Panamarenko

Artist, Engineer, Poet, Physicist, Inventor and Visionary, and has for thirty years pursued a singular course of exploration of space, movement, flight, energy and the force of gravity.

His work, fusing artistic and technological experiment, takes many forms: Aeroplanes, flying carpets, cars, flying saucers, submarines and birds. Spectacular structures of strange beauty, both playful and inspiring.

http://www.panamarenko.be/home.php (Link to his Website)

I really like this work for its innovative and eccentric manner. I love the ridiculousness of it all and the seriousness in which it is all constructed

Theo Jansen

Theo Jansen:

Since 1990 I have been occupied creating new forms of life.

Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic material of this new nature. I make skeletons that are able to walk on the wind, so they don’t have to eat.

Over time, these skeletons have become increasingly better at surviving the elements such as storms and water and eventually I want to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives.

"The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds."

Rebeca Horn - Research

Rebecca Horn-
Since the beginning of the 1970s, Rebecca Horn has been creating an oeuvre which constitutes an ever-growing flow of performances, films, sculptures, spatial installations, drawings and photographs. The essence of their imagery comes out of the tremendous precision of the physical and technical functionality she uses to stage her works each time within a particular space.

Since the beginning of the 1970s, Rebecca Horn has been creating an oeuvre which constitutes an ever-growing flow of performances, films, sculptures, spatial installations, drawings and photographs. The essence of their imagery comes out of the tremendous precision of the physical and technical functionality she uses to stage her works each time within a particular space.

In the first performances, the body-extensions, she explores the equilibrium between body and space. In later works she replaces the human body with kinetic sculptures which take on their own life. Her new works define and cut through spaces with reflections of mirrors, light and music

Her work is bound together by a consistency in logic; each new work appears to develop stringently from the preceding one. Elements may be readdressed, yet appear in totally different, divergent contexts.
Following the physical experience of her performances with body extensions, masks and feather objects of the 1970s came the first kinetic sculptures featured in her films such as The Feathered Prison Fan in Der Eintänzer (1978), or The Peacock Machine in La Ferdinanda (1981).

Tutorial

Wednesday 12th August, Tutorial with Michael - Notes

• CALDER Mobiles - counter weights
• 
• Materials - Bola wood - steam to bend it - stretched tissue paper skin
• Affected by wind - Light weight
• TATLIN - Sculptural Wing
• 
• Stop motion Animation - Imovie
• CORNELIA PARKER - Lyrical, Poetic. Challenging Gravity and solidity
• 
• Jung- Wing and bird as architype for movement
• GERMAN EXPRESSIONISTS - Mythical lop lop bird KURT SWITTERS
• Material- thin gauge mild steel/aluminium - Mono filiment

Research - Wing structures

Leonardo Da Vinci - Study of the Structure of a Wing 1490 Pen and Ink
" Dissect the bat...
and on this model
arrange the machine"

I stared looking at artist who have used the image of a wing as symbol. Also at the Anatomical scientific drawings and diagrams. this brought up a lot of images of man made wing structures as well which interested me.

Initial Ideas in physical form. Maquettes!

FLIGHT

• Flights of fancy
• Freedom- Geographical and emotional
• Make and follow your own maps
• "Caged in like a bird"
• Paramerenko
• As the crow flies
• look at artist videos of Kinetic creatures
• Structure of Wings
• KINETIC

My unitial Ideas at the start of semester were about flight and travel and the anatomical possibilities and methods of flight. I found a cross sectional diagram of a feather and played around making a Maquette.

I was also looking at the evolution of the bird and preconceptions about Migration and the unknown behaviours.

Australia 7

Australia 7 Melbourne, Arrival of Ross, Birthdays and Oktoberfest (x2).

Friday 4th I got up at stupid o’clock and headed off to the Airport very excited and very very tired. As a 5am treat at the airport, I bought myself a hot slice of banana bread and waited for my flight. Managed to dose uncomfortably on the hour flight to Melbourne and was very happy to see Rosemary waiting for me at the arrivals lounge.

We drove into the outskirts of Melbourne where we found somewhere to park and then got a tram into the Central Business District. Rosemary had the amazing Idea to take me to the Lindt Café for breakfast. We had coffee and the most amazing cakes, one with chocolate orange and the other with a raspberry white chocolate concoction. Was AMAZING. Feeling pretty stuffed we walked around the city, visited the most amazing toilet with a view all over the city and walked though the park and the botanic garden. We explored the commonwealth square with a crazy glass building and a nice glass gallery inside and then walked along the river to an art instillation of balls, which were chiming their heads off.

After walking all the way down to the Anzac Memorial we decided that we had totally exhausted ourselves so jumped on a tram back into the CBD and got a sushi roll for lunch. It was getting pretty chilly by now so we hopped back on a tram to where we left the car dreaming of warm tea and a sit down.

Got back to the house and met Peter and Jonti the gorgeous golden retriever who I instantly fell in love with. Rosemary and I sat and chatted about family and Peter made us an amazing Fish Curry for dinner. We went on a post dinner possum hunt and saw about 6 or 7 possums up in the trees. Very weird little creatures! Rosemary and I sat up late chatting about hundreds of things and eventually went to bed for a long awaited sleep!


Saturday we went up to where some of the bad bush fires were last year in the Dandenog hills and went to a market there. Was really nice as it was under all the trees. We bought some Greek pumpkin and cheese bread stuff and drove up to a café viewpoint to eat lunch. We went for a walk around and saw two Kookaburras. Also saw this cat flap thing in the fence, which is meant for wombats to get through!

We then went to a post private school, which had an art show on. We thought it was going to be work of the students but it turned out to be a professional show. There was a lot of stuff that amusingly looked like it could have been done by the students but some of it was really interesting and both Rosemary and I found some things we really liked.

We got back and had an hour to chill out before Liz came round. The plan had been a bit confused as Rob had whooping cough and Liz didn’t know if she should leave him, but she decided he could fend for himself and Liz and I drove up to their Beach house. Its right out of Melbourne and you can walk to the beach from the house. We got there just as it was getting dark and Liz and I managed to light the fire, which Liz was very proud of for some reason. We drove back to the little town and got a fisherman’s pizza, which was delicious if a bit salty. We had to drink and entire bottle of white wine as we were thirsty from the pizza and we sat by the fire and chatted for ages. We also went on a mini possum hunt in the garden but as we got outside with the torches there was a seriously loud thud on the tin roof and Liz screamed and ran inside leaving me to face the elephant sized possum . . . so I ran inside too. Very funny.

Sunday morning we both woke up quite late and got up and pottered about and had a lazy breakfast. It was pretty chilly so we got the fire going again and headed for a walk to the back beach. It’s a gorgeous sandy back with big red rocks everywhere and massive sand dunes behind it. We were messing about taking self timed photos and managed to soak our feel in a big wave that came in unexpectedly. Resulted in a fairly amusing picture at least!

We managed not to get too lost walking back through the sand dunes and dried out shoes and socks by the fire while drinking Liz’s hippy jasmine tea. We decided to pop to the local town again after tea and walked round all the little jewellery shops and lots of amazing glass galleries. We had a coffee and a lemon cheesecake looking out to the sea.

Back to the house for a late lunch of pumpkin soup and bread that we had brought in town. We tidied up the place a bit and packed everything up then drove back to Melbourne. It was father’s day that Sunday so we went out for dinner with Rob, Erin and Stuart. Erin’s Fiancé (Vince) came as well and we had a really nice dinner. Was lovely to see Erin and Stuart again and Rob managed not to cough too much while eating his dinner. After dinner Liz drove me back to Rosemary’s and we said goodbye till December.

Rosemary and I sat up drinking tea and then both went to bed when I couldn’t cuddle Jonti anymore.

On Monday morning I packed up all my things and Rosemary showed me all her scrap booking stuff over breakfast. Her work is really beautiful and it gave me lots of Ideas of things to make. After Breakfast we drove back into Melbourne City centre and went to the Eureka tower, which is the tallest building in Melbourne. It has amazing 360-degree views and made Rosemary and I both feel a bit giddy. We went on the “EDGE” which is a mechanised box that moves you out so that you are just standing on glass and you can see all the way down to the ground. It’s meant tot be scary but we weren’t hugely impressed. Takes more to please two Cowell women apparently!

We headed back down to earth again and drove towards the airport, stopping along the way for a quick lunch to avoid horrible airport food.

We said goodbye and I went and caught my flight back to Sydney, pretty sad to be leaving.

On Tuesday I had my Glass review from Project 1 and it went really well and my tutor seemed really happy with what I was doing. I went to meet Annika in the evening at the main uni, and went to a thing called dorkbot, which was put on by the verge art festival. Was basically a lot of geeky people making robots but was pretty cool. I started feeling really ill though so I popped home rapidly and tried to sleep it off.

Still felt crappy in the morning so skived kayaking and talked to Ross on Skype feeling very sorry for myself. I managed to get up at lunch and go into my review with Michael for Sculpture. I thought he was going to tell me that I hadn’t done enough work but he was thrilled with what I had been making! He gave me an amazing report as well, which was cool! Had ceramics in the evening and then met Nina for dinner at the Lansdowne.

On Thursday I went shopping for Ross’s Birthday present and did some extra work in Ceramics.

Did lots of pre-Ross organization on Friday making a welcome to Oz banner and tidied my room up for the invasion. I brought him lots of different Australian beers to taste as well. In the afternoon I went to see Nina and read over one of her papers for her then we popped to the Hostel in the evening and had pizza and Beer with the boys and the Germans. Then went out clubbing and I had an early night as my stomach was still doing funny summersaults. Think I must have eaten something dodgy again…

Saturday was the canoe club trip to Cockatoo Island. We met at ten at the boat shed and paddled round the point of Balmain to the ex shipbuilding Island which has recently been done up again and made into a bit of a tourist attraction. It was a boiling day; about 28 degrees and I considered throwing myself in the slightly dubious harbour water more than once!

We had lunch on the island and explored around all the old industrial barns. The paddle back was also boiling and by the time we got back I was in serious need of a cup of tea so I headed up the road to Nina’s house and drank Coffee with her.

Sunday was the festival of the wind at Bondi beach and I had arranged to meet Nina and Alexa so we could go together. There were massive amounts of people all pouring into Bondi so getting there in the now 30-degree heat was pretty sweaty!!! The beach was a bit cooler due to the very welcome sea breeze and the kites were amazing. Was really really beautiful seeing so many Kits in the air at the same time.

Tyler came to join us and we all went for a very very cold swim!
Had a long sunbathe trying not to get too brunt and then Nina and I got the bus and train back into Sydney. I got the bus home and had a shower and did a final tidy before going to pick Ross up from the Airport.

I sat in the arrivals for about an hour after rushing trying to get there on time and when Ross finally came out I was stupidly excited to see him. We got the train and bus back to mine and I fed Ross and put him to bed, as he was totally dead from his stupidly long journey.

Monday I woke up very excited that Ross was here and that it was my birthday and after opening all my cards and prezzies we went out for breakfast at a café on Darling Street. We went to Glebe at lunch and had lunch with Alexa, Tyler and Nina. Ross was flagging seriously so I took him home after lunch and let him have a pre dinner nap.

In the evening we went out for a drink and then went to a really nice Thai restaurant in Balmain. I apparently got a bit drunk on my half of the bottle of wine, but managed to get us both home in one piece.

Tuesday was Ross’s Birthday and we caught the ferry into town and went shopping for Ross’ long awaited sunglasses that him parents had given him money for. We had a pizza lunch and had absolutely no success with the sunglass shopping at all. I had forgotten what a difficult fussy arse Ross can be! We had to give up as I had my Glass class to go to in the afternoon. Ross slept as he was still suffering the jetlag, and when I got back from Glass we went to darling harbour for dinner at hurricanes. Magically there was a sunglass shop still open next to the restaurant and we managed to get Ross some sunnies!!! YAY!!!!!

Wednesday Ross sent me off to Uni with a packed lunch and Ross got going on some of his “lists”. We went supermarket shopping in the evening and had gnocchi for dinner and another bottle of wine just for luck.

Thursday we got the ferry to manly and had a long sunbath and swim. It was a really nice day and we walled round to cabbage tree bag and shell beach and saw some gigantic lizards of the path. Ross seemed to be enjoying his new sunglasses! We caught the ferry home as the sun started to go down and then had dinner and watched a very odd DVD in the flat.

Friday Ross sent me off to uni again and caught up on his massive list of emails. In the evening we went to Christine’s 30th Birthday in Balmain and Ross made friends with a guy called Pete and we drunk lots of beer and tried not to be too scared of the Goth themed dress up that Christine had chosen!

Saturday we went o Manly again but this time with Nina. We rented a surfboard and Ross had his first attempt at standing up, which didn’t go very well, but was very amusing to watch! We had got Ross some flip-flops and had dinner in a $10 steak place.
After getting home and having a shower we headed back into town for a night of Oktoberfest drinking with the Germans and the hostel people. We sampled lots of German beers and ate a good few Pretzels between us.

That night Ross had had a really bad allergic reaction to something, which turned out to be the spray in conditioner I had put in my hair. I was up most of the night sneezing and not being able to breath, so I had had to have a shower at 4am to get the stuff out of my hair.
Ross was till really snotty on Sunday so we had it as a well-earned day of recovery. Ross and I did hardly anything in the morning and wandered around Rozelle market in the afternoon.

Monday was a normal day in uni, and Ross got stuff done in the flat, and Tuesday I went into Ceramics in the morning and did lots of Ceramics and had a swim. Ross came to Glass in the evening and watched me totally destroy the piece I had just made. I blame him for watching, as it obviously was too much pressure! It was chucking it down with rain as we walked back from Uni so we decided to run down the road and go for dinner in the Vegi restaurant at the bottom on my road. We got soaked just running down the road, but dinner totally made up for it, as did the crème caramel for pudding. Yum.

Wednesday morning I woke up to a very strange Orange light pouring through the window. Felt like we were on Mars or something. I took some photos of the dust storm then sat on the sofa and watched the news all about it. Was amazing to see it and I only wished that I had woken up a bit earlier so that I could have seen it when it was even redder! The really crazy weather from the night before had turned into super strong winds. These winds had stirred up all the dust in broken hill and dumped it on Sydney.

I went to uni as the dust was settling and had a good day in Crits looking at people work. In the evening I took Ross to Ceramics and watched him try and make a pot, which was funny. W met Nina for dinner at the Lansdowne afterwards and she showed us the pictures she had taken of us at manly on Saturday with her proper film camera.

Thursday we decided we needed to do something fun so Ross and I got the bus into town and went shopping. We spend ages looking at opals and feeding Ross who has got an appetite like an 18year old for no apparent reason. After lunch we went to the Aquarium and saw Dugongs and sharks and hundred of fish and some crazy crabs and a platypus! We got dinner on Darling harbour and when we got home watched 17 again. Was a really nice day ☺

On Friday I went to do some extra work in Ceramics and met Nina to pick which photos she was going to print out big for me. I went for swim and then made Fish pie in the evening for dinner. We went out after dinner for Oktoberfest take 2. Nina had decided that Oktoberfest take one wasn’t good enough. We went to the Bavarian beer café in the rocks and Ross had 2 litres of very very strong beer. We ended up going to Scubar, which is a little club near central station, and had a bit of a dance before going home.

Yesterday (Saturday) we went to Glebe market and I finally found a pair of ladybird earrings like the ones I lost from Italy! I was a very happy bunny so took Ross for a steak lunch at the Lansdowne. We met Alexa after lunch and had another wander round the market and finally got me a grown up wallet with out resin stains all over it then went for milkshakes.

Ross and I walked home and he made stir-fry for dinner and we watched a very off film about Barcelona.

Today is super windy and we are going to try and plan out trip for next week. We are going to try and hire a car but have just realised that we don’t have a credit card so it might be a bit tricky!!

Sorry this was such a long email. I need to try and keep up to date or I will forget what I did! That was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle!

Love you all lots.
Missing you all tonnes too. xxxxxxxxx

Australai 6

Hello.

Wow, I have been really rubbish at this emailing thing! I am three weekends behind!

So the Blue Mountains is where I am meant to start from I think.
I went to meet Ali at the station on Friday night and we came home and packed stuff for the weekend. Saturday morning we headed up to Katoomba, which is a town just into the Blue Mountains. We had a wander round on Saturday, exploring Katoomba falls and walking around the main touristy tracks enjoying the amazing views out towards the valleys of the mountains. We bought a couple of maps and walking guides and went to the pub to plan our Sunday activities.

We got up early on Sunday from our funny 1930’s looking Hostel and got tea and pastries for Breakfast. We stocked up on the essentials (chocolate) and headed out to walk to Ruined Castle Rock. This is just a rocky outcrop but from Katoomba looks like a ruined castle on a hill in the valley. We managed not to get lost and followed the track all the way up to the rocks. There was a bit of scrambling on the path but it was mainly easy but steep walking. We sat on the rocks in the sun and managed to demolish and entire loaf of bread and a large amount of cream cheese along with our emergency chocolate. We had to lie in the sun and digest for a good while but were eventually persuaded to leave by a loud group of tourists who were invading our quiet lunch spot.

The walk back was really warm and we decided to make it a bit longer by walking round past Katoomba falls where we had come down that morning and walking up by the three sisters Rock up The Giants staircase. This was about 900 steps up ladder like steps that were super steep but with amazing views dropping down between your feet.

We decided to count the steps and kept getting confused and confusing each other when we stopped for a rest. We decided in the end that there were about 900 so gained nothing more accurate than the sign at the bottom had said.

After a well-earned shower back at the hostel we tried to watch the GUCC Alps video on the Internet but could make the sound work so spent an amusing half hour doing our own commentary over the top of the guys talking.

We ate a pot noodle budget dinner and headed back to the pub that we had found the night before. A few beers later and we both crashed out in the hostel totally zonked.

Monday Morning we got up and packed then walked from Katoomba to the next town along called Leura. It’s a nice walk along the cliff between the two towns but the path dropped down a little more than we anticipated so we had lots of steps at the end again!

We caught the train back after treating ourselves to coffee and pastries in Leura and then I headed into uni and pretended to do some work while Ali cooked dinner for us.

Tuesday we went into town and got Ali some new sandals and bit and bobs to go to Tasmania. We had a really good swim in the sunny pool at Victoria Park. I had Glass in the afternoon/evening so Ali explored Balmain.

Ali left on Wednesday morning after a very early morning Kayak on the Harbour and I went to Uni to tried to catch up on some work unsuccessfully.

I was really looking forward to my weekend to myself doing nothing but by the time it came round I didn’t really know what do with myself! I had been at Nina’s pool party on the Thursday and out with the Americans on Friday night so had a very sleepy Saturday. I felt super lazy by the evening so went for a run down by the water and found an outside guy thing so exhausted myself doing too many sit-ups.

Sunday I tried to be practical and get work done but failed again as I forgot that everything shuts on a Sunday at lunchtime. Had a good long chat to Ross on Skype however and manage dot Phone Mum and Dad for a while too.

Week 5 of Uni saw me finally get some work done and I had a very productive few days making pots and getting sculpture work done. On Wednesday night we had a performance night at the Art School and lots of people on my course did a variety of weird shit. I decided not to participate in the weirdness and just drank lots of white wine and ate an unhealthy amount of cheese.

Thursday was my ‘Buddy night’. They set up a thing at the uni to match up folk from Sydney uni with people on exchange. It’s a bit late doing it now, as it would have been way more useful to do it at the beginning when everyone was lost and confused. My buddy is called Thea and was at Glasgow doing history last term so we had lots to chat about, revolving around the different drinking spots in Glasgow and their benefits.

At the weekend I went on my first over night canoe club trip! We headed up north about an hour to the Hawkesbury River and took all our camping stuff in Sea kayaks across to Barr Island to camp. We started our paddle at Barrawa waters which is a beautiful little river harbour and paddled for most of the afternoon to get across to the Island. The first half was beautiful sunny weather but about 3pm it got stupidly windy and got pretty hard to paddle. One of the canoes capsized and we spent ages trying to bail the water out with a collection of sponges and empty beer bottles.

Everyone was a bit chilly when we finally got to the Island so we lit a fire and warmed up with cheese and home brew. Had a lovely evening cooking on the fire and drinking. One of the girls made a cake on the fire!!! So impressed!

We slept out under the stars, which was really nice but super windy again. I kept thinking a tree was going to fall down on us but we all survived the night and got up and made breakfast. The paddle back was a bit more relaxed as the wind had dropped. We collected lots of Oysters from the Oyster farms by the Island and paddled back in the sun to a different harbour called Moony Moony. We stopped at a reservoir in the cliff as well and Jiri ate a huge Oyster which was really really gross and slimy. (I didn’t try one).

We lay in the sun at the get out and waited for Jiri and Dave to go get the Cars from where we started. On the way back we got fish and Chips and sat by the water eating them and fighting off the sea gulls before driving back to Sydney.

After cleaning all the kit and emptying the cars it was about 5 and I decided to make them most of the warm sunny evening and walked back to my house managing to avoid the horrible bus (which is ALWAYS late).

Yesterday (Monday) I had a tutorial with one of my tutors so got up early to try and get some work done. I had a really lazy evening as I was still tired from paddling and made lemon drizzle cake and watched a movie.

I am off to meet Ali at the airport now to do a trade of phones, cake and black strap tops.

Going to Melbourne this weekend to see Liz and Rosemary. Looking forward to another adventure!

Lots of Love to all of you
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Australia 5

Hello..

So last Friday I had the laziest day ever. Watched and entire Harry Potter film and my only accomplishment was to clean the flat. Despite having nothing to do i still managed to almost miss the train up to Cardiff! I don't know how, one day I will manage to organise myself.

Ali picked me up at the station and we headed to the place she was staying. It was owned by a couple who Ali's Dad knew at uni. Two doctors, the mother Trish was from Scotland and her husband Cliff is a retired Doctor (Australian) turned artist. Their house was beautiful. It’s an ecological house based on a courtyard and a glass corridor runs around he middle with all the rooms off it, leaving a exhibition like space on the internal corridor wall for all Cliffs paintings to hang. We went to bed pretty quick as Ali was dead from the vets and we wanted to get up early to get up to the Hunter Valley.

Had eggy bread and vast amounts of ketchup from breakfast then headed off in Ali’s rental car with he trusted Sat nav up to the wineries. it was nice up in the low rolling hills but something I have come to realise about Australia is how the green isn’t really green. Apparently there is less Chlorophyll in the leaves as obviously less is needed as there is more constant sun that in European plants. Cool eh! Anyway, not sure I like the dulled greens too much, fells like your eyes have gone a bit funny in the sun. We went to a winery that Trish had recommended and had a taste of a really nice chardonnay and bought a bottle of it for dinner.

I managed to miss the turning when I was reading the map to the next place as I was looking out for Kangaroos on the side of the road. WE got back on track tho and headed into Morpeth for lunch. We stopped in the supermarket on route and got food for dinner as we said we would cook. Morpeth was nice as the Hunter River runs through it, so Ali and I sat and ate lunch on the boat jetty and demolished a massive loaf of bread and had a really nice pumpkin and cashew nut dip thing which I tried to recreate the other day with limited success.

We set off again back to using the sat nav after my earlier failure and headed up to Pindimer. Trish and Cliff have a holiday home up there by the water and go up most weekends. Was right in the costal bush and Ali and I got there before Trish so wandered up the beach. There are a few holiday home/modern cottage things along the water and as we wandered past one garden we saw about 10 kangaroos just sitting there munching on the grass! Was so cool, didn’t get very good pics tho as the sun was setting right behind them.

When Trish arrived we got the fire going in the hearth and sat down with a glass of wine and chatted about lots of things, Trish is a paediatric doctor and head of the whole Newcastle area so she was telling us about the massive problems with Aboriginal health and a horrific racism that still is far too prevalent.

Ali and I made a Jamie Oliver Fish pie (adapted) recipe for dinner and it turned out really well! Trish then headed out to pick Cliff up from the airport and Ali and i sat by the fire with the dog and facebook staled people in Glasgow and nattered. The others got back and we nattered some more and tried to work out what sort of animal had owned the skull that Cliff had found on the beach. He thought it was a pelvis and we decided it could have been a bird or a fish... or a little mammal! So we didn’t really get very far even with two doctors and a vet! I recon i was closest with a catfish or something.

On Sunday Trish gave us a bit of a tour of the area and we saw some dolphins in the river. We walked along a beautiful long beach with big crashing waves and I went for a little paddle before a MASSIVE wave came at me. I should have just gotten wet because as i jumped to miss it my little waterproof camera jumped out of my pocket and disappeared for a life with the fishes. Would have been less annoyed if it were not waterproof ‘cos I know it’s probably not even broken yet! grrr. Never mind. We went and go coffee and cake after that to sooth my broken heart after my traumatic loss and then pottered back to the house.

After lunch we picked lots of Lemons from he tree in the garden and Trish gave me about 8 to take home! What you loose on the camera you gain on the lemons.
After lunch we headed back to the house in Cardiff and put Ali's pics on facebook before she had a chance to lose her camera too. She gave me a lift to the station and I got on the train back to Sydney. It took forever as someone had jumped in front of a train further up the line and there were massive delays. Ended up back in Sydney about 45 mins late and got the bus back and fell into bed.

Monday was an easy day as I didn’t really have any classes. I went into studio in the morning (via the charity shop where i finally found myself a second pair of jeans) and then went to Nina’s new flat for Lunch after a quick swim in the 50 meter pool again. Its going to be weird going back to the 20m one in Glasgow! After our late lunch at Nina’s I phoned mum and said Happy Birthday. I love mums reaction on the phone as she always sounds so surprised! Like phones from Oz are a new phenomenon or something (just teasing mum!) Anyway, so my evening was pretty relaxed. I got a movie out and tried to recreate the pumpkin dip that Ali and I had discovered. Watched 'Becoming Jane' and went to bed.

Tuesday was a bit hectic as i had a proposal due for my Glass elective but also had to go into main campus on the bus to pay a ceramics fee and talk to Ross on Skype at lunch time. The Glass class in the evening was much more complicated than last week! We were making a tumbler an there are so many steps to remember. Mine turned out ok but had a triangle bottom for some unknown reason. A few exploded which was exciting and everyone was going red in the ace trying to blow a bubble in the glass to make the shape of the cup. The class ran over by almost an hour so I wasn’t back till almost 9. I watched tv and made dinner, then went to bed so I would have some energy for Wednesday which is always a stupidly busy day.

I missed the early morning paddle on the harbour as I was really exhausted and had to finish my proposal that I should have handed in the night before. Was in the library by 9 and then had class at ten for crits all morning. The afternoon I had my first one on one tutorial with my tutor Michael and he seemed pleased with the work I had done so i headed off to get the bus to ceramics. Did lots of glazing at ceramics then threw a couple more bowls. Didn’t get one as big as last week but the 2 of us doing advanced ceramics had stayed when the hand building class had gone home. and taught a German girl how to throw, so we didn’t get away till about ten. The bus then decided not to come and I had to wait forever for the next one. They shouldn’t put a takeaway right next to the bus stop and i gave in to it and bought a veggie kebab. (Wasn't going to have the energy to cook by the time I got back anyway!)

I got to my front door finally and realised I had forgotten my bleedin’ keys but thank goodness Bellinda was still up so I didn’t have to wake anyone up or try to break in.
I got up early this morning and managed to retrieve my keys by way of a very friendly janitor who unlocked the workshop for me. I turned the bowls that I had thrown last night and am not doing all my emailing duties that I am behind on.

This weekend Ali and I are going to the Blue Mountains for a bit of an adventure. Don't worry we will be careful and not emulate that stupid Brit who got lost in July. They did find him btw and he got tonnes of money from the papers for the story! There was lots in the papers here about it as people thought he should give the money to the emergency services which had spend days looking for the silly prat.

Any way. Lots and lots of Love to all. Will send you a dramatic account of Kangaroos and Koalas when i get back. Hope you are all well xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Australia 4

Wow, I have been rubbish at keeping up with these long emails so here goes a big long catch up.

Left off last Monday after my first day in uni. Tuesday was pretty uneventful during the day as I had waited about for the Glass Class at 2 only to fins out the teacher was changing the time and we weren’t going to start until week 2. I was pretty peed off as I had been looking forward to it all day, but headed up to my ceramics class at the main campus.

Ceramics was really good. It was a beginner’s class on wheel throwing so I found it pretty easy and they clay we use is really easier to centre! I met a nice girl called Fiona who is doing education and the teacher Mark is also pretty cool. He reminds me of dad a bit as he’s about the same age and wears bad woolly jumpers with holes in the elbows. Hehe.

Anyway, at the end of the class he said I should move up to the advanced class. Was perfect as it stopped my ceramics and glass classes chatting.
I have to pretend I am doing the hand-building course, as the advanced ceramics class is post grad only.

After the class I met Nina as she had been in Photography and we went for dinner in the Lansdowne hotel. I recon that we are going to make it a regular thing, as it’s only a fiver for a beer and a main meal!

Wednesday was pretty uneventful as well, but I found a really cheep shopping centre just over the bridge and made myself a pair of curtains for my bedroom and tidied everything up and made some space for the arrival of Ali. Had ceramics again in the evening and started the hand-building project to make a mask so I could get it done then do some throwing. Didn’t get time in the end to do any wheelwork as we finished early for some reason. When I got home I was exhausted so I went to bed early so I could get up really early to go get Ali from the airport in the morning.

Was really nice to see a familiar face and Ali and I had a really good day on Thursday wandering round the harbour and the Sydney opera house etc. We got the ferry back to my suburb as well, which is a nice way to get from town to home that I hadn’t yet discovered.

Ali conked out about 8pm unsurprisingly and I sat up watching DVDs till Ross got back from work for a chat. Friday we met up with Nina and headed on the Bus to Bondi beach. It was a really nice sunny day but not quite warm enough to swim, so we decided to do the cost path walk from Bondi to Coogee beach. It had a lot of good views, but Ali and I decided it still didn’t quite live up to the Devon cost or the mull of Kintyre! Got the bus back and had a healthy dinner of crisps and muffins ☺

I had already arranged our Saturday activities and we got up early and went down to the uni boat shed to go for a kayak on the harbour. It was so good having Ali there while I met the Sydney Uni Canoe Club. They are a tiny club, with mostly ex students in but all really friendly. We paddled across to the harbour bridge and into lavender bay on the north shores. Had a really good BBQ and some beers then regretted eating and drinking so much on the wavy paddle home!
Back at the boat shed, Ali and I decided to roll the topo duo (double kayak) that we were in and managed twice. Then we got a bit cocky and decided to try and hand roll it. Didn’t quite work as we both tried to roll up on a different side! After a warming shower we sat of the jetty and drank red wine till it got dark and we felt the need for chips.

Sunday was a lazy day, we popped on the Internet in the morning and then I took Ali into Central station. I went to the library after she got on her train up to Newcastle and then I headed over to the hostel to see Nina and joined in with the big BBQ that the Brits were having there.

I went into uni on Monday and similarly to Glasgow School of Art, very few people were in! I did get some work done which was useful, then I have no memory of what I did on Monday night! Can’t have been very exciting.

Tuesday morning I went to explore my local swimming pool on Belinda’s bike that she said I could borrow! I got a bit lost on the way there but went for a nice bike ride along the waterside. The swimming pool is a massive 50m outside pool and was really warm. Found myself getting annoyed about the sun in my eyes and had to laugh at myself! I couldn’t do back stroke as there were no ceiling tiles to follow to stay in a straight line so I kept crashing into the wall which was a bit embarrassing! Went home for lunch then headed back to uni for my Glass Class…

It was totally worth the wait! Was one of the best things I’ve done since I got here! We had a safety talk and all and then started making things. The heat was horrific when we collected the glass from the furnace and we had to keep it centred on the metal rod and do something called “Jacking” which makes the glass into a ball. After making a single ball we tried making a series of balls, which looked a bit like a caterpillar or something. It took quite a while to get everyone to have a go at it, as there are only 2 workstations. The teacher Stevie is really good though and she said I had the knack, which is nice.

Wednesday went well too. I had to give the presentation of my work to the class and it went really well! I was really nervous but I managed to chat about my work quite confidently and a few people started being a bit more chatty after that.
I had studio all afternoon so got on with some work and some research and then headed into main campus for Ceramics.

I finished off my mask and then got started doing some throwing. Mark gave us a demo on throwing bigger bowls and stuff. It involves using a huge flamethrower thing so that the clay doesn’t slump at all. Works amazingly and I managed to make my biggest bowl ever! The first one I made wasn’t too good as I got a bit over excited with the flame thrower and think I heated it a bit too much.

I was in a really good mood after throwing the big bowls so I headed out to the Lansdowne again with Nina for beer and food.
We had a really nice chat and I didn’t get back till about half ten.

On Thursday Nina came round for lunch and we made roasted veggies with ricotta cheese and watched Harry Potter under my duvet. I showed her around the SCA library and then we got the most amazing lemon and lime tart and had tea. I got ready to go to an art gallery opening and we both got the bus into town. Nina got off at the hostel and I headed up towards the rocks to the Saatchi and Saatchi Gallery opening. I met Annika (who was at Glasgow last term) and we wandered round the really busy opening until all the free beer had run out. After that we went in search of alcohol dispensary unit to get some more and sat outside the opening chatting to lots of her friends. Felt really quite drunk getting the bus back, but made it fine and collapsed into bed.

This morning was pretty un productive as I’m sure you can imagine. Had a really good chat with Ross at my lunch time (his 4am!) before he went to work in the morning. I have been sorting out my room and packing to go and see Ali tonight. We are going to go up to the hunter valley and maybe go surfing this weekend. I am off to get the train up the coast so I should go.

Sorry for such a massive email, Lots of Love. xxxxxxxxxx