Help!

this was recommended to me and i pass on the recommendation - but with a caveat: cave verbi (beware the words)!!

this is a deceptively simple book - most pages are half-blank and it takes next to no time to read - but oh my!! it does exactly what it says on the cover: 'A vital gem... a kick in the ass', and you have to decide if you actually want a kick in the derriere...

i confess i've had a hard couple of weeks and i simply cannot get motivated to complete the next set of exercises on my art course. they're not hard, by any means, but there are too other things to be doing...

basically, i'm falling prey to Resistance!!

the book tells me exactly what i have to do to win this battle - i simply need to show up every day and do my work - a writer writes, a painter paints, a computer programmer programs - but my problem is I don't know what my work is!!!

is this art course my work?

is being a wife and a mother my work?

is recovering from a stroke my work?

is learning about my favourite artists my work?

is work only what you get paid for?

is work what feeds your soul? your life purpose? your raison d'etre?

too many questions, and still no answers...

HELP!!!

A grand day out

i had a wonderful day on saturday!

i braved the train - for the first time since the stroke - and headed to sheffield, where a friend from harrogate met me. we then had a leisurely early lunch before the matinee performance at the crucible...

of course it was a full house, for a truly excellent performance!

john simm is one of my favourite actors, and once i'd got used to his voice - it sounded higher than usual - whether it was showing the strain of the past 50+ performances, or it was his interpretation of a teenage prince, i'm not sure - i was completely enthralled!

every actor - except a couple - was at the top of his/her game - it was a true company performance. hugh ross played polonius for laughs, rather than the bumbling fool; dylan brown and adam foster were great as rosencrantz and guildenstern - as were all the supporting cast of guards/players; i loved colin tierney's horatio and michelle dockery and barbara flynn were excellent as ophelia and gertrude.

All of which allowed john simm the space to deliver a beautifully nuanced hamlet. his madness wasn't overly manic - as david tennant's portrayal had a tendency to be. at times, he was the understandably grieving son, and at others, the trunculent teenager - 'if you want me to be mad, i'll show you mad'. sometimes he was the most lucid, rational person on the stage working through the complex relationship with his mother - the disgust at the speed of her marriage to claudius mixed with oedipal undertones...

the only weak performances were by john nettles - sooooo out of his depth as claudius (though, he was a fine ghost, greatly aided by wonderful lighting and audio effects!); and tim delap as laertes, who's voice was clearly suffering the effects of multiple performances!

the script was brilliantly edited - it was a 3 hour performance with an interval - and flowed seamlessly; and the nicely produced programme is a wonderful reminder of a truly great day out :)

If you're interested...

... i've just started my OCA learning log blog - try saying that when you're a tad tipsy! part of the course requirement is to keep a learning log of thoughts, feelings, responses as well as sketchbooks with actual drawings. and since handwriting is hard work for me, keeping a blog is ideal :)

i'm hoping i can keep both blogs going as i take my drawing course, but if there's a long hiatus here, it's probably because i'm trying to be a student again...

how i LOVE that phrase!!!

http://mark-out-the-sensual-life.blogspot.com/

Red Letter Day

i've done it!
it's official!!
i am now an OCA student!!!!
i enrolled earlier this week and my welcome pack arrived today - i've even got a student card - OMG!!!!!!

on sue's recommendation (thank you, my friend :) ), i plumped for OCA as they are accredited, and if i'm up for it - which is a big IF - i can build up units to a BA hons in Fine Art - eeeekk!!

this first course - drawing skills - is designed to take a year at roughly 8 hours a week - that's 400 hours!!! part of me is completely overwhelmed at the prospect, but i've already encountered wonderful help and support and the assurance that i can work at my own pace and take upto 2 years if need be *phew!!*

one of the prerequisites of the course is keeping a learning log - on paper or screen - so i may well start another blog - assuming i can scan my work well enough - our printer/scanner isn't the best...

but first things first, i need to read ALL the handbooks and course materials and introduce myself to my tutor...

truly, i am tooooo excited for words... but here's one

YIPPEEEEEE!!!!!

My name is Claire...

... and i'm a Mad Men addict!!

for a couple of years now, i've watched bemused at awards ceremonies as all these unknown actors collected gongs for this unknown TV show...

recently the BBC began showing episodes from the first series on a sunday night - i'm guessing i wasn't alone in my bemusement! - and wow!!!

this is TV drama at it's absolute best! cracking script, cracking actors, incredible sets - i now want to live in NY in 1960 (but only if i can have christina hendricks' body!!)

the misogny, the chain-smoking, the drink-driving, it's a strange world, yet the one i know my parents inhabited - they were 18 and 16 in 1960, mum working in a shoe shop in lincoln, my dad in training for the RAF - but within 4 years they were married, living in singapore, and proud parents to yours truly...

like the characters in the show, they were stylish, looking old beyond their years, often playing at being grown-ups, but for all their outer sophistication, they were incredibly naive...

my mum went to see her doctor in the summer of 1963 because she'd been feeling 'off colour', and was totally incredulous at the news she was at pregnant, 'But i've only been married for 8 weeks!'

Feeling so proud...

today i took myself into town on my electric scooter. i went to my pedicure appointment at 9am and then for a coffee at Panini's (a favourite spot), which just so happens to be opposite the Westgate Art Shop...

Nick and i did a dry run on saturday to check the scooter battery could cope with the distance - no problem! and he's working from home today, so i could ring for back up if i needed it...

i'm now thoroughly exhausted, but happy! i hope this is just the first of such solo excursions. finally, i'm getting some independence back :)

What a lovely surprise!!

we rarely win anything, but we did today!!

Montezuma's are celebrating their 10th anniversary and we won a Hayfever gift box!!

i think sometime i filled in an email form to enter their prize draw...

the kids are in chocolate heaven and it's a wonderful surprise treat for the last day of their summer holiday!! i'm a dark chocolate 70%+ girl myself, but any chocolate tastes extra yummy if it's a gift :)

so thank you Montezuma's for making not only some of the best chocolate in the country, but for making a cold, blustery monday suddenly brighter and altogether sweeter!!