This is sh*t

I hate Sketch Designs - I hate Hadlow - I hate Liberate Me and I hate Tribalist. Whose stupid idea was this anyway? I'm completely stuck, and I hate everything.

Why why why why why am I doing this to myself? Why didn't I just stay being a secretary? I was good at that.

I hate Garden Design - I don't even like gardening anymore. Stuff it.

Where did last week go?

I just don't understand where all the time goes! Last week I was so excited that we didn't have anything to produce for this Monday and yet I still didn't manage to achieve even a teeny sketch in my sketch book, or read a book on the list. It's difficult for me to nag at my teenage son about keeping up with his coursework, when I'm finding the same apathy applies even when you reach your forties.

An interesting weekend - I was lucky enough to be invited to Mo Mowlam's Memorial Celebration on Sunday night. A portrait of her by John Keane was on the front cover of the programme.
It was a really lovely event - very moving and funny and uplifting, it was a priviledge to be invited. She was an amazing woman who made a real difference to the lives of the people of Northern Ireland.

But - back to design thoughts, which is what this is supposed to be about. Wasn't Hadlow lovely in the sunshine? No?

In the rush to pick a word, I managed to end up with Tribalist. I didn't want an easy one, I wanted one that would make me think, but maybe I went too far! Apparently it means "a follower of all the customs and beliefs of a tribe". Immediately I thought of all those FE students, wearing their tribal gear, speaking their tribal language, hating and fearing anyone who is not one of them. Oddly, although being part of a tribe means following rules and behaving, dressing, speaking a certain way, it is also liberating because individual responsibility is diminished. The tribe offers security and yet freedom. And so (rather neatly I thought), my word links to the "Liberate me" theme of the sketch design.

The exercises we did were interesting - my drawing looked NOTHING like the courtyard - I was making it up as I went along. Relying too heavily on the camera, I admit. But the spidery thing where we had to link words together, that was a really good way of exploring how to translate the meaning of the word into the space.

I experimented with the word tribalist on google and came up with some very weird images - lots of tattoos and people on motorbikes.

This shape came up quite a lot - it is a "tribal circle". It reminds me of the American Indian dreamcatchers which you see hanging in windows.

Well, that's as far as I've got with it so now I must try and put some of these thoughts in my sketchbook and also recreate the Hastings sketch design because I was too stupid to keep a copy.

Just one more image before I go. Isn't this pretty? Can't remember what it's called but I thought it looked beautiful and fragile and intricate. Ain't nature wonderful?

Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

It was so frosty today! But lovely sunshine as well - I love those crisp winter days. Went out into the garden very early to try and do something arty with my camera but failed. Thought I'd share the results with you, although they don't really capture what I wanted.





Yes, I know, hardly "Gardens Illustrated", but I think you can see what I mean - it was pretty in real life!

Right - enough of this - back to Tom Turner's stuff for Monday. I remember when I used to go to the pub on Saturdays (and Fridays). And Sundays.

Apres Tonbridge

Well how glad is everyone that the group presentations are over? Group work is such a challenge, but well done Team Tonbridge, considering we had no time to practice, I think we did pretty well.

Now I'm looking forward to moving on and getting stuck into Hadlow. Has anyone else had a problem opening the email from Jamie? My computer tells me the attachments need "decoding", whatever the hell that means. Will have to pluck up the courage to ask him - although I'm pretty sure it will be something really obvious that I'm doing wrong.

Just had a quick look through the other blogs and it seems that most people have made time to go to the Tate Modern and see the Rachel Whitehead thingy. I guess if I want to have an opinion I'll have to go too. Raina mentioned a previous exhibition there by Anish Kapoor, which reminded me of my summer holiday. I visited the Millennium Park in Chicago and here is a photo of AK's Sky Gate:





Locally it is known as "The Bean" and it really is like a great big shiny coffee bean. It was just amazing.











Thought I'd also bung in a picture of Hurricane Katrina, which visited Miami at the same time as me. Luckily, when I met her she was only a Force 1, not the nasty monster that went on to trash New Orleans, but still very exhilerating to witness first hand. This photo doesn't capture the force of the wind well enough. It was awe-inspiring and I was struggling to stand up while taking this photo.



Went to the theatre last night - to see The Blue Man Group. You may remember them from the Pentium ads - three funny looking blokes with blue heads. Anyway - it was a fantastic. It's all about how we live in a compartmentalised non-community where we live so close to others and yet have no interraction with them. How people visit internet cafes to communicate with people who aren't there and completely ignore the other people who ARE there. My interpretation was that it's about connecting with other people, and having fun and just enjoying life. Go and see it it will make you laugh. Oh and there's lots of drumming, which was great.

Well, that's enough blogging for now - I must make some time for my sketch book! and I've got a presentation to prepare for Monday's Tom Turner session. Surely with all this practice I'll get better at it?

Byeee!

Post crit euphoria/depression

I just loved this image - I wanted something that summed up the three key words I extracted from my paper model - they were strength, balance and tension. I think this picture is perfect.

I enjoyed seeing everyone's work on Monday - and it's fascinating to watch the presentations. How am I ever going to learn how to present articulately and with passion? Why is it when I stand up next to my work, which I have slaved over for a week, and which I DO believe in, I can't think of anything to say?

I must learn some better techniques for talking in front of a crowd of people!

Regardless of all that, I thought the crit was useful, and my feedback wasn't all bad. I always feel a bit intimidated once I've pinned up because there is so much good work being done, and I start to lose confidence in my own.


My original paper model











The key characteristics I extracted were "balance", "strength" and "tension".


My attempts to make sense of it!








Here is the 2nd model - trying to combine the three key words more succinctly.

I've not managed to get much done today - except for this entry - so I will spend the evening with Ching. You never know, this time I might just understand it.

Tonbridge sites - I'll be so glad when this bit's finished!

By the end of Monday's session I had reached info overload and my aged brain is struggling to remember what we agreed to do with our photos. I will post a few photos of the sites I've got listed and where they are.

Firstly - a site outside Tonbridge Castle which is currently little more than a hole in the ground with a pathway - I think it would make a good Translation Site and the steep level changes make it really interesting and with potential for making it more of an experience than a space! It is only just across the footpath from another Translation Site, which is currently a children's play area (posted on Emma's blog) and I think the two could easily be linked.

The next site is a huge derelict area near the Orchard Business Park. Although a bit bigger than the brief states - it has great potential for a public space in an area that really needs humanising.
















God - I'm getting so fed up with this - it's taken an hour just to post these photos!! And I want to get started on my sketch design.

OK - I've got other photos of these sites if anyone is interested, I can email them separately if you ask me.

Just one more site I wanted to list, which is a little paved area outside a Sussex Road Primary School - currently just a wasted space which links the road to a public footpath - but could definitely be improved - and is obviously used a lot by the local residents.

Ok - I'm bored with this now - I have loads of other photos, of different architechtural styles, street furniture, the high street blah blah blah. If you are doing a particular subject and need a photo email me and I'll see if I've got a relevant photo.

For all of the Tonbridge group I would just like to say how important it is to get the stuff to Emma by Wednesday this week. She is taking on a huge task by offering to pull the document together and we must help her out as much as possible. After all, we are all in the same boat and she has a sketch design to do for Monday as well!

I'm off to stare at my paper model and try and squeeze a little inspiration out of it. Wish me luck.