You can take the girl out of the stables...

...but will that make her an artist?

I have always been interested in horses. I even had a horse for a while, though sadly I had to sell him to study fine art abroad. I'm still not convinced that was the right decision.

I have, however, kept painting horses, and I have quite a few photographs lying around as potential references and ideas. Reference pictures with no moral or copyright grey area. I've been working with them recently for ideas for painting, collecting sketches and pictures in a sketch book.

I picked this bottom sketch/photo to start working on a painting. It's not really a great photo, but I do enjoy the energy, and felt that the crop, getting half of this horse, half of that, really gave it a spontaneous and energetic feel.

and guess what's on tv today?

So I've started painting this, and rather enjoying it too. It is funny how much I've enjoyed painting since my time as an art student finished. Maybe it's because there's no pressure for me to do anything meaningful and important, no one really cares if my work is personal or just decorative, no one really cares about my sources, and no one really cares if I've found a new, creative, 'arty' angle. No one cares, so I can finally stop worrying and do what I like. Which means my work is probably better than anything I created when I did worry. 

So far, I've pretty much decided on composition and colour scheme. I quite like the combination of blues and browns.

It's starting to come together.

I believe this is done!

Is it bad that I still remember the names of these horses?

On the left is Joker, the fat Fjord is Lisa, and the headless one probably Balder.

That's a long, long time ago.

Girrrrl Power

I'm a 90's kid. I grew up on a cocktail of Girl Power, chupa chups and Buffalo shoes.
I'm not proud of it.

I did, however, recently decide that, for a laugh, I would watch the Spice Girls movie again. I haven't seen that film since I was very young, with judgement clouded by fandom, and I figured it would be fun to watch it again, for the same reason I watched a Bratz film once - because it's laughably stupid.

Therefore I was surprised to find it was indeed laughable, because it was genuinely funny.

Look, this isn't a clever film in any way. The humour is based on a diversity of one-dimensional characters and general silliness. The story line is practically nonexistent. Yet I laughed out loud more than once. The jokes are funny, and bloody hell there's lots of celebrities in walk-on parts. Meat loaf as the bus driver is probably my favourite. It is so committed to silly that, even though I want to hate it, to enjoy it ironically and point it out as the worst movie ever, I can't. It's not taking itself seriously enough to be able to pick on it for being silly.


There is, of course, the surprising realization that, as female role models for young girls, I've seen worse. They may be one dimensional, but let's face it, more often than not the one-dimensional characters in media aimed for girls is just a copy-paste of the same one-dimensional character in different bodies, sometimes with slightly different budgets and fashion sense. The spice girls are 5 different ones, only one of whom is particularly interested in boys. This, as it happens, is a different character from the one that's primarily interested in clothes. 


Spice world: The movie is a film about girls, for girls, and not about getting a boy or conforming to some ideal, unlike most 'chick flicks' I can think of. Not that getting the guy is necessarily a bad goal, just... overused, and in media aimed at younger and younger girls it seems. Yes, Disney Channel, I'm looking at you.

Irrational Annoyance

Since I am currently about to move, the flat I've been renting is now on the market, and of course there has been a couple of viewings. The latest one was this morning. On one hours notice.

Oh, the landlady did ask this time, rather than inform me there will be one. This would be because I really am entitled to 24 hours notice, so I would have had the right to say no.

I didn't though. I couldn't think of a valid reason to say no, other than 'I'm still half asleep and haven't washed up in 2 days', or possibly 'because you're supposed to give me 24 hours notice' which, on its own, frankly makes me sound like a quarrelsome 5-year-old. So I assessed the situation, decided I could indeed make the place look presentable in an hour, and agreed.

I do find myself a little bit annoyed about it though.

I can't quite explain this one, because there is really no good reason to be annoyed.
I've kept the flat tidy enough that it would be presentable quickly.
I needed to wash up anyway, and told myself yesterday I should have done it already or it would become too much work.
It wasn't that early in the morning, objectively speaking.
It's not that much of a disruption. They see all the rooms, ask about the council tax, and leave.

So why be annoyed?
Maybe it's just the short notice, that if I had 2 more hours it would be perfectly fine.

Maybe I'm just crazy and irrational.

Cooking for the Fussiest Eater EVER

My sister is awesome.
I'm not just saying this because she occasionally reads my blog (hello sis), she really is very cool indeed.

She is also the fussiest eater ever.

Well, maybe not THE fussiest eater ever, one of my cousins used to live on a diet consisting exclusively of sausages and pizza, but still, very difficult to cook for.

This is relevant because we recently spent a weekend together, and I was cooking.

As it happens, I also recently discovered I'm not getting enough folic acid through my diet, and after some research, discovered different types of food I should eat more of. Among them Broccoli.

How unpredictable.

Luckily, my sister eats broccoli.

This, again, lead me to one of my favourite websites, BBC Good Food, where I stumbled on a very tempting little recipe.

It contained nothing my sister doesn't eat.

So I tried the recipe out, and it was a complete success!
It tasted great. It was approved by the fussiest eater alive.
And it is one of the easiest recipes I have ever used.

It is also quite healthy superhealthy.

Broccoli Lemon Chicken with Cashews

which looked like this when I made it:

...but, admittedly, a lot nicer in the photo on the BBC Good Food website!

On Being Bored

I am bored.
Right now, 5 minutes ago, 2 hours ago, this morning, all day really.
And it's not the first time either.

Why?

Surely, there are plenty of things to do.
Clean the kitchen, for example.
Read something enlightening. Learn something new. Go out.
Instead, I turn the tv on.

There's nothing on tv.

So I turn the xbox on.
System error. It's dying, sadly, but it's not dead yet. Not quite, anyway. So I unplug everything, turn it on again, and hesitate. What to play? What do I feel like today?

Not Mass Effect. I've played Mass Effect to death already, done everything, at least in the first two games - got through the third one twice and feel like I'm done with it. So something else. Gta? Don't feel like fighting the awful controls today. Fallout? Just finished Fallout 3 a couple of months back, not really in the mood for New Vegas. Racing? meh. Skyrim? Lost interest after finishing the story. Fable? Lost interest before finishing the story.

I ended up putting Bioshock on, and that kept me entertained for a couple of hours.
What a gorgeous looking game.
Also, I kinda missed the beginning last time I played it, as I believe I was slightly drunk at the time.

Now, though...
I'm bored again.

Mod Girl

Thanks to the Who and Quadrophenia, I'm fascinated by the sixties. I've walked into every vintage shop I've seen with the goal of finding a genuine, nice, sixties mod style dress in my size. 

They're hard to find.

If it's nice, it's not my size. 

If it's my size, it looks like a curtain.

If it's both nice and the right style, I can't afford it.

So when I finally discovered the right dress, I was thrilled.

It was at my local charity shop. It was £20. It was one of only 5 vintage pieces.

It was perfect.

A Picture Never Lies

It's not an unfamiliar concept.
Pictures lie.

They may be designed to freeze and capture a piece of reality, yet subtle manipulations, whether with camera, editing, positioning, or the smile of the person being photographed, can form a very misleading piece of reliable evidence indeed.

So when we viewed a flat yesterday that turned out to be much less attractive than the photographs, I wasn't too surprised. It was disappointing though.

I was expecting small.
It was.

The problem was the kitchen. My reaction to the kitchen went something like this:

wow.
well, I can just about turn around...
where's the cupboards?
...
that's it? I can't fit my plates in there! 
my plates will have to go.
cups?
well space for them there... but some will have to go.
I'll... have to seriously downsize... and get rid of three quarters of my stuff.
awwww. That's sad.
I like cooking.


In the end, we decided to just keep looking.
The flat was alright, I could have lived there, but we weren't blown away by it.

Facebook

FACEBOOK IS DOWN!

THERE'S NOTHING TO DO!

...

oh, it's back up now.

good.

THERE'S NOTHING TO DO!!!

So, makeup.

I'll just put my face on first.

So, makeup.

It's a bit of a difficult subject for me, because I don't really know how I feel about it.

In everyday life, makeup is generally more effort than it's worth, but it can also be fun and make me look pretty - though this is a dangerous thought really, since

makeup = pretty 

implies 

no makeup =/= pretty

Indeed, girls I have known who wear makeup a lot seem to do so because they feel too insecure to go out without it. I have known girls I didn't recognize without any makeup on. This seems to also be reflected in popular culture, with the emergence of 'makeunder' shows, something of a guilty pleasure of mine. 

I personally have no problem going out without makeup, but I do recognize how painting my face change not only the way I feel about myself, but also my personality. It can be like a mask - an improved, prettier version of me, hiding my true self. I become more confident and less vulnerable. It doesn't help that my skin isn't great in the first place, so anything that can cover up my blemishes is good. 

 Of course it's probably better for my skin to focus on skin care rather than makeup for that - imagine having naturally beautiful skin! Besides, covering my skin with cosmetics all the time seems to make it worse.

Skin care takes time though.

Lots of it.

I've been using a dead sea mud soap twice a day recently, since I'm trying to clear my skin for my graduation, and that takes forever. It is possible I only think that because I'm always tired when I do it, but still - lots of time and effort.

Then there's things like face masks. That always looks smart.

...

..

.

Don't you think?

When in Rome...

...shop like a Roman!

I put this particular look together on a hot summer day, after I had spent a different hot summer day outside without sunscreen. It is a maxi dress I got in Rome last year, and a shirt I found  at my local charity shop.

Shopping in Rome was a rather interesting experience. Whenever we went into a shop and tried something on, the shop assistants were consistently attentive, and always complemented us on the look. Of course I have no doubt this was a sales technique - we observed it on not-so-successful looks as well  - but it was a rather pleasant experience. Who doesn't like a complement, right?

Little Red Riding Hood

Wore this outfit to the park the other day.

Then I painted it...

I realized later that the red hoodie, combined with the trees in the background, gave it a bit of a 'modern re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood' fairy tale look. 

So where's that big bad wolf...

Drinking Coffee Breaks Hearts

And here's the evidence.

I genuinely like the extra effort to serve a cappuccino with a chocolate heart on top. 

Drinking it is heartbreaking though.

DIY Hair: Goldilocks Wanna Be a Platinum Blonde

WARNING:
girlie post ahead
contains Product names, and
is an exceptionally dull read unless you are unnaturally interested in other people's hair
OR
thinking about trying John Freida Precision Foam or Colour Restore Iced Platinum Hair Toner

I used to be blonde. Very blonde.
But as I got older, and after dying my hair darker a couple of times (I've been red, brown, reddish brown and black), it got dark and dull.
So I did the sensible thing, and went to a salon to get some highlights. The results were nice, but my bank account was, sadly, not thrilled. So eventually I had to do something myself.

That was rather scary.

Online research, while somewhat helpful, did not reveal a lot. I found some products, read some good reviews, and struggled to find good images of the actual results. I never really intended my blog to be about product reviews/advertising, so consider this a one off. But, since it is clearly absolutely essential that everything can be found on the internet, here is an overview of everything I have done to my hair, starting with the natural colour:

I was getting more and more frustrated with my natural colour, as I felt it was rather dull. 

(October 2011)

1st time getting my highlights done at the salon, the result was a natural looking but much more interesting, dark blonde.

(December 2011)

Highlights done again, went a little bit lighter.

(March 20112)

As my bank account was giving me some dirty looks, I had to take a chance and do my hair myself. I used John Frieda precision foam extra light beige blonde 10B.

I liked the colour overall, though it did look a little bit too orange to my taste. I guess I might have left it in too long, or my natural hair colour is too dark.

(May 2012)

Same product, but this time I was careful to not leave it in too long. Still a little bit orange-y, but a little bit better than before. 

(July 2012)

The day after colouring my hair, I tried Colour Restore Iced Platinum Hair Toner to see if something could be done about the unnatural looking orange tones. I am quite happy with the result, not too platinum but a nice, cold, light blonde.

Timeline

Conclusion?

It is possible to go blonde at home without any major disasters.

But it is frightening. Cross your fingers and hope for the best.

And if everything fails, there's always black.

planning The Future, or: Banging my head against a virtual wall

My life, as I know it, is over.

I have been a student for 3 years. That means, for three years, I have known what to do and where to be. Now my course is over, and I'm facing The Future.

I have been looking forward to not be an art student anymore.
The real world seems that much more appealing when you have nothing to say as an artist. Plus, the idea of living with my boyfriend is super exciting. Still, seeing the end of my course approaching was terrifying.

I do have plans, and dreams, and ideas - most of them conflicting - but online research is not very enlightening.

I think I would like to become a teacher. Sure, it is not as appealing as becoming a painter, but it could be rewarding, and I think I might enjoy it. Of course I change my mind about this every time I find myself accidentally on the same bus as a bunch of school kids. On those occasions I'm convinced human kind is doomed.

Figuring out the next steps from here is a difficult matter though.
Online resources are quite confusing, offering far too many lists and bullet points and not enough specifics. Right now, I know I'll need Initial Teacher Training and probably a couple of subjects on top of that. How, what, where, and when aren't quite clear though. That would be: how do I get into it? what exactly do I need to do? Which qualifications do I actually have, and how much more and what exactly will I need? Where can I study? Where do I live to study in location X? When do I apply?
So this all leads to one question: WHO CAN HELP ME?!

And speaking of the question of where to live, I will need to find somewhere rather soon, as I need to vacate my flat by mid September.

And I'll need a job.
Something temporarily permanent to keep me going for a couple of years. That will be fun, with little or no relevant work experience. I very much doubt being able to adjust images in photoshop or work with layout in inDesign will be very helpful if I apply for a job as a waitress.

Being a Scandinavian Blonde, on the other hand, might be.