Sunday Aug 9, 2026 - 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

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Join Sonic Boom Music CIC for an intimate afternoon with two local artists as they share their work, their process and the stories behind their favourite projects.

Venus Behjati and Abbe Hardon will display a selection of their work in The Shop before sitting down for an open conversation about their inspiration, influences and creative journeys. The discussion will then open up to the floor where you are invited to bring your questions, your curiosity, or just come to listen.

Paper and pencils will be out throughout, and we’d love you to sketch along as the conversation unfolds. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or someone who hasn’t picked up a pencil since school, you’re welcome to join in. If you’d like to share what you’ve made at the end of the session, even better.

Drop in any time between 1pm and 3pm. No booking required.

More about the artsist

Venus Behjati

Venus Behjati ia an Iranian surrealist artist and for her, art is an extension of life itself. A mirror to personal experience that spans love and hate, hardship and joy, and the relentless pursuit of creation. Her work bridges existentialism, social concerns, and the struggles of her homeland, exploring the fragility of existence, the resilience of the human spirit, and the complex interplay between identity, freedom, and oppression. At the heart of her practice is a fascination with the diversity of lived experience, the idea that every individual inhabits their own unique world, shaped by geography, culture, language, and societal norms, and that no two people experience life in the same way even when they share the same space. She calls these parallel existences “multiverses” – not cosmic phenomena, but deeply personal realms, each holding their own stories, struggles, and revelations. It is these worlds that her art seeks to celebrate and explore.

Abbe Hardon

A self-taught painter with a lifelong fascination with birds and the natural world, their work spans wildlife and pet portraits, illustration, and cover art including recent illustrations for a film on the history of the Staffordshire Trent Valley. Working primarily in acrylic and oil, with occasional oil pastels, they bring a sharp eye for nature to everything they create.

Their recent work explores something less tangible, the magic we find in the natural world, the superstitions we carry and the signs we look for in the creatures around us. A series of white rabbit paintings sits at the heart of this new direction, with more to follow.

Away from the canvas, they’re a music lover with a history in bands and orchestras, and a former English teacher whose love of books and literature finds its way into their work too, making them a natural fit for a session that’s as much about conversation as it is about art.

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