Troon

I went to Troon today and had a lovely walk on the beach from Troon to Irvine. It was absolutely beautiful! No because the weather was good - because it wasn't particularly good, but just the fresh air, the wind, the smell of the sea - doing work, it was brilliant!

The past week was very busy with the finishing of the CRS and the Pubic Art Project. The next week I have to work on the presentation of the PAP and I also have crits in photography.

Last weeks crits in photography was quite good - I learnt a fair bit, but I also started referring to myself - which is never particularly useful for anyone, and rather embarrasing. I can't believe I always end up doing that!!

Ah well... better forget about it, and focus on next weeks work.

Have mercy

Yesterday I delivered the essay for H&C. I can't say it was all done and proper, but for a draft delivery I think it was ok. I hope it was ok. I have been working like crazy all of last week and the weekend to get everything done. In addition to the essay I had to finish I am also doing a public art project this week, next week I have to present it, and I have crits for photo elective I am doing. So enough to do.

Yesterday I also went to Cumbernauld High for an information event on higher education. It was alright. the train journey was really nice, and I think I might have located a site to install work in. Lucky me! As I am not particularly happy about my work this term, not at all happy with it as a matter of fact I am really looking forward to being able to just go out experimenting the next couple of weeks after the PAP is over.

Next week we are going to Kirkcudbright and St Ninians, and the week after to some more events. I hope it all goes well. At least the last one was ok. Quite a few questions - some students were interested and hopefully some of them will get in touch for more information as well.

Visitors - again :-)

You can say many bad things about Ryan Air, but at the end of the day I am truly grateful that they still fly Prestwick (Glasgow)-Oslo (Torp). Without Ryan Air I wouldn't have a relationship to my boyfriend anymore.

When I decided to move, we were living together in Oslo, as you can imagine spending three years with me in Glasgow for most of the time and him in Oslo, is not really the best way of developing a relationship, but because of the cheap flights we are actually able to see eachother once a month.

He is coming on Friday, and we will probably be immersed in our own work for most of the weekend, as he has a major rapport to finish, and I have my work to finish, but at least he can sit at the other end of the sofa and occassionally listen to my moaning about how slow everything is progressing.

Thank you Ryan Air :-)

Applicant Advisory Day

Today!
Its brilliant!
Lots of nice people coming from all over to see the school.
Hope to see you on our Open Day next year.

Youth Arts & Literary Guild - Airdrie Town Hall

So, my little bit of work for Deborah Holland went really well. Im very glad Michael came with - he is hilarious!! And a really fantastic speaker. He went down a storm in Airdrie, they all loved him. The presentation went well, needless to say, Michael done most of the talking (thank god!) and then we staffed an information desk for a wee while. All in all, a good night. Pretty chuffed.

However, went out for what was meant to be one drink on Monday night after art school...didn't get home till 4am. Oops. Raging though, because not only am I severly skint now, Im also hungover and missed the delivery of my DSA equipment because I was asleep late and forgot to take the buzzer off private. Damn. So now tomorrow instead of being productive in the studios, Im going to have to sit in all day and try to do stuff in here with no materials or sketchbook. damn.

Busy week

Finally the cold has left me, and there is literally tons of things to do.

The opening un Thursday went really well, and after it we went to "the State", to celebrate. Unfortunately I think I took the celebration a little bit far, as the Friday was absolutely horrible. At least I managed to squeze out a couple of words for the essay I have to deliver on Thursday (a week from now).

This week, reading week as they call it, I will be working on the Public Art Project, which is due on Friday next week, and the essay I have to hand in. It's very busy and is definetely going to test my ability to organze my time and stay focused on the things I have to do, rather than all the other things which would be nice to do. Its weird how it is always around essay hand-in time I end up cleaning my room, cleaning the closets in the kitchen and all kinds of other boring things, just to put off the writing a little bit longer. This time that will not be good enough.

At the end of the week there is Applicant Advisory Day and Portfolio Drop-In. I'll be working on both of the events. It is normally quite fun and relaxed, but thinking about all the other stuff I have to do...

Hope you have a little bit less busy time ahead of you than I have.

High School & Reading Week

Hey,

So I was over in Holyrood High on Thursday night working a career fair there. It was the most successful one yet - there were a lot of really interested (and nice!) students looking to apply to the GSA. They must have a really supportive art department. It's nice to see the enthusiasm I remember having when I wanted to apply to art school. Always brings home how fortunate I am.

What else has been happening? I ended up buying a camcorder (in SO much debt now hehe) but split it halfers with my friends so its not too bad. Still got to do my dissection though! My friend Theresa (I share a studio space with her) is a biologist so she's offered to help me get into the chambers and stuff properly so I'm well chuffed! Try to get it recorded tomorrow.

So I've spent the weekend being totally in love with my new laptop which I was funded for by SAAS as I qualified for a Disabled Students Allowance because Im dyslexic. I'm so impressed by new machine (not to mention SAAS's policy on helping out people with disabilities in higher education).

Next week is reading week in the school but instead of getting some reading done for my essay which is due on March 19th, I'm going to dedicate my time to finalising and preparing my work for assessment which starts on Monday 23rd February. This term the work isn't graded, you just present your work to the tutors and talk them through it and they give you verbal feedback. I'm quite glad but at the same time quite gutted because I feel like I might actually get an acceptable grade this term (might even manage to push up to a low B!) But I'm not going to let myself get that optimistic!

Also, on Tuesday night I've volunteered to deliver a presentation with a current fourth year painting student to a group of students from Airdrie High (I think) at their exhibition opening. Im quite looking forward to it - Just need to buckle down and get a rough presentation draughted up with Michael. So a busy week ahead!

Sculpture Opening

Today the Sculpture students have an opening in the Newberry Gallery at the school. I am really looking forward to it. Openings are lots of fun, getting to see your peers work, to discuss it and have some wine. Opening from 1800.

First Tutorial of the term

So today I had my first tutorial of the term (a little late if you ask me) but it was so helpful! It was my first tutorial with Kate Davis and I am so impressed by her. She speaks really well, in understandable language (sometimes I find the art lingo a bit tiresome). I cant believe that its taken me this long to discover what my work is actually about!

So I tried to get a hold of a video recorder from the EMS to record my heart dissection next week but they were all on loan. Damn! So I think I might try to invest in buying my own (or split the cost with my friend and share it). Will check out prices online tonight. Also, beginning to panic now that its getting so close to assessment again! Argh, Im away to work.

Cold

So the winter cold has finally hit Glasgow, GSA and me.
I hate being sick - I get impatient with being inside, worried about not working enough, love the excuse to sit and watch movies an entire day and basically build up a bad temper which will get me so impatient I can't be sick anymore, and decide that I am well - maybe before the physical proof is actually there.
Well
During the weekend my plan for the Public Art Project also collapsed because the negotiation for exhibition space failed. So I had to rebuild the whole project and I am now getting to make the PAP and the CRS (Critical Review of Sources) in two weeks - the same two weeks. I love school.

London Trip

Hey Hey! In such a good mood after returning from the 2nd Year P&P London trip! I was so excited about going as I thought it'd help take my mind off the break up and get me inspired again to start producing more work. And then, the only snow storm to hit London like this in 18 years happened, the day before we left. Well - I was raging. Chances looked very slim on the Monday night of our train leaving from Glasgow Central the following morning.

When we arrived at the train station at 8.20am (we had booked seats on the 8.40am train to London Euston) our train had been canceled! The woman at the information desk explained how we could try to get a seat on the 9.40 train in the unreserved coach. Luckily we did. My friends, John, Gillian, Theresa, Celia and I sat at one of the little tables playing cards, gabbing and stuffing ourselves full of junk during the 5 hour journey. I never realised before how restless I get on long journeys.

Anyways, after some delay we eventually arrived in Euston at about 4.30 or so. Luckily two of Celia's Swedish friends were already in London and brilliant at map reading (not my forte!) and helped us find our way to the generator hostel where we were staying. Nearly fell a couple of times on the way due to the snow and ice. So got to the hostel which looked a little weathered to say the least. The rooms were like ugly prison cells (two screaming blue walls and two shocking red walls with white curtains and the windows were so rusted and moulded we could hardly open them) But hey, its a hostel, what can you expect? And with a good few drinks in you, it was actually pretty comfy and good fun. John, Gillian and I went to get some dinner at a nice wee Italian restaurant on Pentonville road called the other side. Food was good and pretty cheap. Then we headed over early to the pub where we were all meeting as a group for some drinks.
We had a cracking night, so much fun! I met Michael Fullerton (artist who graduated from MFA at Glasgow. See his work at http://www.greenenaftaligallery.com/artist/Michael-Fullerton) who is a really nice guy.

The next day, it was a day of gallery visits - the serpentine, the saatchi, Buckingham Palace gallery, the white cube and the royal academy. The only one we had to pay into was the one in Buckingham palace - From Bruegel to Rubens. It was well worth the £.7.50 though and I'd highly recommend it (see http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/microsites/b2r/ for more info). I was in awe of some of the work there. In the evening, we went out for a few drinks in a pub called smithy's. It was nice. When we got back to the hostel, John and Gillian went to the club there (I was exhausted and had a sore liver after roughly 10 consecutive nights of drinking and so went to my bed).

Our train was at 1.30pm on the Thursday, but was delayed again, so didnt get in until about 7pm. What a brilliant experience though, so glad I went!

Y4 exhibition

Yesterday the fourth year students in SEA had their opening with a bar on a carousel, a DJ on a vending machine and lots of sculptures and installations.
The work was quite varied, some of it really really good and some of it wasn't.
It is really nice to see some work where you just go thinking " I hope I can make something like that for next year", and you start to wonder what their degree show is going to be like, and obviously start to dream about your own degree show.
For the last week of third term, before the degree show opening, the third and second year students are supposed to help the fourth years get their degree show on track - normally it means working as an assistant to a student during a week. Its a good opportunity to learn what it takes to put the whole thing together and understand the process of the whole deal before we are going to do it ourselves next year. In that case this exhibition is also interesting as it may help you understand who is doind work that you might find interesting yourself, and therefor would want to work with for the degree show.

Friday Event

Every Friday there is a Friday Event, which is basically a lecture on different subjects which they think we will find interesting. The lecture is open to the public as well as students in SoFA and they are normally very good.
Last term Thomas Joshua Cooper gave this amazing lecture on his ongoing photo project, part of which has been published in "Point of no Return". It was an absolutely beautiful talk.
Thay are of course not always that good, but most of the time they are informative and fit well into our curriculum.
Today we are going to get a lecture by Clare Doherty. I am really looking forward to it. After the lecture she will also give a shorter talk or workshop or something for a smaller group of people. I hope I can get myself into that.
Last Friday the lecture was by Amazeen, who has been working in "the Kitchen" in New York for a number of years. She had particular focus on video art and technology within art.

Driving Lessons

After Christmas I started to do driving lessons. It is great fun and I hope I will be able to get my licence before the summer. Today I will have my fourth lesson.
It was a bit scary at first, driving on the right-hand side of the road, but now it is all just fun.
I haven't started to read theory yet, but I really need to get started on it soon. Can't put it off any longer as it will start to interfere with the driving I am doing on the road. Get books is on the top of my todo list together wiht a million other things as well. It is going to be useful to have a licence, and hopefully being able to rent a car once in a while, for my schoolwork mainly, at least that's what I tell myself, doing research trips, going camping etc.
Hopefully I am not catching a cold. I have a sore throat , but pray it won't develop into me having to spend days in bed - I just don't have time to get sick now.

Openings SEA4 and Tramway

The fourth year student doing Sculpture and Environmental art, having an opening on Thursday. On the same day there is the opening of an exhibition by some of the MFA residencies at Tramway. Thursday evening will be busy buys, because in addition there is also the Real Ale Society who normally gather in the State bar on Thursdays.
Busy evening- lots to do, its going to be really nice!

Visitors and eating

Finally my boyfriend came to visit me this weekend. I know it has only been 25 days or something ridiculously short since I saw him, but it was really nice to finally see him again.
He came with Ryan Air flight from Oslo to Prestwick and took the train in to Glasgow and left today the same way.

During the weekend we have mostly been relaxing, eating nice food and seen movies at the cinema. Friday we saw Milk, which we both quite enjoyed, although I think it could have been a little bit shorter. I normally go to Cineworld as they have a good student discount and nice seats, but there are a couple of other options as well. Particularly Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) has a good programme, also including a little bit more alternative film, and older films.
Saturday we went out with my flatmate and her fiance, who is also visiting, although he is staying for three months. Lucky her! We went to North of Bondi to have dinner. I have never been there before, but the food weas delicious. Then we walked up Byres Road stopping by a couple of pubs on the way, before going back to our flat. It was already getting late, but we still decided to have som more wine and ended up playing Pictionary with clay-doh in stead of doing drawing and tasting my flatmate's Finnish Salmiakki. Turned out to be quite entertaining, particularly becase the clay can be animated in a way drawings can't.
Sunday was a really quiet day. We went for dinner late, and ended up bringing it to the cinema where we saw Revoluationary Road.
Monday I had to go to school, and my boyfriend was working all the day. We went for dinner again, this time at the Thai Fountain and had a lovely evening with nice food.
I am a bit of a food person, nothing gets me in better mood than having nice food in good company. Fortunately there are quite a few restaurants in Glasgow which serve nice and not too expensive food.

Pre PAP - Site Visits

We had our Site Visits today.
Friday we made a schedule to give to our lecturer, so that he could catch up with us on the way.
We are eight people in the group, working accross the city in different locations with the Public Art Project, which is a part of the Environmental Art programme.
The plan for the day is to go to everybodies sites, get a brief presentation on the project they are planning and to give feedback on it.
When I woke up Monday morning and realized it was snowing - I mean it snows about once a year here - I was very close to not coming at all, but decided to pull myself together - can't let a little snow stop me, and get myself to school. When I got there I was late, and still grumpy about the snow.
The first two feedback sessions were the best I think - they normally are as people are still focused and freshed. In addition the two first ones were inside. I was the third, taking people out into the snow and wind, trying to point out what was going to happen - if everything goes according to plan, which it never does. Feedback was alright.
After my session on Garnethill we went to this little lane behind the Mitchell library, which had a very interesting little nook in it where one of us might be doing some work, before going to Kelvingrove and down to Merchant City for the last one.
Long day - very cold at the end of it, but got some good feedback, and hopefully I'll be able to get the project through the next couple of stages.