Sample of work for I-House application

Prints: shoes

Pinhole photography

Multiple portraits: Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Mixed media type: "O great creator, grant us one more hour to perfect our lives."

Bands I may well see at Glasto 2011

U2, Mumford & Sons, Fleet Foxes (missed their much talked-about set last time they played), The Naked and Famous, I Am Kloot, Newton Faulkner, Coldplay, Elbow, The Gaslight Anthem, Noah and the Whale, Laura Marling, Queens of the Stone Age, Eels, TV on the Radio, Bombay Bicycle Club, Cold War Kids, Everything Everything.

And then because my taste is just that mainstream I'll get my much cooler mates to introduce me to all the more unusual stuff they love.

Scribble

I haven't done any drawing for months now. I used to draw all the time, making up characters and worlds to my heart's content. Usually complete rip-offs of existing ideas, but that's just the way it is.

But over time I got all self-concious and hung-up and neurotic about drawing.

A good friend gave me advice ages ago; be alone, put some music on and just draw. So tonight I followed it (at last).

I also set out with a simple purpose - to draw some rubbish. Some really awful drawings - a toddler could capture more accurate representations of objects, but accuracy wasn't the point - it worked to get me past that initial fear of ruining a perfectly good blank sheet of paper with a failed attempt at a portrait.

Inspiration, Motivation &c.

"There are two types of genius. Ordinary geniuses do great things, but they leave you room to believe that you could do the same if only you worked hard enough. Then there are magicians, and you can have no idea how they do it. Feynman was a magician." - Hans Bethe

Frank Turner, Live at Trof Cafe

I was lucky enough to catch the end of a solo set last night. It was free entry, with a collection for charity inside (£20 donation to make a request). The small crowd (of maybe 100-200) belted out every chorus, Frank going as far as to unplug his mic for a couple of songs during the encore. The PA turned out to be superfluous anyway, since he could out-sing us all.

Salford Quays

I took a trip to Imperial War Museum North in the company of two of my housemates today. The museum is excellent, intense, and portrays the stark reality of war without being overly harrowing. This was the best shot I managed to get as I snapped and walked, of some building over the water from the museum itself.

Sun and blue skies have been far more frequent in Manchester this autumn than people give the place credit for. We were going to have a look round the Lowry Gallery but decided to save it for another time.

A Gift From My Mother

She has this on a little card, I made a copy of it in my notebook. If you haven't read it before you may find it interesting, I don't know.

"Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labours and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy."

- Max Ehrmann