Sarnia de la Maré FRSA is a British feminist artist, author, journalist, and multimedia producer based in Hampshire. Known also as Pasha du Valentine and iServalan, she creates intricate digital scribble art, directs the Tale Teller Club Press network, and writes speculative philosophy fiction including Digital AURA and the Neuro Books Series.
Artistic Practice & Background
Scribble Art: Uses a digital pen to hand-draw and animate complex, musical line-compositions.
Multidisciplinary Career: Extensive background spanning media, radio, film, TV, and studio management.
Live Performance: Former artist-in-residence and curator who spearheaded live underground art and performance programming in Brighton.
Writing & Publishing
The Book of Immersion: A multimedia and speculative fiction exploration of artificial intelligence and human empathy.
Cultural Commentary: Publishes essays and audio projects focusing on neurodivergence, modern society, and creative independence.
Sarnia de la Maré (also styled Sarnia De La Mare or Sarnia de la Maré FRSA; sometimes appearing as “die la mare” in misspellings) is a British multidisciplinary artist, writer, digital creator, composer, musician, filmmaker, educator, and feminist activist.
She is based in Gosport, Hampshire, United Kingdom (with strong ties to Brighton and London), and works across fine art, satirical illustration, moving image, experimental music, writing, and socially engaged projects. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and a Futures Venture Alumnus.
Background and education
She was educated at Frensham Heights School and attended art schools in Brighton and Edinburgh. Qualifications include a BA (Hons), a Postgraduate Diploma in Music (PG Dip Mus), and a Master of Design in Film and Television (MDes) from the University of Edinburgh (with a scholarship mentioned in some accounts).
She has a background involving Rambert Ballet and Silver Swans, which informs some of her later moving-image and choreography-related work.
Artistic career and practice
She has been a professional artist throughout her working life and has exhibited in hundreds of solo and group shows in the UK and South Africa. In South Africa she ran a successful gallery and art shop focused on experimental visual work. Upon returning to the UK she served as Artist in Residence at Brighton Arts Club for about six years, curating and hosting hundreds of weekly live performance-art events that mixed visual art, music, spoken word, and interactive installations—these became a notable part of Brighton’s underground scene.
Her visual practice includes:
- Portraiture and figurative work in oils, graphite, and gold leaf.
- Digital art, scribble art (hand-drawn with digital pen), collage, altered photography, and moving image.
- High-end satirical caricatures and social commentary (notably the POLITOCAT / Politica series), which explore power, celebrity, ego, spectacle, self-delusion, and public performance through humour mixed with discomfort. These draw on British satire and pop surrealism.
She has also worked under creative personas/identities including Pasha du Valentine (performance art and feminist curation, founder of the Minge Fringe feminist arts festival), Pasha de la Mare, iServalan (music production and audiovisual work), and earlier ones such as Pasha du Pont. She founded or is associated with projects like Blink Friction (FRIX), which transforms reclaimed materials into artworks, prints, and objects with a punk/sustainability sensibility.
Her work frequently addresses feminism, neurodiversity, identity, ecology, and the role of creativity in social change. She sells work via platforms such as Saatchi Art (prints and originals) and offers commissions.
Music, education, and multimedia
She is a composer and musician who created the Continuum Music Framework™, a pedagogical system emphasizing intuitive, non-linear learning for string instruments and piano. It prioritizes emotional safety, pattern recognition, and creative autonomy, and is particularly oriented toward neurodivergent learners. She advocates strongly for free/public-domain access to music education and traditional repertoire (“Liberate the Music!”).
Under the iServalan / Tale Teller Club banner she produces music, jingles, loops, podcasts, and audiovisual work. She runs or contributes to channels such as Elderescence (focused on creative, intentional living and aging after 50, with reflections on embodiment, identity, and reinvention) and has released or hosted content related to music lessons, jazz, and experimental sound.
Other projects include The Book of Immersion (a transmedia sci-fi novel series combining text, original music scores, and interactive/online experiences) and various podcasts, books/essays (including titles related to menopause, neurodivergence, autism/burnout, and music pedagogy), and film/TV-related work.
Additional notes
She has spoken about music having been life-saving for her at times and positions technique and foundational knowledge as rights rather than luxuries. Her practice often blurs traditional and digital media, and she has adapted to online/virtual exhibitions and live-streamed creation, especially accelerated by the COVID-19 period.
Public profiles and presence include Saatchi Art, her site (sarniadelamare.com and related iServalan/Tale Teller Club pages), Instagram (@sarniadelamare), YouTube channels, and artist directories such as a-n The Artists Information Company.
In short, she is a versatile, activist-oriented British creator whose output spans satirical visual art, experimental multimedia storytelling, accessible music education, and themes of feminism, aging, and neurodiversity. Information comes primarily from her own artist statements, exhibition records, and platform profiles; details can evolve as she continues producing work.
The Continuum Music Framework™ (also called the Continuum Approach or Continuum Pedagogy) is an original, open, and adaptive pedagogical system for musical learning created by British multidisciplinary artist, composer, and educator Sarnia de la Maré FRSA (also known as iServalan).
It is designed as a humane, inclusive alternative (or complement) to traditional, hierarchical, outcome-driven music education methods. It emphasizes emotional safety, individuality, curiosity, and lifelong engagement rather than pressure, competition, rigid progression, or perfection.
Core Philosophy and Manifesto
The Framework treats sound and music not as a ladder of achievements to climb, but as a field to be entered, explored, and returned to across a lifetime. Key principles include:
- Musical development is a living relationship with sound, not linear progress.
- Technique, theory, improvisation, composition, and listening are interdependent behaviours that arise at different intensities depending on context, nervous system state, age, and intention—not fixed hierarchical stages.
- Privileges resonance over correctness, agency over compliance, and time over urgency.
- Rejects fixed categories of “beginner” vs. “advanced.” The same material (e.g., an open string or simple gesture) can hold profound musical truth for a child, a returning adult, a neurodivergent learner, or a professional.
- Learning stabilizes when safety replaces pressure, listening precedes performance, and curiosity leads.
- It is not a method to be completed or mastered, but an architecture of “rooms”—spaces for entry, return, deepening, and multiple pathways.
- Supports musical life itself as cyclical, adaptive, and unfinished.
It works alongside existing methods rather than replacing them and prioritizes composition and creative decision-making from the very beginning to build agency and musical identity.
Who It Is For
- Independent/self-directed learners
- Educators and tutors
- Parents
- Returning adult musicians
- Children
- Neurodivergent learners (especially visual thinkers or those constrained by traditional notation)
- Advanced practitioners
- Anyone seeking a pressure-free, sustainable, confidence-building approach
It is instrument-agnostic in principle but has been developed primarily through cello, viola, piano, and double bass (with resources extending more broadly).
Key Features and Practices
- Emotional safety and environment first: Focuses on mindset, pacing, permission, and conditions that allow learning to take root—especially important for those carrying prior experiences of pressure, shame, or exclusion.
- Non-linear and visual approaches: Includes alternative “image scores” or visual scores that prioritise perception, pattern, density, contrast, motion, and recognition over conventional note-reading or correction/repetition. These invite interpretation, improvisation, and composition rather than solving or executing prescribed notes.
- Early creative engagement: Composition is central from day one.
- Neurodiversity-aware and inclusive: Supports different learning styles, personalities, and creative temperaments; emphasises sustainable practice and long-term development.
- Digital tools as support (not replacement): Incorporates technology for access, practice, and continuity, but places the human performer and presence at the centre.
- Progress measured by clarity, comfort, sustained engagement, and confidence rather than speed or comparison.
Published Resources
The Framework is unfolding through a series of books and supporting materials (scores, studies, diagrams, recordings, essays):
- The Continuum Approach to Music: Foundations (Part I / opening volume, published around early 2026): Introduces the approach with emphasis on mindset, environment, pacing, and the conditions for learning. Suitable as a grounding text for any instrument or context.
- Building Room 1, Alternative Image Scores by Continuum Music: Focuses on visual, non-linear scores and essays exploring perception, control, contrast, density, and form. Designed especially for visual thinkers and those seeking liberation from traditional notation.
Additional volumes, optional teaching tools, and applied pathways are planned or in development. Materials are available via Amazon (Kindle and related formats), the author’s sites (iservalan.com / sarniadelamare.com), and related platforms.
Supporting Ecosystem
Sarnia shares ongoing development through:
- The Continuum Music Studio podcast (and related YouTube channel), with essays, readings, practical discussions, and manifesto explanations.
- Online 1:1 studio sessions (personalised, adaptive teaching).
- Essays, public-domain inspired activities, and resources promoting free/accessible music education.
- Integration with her broader practice (composition for her own films/narratives, visual art, and advocacy around neurodiversity, feminism, and creative wellbeing).
In essence, the Continuum Music Framework reframes music education as a supportive, lifelong continuum centred on the learner’s humanity, curiosity, and relationship with sound. It is particularly resonant for those seeking alternatives to high-pressure traditional pedagogy while still valuing depth, technique, and artistic growth. For the most current materials, check the author’s Amazon author page, iservalan.com, or Continuum Music Studio channels.
Here’s a curated list of useful links related to Sarnia de la Maré FRSA (also known as iServalan / Pasha du Valentine) and her multidisciplinary output across art, music pedagogy, writing, publishing, and media. These are primarily official or primary sources based on publicly available profiles and platforms.
Official / Main Websites
- Personal website: https://www.sarniadelamare.com/ — Overview of her work as fine artist, author, filmmaker, musician; includes info on Continuum Framework, POLITOCAT, and more.
- iServalan / Continuum site: https://www.iservalan.com/ — Focuses on the Continuum Music Framework, music pedagogy essays, manifesto, scores, and related resources (e.g., Continuum Framework page and manifesto).
- Tale Teller Club Press: https://taletellerclub.com/ (or related posts like the “Liberate the Music!” essay) — Publishing network for books, podcasts, and multimedia.
Visual Art
- Saatchi Art profile (artworks, prints, digital pieces, satirical portraits, etc.): https://www.saatchiart.com/sarnia (or UK version: https://www.saatchiart.com/en-gb/sarnia).
- a-n The Artists Information Company profile: https://www.a-n.co.uk/person/sarnia-de-la-mare-frsa-2/ — Professional artist bio, practice details (including Continuum, POLITOCAT, Blink Friction/FRIX).
Books & Writing (Amazon)
- Amazon author page (US): https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CWGX2DJ6 — Full catalogue including The Book of Immersion series, Neuro Books (e.g., menopause/neurodivergence), Continuum Music Framework titles, and more.
- Amazon author page (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0CWGX2DJ6.
- Specific Continuum example: The Continuum Approach to Music: Foundations — Searchable via Amazon or linked from her sites (part of the Continuum Music Framework™ series).
Music, Pedagogy & Podcasts
- Continuum Music Studio YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL6t2VeWbk50d2XVXvdAfZQ (@continuumapproach) — Videos on the Continuum Approach, book launches, lessons, and essays.
- Continuum Music Studio podcast (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/show/43TaDQkOmcWpQen9NFhOoZ.
- Spreaker / other podcast hosts for Continuum / iServalan content (search “Continuum Music Studio Sarnia de la Maré”).
- Related Gumroad / digital resources often linked from iservalan.com (e.g., music school materials, scores).
Social / Other Media
- Instagram: @sarniadelamare (mentioned across profiles).
- Tale Teller Club Press YouTube: Search or linked via https://www.youtube.com/user/sarniadelamare or related channels for storytelling, Elderescence, music, and art process videos.
- X / Twitter activity often via @taletellerclub (posts linking to her work).
These cover her main public-facing output in fine art (Saatchi + a-n), music education (Continuum sites + podcast/YouTube), writing/publishing (Amazon + Tale Teller Club), and general presence (personal site). Links can shift slightly over time; her personal site and Amazon author page are the best starting points for the latest. If you need links focused on a specific area (e.g., only Continuum books or only art), let me know!
Blink Friction on eBay is a shop that Sarnia runs as a funding venture for her West Dean college fees where she is training to be a luthier.
