first day

Well, just finnished my first day in my new job... It was good fun but very tiring! A lot of the students have behavioural difficulties and it is a challenge for me to deal with that (I enjoyed school and wouldn't have dared be rude to a teacher, so it's difficult to put myself in their place...), but they all seem like nice people really, after all, it's hard being a teenager isn't it! I think it will just take time for them to respect me I suppose, but today seemed like a good start so I happy about that. Some of the students are pretty talented too, today they got their ceramic pieces back and they were great, wish I could have got a picture of the pineapple vase someone made - very impressive!


As I didn't think it appropriate to take pictures of their work, here is a pigeon I made in MY pottery class! He is very friendly...

wet feet

Caught in a cloud burst on my way home from work. I'd almost forgotten those winter nights of fighting my way through the wind and dark and rain, but nature saw fit to remind me; 'don't pack away your hats and scarves yet!' Now it's glorious sunshine again, I can almost hear the grass growing, roots drinking up water and warmth, seeds pushing up through the soil...


And the iris bloomed!

visit to nottingham

Just got back form a lovely weekend in Nottingham with my best friends. I lived with them while at university and now we all live in different cities. I miss them them all very much and it was just so good to see them. We spent the whole weekend talking and catching up with each others lives (with a bit of gossip on the side of course!) We ate lots and lots of food and quite a lot of tea an biscuits...


Visited this pub carved out of the hill under Nottingham Castle, supposedly the oldest pub in the country...


Ice creams in the park...


And to top it off today is a bank holiday! Hurray!

am I real?

Today Sarah posted about the 'real' her, and after reading this post here where it all began and it got me thinking. It's actually something that I have been thinking about quite a lot since I began blogging a while ago. What to put in, what to leave out. I'm not exactly sure of the purpose of this blog really, it started as a way to motivate myself, and to record my thoughts about the stuff I make, but I (like Alice) found myself falling down a rabbit hole in to this wonderful world I never knew existed. I wish I had found it sooner I can tell you! So many lovely creative talented people, and it really helps to know you're all out there during a time in my life when I'm feeling a bit lost and lonely creativity wise...

But anyway, I got here in the end, and it does intrigue me, to peep through a window (only when i'm invited of course!) into other peoples lives. Oh, and what to show in my litte window? I normally just spill out what's in my head, try not to edit it too much, like a scrap book I suppose...

So anyway, after a bit of existentialist thought, I decided that I am in fact real (and im eating a bagel right now to prove it). I took this picture on the way home from work this evening as I was walking along, no editing or photoshop magic, just me on the street. As you can see, I need a hair cut!

Another thing:

I wouldn't (normally) admit this, but at the moment I'm addicted to this. Aghh! I know I should be doing something productive but the pull of 2 episodes in one day (ta E4!) is just too strong... watch out Zoe, he's a stalker!!

exercise for the fingers

I love origami, especially modular origami. This ball is made from 30 square pieces of paper, no scissors or glue! It is designed by Tomoko Fuse, my favourite origami artist. Some of her work can be seen here, and this is one of her many books. Instructions for a simple unit here, have a go, it's not half as complicated as it looks...

There is some pretty amazing stuff here too, I love it!

guess what?

I got the job! As a teaching assistant in a GCSE Art & Design class and I'm so excited! I know i love this kind of job as I've done it before with children with special needs, but it was across a whole school. This time it's here and in an art class and I can't tell you how pleased I am. It's only for 2-3 days a week so I'm keeping my office job too but it just means I feel like my life is starting to go somewhere! (Too many exclamation marks, I know!)

Oh, and I made some cats...





I'm off now to sit in the sun (day off work, what a life!) and read my book and stress about starting a new job in two days time, aghh!

messing about with bits of paper

Book experiments. Folded up bits of paper, sewn together...




This one has a tracing paper spine. I love the 'snap' of tracing paper.


And some more ramdom, odd angles. Sometimes I think I'm too precise with my books, too linear, this is a small attempt at angles other than 90 degrees...





Concertina books are my favourites, so many possibilities...