A messy desk is a productive one!

I know I usually post about my artwork or teaching but I thought I'd share an insight into my bedroom made studio. Whenever anyone comes in in the middle of me working on a project or anything creative it is like a minefield. My Bedroom/Studio starts off beautifully tidy and clean but then I get into it and the whole desk is overtaken with bits, materials and paper which then overflows onto the bed.

This is my passion and if I don't create chaos I'm not having a good time. Don't let anybody tell you how you should be working, it comes naturally to me to work in madness and I've tried for years to curb it but it's my most comfortable. 

Also it does help to have a study buddy. Sadly mine isn't as motivating as most. 

Messiness isn't exactly a bad thing :)

You know you've had a good day when your hands look like this. :)

St Francis Work experience.

I spend the week with St Francis school for girls and it was incredible. The girls were great and at the time of my visit it wasn't far off of the end of GCSE and A level exams so the exhibition was still up of their work.

The exhibition blew me away the girls were all incredibly talented and not one student seemed to be under performing, all the artists (because thats what they are!) were different and had already found what had interested them by such a young age of 15/16. 

One of their amazing projects (which i wish we had been tasked to do at college or uni) was to create a dress inspired by the harry potter films. 

The outcome was just amazing. Sadly I couldn't take any photos and I wish I had because they were all just incredible. 

While i was at St Francis they had 2 days which were art days that they have every year and the girls are off time table and choose the activities they want to do. Due to the school being very eco friendly one of the tasks at hand was to create a sea like weaving into the tennis courts railings using only recycled materials. It was good fun and the girls all got stuck in and the outcome was lovely. 

One of the other activities took me to the Biology room where we were making dyes out of food. Yes we created dyes out of the berries and fruits the girls brought in and we had to experiment with tie dying and batik methods. It did take me back to being a teenager when most of the girls used the batik method to write "I love Harry Styles" and "1D's biggest fan!" (although I did have better taste as Busted was around when i was their age!)

I made a little friend in the Biology lab :) it is a lime green giant stick insect

I didn't hold it :(

Another Guardian project!!

Yet another Guardian project was assigned to me and yet again I always seem to enjoy and do well with editorial work even though it is not my first choice.

I fell in love with this project it was personal but not too personal, I had to write a short column based on the guardians weekly section "What I'm really thinking". I wasn't keen at the start because the examples given to me were on quite depressing subjects from the point of view of a woman who couldn't have children. I went and looked at the more light hearted examples and I was more than inspired and decided to write about the time I spent waitressing in a care home and a friendship I had built up with one of the patients. 

I really did enjoy this and I hope you guys do too as it is a happy part of my life that had a lot of laughs as well as tears but definitely made a difference to the person I am now.