Gosh is it that time already? I can't believe it's nearly Christmas.. I'm not even kidding, today I had a little scary moment that mostly consisted of Holy Crap, it's here.. the end of the year is actually nearly here. As I'm getting older the passing of years scares me more and more.. though I suppose that's what growing up means. Well, growing older anyway.. I never made any promises that I'd grow up.
“We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." ~ Benjamin Franklin
Apart from worrying about how quickly the years are shooting by, I'm also amazed at how bloody cold it is! I swear it's never been this icy before, and I'm sure next winter will be worse. I like the cold though.. I like dressing up in big warm hats and endlessly long scarfs and gloves so thick that they render your fingers pretty much useless. I like how "Look, I can see my breath!" never gets old. And kisses on frosty lips that give you shivers that have nothing to do with the weather. I just wish we would get snow in these parts, that would just top the year off nicely. I'm feeling quite festive this year.. but not as much as I'd like to be, I am assuming this comes from both limited funds and limited space to decorate, as I fear if I did decide to give in to my inner child and turn my student room into a winter wonderland/christmas grotto I do not think I would have any sapce to move as it is pretty cramped with just the tree. But at least there is a tree!
There are many scary things to think about with 2010 looming, the scariest of all (in my opinion) is the end of my current Ba course, hopefully culminating in my graduation. Fingers crossed! And then off into the wide scary world outside of education .. well, for a year anyway. A planned year out for the saving of money, the tarting up of my portfolio and general living like an artistic beatnik with the intent to secure myself a place on a Masters course in graphic design. This is the current plan anyway, or at least the most realistic. There are other plans involving unicorns and spaceships but I'm only going to consider those in depth when the masters route seems unreachable.
I've also finally got all the bits and bobs needed for a clean, professional tattoo kit. Unfortunately at this point in time I've not had the opportunity to put needle to skin yet as my girlfriend, university course and job all have priorities on my time. But once deadlines pass and the pressure is taken off (for a little while) hopefully i'll be able to have a play. I hope it's worth it.
In other news I am really happy with the direction my artwork is taking at the moment, my personal and educational stuff is linking together quite nicely and I can't explain how inspiring that is. The only problem is, when my inspiration juices start flowing I tend to think of a million and one other ideas I'd like to try out and explore and then I end up going on tangents which are although extremely enjoyable, a distraction nonetheless.
Here is a small snippet of the work I am currently doing. I am trying to create images that encourage people to look deeper into their everyday surroundings, to look at the buildings and landmarks they walk past every single day and rediscover the beauty that has been lost through familiarity and repetition. So I've created Angus, an easily identifiable outsider who's sole purpose is to help people see things from a new, exciting perspective.
Eventually I want to make the photographs into a book. I am thinking (at this point in time) that this is going to be the topic I look at for my final major project, meaning that Angus will be in my end of year show. I think he'll like that.
Anywho it's getting late and I have a lot of work to do, so without further ado here's a photo I dug out from last year, it reminds me that however cold and dark and forlorn things might seem, just around the corner there is sunshine, fluffy clouds and pretty blossom on trees.
Have a very Merry Christmas xx
