhhhhh Mrs" humour, the funfair and the daring naughtiness, all make the Seaside a place where we like to be...beside the seaside, beside the sea!  |
I just have to listen to the seagulls in the morning, whilst supping on a cup of strong coffee, to know that I am in the right place. When I handed in my resignation in London, I was so excited, I got up at 4am in my house in Westgate and cycled to Margate as the sun rose.
The sunsets are often spectacular, and the ebb and flow of the tide, a permanent force of nature nutured by the position of the moon, all contribute to the originality and depth of thought I experience. Exhilarating stuff!
