Red Cat Tote

hey, i made you a poster.

new ways of living (i)

the looking for trouble exhibition - mentioned in my last post - opened in nottingham today. at long last (& it really has felt like forever) i can post some new work online.

i produced a small body of work for the show, collectively titled new ways of living; the pieces are an illustrated exploration into the notion of simplicity in modern life. a hint at how convoluted things can get & perhaps a reminder to step back & evaluate. or something like that.

above is a piece titled haircut, an edition of twelve (because at the time of drawing it'd been twelve months since my last haircut) giclée prints. i'll be posting the rest of the work over this coming week.

eat your greens. & reds. & oranges. & purples. etc.

this post is slightly different for me, as i've deviated from writing about things that aren't work-related over the last couple of years. however, the image above is related to what follows, so there's a connection to my usual blogging.

christmas 2011 was simultaneously my best & worst christmas (in fact, i think christmas 2012 has trumped it as best as nothing bad happened). alongside all the good stuff on the day, my left ear randomly started ringing later in the evening & it continued to do so as i lay in bed that night. dealing with the unknown when the unknown is something i can't control is quite the catalyst for my becoming an anxious wreck, so when i woke up on boxing day & the sound in my ear was still there, i began my decent into a week or so of fretting, not eating & basically solely looking forward to going to sleep, which was the only time i didn't have to listen to the constant noise.

i could go on about the situation (the doctor's predictively dismissive tone; on how i found comfort in sounds that aren't usually enjoyable, such as the washing machine, the extractor fan in the bathroom and the humming of my computer at work), but after a while i realised that the best way to deal with the noise was to keep busy & listen to lots of music & podcasts. i'm not sure whether i simply got used to it or if the ringing did actually get quieter, but for the greater part of the year i thankfully didn't really notice my tinnitus. in fact, it was mostly only audible when i was stressed out about something unrelated, & it usually quietened down again once i'd chilled out. i feel like i've been pretty lucky with the whole thing.

so why has it come to the forefront of my thoughts again? well, the last couple of days have seen the sound of the ringing being dialled up & the noise is also now available in surround-sound - joy! alongside the original ringing in my left ear, my right ear is now emitting a variation between two tones that are less likeable than the original (& i didn't even like the old ringing to begin with). however, the increased ringing has coincided with (what i think is) mild tonsillitis that i've had since mid-last-week, & i'm hopeful that the sounds will fade along with my other symptoms.

anyway, since the start of last year i've wanted to illustrate my tinnitus somehow, but i've not been sure of how to approach it without just doing a drawing of me feeling sorry for myself. then, earlier today, i listened to the latest episode of this american life, entitled mapping, that had a story about mapping ambient sounds (the kind of sounds that i originally found some solace in when my ear started ringing). you can listen to the segment here.

throughout the piece, a keyboard is used to demonstrate the notes that are emitted from objects. & i realised that the noise in my head sounds a bit like a little keyboard, constantly playing the same note. & so, the above image formed.

the concept of the story - that sounds can affect the mood of a person - is a little disturbing to someone who has no control over the noise they're subjected to. however, i'm focussing on enjoying the piece as an interesting story, rather than something to worry about. plus, i got a drawing out of it, so it's not all bad.

I reopened my ceramics shop yesterday - my first update of the year & of the work I've been making since moving to Canada. There are some new things alongside old favourites - go take a look: boldenceramics.com.

26 things

i'm blogging this a little later than usual, but i've been trying to whittle this list down & i think i'm there now. since 2009 i've come up with to-do lists that coincide with the age i'll turn that year; some things on the list are big, some are smaller. i managed to complete just over half of 2011's list, which is what i did the previous two years, so here's to 2012 being the year i do everything.

1. train to run 5k 2. get used to having tinnitus 3. reach 700 sales on etsy 4. do taxes quarterly 5. make a minimum of ten things on my sewing machine 6. including a dress 7. including a tie for alan 8. find a dentist & doctors in glasgow 9. start flossing again 10. join the library 11. make a recipe box/book 12. make at least two out of three of my workday lunches a week 13. organise and manage my freelance days 14. learn a new knitting stitch 15. start blogging more regularly 16. escape the city at least once a month 17. read thirty books 18. host dinner for some friends 19. experiment with limited colour pallets 20. get my wardrobe down to 200 items (clear out/manage over time) 21. take a life drawing class 22. take up yoga again 23. finish my needlefelt fox 24. learn to love (or at least like) cooking 25. get some plants for the flat & become greenfingered 26. get better at coding

i've made a start on several things already, & you can help me nudge goal three in the right direction - there's just a couple of days left of my etsy sale - enter coupon code 'hello2012' at checkout to get 20% off your order.

yurt

when my boyfriend & i got our car last year, i figured we'd probably head out on lots of little trips, go camping & spend a little more time in the great outdoors. i'm not sure how i confused 'getting a car' with 'magically having more free time' because, of course, that's not quite how it's panned out.

however, we made good use of our automobile at the weekend & headed out to stay in a yurt at loch tay, a sweet present from my mum & dad for my birthday earlier in the year. this was one of the things on my 25 things to do when i'm 25 list, & it's so nice to finally tick it off (especially since it rolled over from 24 things to do when i'm 24). the yurt was lovely; full of killim rugs & pillows & - most importantly - a wood-burning stove (we'd timed our visit to miss the high-season & catch the last of summer whilst not being too warm for a fire). the first night we chatted by candle & fire light, fuelled by a couple of bottles of red wine, before falling asleep to the sound of rain bouncing off the canvas. the next morning we sat on the yurt's small deck in the sun, watching the fog over the loch & feeling grateful that we had no hangovers (a miracle!). the day was spent feeding ducks & a short car trip to nearby village, killin, before another night in our cosy little hut, quietly enjoying some downtime & keeping the stove going.

the next morning it was time to return home & to work. just a short little escape, but a nice reminder to take time out every so often. hopefully we'll go camping on the west coast soon.

new ways of living (iii)

third & final piece from 'new ways of living' for the looking for trouble exhibition in nottingham.

cabin is a triptych, featuring a hint of a narrative if you read from left to right (but you can read it however you want). pretty much all i could think whilst creating this was how much i'd like to be in this drawing. the cabin may be structurally unsound, but there's an incredible view.

lately

man, i am no good at updating my blog these days. i think it's partially to do with the move to tumblr - i can't quite put my finger on what i mean by that, but i think other platforms are probably much better suited to the way i like to use my blog. however, i'm going to stick it out. also, that aside, i've just been too busy: living in two places, making lots of new items to sell & day-to-day life haven't left much time for blogging. hopefully, once life's kinks have been ironed out, i can fit in a bit more writing.

work-wise, i gave my website a long overdue update today; take a peek. all jobs i've worked on over the past few months are now out in the world, so i've finally got them all online. i might go into a little more detail about individual jobs on here in future, but i probably shouldn't make any promises!

summer 2013 is the summer of making things, apparently. i just added a couple of new things to the shop in the form of the pretty little tiger you'll see above, plus another new postcard set. i've also got a couple of other things up my sleeve. it's good to be busy.