Cubana Gwalia - Exhibition St David's Cathedral

Having a crazy evening after a crazy day finishing off works for the exhibition which starts at The Cloisters Gallery, The Refectory StDavid's Cathedral tomorrow. Official opening at 7.30pm on Wednesday 20th July do come along if you can. On for two weeks and what with the gallery and cafe being really busy right now all is chaos.

Cheery Pickles at Tenby Museum Gallery

This Saturday (23 April) I have been asked to open Cherry Pickles new exhibition at Tenby Museum. Feel priviledged to see her new work and to hear how she created the pieces. Great to see painting put in its true placein todays art world and gaining ground. Come and see the exhibition if you can. www.tenbymuseum.org.uk for details.

Exhibition Waterfront Gallery Milford

Working towards April's exhibition of printing works at Waterfront Gallery Milford http://www.thewaterfrontgallery.co.uk/ and retrospective at the Refectory Gallery St Davids in August.

Driving Heather mad too about my concert at The Cathedral on 27th August 2011 - she says buy tickets early so that you get them. Always optomistic my wife!

Salsa nights for parties (up to 30) with buffets are working well at Lavender Cafe, attached to Gallery. Lovely to see so many people enjoying themselves and I enjoy it too.

Christmas is here

Only two days to go and I am feeling homesick. Have just emailed pictures of the snow to Cuba. I remember the first time I saw it. I came here in January 1991 and was walking up Kensington High Street when I look on my shoulder and there was all this white stuff. I went to brush it off and found it was wet "Oh its snow" I thought. I had only read about it before or seen it in pictures and on paintings. Sounds strange but in the Carribean we don't get any!

My fingers get cold though and I am back to wearing several pairs of long socks and two pairs of trousers! Heather laughs at me. Have had to move the piano into the gallery as the workshop has no heating. It isn't the one in this picture unfortunately. This is the one I will be playing at the Cathedral in St Davids on Augst Bank Holiday Saturday 2011. Am well into writing the concert now and find it hard to stop to sleep!


Have a good Christmas everyone. See you in 2011. I hope it will be a great year for us all.

Pembrokeshire Weather Report

Just hear from St Davids Cathedral that we have been given a night - August Bank Holiday Saturday 2011 - for the second part of Pembrokeshire Weather Report. Am expecting to have a wonderful barritone singer from Cardigan this time. What a voice! Also a friend of mine is going to annotate the music for me so that musicians will have an easier time!!!

Looking forward to a quiet Winter to write the music and get a lot of painting done. Planning more veg growing next year too.

Hope everyone is well.

Music mania!!!!!!!!

people keep ringing up asking when we are playing so am going to put it on the blog: Last Friday of every month 9pm Harbour Inn, Solva - lots of local musicians joining in: 30th June Lavender Cafe including supper for Pembrokeshire Fish Week £15 for two courses and music: 4th July Pembroke Festival; 14th August Fishguard Arts Society at Tregwynt Mansion - wonderful setting and party atmosphere; end August Aberjazz (see www.aberjazz.com) plus salsa workshop over the weekend; 4th September Small World Theatre.

There may be other bits but not sure yet. Come along and enjoy. Contact 01437 721907 for more details. Tickets for Tregwynt Mansion from Seaways Bookshop in Fishguard or Raul Speek Gallery Solva.

London, mobile phones and Gilbert and George

Went to London with Heather while she went on a course and couldn't believe the number of mobile phone there were.. All these smart efforts like Apple and people sitting with friends at cafe tables tapping away on phone and not talking to one another. Or walking in the street and not looking where they are going. Big difference to Pembrokeshire. here (Solva) we dont have a signal most of the time so I guess we are behind everyone else. Fell out big time with two guys in the cinema who key tapping away all the time - either they want to see the film or they dont and if they dont they should buzz off outside and let everyone else enjoy themselves uniterrupted.

Went to Tate Modern - great to get myself up to date on what is happening there and also had lunch with Gilbert and George. They are so lovely and always the same - very kind to me and I like to make sure they are well for they are part of my excitement about art in the UK.

Glad to get back home in the end. Planning Salsa course here in the Chapel starting early April. Heather says I'm crazy - too many things happening at once.

Artes Mundi and New Exhibition Galerie Galles, Cardiff

Off to Cardiff tomorrow. Press conference for Artes Mundi where we will be wearing our ARTicle hat and then in the evening at the opening as Raul Speek Gallery. Looking forward to seeing the works there this year.

Thursday opening of Raul's new exhibition at Gallerie Galles, Pontcanna, Cardiff at 7pm - come along and see the the new works. Exhibition is on til 12th June. at this innovative gallery with its accent on Welsh art.

Exhibtions rolling in

Two more exhibitions in the pipeline. Galerie Galles in Canton, Cardiff from 12th March to 12th June and Pendre Art in Cardigan from 14th June to 26th June. Painting all night!

Playing at Fishguard Jazz Festival on 28th August too.

Life is amazing isn't it?

New Exhibition Havana Pontcanna

Working on a new exhibition for Galerie Galles in Cardiff running from 11 March to 12 June. Here is one of the pcitures for you to see - some of the poster is in Welsh as you will see when we finally get it right and it is loaded on the website. We are going to have to learn the language soon as it makes it nerve wracking typing even single words - so easy to get it wrong and I know when people write to me in Spanish that can be confusing.

Looks like a good year ahead with several exhibitions already booked and lots to do here with the cafe now having a licence for music.

Hope everyone has a good 2010.

Cathedral Concert

I am so pleased. My concert went really well and after ten years of working on the music it was like a dream come true. We recorded and filmed it too so I have the memory fresh before me every day if I want it. Many of our friends came and it felt great to be able to say how much living in Pembrokeshire means to me and how happy I have been here. The accousitcs in the Cathedral were amazing - the trumpet and saxophone sounded wonderful as their music drifted up towards the high vaulted ceiling. This is a picture from the rehearsal where you can see Jon Turner my music mentor without whom all this would never have grown to fruition. He arranged the filming too and did the editing of that afterwards.

Concert at St Davids Cathedral

My Pembrokeshire Weather Report Concert is getting very close now - St David's Cathedral on the 19th September. All the musicians have been working through the pieces and Kathry Ashton - mezzo-sporano - is making beautiful sounds. It is so exciting to feel my music coming to life and gaining in depth and tonal ranges as we go along. Making me very busy though - every spare minute is taken up practising.

Child of the Revolution

I am giving a talk about growing up in Cuba and how I became an artist during the years of Castro's revolution. Come along to the Old Chapel at 7pm on 19th August 2009. We are hoping to show the BBC film of my journey back to Cuba in 1997 too.

Workshops for the Disadvantaged

Got very excited today as our MP Stephen Crabb came to see me. I am trying to get him interested in helping me set up workshops for those who are not easily able to get art experience. Specially those in prisons - I do believe that if they get a chance to try something new it helps them feel less hopeless about their future. Young people too who might not have the money or the encouragment to create art can make big changes in their lives just by knowing something new is open for them.

Everything seems to be happening at once. Have had to repaint the angel in the garden again. Also practising like crazy for my concert at St Davids Cathedral on 19th September - a once in a lifetime chance for me to play a piece of piano music I have been workign on for ten years. At the same time my new strand of work (art) is taking off and there is just a chance we might be able to go to Cuba in November. Haven't seen my family for 5 years so that would be wonderful. Not sleeping much in the excitement though and so driving Heather crazy.

Talk on Indian and Asian Architecture

Setting this talk up today and trying to get the sound stuff working right so that we can record what Ian Mc Donald says. Could do with more room at the Gallery really as have to take eveything to pieces every time we do a talk or anything audio-visual. Lot coming up to as you can see from below

5th August 2009 Ian McDonald Circling the Square – How Japan Broke the Grid. Audio visual evening on Japanese Architecture being held at Raul Speek Gallery, Solva. 7 for 7.30 Including glass of wine and light refreshments. £3 entrance fee. Tel 01437 721907 for details

19th August 2009 Raul Speek A Child of the Revolution. Audio visual evening at Raul Speek Gallery, Solva including showing of video made by The Slate ‘A Long Journey Home’. Entrance fee £3. 7 for 7.30 includes glass of wine and light refreshments. Tel 01437 721907 for details.

ARTists Pembrokeshire – Summer Exhibition featuring 3 Solva artists in the Tower and Café at Oriel y Parc. Heather Bennett Photographer, Ian McDonald Print maker and Raul Speek Artist. 14th July to 28th August 2009 9.30am to 5.30pm. Contact Oriel y Parc on 720392 for details.

September 19th 2009 at 7.30pm. at St David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire. ‘Pembrokeshire Weather Report’ Concert for Piano and other Voices composed and performed by Raul Speek (A Cuban in Wales). Contact 01437 721907 or email raul@raulspeek.co.uk for bookings and details.

Of course the one I am looking forward to is playing my semi-calssical piano piece in the Cathedral. Dream of a lifetime.

Cuba

Cuba seems to be in the news all the time at the moment. Did you see the programme on Monday evening it was a bit over saturated but it still managed to make me feel homesick. I am amazed how many people come to the gallery and have either just been to Cuba or have just come back. They nearly always ask me how I got here and if I am wanting to tease them I say 'In a green MG'. It is true but not what they mean at all. They see Pembrokeshire as a very sterange place for me to be. But I loved Solva straight away - I came here with my wife on holiday and we never went away really. That was 16 years ago.

For me here has a magic all of its own. The light is fabulous for painting and there is a strongly spiritual feeling to the place. I know we live in an old Chapel which helps but it is all around. People come on one of our courses and they dont want to go home afterwards - they nearly always come back to explore more of the county or walk the coast path. You should come to the area and breath the freshness of the air - it will make you feel better.