Salon Soirees and a jewellery box

It is traditional to keep bright, colourful and valuable gems in a jewellery box. Salon Soirees is just that – bright, colourful and crammed full of valuable creative gems. The box is Bloom & Curll – a beautiful tardis of a bookshop in Bristol.

I’ve known about Salon Soirees for a while but fate and holidays had stopped me from going. The last event, in June, was themed Primary Colours and I was splattered and splashed with the most vibrant of hues. Many people crammed into this hive - on seats, on the floor, under tables and probably placed onto coat hooks as well. There was music and singing, prose and poetry, artworks and audio, bicycles and books, a harp and a hornet and colours galore. Red, green, blue, yellow, orange and beige…yes, beige – who knew!?

I came away more RED than ever – having told a story about my colourful present and grey past. I came away full of admiration, full of inspiration and thankful for the talents in the room. I came away with that quizzical look – the one where you know you’ve been part of something special, but you’re not sure you could adequately describe it. A bit like magic.

The diamond that is firmly set at the centre of this ring is Julia Krysiak – curator, organiser, host and purveyor of support and positivity. Salon Soirees is her creation and it is what I always suspected it to be – beautiful and rare. The next Salon is likely to be September – travel light and expect magic. In the meantime, go check out the fantastic Bloom & Curll in the go - buy - read - repeat cycle I’m sure you’ll fall into.

Primary colours featured: Mog Fry - Elizabeth Parker – Sarah Rowles – Pauline Sewards – Jeremy Avis – Nichola Devine – Helen Sheppard – Callum Wensley – Nicky Coates – Sally Imbert and – Jet McDonald. Celebratory cake by Ceres.