Shelley Supernova

Death by Biro...

2011-04-25T09:17:00.001-07:00

A couple of years ago I came across the works of Eduardo Paolozzi. I was particularly struck by his overly complex use of layering and dynamic juxtapositions of imagery in his work

I was inspired to explore my own methods of layering and intersecting imagery. The result is 'Mega Doodle'. A complex composition of intersecting man-made objects set against an intentionally confusing pattern of brickwork. The choice of media: biro, was partly due to my own idiocy (an A2 biro drawing is not great for the hands and certainly not recommended for those with arthritic digits); and partly due to my love of the Victorian illustrative style.

I am thinking of developing this idea further perhaps through the use of mixed media, including newsprint and magazine imagery.

Aboriginal

2011-04-16T10:36:00.001-07:00

I love multi-cultural art and covered a project on it last year at school. It led to the creation of some creatures made up of the traditional dots seen in many Aboriginal paintings.

I have since produced a few on canvas for myself and family.

Digital Art

2011-04-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

As a fine artist I have always been a little sceptical about digital art. However, I came across this blog: http://graphnweb.blogspot.com

The author has posted some excellent examples of digital art and has given really good step-by-step guides to how he has acheived them. I am actually feeling inspired to give it a go myself. I just need to purchase Adobe Illustrator first...

Self-Portraits

2011-04-12T06:11:00.000-07:00

One of my recent ventures is exploring self-portraits. It's a subject that I've always found difficult to master, probably because it is very difficult to remain objective about oneself.

Whilst being off work on maternity leave I thought now would be a good time to indulge in some introspection. I am really enjoying this new project and I've taken a keen interest in photographic realism, something I've never really given much time to. I'm a long way off achieving results in leaqgue with Chuck Close but I am pleased with my small achievements!

I'm back!

2011-04-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a long time since I blogged and a lot has been happening, not least of all becoming a mummy :-) However, I have decided that much of my life isn't interesting enough to warrant regular diary entries and instead I am going to dedicate this site to my passion for art. Over the coming weeks I intend to start adding some examples of my favourite artists and my own art work. Who knows, perhaps one day I may even be able to sell some. This might come in useful given the state of the education system and the not impossiblity of my career going down the pan. Cheers Gove!

The Great British Countryside

2009-09-19T02:41:00.000-07:00

Having indulged in a number of luxury tropical holidays over the past few years, Mark and I decided this year we were going to stay closer to home.

We spent a week in the Black Mountain region of Wales and a week on the coast in North Yorkshire. It was an entirley different experience and there were pros and cons to a British holiday. The negatives are: the weather, this is something beyond your control so be prepared to take plenty of books and board games for the rainy days; The traffic, I was looking forward to not having to endure a long haul flight, but was not prepared for the bank holiday traffic that led to an eight hour journey getting home from Yorkshire; Not being able to completely immerse yourself in holiday mode, when one holidays in this country there are many reminders of home and it is tempting to want to watch TV or surf the net.

However, the positives outweigh the negatives: You don't need a passport or visa (even in Wales, contrary to popular belief); The food is great; everyone speaks your language; The British countryside is stunning; When you get a sunny day, nothing can beat Brtiain in the summer.

So I would heartedly recommend a little jaunt out into the country next time you are looking into booking a holiday. I can thoroughly recommend the following places too:

Bay View Cottage in Yorkshire (we booked through Unique Home Stays). A stunning cottage for two overlooking the rolling hills and the sea.

The Hardwick - Stephen Terry's restaurant in Wales, serving up fabulous local produce. I recommend the triple-cooked chips and I'm not even a chip fan!

The Crown at Whitebrook - James Sommerin's restaurant in Wales. This a beautiful restauarant in a stunning location. The food is fine dining and the service is excellent.

Victor Meldrew

2009-05-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

Last night confirmed that I am actually becoming a grumpy old woman. Having finally had enough of the shoddy, cheap crap that channel four boot out, I decided to email a complaint:

"I have always been a loyal patron of Channel 4 Television. You have been considered a cutting edge channel, showing a range of contraversial and interesting programmes. Unfortunately I am becoming increasingly irritated by the poor programming you have fallen foul to over recent months.Virtually every evening showcases a wealth of repeats; even programmes that you promote as a new series end up being 'revisits' (e.g. The Home Show and Grand Designs). What ever happened to the cutting edge films on a Sunday evening? Now weekends are devoted to the 'Top 100...'. Quite frankly this is shoddy and lazy programming and I for one am finding myself increasingly pulled to other channels."

I was quite surprised to recieve a response only minutes later:

"Dear Ms Ashkowski, Thank you for contacting us regarding THE HOME SHOW. The show in question was listed as a revisit show. This allows viewers to catch up with the experiences after the initial investments or renovations -which is why this has proven a popular format across many of our shows. As such it is listed as a new episode, as while the participants are the same, the circumstances surrounding their presentation are not. Nevertheless, please be assured your comments and complaint has been notedand logged. The log is distributed throughout Channel 4. Thank you again for taking the time to contact us. We appreciate all feedback from our viewers; complimentary or otherwise. Regards, Jessicka Burton Channel 4 Viewer Enquiries"

Needless to say, the response proves that none of my views will be taken on board. However, it felt good to sound off and get a response. I might take up complaining for a hobby!

A Fabulous Weekend in London

2009-03-22T08:03:00.001-07:00

Mark's birthday provided an excellent reason to go and live it up in London for the weekend. It is now a tradition that we take each other away for our birthdays, usually to London, but the details are kept as a surprise until the last minute.

This year I feel I have surpassed myself and we had one of the best weekends ever!

On Friday we left for London on the train. It was only then that I presented Mark with his birthday envelope containing all the details of our impending escapade. I had booked a suite at the ultra modern and chich St Martins Lane Hotel; we were going to dinner at Veerswamy (the UK's oldest Indian restaurant) on Friday and Clos Maggiore on the Saturday. Mark was considerably impressed :-)

Neither of us were disappointed when we arrived at the hotel. It looked like something from the Ugly Betty series: highly fashionable and ultra stylish. However, the staff were really friendly and the ambience wasn't at all pretentious. Our room was a fabulous white suite which overlooked the bustling streets of Covent Garden. We had floor to ceiling windows around most of the room and a bathroom to die for. There were also funky additions such as the mood lighting which you can set to any colour. The furniture and decor was designed by Philippe Starke and was very stylish.

We then head off for Veeraswamy. We had a delightful meal; my favourite part was the cameralised banana kulfi which tasted just like banana fritter ice cream and was to die for!

We had a lovely day on Saturday. It began with a visit to Tate Britain to see the current Alter Modern exhibition. It was mostly pretentious bollocks but a good laugh. We then headed off to Kettners for some champagne. This place had been recommended by a couple of people but quite frankly we thought it was pretty dire. The service was poor and there was a group of middle aged women having what can only be described as some sort of WI meeting.

Not to worry, a spot of shopping in Covent Garden soon put things back to rights. An afternoon siesta was the order of the afternoon before getting dolled up for a night out. We had lovely pre dinner cocktails in our hotel bar: the toffee champagne was to die for before heading off to Clos Maggiore...

This was a beautiful little French restaurant in Covent Garden. The service was outstanding and the food even more so. We both had the vegetarian tasting menu which consisted of:

Pumpkin and pinenut soup with parmesan wafer
Tian of smoked aubergine with buffalo mozarella croquette
Hand-rolled tagliatelle with pesto
Gnocci stuffed with blue cheese, accompanied by walnut pesto and poached pear
European artisan cheeses
Chocolate fondant with spiced ice cream

Each course came with a recommended wine. We've had a number of tasting menus but I would say that this was the best. Each course was excellent and most of the wines were delightful. I was particularly taken by the idea of a sweet dessert wine with the aubergine dish. it worked beautifully.

All in all a stunning weekend, I'm just sad that it's over :-(

Jersey Death Sauce Challenge

2008-12-14T02:38:00.000-08:00

This challenge has become somewhat of a tradition in our house. Over the past couple of years our dinner parties have concluded with our guests being challenged to consume one small droplet of our Jersey Death Sauce. This sauce is 750 times hotter than a jalapeno pepper, it is made with capsicum crystals and I'm pretty sure it's the hottest sauce in the world.

Over the past couple of years the challenge has taken down a number of people (most notably Zoe who was violently ill). Last night it claimed it's most recent victim: Chris. The poor boy was reduced to a crying, snivelling wreck and proceeded to wretch violently for a good half hour.

Of course this is a most amusing situation but it seems we are now running out of victims. Is there anyone else out there who is willing to take on the challenge? ...

My Birthday

2008-12-14T02:20:00.000-08:00

A bit belated but I have been meaning to mention what a wonderful birthday weekend I had. Once again my lovely husband planned an indulgent treat for us both. We started with a picnic brunch and champagne at home, before setting off for London on the train (first class of course).

We then arrived at the Stafford Hotel which was a charming, classic and stylish building. Later on I was taken to my first Michelin Star restaurant: Roussillon (in Pimlico) where we embarked upon an eight course journey of extravagance. The menu consisted of:

Parsley & Parmesan Royale
Light Pumpkin Veloute

Wild Mushroom Vol Au Vent
Ricotta Gnocchi, Leek Jus

The Priory Bay Umami Egg
Wild Seaweed, Capers, Shallots Garlic, Lemon & Light Soy Sauce

Crunchy and tender warm salad
Walnut, Apple, and Celery Watercress Dressing

Autumn Vegetables & Roots Cooked Together in a Pot
Reduced Balsamic Vinegar & Truffle Dressing

Osso Iraty From Pays
Basque Cherry Compote & Walnut Bread

Pineapple and Lime Ravioli
Lime Sorbet

Williams Pear Souffle
Pear Veloute a Warm Madeline

(wines to accompany and complement each meal)

It was a throughly delightful experience (and very expensive) but I still think Morgan M has the edge.

Ofsted

2008-11-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

It's been a hard slog this term but last week it really paid off when Ofsted inspected our school and rated us as outstanding. Not only that but three of the five individual departments that were rated as oustanding are in my faculty.

It's a wonderful feeling to work so hard for something and have it all come togther. I feel very proud of my school and my role within it and I consider myself very lucky to have a job that is so rewarding and allows me to make a real difference to children's lives.

Hard Times

2008-10-09T05:08:00.000-07:00

I'd just like to say thank you to so many of our friends and family who have offered Mark and I support through such hard times.

When the shit hits the fan (and it really has for us this year) you really find out who your friends are (and aren't)

Bring on 2009 and a new start with some happier times.

USA: San Francisco

2008-08-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

Next stop San Francisco and my word it could not have been more different than Las Vegas. As we approached the city across Bay Bridge there was an ominous layer of fog suspended over the centre. This apparently is a result of it's crazy microclimate. Anyhow, in contrast to the glitzy, tackiness of Vegas, San Fran was cosmopolitan, arty and not full of casinos.

Upon arrival at the Fairmont Hotel we were somewhat disappointed not to find a luxurious huge split level suite but this is not Vegas. However, the hotel was in an excellent location, making it a perfect launch pad for our journies.

What we did that's worth mentioning:

Clarion Alley: A fantastic street with loads of graffiti murals

Art galleries: These were fantastic, containing extensive collections of art and it was permitted to take photos. You won't find that in this country!

Food: Breakfasts at Loris Diner, Dinner at La Folie, Michael Mina, Millennium and Greens
La Tonga: The dodgy bar in our hotel that was decked out like a tropical rainforest and showcased real storms every hour
Alcatraz: The audio tour was fantastic, a must do for anyone visiting the city

Napa Valley Wine Tour: A wonderful tour of four vineyards with lots of wine and good food
Haight Ashbury: A very cool hippy area which is full of hippies, junkies and vegans - brilliant

USA: Las Vegas

2008-08-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

Mark and have just got back from a fabulous two weeks in the States. Week one involved living the American Dream in Las Vegas. It truly is a crazy place where nothing is actually real: People are superficially nice, all the hotels are replicas of other famous cities (ours was an elaborate rendition of Venice, complete with St Marks Square and Gondolas), and the many casinos play host to thousands of gamblers every night all pretending to be rich and betting money they don't have.

That said, Vegas is a place not to be missed and the sights although lacking in history and style do wow you with the glitzy lights, highly expensive and elaborate hotels and of course the hugely popular casinos.

We found Vegas to be overpriced however so do be prepared to spend vast amounts of cash even if you don't intend to frequent the casinos. I am sure many a tourist leaves with broken dreams and lost inheritance!

What we did that's worth mentioning...

Cirque De Soleil Show (Ka): this was absolutely stunning
Blue Man Show: Naff comedy which strangely many Americans seem to enjoy. Not worth the money
Madame Tussauds: Good for a laugh
Casinos: We won $200 on a cheap slot machine!

Atomic Testing Museum: Surprisingly interesting
The Star Trek Experience: An amazing 4D simulator, but I am not converted before you ask!

Michael Mina Restaurant: Bizarre waiter service and veggie tasting menu
Dos Caminos Restaurant: A fantastic Mexican joint
The Cheescake Factory: So cheesey (scuse the pun) but it had to be done

Wall Mart: Full of mentalists and trailer trash, it's just like Asda!
Vegas to San Francisco: 8 hours driving through the desert, oh what fun

New Kitchen

2008-05-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming but we've finally had our new kitchen fitted. The units look great but in a bid to save money we have taken on the tiling and flooring ourselves (my miserly husband's idea) and that doesn't look quite so great.

Even so it is still a vast improvement on the dated decor of before. So thanks to all of you who contributed to it via wedding presents (most of you can lay claim to a door or a couple of handles).

Before:

After:

Mark's 30th Birthday

2008-03-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

Finally, my husband is no longer my toyboy and has joined me in the misery of being 30. To comiserate I treated him (well us actually) to a weekend of luxury in London.

We set off for in the car on Saturday and lots of fun singing really badly to Erasure and Lionel Richie en route to London. Our journey went particularly smoothly which is always a surprise when travelling to London. We rocked up to our swanky hotel in our battered old Rover and were greeted by doormen who kindly took our car and bags and checked us in.

The hotel is called the Metroplitan which happens to be rated as one of the top 100 hotels in the world. This great acclaim lived up to it's name as we entered our Park Studio room which was stunning. The huge panoramic window overlooked Hyde Park, the furnishings were sumptuous yet minmal and the room was equipped with all the latest technology.

Feeling hungry we head out for a light lunch and chanced upon the 5th Floor restaurant at Harvey Nichols. A restaurant above a department store conjours up the image of a shoddy, self-service canteen (think BHS) but this place couldn't be further from it. The restaurant was classily decorated and the service was absolutely outstanding. We had two courses at £25 per head (very reasonable me thinks) and the food was great. Particularly impressive was the cardamon brulee with chocolate ice cream.

Two courses and and a bottle of wine left us suitably fuelled for some shopping. A little spending spree in Harvey Nichols was called for and we acquired two very nice bottles of wine (the 1998 Mersault really looks good) and some delicious food treats including clove chocolate and wicked hokey pokey.

Back to the hotel to enjoy some relaxation before dinner. A nice chilled bottle of champagne awaited us and a long, luxurious bath. The rest of the afternoon was spent drinking lots whilst rocking out to music and Mark dancing naked in front of the large hotel window :-)

It was time for our eagerly anticipated dinner treat. A short stroll down to Gordon Ramsey's Boxwood Cafe and a gastronomic experience to behold. We both ordered the vegetarian tasting menu with accompanying wines. Whilst waiting for our first course we sipped on an aperitif cocktail consisting of champagne, chambourd and vodka. Nice though it was, it turned out to be the nail in our coffins as you will find out later...

First course: a beautiful creamy artichoke soup
Second course: (my favourite course) Creamed potato, poached egg and cep sauce
Third course: feta, beetroot and pine nut salad
Fourth course: chargrilled asparagus ( a little dull)
Fifth course: artichoke and fennel risotto (gorgeous)
Sixth course: British cheeses
Seventh course: pre-dessert (a brulee type of thing)
Eighth course: Chocolate fondue with biscotti and fruit kebabs.

Each course was accompanied by a wine carefully selected and presented by the sommelier. Mark managed to get to course three before getting horrifically drunk and ended throwing up (in the toilet thankfully) twice at the restaurant. I thought this was hilarious but got my comeuppance as towards the end of the meal I too started to get really drunk. I blame the cocktail

Mark only managed to consume the first four courses. I fared a little better but still could barely eat the gorgeous dessert. We hurriedly got the bill and staggered back to the hotel where I threw up several times - nice. I blame the cocktail.

It is a shame that we both then passed out in our clothes as we had intended to head down to the exclusive Met Bar to do some celebrity spotting. I blame the cocktail.

We both wake up on Sunday with massive hangovers. I blame the cocktail. However the random snow blizzard looked pretty specatular from our 7th floor window, an unusual sight in spring.

On reflection we are rather pleased that we indulged in such a decadent weekend but squandered much of it in a really frivolous fashion, it's so very rock and roll don't you think?

My Birthday!

2007-12-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

After several weeks of mourning the end of my youthful twenties I embarked on a week of 30th birthday celebrations...

...The week began with My wonderful husband whisking me off to the Rockwell Hotel in Kensington, London. The hotel was a delightful, contemporary and stylish place. Our room had a mezzanine with the living area downstairs and the sleeping area upstairs. Much as it was tempting to spend the evening indulging in room service we instead headed off out for the main part of my treat - dinner at Morgan M.

On approaching the restaurant you don't expect a great deal as it is a small, unassuming building tucked away on a quiet street. However, when you walk in you are greeted with a warm and professional welcome by one of the many French waiting staff. We started the evening with a glass of champagne whilst waiting for the first course of our tasting menu extravaganza. We had both ordered the six course vegetarian tasting menu with different wines to accompany each course.

First course was a cream of girelle mushroom sauce with a spinach and pumpkin beignet accompanied by an aromatic white rather like a riesling. Second course was a trio of thin biscuits wedged between: artichoke foam, chestnut sorbet and mushroom caviar, accompanied by a light, tropical vouvray. Third course was tarbais beans and hazelnuts in a turnip puree accompanied by a rich, buttery white wine. Fourth course was roasted quince on a cinnamon biscuit and sweet potato puree, surrounded by a rich buerre blanc sauce, accompanied by a delightful red wine. Fifth course was an exquisite light vanilla rice pudding topped with passionfruit sorbet. Sixth course was a choice of two (of course Mark had one and I had the other): fig tart with lemon and thyme ice cream or pineapple souffle, both accompanied by a dessert wine. The feast ended with rich coffee and a tray of petits fours.

Wow, what can I say? This was a tasting experience to rival all others. The ambience of the restaurant was perfect, the food interesting and creative, the wines of superb quality, the service relaxed but efficient and most importantly the owner and chef (Morgan) passionate about what he does. We know this because he came and visited our table to discuss our views on his food. The only part of this experience that bothered me was that this place does not have a michelin star - it's a travesty!

Anyway, on with the rest of the week...

...My birthday (as always) fell on a dull midweek day: a Wednesday. However, Mark made it as special as possible by cooking me a divine roast dinner with Heston Blumenthal-style roast potatoes. I was also inundated with a wealth of cards and presents. The girls at work had also made my day really special by giving me lots of presents. I'm a very lucky girl.

On the Thursday I went off to the Wine Bar for tapas with friends. Again, I was spoilt with presents and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. It doesn't end there...

...On Saturday Mark and I head of to Melksham to see my family. We went to my favourite local Indian restaurant - the Refa Tandooori (they do the best veg vindaloo) and had a great evening of curry, champagne and more presents!

All in all I reckon turning thirty isn't all that bad. I might even have another thirtieth next year!

Roma

2007-10-28T06:23:00.001-07:00

I've just got back from a school trip to Rome. Poor Mark got dragged along too. I can't really be bothered to say too much about it (and the stuff I really want to say isn't publishable) but I feel glad I've seen Rome but I dn't feel any inclination to go back there. Rome is a beautiful city with amazing architecture. Unfortunately it is extremely crowded and all of the main attractions are really difficult to get into. We had to queue for an hour and a half to get into the Vatican Museums. Once inside we were pushed along like cattle as we tried desperately to stop and take in the stunning sight that is the sistine chapel.

Rome is also not very student friendly, the roads are an absolute nightmare and I feared for the lives of my students every time we crossed a road. We used the Metro underground system a fair few times but it only has two lines, doesn't go to the old town and closes at 9pm! Sometimes, I really appreciate how lucky we are in Britain.

Having been to Florence last year I would say that Florence is way better than Rome. It is a smaller and more manageble city. It has much of the beauty in a more understated fashion and there is still much to do and see. I recommend Rome as a once must see destination but now I've ticked it off (much like Havana) I have no intention of going back. Next year Venice me thinks!

Check out my photos at Flickr

Muahahahahamario!!!!!!!!!

2007-10-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

Sad as we are, Mark and I embarked another art attack day. This time we took out our creative venom on this poor pumpkin.

...It's Mario if you didn't already notice

The Munsters

2007-10-28T06:15:00.001-07:00

Well it's been a couple of months since we tied the knot. I think married life suits us well, don't you think so?

Photo Genius - Humph

2007-10-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

Mine

Not Mine

I was browsing through Flickr the other day and stumbled across some amazing photos.
Check them out at: http://stuckincustoms.com/
It puts my photos of the Colosseum to shame :-(

Honeymoon

2007-09-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

As many of you know we went to Cuba for our honeymoon. It was an interesting two weeks to say the least. All in all we had a great time but we wouldn't go back there again. Here are some of my most memorable bits...

Buying a swanky new digital camera at the airport on the way out

Being upgraded to a much nicer hotel after one night (much complaining had to be done)

The beautiful beaches

The infinity pools

The thunder storms

The crazy man in Havana talking on a phone that was connected to a dog

Mark getting touched up by a lady tramp

Mojitos - yum, yum, yum

Cuba Libres - yum, yum, yum

Club Tropicana - a total 80s cheese fest

Cuban food - shockingly bad

Dinner in a restaurant on the 34th floor of a hotel overlooking the city of Havana - stunning

The nightclub on the 25th floor of a hotel with a great salsa band

Cuban cigars

Narrowly missing a category 4 hurricaine

Revolutionary slogans painted on walls

Cheap original art (much of which was good)

Wedding

2007-08-27T02:24:00.000-07:00

Well I've finally gotten round to doing a post about the wedding. There aren't really enough words to describe how I feel about what was the best day of my life. So many people told me how amazing it would be but I didn't comprehend this until I experienced it myself. I recommend it to anyone!

I thought rather than give an in depth write up I'd give a list of my most memorable moments...

(in no particular order):

Pre wedding dinner with friends in a post office (you had to be there to understand)
The beautiful room we stayed in (with a roll top bath)

My mum and dad looking amazing

Being strapped into my dress by my mum, hairdresser and makeup lady

Jonathan Barry's smiling face - not (the hotel manager)

Josh (Mark's nephew) looking adorable

Dad's speech

The bridesmaids looking stunning

My subtle pause before saying I do, I was nervous - honest ;-)

Kirsty Scott's amazing dress and shoes

My red shoes (surprisingly comfortable)

The flowers on the tables (stunning)

Zoe and Jamie crying on the dance floor when their song came on

Shuffling self-consciously through our first dance

The case of the missing cakes

Uncle Adrian dancing the night away (I've never seen that before)

The awful dj (aren't they always at weddings?)

Last song of the night: Shed Seven, Chasing Rainbows

Everybody's kind words and smiling faces

Photoshop pt 2

2007-07-27T02:39:00.001-07:00

And I love this image although it's a little wierd. I think I might be pretentious and call it 'Underwater Love' lol.

Photoshop

2007-07-27T02:33:00.000-07:00

I've been toying with Photshop again recently and I'm pretty pleased with this shot of Mark and I. If I was being pretentious I would give it a name such as 'The kiss'. ;-)

Geo Wars Update

2007-07-27T02:07:00.001-07:00

Well it has been a while since any mention of the Geo Wars war. This is probably because no one has risen to the challenge and beaten me. For the record my high score is now 4.3 million and I'm currently in the top 1500 in the world. This is hilarious considering I'm usually pretty rubbish at computer games unless it is Tetris or the Sims :-)

School Murals

2007-07-27T01:58:00.000-07:00

Towards the end of term my school runs an activities week for students in years 7, 8 and 9. Teachers offer fun activities based on a particular theme and students opt for the ones they wish to do.

This year's theme was 'Freedom' to tie in with the 200 year anniversary of the abolition of slavery. However, we were allowed to interpret the theme as 'creatively' as we wanted. I chose to run a mural project where students would create large paintings for a grade 2 listed Victorian Walled garden. As we have pigs and chickens in the garden I thought that our link to freedom could be freedom food and organic, free range produce (tenuous eh!).

The work that was produced was a series of 4ft square murals on wodden boards, inspired by scenes of nature. The murals are varnished and will be permanantly attached to the walls for the pigs to anjoy. they are after all about the third most intelligent species beleive it or not!

To enjoy the entire collection of murals see my Flickr site. See if you can guess which one is mine!

Geo Wars: The battle is won but the war continues...

2007-05-31T04:44:00.000-07:00

I suppose I really should submit a teeny post about my current Geo Wars achievement. Finally I have made it past the million mark. My top score is 1,289,020!

I hope some of you lesser beings (mentioning no names, Gaz and Jon) are going to get your acts together and provide me with a challenge as we head to the next goal of 2million?

Bring it on!

Arty Farty

2007-05-31T04:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some examples of the artistic masterpieces we created during the life drawing class in Brighton. I must say mum and Kirsty.S . certainly impressed. I reckon I could get them both jobs as an art teacher!

It would be great if everyone else could email me copies of their drawings as I've only got a few so far. I will post them all on my Flickr account for those of you that are interested x

Hen Weekend...

2007-05-31T01:04:00.000-07:00

Well, after what seems like years of planning, the hen weekend has now been and gone. For those of you who weren't part of the shenanigans here is a brief account of how it went...

Friday started brilliantly as myself, Suzie, Emma and Zoe all took the train down to Brighton after work. We kitted ourselves out with three bottles of champagne, some of Suzie's fat club roast potatoes and invaded some poor bloke's quiet seating area. I must admit he did look pretty horrified!

We land in Brighton pretty half cut from the champers and make our way to the hotel. I've got to be honest, the hotel was pretty awful (it turned out to be a hen and stag hotel which resembled those awful hotels in Ibiza) but you really couldn't fault the location as it was smack bang in the middle of Brighton.

I flung my bag on the bed and headed straight down to the bar for happy hour cocktails :-) At this point everyone else started pitching up and it was time to grab some food. We ended up at Pizza Hut which was cheap and cheerful and more wine was consumed.

Later on in the night we took a gander at the night sights of Brighton. Suzie took a moment of liberation and stripped off and ran into the sea which was apparently rather nice and warm. We then headed off to a dodgy pub with weird reggae music.

Saturday I woke up with a shocking headache, fortunately I came prepared with a year's supply of paracetamol. A group of us then headed out for some boutique shopping in the lanes. Imagine my horror when I get a text from Mark saying that Suzie and Kirsty had been cautioned by the police last night. As I had left them propping up the bar I had no idea whether this was true!

Suzie and Kirsty joined us for lunch at a lovely veggie restaurant called Food for Friends and looked equally puzzled by Mark's query. It seems that Gareth might have let his imagination run a little too wild. Suzie was however hobbling as she had twisted her ankle last night, and Kim pitched up later with an unexplained bruise on her face ah beer-related injuries eh.

In the afternoon it was time to head off for our life drawing class. This all turned out to be a bit of a cock up as we were looking for Church Street in Brighton rather than Hove where it was actually based. Boys, don't you dare say anything about girls and directions. Anyhow, we made it there half an hour late which still gave us enough time to put charcoal to paper and create some fantastic visual representations of our model's best assets ;-)

After life drawing we headed to a pub for what I thought was going to be a quiet drink. How wrong I was, Suzie presented me with a quiz with some rather embarrassing questions about Mark that I had to answer in front of my mum! I was rather impressed by the trouble she had gone to though as Mark's answers were all recorded on a video - thanks Suzie :-)

Back to the hotel we got ourselves glammed up for the big night out. We tottered off in our heels to my favourite restaurant in the world, Terre a Terre. it didn't fail to meet my expectations as the food and service was amazing.

However, as I'm sipping my wine in this classy restaurant, Louisa decides to pull out a dubious bag of 'goodies'. The other girls started to follow suit and before I knew it I was kitted out in tiara, veil, fairy wings and all sorts of hen paraphernalia. I was officially a Brighton tacky hen!

After the restaurant we headed off to look for bars. We found a place called the Pitcher and Piano. It's not the sort of place I'd normally choose but it turned out to be perfect. It had massive seating areas, lots of good looking men (sorry Mark) and cheesy music. It also provided us with many free shots (I'll say no more on that one). Throughout the night we had to complete many of the dare cards that Kim had prepared for us. I was very impressed that my mum was the first to do one which involved her donning a monkey mask and telling some guy she was a porn star and she'd like him to do a movie with her!

At closing time we headed back to the hotel and cracked open some more wine before finally hitting the sack.

Sunday involved a 3 hour train journey home (damn those engineering works) before catching up with lots of sleep.

I'd just like to say a big thank you to all of the girlies who made my weekend very special: Mum, Kirsty N, Suzie, Louisa, Zoe, Emma, Kirsty S, Kim and Sharon. If any of you girlies have photos can you post them on Flickr or email them to me? Thankyoooooooo!!!!!!

Geo Wars

2007-05-19T06:17:00.000-07:00

It's about time I mentioned something about my newfound addiction to video games. At the age of 29, having shown no great interest in the geeky video games world throughout my youth, I am now fully addicted. One game in particular has sunk its claws into me: Geo Wars.

I really should kill Mark for getting this game as I am now totally consumed by it. I race home from work relishing the thought of getting straight into some gaming action and I go to sleep at night with bright lights flashing through my mind.

My obsession has not been to no avail as I currently have a high scor of over 700,000. I lay down the gauntlet to you fellow Geo Wars players, lets see who gets to 1 million first!

Masterfoods (or should that be bastardfoods?)

2007-05-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

I know many of you already know about the ridiculous decision by Masterfoods to start using animal rennet in their Mars chocolate and ice cream products but I felt I should still publicise it on my blog.

I have written a letter of complaint to Masterfoods but as of yet I have received no reply. If anybody else is in the mood for having a go at someone please send them an email. Even if you're not vegetarian you probably still don't relish the thought of biting into a Mars Bar that contains the lining of a cow's stomach, yum, yum yum!

Trading Standards

2007-05-06T05:41:00.000-07:00

Last week whilst eating dinner, Mark decided to drizzle some olive oil over his pasta. Imagine my horror as I looked at the label and saw 'contains omega 3 oil'! After further scrutiny of the information I can confirm that the omega 3 was obtained from squid and clearly not suitable for vegetarians.

Fortunately (thanks to fat club restrictions) I had not had any of this oil, but the near miss made me quite concerned for other vegetarians. I was particularly annoyed by the fact that the label was barely visible and given that one does not expect olive to be non-vegetarian, I felt it needed to be much bolder. Mark agreed with me, particularly given that he had bought the oil and hadn't noticed it.

I decided to email Sainsburys and express my dissatisfaction. Two days later I received a phone call saying that a number of people had complained and the label would be changed. It is really good to know that consumers can make a difference.

For the time being though, watch out fellow veggies as the omega 3 oil is infiltrating our foods very sneakily. Watch out for Kingsmill bread (which tasted of fish beforehand anyway) as one of their products now also contains omega 3 oil.

Wine Festival

2007-05-06T05:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend myself, Mark, Debbie and Chris ventured off to London to partake in a very middle class piss-up.

The Sunday Times Vintage Wine Festival is held annually at Westminster. The concept is simple: You pay £30 for a ticket and you get to spend three and half hours poncing about drinking as much quality wine as you can. If you want to be totally pretentious (like Mark and myself) you can record notes and scores in a book and also talk to the growers about their vineyards.

The whole event is a fantastic way to get totally wrecked without having to endure smoky pubs and larger louts. Better still, if you get too drunk you can help yourself to the many free samples of food to soak up the alcohol. Particular favourites this year were The Olive Company stall, Blacksticks Blue stall and a stall with exquisite truffles and dark chocolate.

Mark and I have now been able to sample the delights of our wine choices this weekend as our order arrived on Friday: a fabulous case of crisp, fruity Moldovan Sauvignon Blanc and three bottles of the most delightful white port (think burnt toffee and spicy ginger flavours).

Thanks to Debbie and Chris for joining us and making it an even more fantastic experience than last year :-)

Five-a-Day

2007-05-06T02:50:00.000-07:00

As a vegetarian I've been spoilt over the past few weeks with what I can only describe as an abundance of British edible treasures: Organic, sweet succulent strawberries, bundles of asparagus and gigantic cauliflowers. However, something strange is also happening... fruits and vegetables are suddenly changing sizes and I must say I find it very confusing when I see a pineapple the size of a pear and a banana the size of my hand. Perhaps the most shocking of all was when I purchased an organic caluiflower that was so huge I would even go so far as to say it was bigger than Mark's brain!

More images on my Flickr account...

Artists of the Future?

2007-04-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

Last week our GCSE Art exams took place. I think the calibre is much higher this year. Here are a few of the best in my group, I have more on my Flickr Site...

Kettle

2007-04-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

In a desperate bid to keep up with the Joneses (Suzie & Jon with their new hoovers), Mark and I have bought a swanky new kettle. Actually the real reason was because our old one was leaking gallons of water all over the place and we didn't feel this a particularly safe thing to happen given the large number of electrical appliances that are in the kitchen.

Anyhow, our new kettle (priced at £85 but reduced to £45) is a very sleek, stylish Bodum product. Apart from its very classy exterior it has a really cool button to press which releases the lid in some sort of hydraulic fashion. Of course the tea tastes so much better as well!

Gerberas

2007-04-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

Mark was very sweet this weekend as he bought me a lovely bouquet of flowers for no reason (there appeared to be no hints of guilt written on his face). I decided to photograph a couple of the flowers as they were really stunning. I'm quite please with my gerbera picture which I took on my phone camera and enhanced on Photoshop...

No under 18s allowed

2007-04-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

It seems those darling little students of mine have somehow managed to trace my blog site...

So listen up little children, this site is restricted and no one under the age of 18 is allowed to view my blog. My blog is very clever, it has in-built tracking devices that log every person who looks at it. I can then analyse the data and trace you via your IP address. If I catch you out I'm afraid to say I will have to report you to the police and you may well be given a custodial sentence for committing such a crime. I repeat, 'No Entry to Children!'

Those of you who obey the rules will be rewarded with lots of merits :-)

Clowning Around

2007-03-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

Meet Pennywise...Lol, he is the clown that I had to paint for our school's Global Rock Challenge performance. Guess where I got my inspiration from...

Hen Weekend

2007-02-25T04:04:00.000-08:00

Well preparations are taking place for the forthcoming hen weekend. The date is Friday 25th May to Sunday 27th May. Its a bank holiday weekend so you'll have the Monday to recover. The plan is to live it up in the hip city of Brighton. Kirsty (my lovely, helpful sister) and I tried to find a cottage to rent but its impossible to find one that is big enough and available for that date. So we've settled on twin rooms in a half decent hotel.

On the Friday night we'll probably just grab a cheap meal and hit some bars. On Saturday we may be lucky enough to take part in a male life drawing class (watch this space) before heading out to the funky shops and bars for lots of champagne. Saturday night we'll be heading to Terre a Terre which is an amazing veggie restaurant and then we'll hit the bars and maybe a club afterwards. If the weather's nice we can also head down to the beach and catch some rays.

I hope you'll all be up for it as I reckon its going to be a fab weekend.

P.s. I thought we could all wear matching hen t-shirts with a design like this one on:

Classy eh?

...Don't worry I'm only joking ;-)

2006-12-03T08:13:00.000-08:00

Birthday

2006-12-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

A belated thankyou to all my lovely friends and family for making my birthday so special. I had a fab time at Pizza Express despite the dodgy service and it was great to see so many people there. I love all of my presents, particular favourites being - Smash Hits book (Emma & Matt) which is full of nostalgic delights about the likes of Aha and Wham; Books on Cuba (Suzie & Gaz) - I really am excited about our honeymoon :-) ; a selection of very cool 80s records and a fab cook book (Joy & Jon) which I intend to inflict meals from its recipies on my unwitting friends! And last but not least - my DS Lite complete with Super Mario Bros from my lovely Mark. I am now totally hooked on gaming which I never thought I'd admit to. My next game will hopefully be Tetris (hint, hint Mark) so bring it on Suzie!

Anyhow, now my birthday is done and dusted lets get on with our Christmas celebrations. Any ideas on dates guys? ...

2006-11-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

Take Pictures on Your Mobile

2006-10-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

I’ve just got my new phone upgrade from Vodafone and I’m feeling pretty smug about it. After hanging on for a month or so I finally got a reasonable deal on the Nokia N80. Now I’m not one for obsessing about phones but I have to say this one really is a beauty. It is sleek in its design and has excellent features including a 3megapixel camera…

… I’ve only had a little play with the camera but so far I am very impressed with the results. Below is an example of a photo I took of Mark yesterday. All the camera settings, editing etc. were done entirely on the phone. I know it’s not quite in the same league as Gaz, Jon and who’s that guy? Ah yes, David Hockney, but let me have my little moment of glory! ;-)

Hen Weekend - Portland

2006-10-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

Well I guess I ought to say something about the infamous weekend. I'm not sure if there is anything I can possibly say that will do it all justice but I shall have a go...

Once again Soozy, you have not failed to please with your choice of amusement and venue. Being a hostel virgin (yes that's hostel, not hostile) I was somewhat dubious about the concept of bunking up with a bunch of strangers a la school dormitory. But how wrong my concerns were! The hostel turned out to be a pretty ok house actually, with many luxuries I wasn't expecting i.e. indoor toilet and shower. And the strangers turned out to be a bloody great bunch of girls (although to be truthful I'd expect no less from Soozy). I can honestly say that my view of hostels has changed for the better. However, give me five star luxuxury hotels any day of the week still!

On with the weekend....
Friday night consisted of a laid back getting to know eachother session, and what better way to enjoy it than breaking my 6 week alcohol fast. This I unfortunately paid the price for the next morning as I greeted the toilet with a vomitous hello. Saturday involved Soozy organising one of her famous expeditions into the middle of nowhere. Myself and Kirsty were highly sceptical of this at first but we were lured out with the promise of food and drink within half an hour. This promise was brought into question when we reached the first mountain to climb and Bernie's enlightening words of 'there's nothing up there girls. it'll be at least 2 hours before we reach a pub'. Hmmm, I'm thinking this is not good. So whilst the braver girlies hopped, skipped and jumped up the mountain path, myself, Kirsty and Margaret feld to the nearest pub for a hearty lunch and a pint.

After lunch we did attempt some sight seeing and took a wander around the wicker town. This was a scary time as the place really is like something out of a horror movie. We first wandered to the high street which had a number of shops and cafes but they were all closed. Furthermore, all of the houses in the area appeared to be either desolate or had wandering eyes peering from within. Some time later we passed an eery church which had two signs displayed outside - one advertised a Pet Service (yes you heard right), the other promoted the HARVEST FESTIVAL... Arghhh! (cue music from the Omen). This really is the remake of The Wicker Man! The three of us hurried back to the safety of the hostel, not before passing a spooky decrepit old cemetary which had three oddly new looking white crosses plonked in the middle - could this mean something?

After taking some time to recover we got ourselves ready for a night on the town. This involved heading down to the local pub to see a magic show (you probably already guessed this was Joy's idea). Unfortunately the Magic show turned out to be a dodgy band playing even dodgier covers. Any how, this all added to the fun of the night and we all had a good old laugh. Bernie managed to pull a 6 foot stalker (female) and we met up with a family of tourists from Barnsley where one of the guys looked like something from Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere.

Sunday morning came all too quickly and it was time to head off. Unfortunately for Kirsty she had agreed to get a lift with me back to Southampton. I say unfortunately as little did she know that this would involve a minor detour around Devon (don't ask!).

Anyway, its been a super weekend. Thanks to Soozy and Michelle for inviting me and organising it all. Michelle if you take bookings as a party organiser can you do my Hen night next year? And thanks to all the cool girlios for making it sooo much fun. I look forward to seeing you all at the wedding! :-)

LIVING IN THE EIGHTIES!

2006-09-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

Well as predicted, as soon as I returned to work I have virtually given up on my blog. One good thing has come out of my reinstitutionalisation (surely that isn't a word?) - my insomnia is cured - hooray! I wonder if Maxi could squeeze in the word 'enough' to replace 'no' in Insomnia... 'I can't get enough sleep'?

Anyway, I have finally set aside some time for the important task of dossing around on the internet (looking for more ways to revel in my love of 80s nostalgia) and I came across a brilliant link to Butlins website. I decided to take a peek and guess what? They are only hosting a series of 80s adult only weekends, starring none other than the likes of: Limahl, Toya, Go West and T'Pau! This is just amazing, its like my calling or something. Of course it goes without saying that I want to be there, but the question is who will join me?...

WEDDINGS...

2006-08-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

You will probably see a pattern emerge if you read my last post. I am currently in need of a sounding off board about weddings due to some particularly stressful incidents. I shan't bore everyone by going into detail about the specifics but I just need someone to reassure me (and Mark) that it wouldn't be easier to pack our cases and sod off abroad for a couple of weeks and get married, with just a couple of random holiday makers as our guest witnesses.

Can someone also explain to me how family members who have shown very little interest in your life since the day you were born have the right to dictate how you organise your wedding? Of course, if such people are willing to contribute to the 15-20k that we are spending on this special day we would be happy to discuss their ideas.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I thought a wedding was about a couple showing their love and commitment to one another in the presence of close family and friends. As it happens, certain other people seem to think its about shafting your friends out of the picture (blood runs thicker than water dear) and replacing those people who you socialise with on a regular basis with a handful of distant relations who you probably wouldn't even recognise if you walked passed them in the street!

Ah, what a happy occasion.

INSOMNIA II

2006-08-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

After suffering with lack of sleep and a nagging hangover from Thursday night, Friday night brought a miraculous brilliant night slumber :-) On Saturday I felt so good and was finally able to drag myself to the gym and perform various mundane physical activities around the house and beyond, hoorah!

Unfortunately, my respite was short-lived (two nights to be precise) as I have now slipped back into tortured mind syndrome at 3am for the past couple of nights. I put this down to stress; more specifically wedding stress. Its pretty mad that an event that is nearly a year away can cause one so much grief. I am now at the point that I cannot wait to get back to work as I feel it will be a welcome break from what has quite frankly been a pretty stressful holiday.

Roll on Friday...

SCHOOL STUFF!

2006-08-25T03:07:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to my friends for your helpful comments on how to combat insomnia. Unfortunately yesterday I still woke up after another poor nights sleep. I was feeling rather on edge and my stomach was doing that awful churning thing that you get when you go for a job interview. It then occurred to me that the reason for the sickening sensation in the pit of my stomach was not because I had to wake up to Mark (only joking honey), and no it wasn't due to morning sickness (phew); it was in fact because it was GCSE results day. You are probably thinking that I'm a little old to be taking my GCSE's and you'd be right. I was actually stressing because I was about to find out the results of all the children I taught this year and how well my department has fared. Basically its like going through the stress of exam results for 70 kids.

As it turns out, my 70 kids did good so I am pleased. I thought as I'm on the subject of school it would be a good opportunity to post some examples of mural projects I have done with various students over recent years...

Graffiti-style sport mural for activity week (yr 8, 9, 10)

History Mural for a summer school project (yr 7, 8, 9)

Geography mural for a summer school project (yr 7, 8, 9)

Dragon Mural for a multi-cultural project (yr 7, 8, 9)

2006-08-21T05:50:00.000-07:00

AN AMATEUR ATTEMPT AT POP ART...

2006-08-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

INSOMNIA

Definition: Sleep problems characterized by difficulty falling asleep, frequent wakings during the night, or waking up earlier than desired. Insomnia can result in getting up in the morning feeling unrested and experiencing drowsiness during the day.

Finally I have gotten round to posting my first blog entry. It is rather ironic that I have not found time to do so until now considering I am suffering with insomnia!

For the past three weeks I have been plagued by an inability to sleep; my mind constantly speaking to me, torturing me through the early hours of the morning. I feel like I have one of those 'you can't spell' gremlins sitting on my shoulder... 'whats wrong with you, can't you sleep? Hehehe' (you have to see the advert to understand what I'm prattling on about)

The cause of my insomnia is a mystery at present and doesn't seem to be improving despite implementing the obvious methods of cure such as: alcohol, hot baths, more alcohol, herbal teas, more alcohol, dodgy herbal sleeping pills and yet more alcohol! I fear drastic action may need to be taken if things don't improve soon...

There are some positive aspects of my condition however; for example, during my last week of night owling I managed to write the guest list and devise table plans for our wedding (not bad considering the wedding isn't until next year). I have also reached unit 4 of teach yourself italian - I now know how to say 'I have two brother's in law' using the correct plural and masculine subject - highly useful considering I don't have a brother in law.

Any suggestions on how to overcome insomnia (legal only... for now) would be greatly appreciated.