Dunny Kami

I bought a  Dunny.



I sprayed it white, ready to paint up.


I used my new Golden Acylics to turn it into my very own Kamikaze Kitten character.






She just needs some wheels and a spray of lacquer and she'll be all finished.

Shoot

Today I assisted Steve on a shoot. I love going to new places and having access to weird locations on shoots. I like to take my little Leica and snap a different perspective of the spaces.

Storm

There was an awesome storm this evening. Thunder, lightening, hail, rain, rainbows. It was beautiful.

commutes

Getting to training is often a 2hour trip each way. A bit longer if I have to include the 30minute cycle to and from the station.

It can be all too easy to consider this as 'wasted time' and in considering it as such, resent the travelling. However, it is in these periods of limbo, of travelling between 'doing' that we get the space away from our lives to gain new perspectives. Time to think. To daydream. To read a book. To sketch. To ponder. It makes us more productive and focused when we DO arrive at our destination and it takes some of the pressure off living in the moment.

Country Living illustrations

Birthday!!!!

I had the best birthday yesterday.

Paddle boat

It turned out to be quite a physical day in the end!
After my run this morning, I painted up planters and then Steve and I went on a paddle boat hunt. He'd spotted a half burried one in the woods near the marina so we set off with a boiler suit and trowels and dug it up. We tipped the gunk out and carried it back to the boat. (My arms still haven't recovered from this!) We gave it a hose down and will give it a proper scrub come the next sunny day. I'd also like to paint it up with pink hotrod flames and my Kamikaze number 9 logo. I couldn't resist taking it for a spin whilst it was still a bit mucky though!





Whilst we were in the woods we also found a big metal box that had been dumped, so I ground the rust off it, hammerited it, and sprayed it blue. Now it is all ready to hold new plants.

AND I ran out of wood paint for my remaining planters so I hopped on the bike and cycled to homebase. Only a couple of miles each way, but enough on top of all the other exercise to leave me feeling physically exhausted and happy this evening.

It's been a good day.

Running forwards

This morning I went for a run. The air was cold and icy but the sun was hot and bright. I'm rubbish at running. It makes my lungs scream and my teeth hurt. And I was running for less than one song on my ipod, walked for a bit, ran for another song, walked, then ran all the way back down the jetty. But I love 'having been' for a run. It clears the mind a bit. Boosts your energy, focuses your mind on the day ahead. Which is especially useful as I've been feeling so adrift of late.

Because I had so many weeks of being incredibly busy- bouncing from one job to the next, I was just reacting to where my career was headed. I didn't have to think about anything other than the immediate project. Now that I've had a little while to recover from that I've become lazy and complacent. No real priorities, just bumbling along.

So it's time to start running forwards under my own steam now.

Brummmmm

I went to Birmingham this weekend to watch 'The Clash of the Titans: Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames 'v' Glasgow Rollergirls'. I had so much fun.
I would never have believed that I'd go away with a bunch of girls and watch a sport, stay in a motel, train with another league the next day, have lunch with a bunch of girls and come home. I love my teammates, they're all so nice!

Sounds obvious but....

... I've been learning recently that the more you do something the better you get at it.

'Well, duh!' you say. But up until recently I've relied upon natural ability to do stuff. If I wasn't good at something straight away, I'd often give up. Or get distracted by something else if I reached a plateau.

Rollerderby has been a BIG help with this. Each time I practise I work on something new. Focus on a way to get better. I've also noticed it with cooking. The more I cook, the more I feel I can experiment. And building Steve yet another new website- I'm learning and building upon all my past experience. I only hope to push this into my artwork too. The Panic at the Disco work was a nod towards this- I've just got to use what I learnt doing that to move forward rather than off in a new direction.

smellophone

New phone, same number.

Snow!!!

This morning we woke up to less light coming through the skylights.
Hark! They were covered in a thick layer of snow!!!!






***************
Blogging has been a bit infrequent of late. I'm having trouble finding *balance* right now. Lots of weeks of LONG days working has left me with an awful lot to catch up on, and a general 'not been creative enough because I've been earning money' funk.

A family visit.

Steve's Ma and Pa and brother came to visit this week. We spent a lot of time in gardens. Wisley and also Windsor Great Park.















The weather was glorious and we even took the neighbour's little rowing boat out for a spin around the lake.

ET phone home.

Erm, I dropped my phone in the marina. I now have no phone. This will be rectified shortly but if you don't hear from me when you text me it's for that reason, not because I am deaders.
Thanks

220J8333

220J8333, originally uploaded by lornaart.

And another.

220J8352

220J8352, originally uploaded by lornaart.

Another picture of Saturday. Courtesy of Steve Kitten.

Moi

Kitten, originally uploaded by sjnewton.

From last Saturday. Thanks Sjnewton for the pic.