A Spell For A Weakling Heart

Where can I find these?

2012-02-12T00:25:00.001Z

NEED

2012-02-11T23:10:00.000Z

Today was lovely. Yayoi Kusama at the Tate Modern with my favs YY and Yuko. Then lunch at Borough Market courtesy of my flatmate, Hugh. I had to actually fight him to pay for our desserts just like how my family always fought my grandma for the bill. It felt like I was actually fighting with my grandma. Then he bought me fudge just like my grandma would have done.

2012-02-09T23:55:00.003Z

1:07 is Fred and I.

2012-02-09T23:55:00.001Z

1:07 is Fred and I.

manic

2012-01-14T04:13:00.001Z

I haven't updated in some time. This is what's going on in my mind.
Oh god this blog is actually public? it's 3:50 am? oh god. All these website accounts are a joke. Just deactivate them all. Oh god I can't. Draw? oh god.

Also, this song. Man. I wish I wrote it. So teary.

2011-10-19T22:43:00.000+01:00

sketch of Annie Clark

SNSD's "The Boys" album art!

2011-10-08T03:07:00.000+01:00

I'm loving SNSD's "The Boys" album cover art! Can someone please tell me who the artist is?!

Listening to....

2011-10-08T01:29:00.001+01:00

October 2011!

old Wolf....I still wish I could play bass clarinet and do drawings for him.

Lhasa - Rising

2011-09-27T12:09:00.002+01:00

nice music video

2011-09-24T23:38:00.001+01:00

I've been thinking about a friend who's going through these feelings. It really does seem like love makes you go crazy.

I dread the day I fall in love.

2011-09-22T21:29:00.001+01:00

Culturally, LA has always been a humid jungle alive with seething LA projects that I guess people from other places can’t see. It takes a certain kind of innocence to like LA, anyway. It requires a certain plain happiness inside to be happy in LA, to choose it and be happy here.

- Eve’s Hollywood, by Eve Babitz

Five Days

2011-09-12T09:27:00.000+01:00

until I go back. I'll hopefully start updating again.

Sketchbook scans

2011-05-13T19:47:00.000+01:00

These songs on serious repeat for me today.

2011-05-06T02:18:00.001+01:00

But mostly Fleetwood Mac.

Some drawings and videos

2011-05-05T01:03:00.000+01:00

Drawing from a trip to Borough Market and Greenwich with Momo. The second drawing was the only drawing I did at Borough Market because the market was way too crowded so I couldn't find a proper place to sit down. I was standing behind a booth and drawing the owner of the booth I was drawing wanted to look at my drawings. She really liked my Canterbury drawing and wants to commission me to draw her booth for her. I'm going back this weekend to talk to her about it. The thing is she sells packaged beans. It doesn't make for a very interesting painting....

All my other drawings were done at Greenwich. That was strange day because I took allergy meds and was so drowsy the whole day. But we ate good food at the market and relaxed on the grass at the uni of greenwich as you can see from the video. I tried to draw at the uni but the mixture of it being windy and chilly, the buildings being so detailed, me being sleepy, and the loud music coming from the music building made it really hard for me to concentrate.

And oh my god. DRIVERS HERE ARE SO RUDE. Momo and I were standing across the street from the market, and a guy was parallel parking his huge mercedes in front of us in a space that is clearly too small for him. I tried to stop him, but he just ignored me. He purposefully taps both front and back cars just so he can fit and even pushes the back car as he's parking. I couldn't believe it and what's worse is that he came back after three minutes and leaves. THEN another guy comes and does the same thing!! Talking about inconsiderate things, recently guys in my dorm have been playing football (soccer) by kicking it on the wall, and it sometimes hits my window, and I hear the ball hitting other people's windows as well. They are BA students, not even foundation students! They SHOULD know better.

Anyways I feel sick right now, and I don't know why. I stayed in my room the whole day packing and cleaning and watching Disney movies. I watched Robin Hood, Tangled, Jungle Book, Jungle Book 2, and Ever After. OH and Momo and I went karaoking yesterday. IT WAS SO FUN! We would have spent the whole day in there if we could have. This post is all over the place...I'll stop now.

Canterbury

2011-04-26T21:56:00.003+01:00

Momo and I took a day trip out to Canterbury for the purpose of drawing. :) First we went to the Cathedral, took a look around and settled for an area near the back of the Cathedral with cute buildings. Afterwards we drew at 2 more different site - one being the river. It was such a nice and relaxing day. Getting out of London was really refreshing. Things were slower paced, the air was fresher, and the people were really nice.

I drew this on site. I should scan it so you can see more detail and actually see the normal colours. I'll put up my other Canterbury drawings later. I drew them on site but I need to finish them.

Indie Snob You Say?

2011-04-23T00:55:00.001+01:00

I should go to sleep but I'm kind of upset over something that I need to release.

A situation happened with my sister where she said she got tickets to see Florence and the Machine because she heard her perform on the Grammy and thinks she has an amazing voice. Florence’s album Lungs is very personal and dear to me, and the fact that my sister based her judgement on an Aretha Franklin cover Florence did at the Grammys is stupid. I don't even know if she's heard any of the songs from the album. Well actually I do. We were watching Glee in a hotel room and they started singing Dog Days Are Over so she knows that song FROM THAT FUCKING COVER. These kinds of situations always occur obviously when bands that I love start getting more attention. It's really awkward for me because I have to be considerate to the person and not go apeshit on them;however, no one know how I really feel or my REASONS for feeling this way. Friends indirectly tell me to stop being an indie snob but I just want to say fuck off to them. I’m not a snob. I'm so happy for these artists for finally receiving the attention they deserve. But sadly this attention is short lived from my experience! These artists get attention so quickly and then people will forget about them, but for me these artists music will stay with me for life. Without certain bands and artists, I would not be me and I would not be where I am. Without music I don't think I would have pursued art. For instance, Bloc Party. Honestly, who gives a fuck about them anymore? Well songs from Silent Alarm still make me cry/smile and give me shivers even after 5 years so obviously I still give a fuck about them. I understand people aren’t as passionate about music as I am but if you really knew me and wanted to be considerate towards me, you’d know not to say such careless things to someone whose (I daresay) religion is music. :O

I hope my sister has a good time at the concert.
I feel better now. SMILEY FACE.

Thao Nguyen

2011-04-22T00:55:00.002+01:00

This chick so fly.

A calm and cool day at Somerset House

2011-04-21T19:04:00.002+01:00

I went here yesterday to draw. There are so much details in the building that I definitely am coming back this weekend to do more drawings. I was actually walking from Trafalgar Square trying to find Leadenhall but ended up getting lost and finding myself here. I'm glad I ended up here instead because it was such a hot day and the courtyard in Somerset House is such a pleasant place to relax and cool off.

2011-04-21T18:56:00.000+01:00

You girls are so fake to me but

because I won't be seeing you next year. MUAHAHAHAHA

Music Goodness

2011-04-20T13:23:00.001+01:00

I've just discovered Big Ugly Yellow Couch ala YouTube. They have artists play sessions on their couch. There seems to be a lot of sites/channels springing up just like this one trying to copy the style of La Blogotheque/Take Away Shows. The difference with Big Ugly Yellow Couch is that they seem to feature artists that are sincere and genuine with their music.

I'm pretty sure Dawes is going to make it big when their album comes out in June.

The More I Watch Music Videos

2011-04-19T20:08:00.000+01:00

The more I find myself not being able to listen to the songs without the video. I think I'm addicted to the pairing of textural sounds and images.

Hannah Hooper

2011-04-17T14:15:00.000+01:00

The artist that did the album art for The Morning Benders' Big Echo. All her work is seriously amazing. Go check it out HERE

Foundation Exhibition

2011-04-17T02:22:00.001+01:00

Just some of the works from the exhibition...

We went to go eat afterwards in a really cute and authentic Italian restaurant on Oxford Street.

Untitled from DiAndra on Vimeo.

Oh. My. God.

2011-04-16T00:56:00.001+01:00

Greyson Chance just blew my mind away. I love this song, and honestly I thought he was going to butcher it and I'm glad I was proved wrong. Not like I know anything about music but the way he conveys emotions is amazing and is interpretation of the song is surprisingly fresh! And he's just 13. What the fuhhhhh. Well I feel under accomplished.

Scans of life drawings

2011-04-13T17:54:00.000+01:00

2011-04-13T13:50:00.001+01:00

I just came across this video while watching YouTube videos of Oh My School and I came across a Star Golden Bell clip of Jo Kwon and Lee Joon dancing to Sistar's Push Push. At first I thought it was just another normal video of Jo Kwon being his usual flamboyant self. He has to be gay! My Korean friends don't think he's gay and tell me that it's a culture thing, but seriously look at that dance. The pants ripping part when Lee Joon was dancing was so unexpected. I died of laughter for 5 minutes. I haven't laughed that hard watching a youtube video ever. Props Lee Joon.

Went by Tate Modern

2011-04-11T21:38:00.001+01:00

Today was a gloomy day. I was only able to do two drawings because it started to sprinkle. So I had to rush home. Next live drawing location? Trafalgar Square? Hyde Park? Southbank? St Pauls? Garden Museum?

Take me to the park.

2011-04-11T12:36:00.001+01:00

It's been so sunny and warm every day. All I want to do is relax outside.

Now that I'm free, I'm starting to make stop motions. I want to try to do one every day or every other day just to document my life. I'm also using it as a learning experience about visual communication in form of movement as I want to get more into animation and videography in the future. It's really hard though. It's hard to not make people uncomfortable when you're shooting continuous photos, and it's hard to wait for people to be themselves for the camera and to capture the feel of the moment. I'm working on it though.

I'm so excited to just go out today and take photos and do life-drawing and pack fruits by myself today. !!!

I'm feeling good about myself today. Recently I've been down and dumps and I'm sick of it. I'm making a decision today to stop caring about how much I weigh and to stop caring about my face and to stop caring about my faults. But this doesn't mean I'm letting myself go and becoming really fat. haha
My insecurities about my looks were never this bad before I came to London!! I think I need to train myself so that other people's ideals and such not get into my mind. I know where I come from and that's not how we roll over there. I just didn't grow up with people constantly caring about each other's weight and their own all the time.
Creating art and music makes me feel good about myself and convinces me this is why I am alive. I will put a focus in my life to better myself as an artist and a person. None of this outer looks nonsense anymore. If I'm happier and confident about myself as a person, then that will make me beautiful on the inside and out.

LOL

2011-04-10T09:56:00.000+01:00

This is actually my friend's uncle.

Why do I do this to myself?

2011-04-07T00:29:00.000+01:00

I'm looking at my portfolio for my Brighton interview tomorrow and I hate almost everything I did. I'm even feeling ashamed of my final major project. I look at my work and I don't feel like I've improved as much as I want or as much as I see people who go to art school in America improve in one year. I feel so frustrated and mad. Why am I being like this when I had such a good day?

I'm excited to point where i feel nauseous

2011-04-05T17:15:00.003+01:00

A few moments ago I just spazzed and jumped around. I feel dizzy from not breathing. I think I"m getting too excited. I just bought my ticket to go to

Reverberations: The Influence of Steve Reich - Session 6

Featuring Steve Reich, Britten Sinfonia, Clogs, Max Richter, Owen Pallett and eighth blackbird

8 May 2011 / 18:00
Barbican Hall

SESSION 6 A final Reich premiere closes the weekend: Double Sextet . Before that, the Britten Sinfonia plays music by Reich and Julia Wolfe, and collaborates with Owen Pallett, in a full orchestral performance of the album Heartland. Plus, a set from Max Richter and the return of Clogs.
Steve Reich Clapping Music Steve Reich/So Percussion
Steve Reich You Are Variations BS/Synergy Vocals/Clark Rundell
Julia Wolfe Cruel Sister BS/André de Ridder (London premiere)
Owen Pallett Heartland Owen Pallett/BS /André de Ridder
Steve Reich Double Sextet eighth blackbird/Bang on a Can(London premiere)
Plus a set from Max Richter and his ensemble and a second set by Clogs.

Double Sextet III (by Steve Reich) Performed by eighth blackbird_excerpt by Barbican Music
so excited so excited so excited so excited so excited
I'll be grinning my mouth off.

I haven't seen Owen Pallett play since 2007 or 2008 I think when he opened for Bloc Party. The only other time I've seen him live was a couple months earlier in Pomona at his own show. I don't know. I swear I've seen him a third time but I can't remember the exact time. Anyways I've been listening to him since 8th grade. I think he's the only musician that I've been keeping up with and loving for that long. My blog is named after one of his songs after all. And I've always wanted to state out loud that it would be fun to play Japanese video games particularly Final Fantasy with him. I'm excited to see what else is in store for me at the concert. I'll be going alone but WHATEVER. I miss live music so badly. I also bought a lonesome seat in the second row.....which are the only rows available. What if I'm the only person sitting in the second row and the first row is empty. That will be so embarrassing. Anyways, hearing Steve Reich music will be a treat and seeing Owen Pallett perform with an orchestra.......I don't know. His live music doesn't suit an orchestra in my opinion (even though Heartland has orchestra galore on it), but I'm sure I'll still love it. Owen Pallett seems to agree with me too in this interview hehe
Every time I listen to kpop songs now I always think of what Owen Pallett says about orchestras and pop songs and I end up getting annoyed of the songs.

WATCH THIS. New video for his song The Great Elsewhere:

I'm in love with all the textures. I swear music videos like this are giving me more desire to become a videographer as well as an illustrator.

Final piece

2011-04-04T15:01:00.000+01:00

This morning I dropped off the final piece for the show.

An audience

2011-04-04T00:18:00.000+01:00

Pretty sparse crowd.... I don't have time to do more people. It's 12 am and I need to start on carving what's going to come out of the last horn

oh jackie you craketh me upeth

2011-04-03T20:08:00.000+01:00

2011-04-02T23:35:00.005+01:00

A crying ghost

A lonely demon

A skull-headed young cellist

I referenced vintage photos I found in various places around London.

Louise and the Pins

2011-04-02T16:03:00.000+01:00

These girls minus Laura are playing Communion tomorrow night. The song's lovely. The main vocalist reminds me a lot of Annie Clark which is a great thing. I've peeved that I haven't been to ONE single Communion the whole year and still I won't be able to go to tomorrow night's. BUT they're playing May 1st Apocalypstick again so I might try to go to that!

I MISS YOU LA

2011-04-01T18:05:00.001+01:00

Like no other.

What I miss about LA:

The Kogi Truck
Little Tokyo at Night

Daikokuya, Yogurtland, Wurstkuche, Curry House, Fugetsudo, the restaurant that has really good sashimi that I don't know the name of

99 Ranch Market
Monterey Park
Santa Monica Pier
driving down Wilshire Blvd.
driving on the 110
In N Out
the observatory
Disneyland
gigging
Melrose Ave.
Arcadia
Laemmle Theatre
driving from Lake Ave. to my house
my grandma's house
only having to wear one layer of clothes
sun

I miss the culture, feel, people, and food that feed my soul and make me who I am.

Ask me anything

2011-04-01T00:35:00.000+01:00

I don't remember if I've already made a post like this, but if anyone would like to ask me anything out of curiousity or for the heck of it go Here

Because one of my friends says.....

2011-04-01T00:07:00.000+01:00

she's scared of all Muslims. And she's not even American.

Clothes Encounters

2011-03-31T21:44:00.001+01:00

I love these girls and all their videos. I never find anything good at Goodwill but these girls always find great clothes there! They also go to the Rose Bowl flea market. I'm going to have to go start going to there this summer to get as good stuff and deals as them.
If you're into fashion and thrifting, check them out at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/clothesencounters

FMP progress

2011-03-31T18:02:00.001+01:00

I got up it was dark
Theres no one in the park at this hour
Why do I keep finding myself here?

Ai Wei Wei

2011-03-31T12:28:00.002+01:00

and let me just ask....HOW CAN YOU GET RID OF PBS?

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

Final Major Project sketchbook pages

2011-03-28T17:11:00.001+01:00

One of the first product sketches

CotainerPLUS and notes about where to get material

more product sketches

Historial research on gramophones and phonographs. None of this research amounted to anything for the final product. Anyways, the research was mega interesting and I would like to learn more about them!

Ideas on how to build horns

Pattern designs for horns and/or wallpaper

Initial pattern for wallpaper

What I have so far.

2011-03-27T23:17:00.001+01:00

It took me forever to glue the boards together!! The super glue was soaking into the wood so I had to use Uhu glue and put super glue on top of the Uhu glue layer, and it was just all very complicated. I need to get right angle metal things to glue the boards together to make sure they stick together forever and I still have to left side to paint and glue on. Not to mention none of the illustrations are included yet! Designs and people will be pouring out of the horns and onto the walls and floors while my character will be trembling in her bed.

Movie day

2011-03-26T23:48:00.001Z

Mmmmm(Sorry Taylor)

I just finished watching 4 movies with Taylor over Skype. The Switch, The Green Hornet, The Illusionist, and Chonmage Purin. I have to say The Switch was the best although Chonmage Purin was really good as well. There were a lot of kinks in Chonmage Purin though. The samurai never reflected too much on how much different Japan has become since the Edo era, and the mother did not reflect on the fact that she was letting a sword wielding samurai take care of her kid. As long as you get past that, it's a good movie. The Green Hornet was a normal action/marvel movie and The Illusionist was pretty uneventful. Although the illustration in The Illusionist was absolutely beautiful.

Not saints. Not bitches or whores. Just women.

2011-03-26T12:27:00.000Z

2011-03-25T18:47:00.000Z

I feel totally out of it today. I walked to the market to get some groceries and was feeling faint and my eyes couldn’t focus properly. I felt like sleeping while I was walking and the light seemed extra bright. Maybe that meant I was about to faint. I didn’t drink any water the whole day or really eat anything, but I felt alright in terms of my strength. I don't know if it has anything to do with last night's sleep or the fact that it's that time of month for me. I'm not sure if I did this in my dream or in real life, but I think I got up and sleep walked which probably resulted in me not having enough hours of good sleep. Recently I haven't been able to tell reality from my dreams like Gael Garcia Bernal in The Science of Sleep.
Exactly like this:

One night I dreamed I had to find a bomb shelter because a nuclear bomb was going to be dropped then I woke up panicking and thinking that I'm going to die in my room because my room won't keep me safe enough. Am I going crazy?

Thus leading to my final major project which is about night terrors and dreams. Originally it was going to be about how live music can take you to a dream-like place. But it's impossible to communicate that message in a sculpture without words, and not everyone can relate to it. Then I decided to make a book to go along with it about a grandmother who falls asleep listening to music and her journey through her dreams which ties in to the music. Recently I've been witnessing a lot of grandchildren being annoyed at their grandparents for being boring, and I wanted to show that old people were once young and had their adventures and fun and still do. But then by the time I changed my theme, I didn't have enough time to make a book and a sculpture. Plus I didn't feel like the book about a made up character was personal enough for my final project so then I changed my theme again to being about night terrors and inverted reality and dreams. I still am including the musical aspect of it in a small way.
Not like I post pics of my work errday but my work is at a standstill today as I’m resting and waiting for this little dizzy spell to go away.

2011-03-24T23:07:00.001Z

Cat videos

2011-03-24T20:19:00.000Z

I'm obsessed.

I love all conversations with Jilly.

2011-03-23T20:40:00.000Z

DiAndra: are they just taking the piss there?

jellyroll615: lol is taking a piss a term

DiAndra: ooh

DiAndra: i guess its an english term

DiAndra: herp

jellyroll615: whats herp

jellyroll615: like herpes?

DiAndra: are you planning to give candies to boys?

jellyroll615: huh?

jellyroll615: no its kids day!

DiAndra: then to kids?

jellyroll615: hahah

jellyroll615: sure ill make em sit on my lap to earn it

DiAndra R: pedo

DiAndra R: status

Jilly just showed me a video which has possible become my favourite video on youtube. It's called Goro & Japan, and it's almost like a freaking movie. The only thing is the Nutcracker background music is distracting. I wish I had Goro's life. He looks so happy when he's sitting in those flowers and running around in the snow.

2011-03-23T17:00:00.000Z

It's a warm and sunny day in London!

I did another drawing. I'll scan it in later.

Pics from my sister's visit

Some things I've cooked while on my diet.

Egg roll with spinach and onion

boiled edamame and sweet potato

I think about Japan every day.

2011-03-22T23:34:00.000Z

I cried on March 11th and have thought about Japan every day since. I wish I could fly over there and help not only the people but all the abandoned and injured pets. :(
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/dog-in-japan-stays-by-the-side-of-its-ailing-friend-in-the-rubble

2011-03-04T22:27:00.000Z

I need to start doing some observational drawings everyday. In the long term, these drawings would be great to look back on when I am older and remember my time here.

2011-02-22T22:46:00.000Z

I've been looking at work from the BA Illustration students at Camberwell and here's some work I really liked.

Kai Chan

I actually had an idea like this the other day. I was thinking of taking pictures or making a video and redrawing each frame to make an animation...which I think this person did. Anyways, you can see my tutor Geoff in this video...

Jade Bridgwood

Christie Corbally

Ro Chiu Chiu

Hollie Teedam

I saw this framed in the etching facility, and my eyes kept going back to it while I was working on my etching. It's so amazing.

Andrew Thorpe

cheeky drawing. :)

There is seriously so much more amazing stuff on the website. Check it out:

http://2010.atcamberwell.com/courses/illustration

Interviews

2011-02-22T22:07:00.000Z

Today I had my interview for the BA and FdA Illustration courses I applied to for Camberwell. There are separate interviews for Home/EU students and International students. Home/EU Camberwell Foundation students do not need an interview and just get a portfolio review by the Illustration heads at Camberwell. International students get a portfolio review and interview with the International office instead. I'm not really sure why there's a difference in the process for home/eu students and international students. Anyways, the interview took place at Chelsea College of Art and Design which is also part of UAL (University of Arts London). It was my first time going to Chelsea, and it such a different feel from Camberwell. It's a small school but still so much bigger than Camberwell, and it's located in a posh-er part of London. I met up with Momo and Jay at the station. We expected to see a lot of art students with A1 portfolios in the station and on the tube but none of us really saw anyone. We were in shock because when we got to the school, it was pretty much empty even though today was a school day. We walked to the international office and we expected to see loads of international students, but all the students waiting were from my Illustration class at Camberwell.
Anyways, the interview went well. She asked me what my influences are and what I think my strengths are and what do I think my best piece is and what I learned on the course. Then she complimented me on my work and said she can see that my drawing has improved and that there's variety in my work and not everything looks the same. She also said, "I'm doing things right" overall. She offered me a place on the BA course because she said I would really fit and do well on the course. She said she'd offer me a place on the FdA if I really want to go on the FdA, but she really believes that I should do the BA. Everyone I know got offered a place on either BA or FdA Illustration at Camberwell so I'm happy. But at the same time I'm not too happy about it because EVERYONE got offers so I'm thinking they just accept us because we pay more? I don't know. What do YOU think?

I cut my hair! No regrets....

2011-02-16T22:17:00.001Z

Diet plan

2011-02-16T20:12:00.000Z

Or more like Changing-my-eating-habits Plan. I've been so stressed recently, so I've been gorging down large amounts of food and cookies, but now I am seeing and feeling the consequences. Not fun. I tried to make a dietary plan, but it's so hard!! Soona, who lost 40 pounds since her college days gave me some good advice that I will try to go by for the next two weeks.

Her rules:
1) For breakfast, eat one or two pieces of fruit for breakfast. No cereals.

2) For lunch, you can have anything you want.

3) Drink lots of water and/or Oolong Tea

4) Train yourself to sit up straight.

5) For dinner, if you eat rice, only eat one bowl. Eat lots of vegetables. Don't use oil.

6) Don't eat after 7. You can drink tea or water though.

7) No more chocolates or sugared substances.

8) Stretch if you're sitting a long time. Stretch 10 minutes before you go to sleep.

9) Walk to school if you can.

10) (My rule) Get at least 7 hours of sleep. No more than 9. That means I really have to time manage and try to get my work done before 11 pm.

I think I'm going to have to break the chocolate rule and leave out one day for some sweets. It'll be too hard to suddenly cut out sweets completely.
I haven't weighed myself since X-mas. I think I weighed....134. I want to get 125 -127 in two weeks. Do ya'll think that's a reasonable goal?

some portfolio work in random order

2011-02-15T20:09:00.001Z

2011-02-14T23:14:00.000Z

Hi.

So today is Valentine's Day but more importantly I passed my assessment. Thank god I passed the drawing award that I got referred on AND got a merit for this unit. phew! I worked so hard from friday-sunday to make sure I did everything right and finished off final outcomes. Not only THAT but I got my University of Brighton e-portfolio in on friday. :) I'm so proud of myself. But I still have to work on my portfolio before my first interview next tuesday for Camberwell. AHH I have to make sure I'm enthusiastic and confident about all of my works. Which means I have to probably take some stuff out and maybe make some new work before next Tuesday. All I have is work work work until the summer.

Screen prints

2011-02-08T19:52:00.000Z

etching

one colour screen prints of accordions on fabrics

I want to do something with the fabrics but I have no idea what. Any ideas?

Organizing My Thoughts

2011-01-28T21:14:00.000Z

warning: This is not worth reading!!

I feel like I need to reiterate all the information in my head so I don't forget anything.

On Monday I turned in all our work from unit 14 and 18, which is all the work before Christmas, for assessment. Assessment, is where the tutors look over your work and decide if you pass or get referred. Getting referred means you get two weeks to do the things that the tutors think you need to do/finish. So last weekend I spent it touching up some of my work, organizing it, and making sure I had contextual references in my notes. I knew the contextual referencing part was a major part of the assessment so I worked on that the most. The tutors didn't specify how exactly to show contextual research and learning. I looked at the slideshows that the tutors showed us for each project and I wrote down the names of the artists that I was interested in and the work that lead me to do what I did on projects. However, when I got my assessment sheet back, my tutor noted that I had "no evidence of contextual research". He also noted that "there is no analysis of how others work can help [mine]". I clearly did these things, and I obviously did not do it right, but "no evidence" at all? That's not fair! My log book is soooo fulllll of writing notes from slideshows, lectures, and tutorials. I really should have talked to my tutor before the assessment to ask how to effectively contextualize my work. My tutor also commented, "Keep making work that is ready for folio". What kinds of work can be considered ready for the portfolio and not ready for the portfolio? I'm really confused. Because art schools want to see progress work as well as the final products. I'm not annoyed at all, and I hope that I don't come off as annoyed or mad. I'm just really confused with the way things are done here in the UK. Sooo different than the US. But my tutor also said "some absolutely lovely stuff that is VERY PROMISING", so I'm relieved to hear that because I think everything I made was shit.

Anyways, for next week I need to:

-Mark all the parts in my logbook which show contextual referencing to show my tutor for the tutorial

-Ask my tutor specifics about contextual referencing and what works are not considered ready for the portfolio

-Make a black and white drawing for tuesday's screen-printing workshop

-finish storyboarding, A1 story boarding sheets, and final outcomes for my narrative assignment due on monday

Where do I start?!

Also I started to get e-mails from colleges today for my interview dates. My Camberwell ones are on Feb. 27th and 28th. University of Brighton wants an prelim. online portfolio by Feb. 11th, and then from that they will decide whether they would like me to go to an interview which will be on March 14th. I am still waiting for a notice from Angelia Ruskin.

This weeks inspirations and influences

2011-01-13T04:35:00.000Z

The Morning Benders - Wet Cement

Mumford & Sons - Wagon Wheel (acoustic with Cadillac Sky)

Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz - The Girl From Ipanema

She and Him - Thieves

Andrew Bird - new song (Breeding Desperation?)

Annie Hall

The World of Henry Orient

The Long Goodbye

Girl Little Girl

2010-12-22T17:37:00.002Z

Everyone I know always has a loved one near them while I've been alone in my room for days. It has made me appreciate friends and family a lot more and the times when I've always had someone there to share good and bad times with. I don't know how to cope with this suffocating loneliness except for listening to music. Is this how being thrown into adulthood is supposed to feel? As for drawing, I just feel like it's a chore and that it makes the loneliness worse. I have to admit though that with all this boredom and loneliness comes a lot of creative thoughts. But I don't know if it's worth going through so much loathing.
Music really has helped me feel something other than loneliness. And I find myself watching this over and over.
I will never look into the face of my father or my friends and say I'm okay I'm okay/I dont feel pain anyway/Not anymore anyway

And finally I post some pictures from the Johnny Flynn & the Sussex Wit gig I went to at St. Georges Church in Brighton.

The Water has to be one of my favourite songs by him...maybe because Laura Marling sings in it which makes it extra sweet. But he played it during the encore and I had to leave during the middle of the song to catch the last train back into town. :(

Lastly I'll leave you with some more sketchbook doodles

snow and some sketchbook pages

2010-12-06T18:52:00.000Z

2010-12-04T21:08:00.001Z

Trudging through the snow

2010-11-30T20:25:00.000Z

Yesterday one of the worst things happened to me at school. My tutor asked me where my work was, I showed him, he looked at it and walked away not saying a word. He walked over to another school to talk about her work. That just made me feel so horrible and embarrassed about myself that I was upset the whole day and it was hard for me to concentrate. And I totally understand him. None of the work that I've been making this term has been worthy to talk about because you can tell there's no enthusiasm about my work. I've been trying pretty hard to do all the tasks to my best ability but everything I produce just seems to be falling flat. Maybe it's because they give us so much freedom but not enough time for one project . Maybe I'm not creative enough to deal with so much freedom that I'm used to people telling me what to do, and I'm a slow worker, so the time-limit is definitely a problem for me. Also I've been researching schools and I went to a university convention and had a chat with some Illustration tutors/reps from Kingston, Cambridge College of Arts, and Falmouth. It's realistically impossible for me to get into any of the schools I'm going to apply to. They are all very popular and competitive courses. I think for Cambridge (where I really want to go) like 300-400 people applied and only...28 got in last year. All the universities I want to apply to are all like this or even tougher to get into. Looking at the artwork that I've created this year so far.....I don't believe I can get in to any of the schools. For one, I don't feel passionate or happy with most of the work I've created, so how am I supposed to talk about them at interviews? I don't feel right applying with artwork that I'm not happy with. But you know, I will keep on trekking. I'm trying to keep going and work as best as I can because thinking negatively will only make things worse and not make my work turn out any better. The way I have to work right now is to start drawing things I want to draw and then once I'm in a good mood, I'll start my school work. So far, it's sort of working, but I'm not going to put up any more of my artwork on my blog until I make something that I am happy with.
Tomorrow I'm going to Brighton for an illustration open day. In the UK, open days are basically tours of the unis. They basically tell you what the course is all about (selling the course) and give you a tour of the campus and stuff. I really want to go to Brighton but one of my tutors said 1000 people applied last year....I'm not sure how many got in, but I think that just shows how popular the course is!
And today was our first day of snow. :D It's so pretty.

Not much improvement

2010-11-23T22:40:00.000Z

Where the hell has my creativity gone?

Today we did mono-printing for the first time. It was fun! It would have been more fun if 1) I had an idea that I was exciting about 2) had more work space 3) had more than one day 4) had another kind of paper besides newsprint.

My tutor insisted on us using newsprint but it is soo hard to made a stencil out of.

Anyways, I'm going to experiment more with frottage and stenciling on my own time. Look forward to better art work!

Illustrating Text

2010-11-22T20:23:00.000Z

100 drawings

2010-11-16T20:09:00.000Z

Here are my 100 drawings. I used biro and my subject was "beauties". They're basically all sketches, but they took a lot of time to do. We were "ordered" to put them all up on the wall on Monday. So I ripped them all out of the binding and tidied the edges up and taped like all of them on the wall. THEN the tutors told us that we would drawing a composition on A5 paper of other people's drawings. We were times 1 minute each drawing. Afterwards, the tutors collected these drawings and gave us other people's drawings randomly. THEN we had to write down at least 25 words that describe what we think about drawing. THEN they collected the writings and then again gave us other people's writing. Then we had to illustrate from the pieces of writing. After that, they took us to take down our drawings. -.- I'm so annoyed about that. We are supposed to learn to take material from other people and make it our own. And basically this week our tutors are giving us tasks to practice taking other's work and making our own artwork from it. Today we brought in newspapers and magazines and they told us to cut words/columns up to mixed them together to create our own sentences. We started off cutting two columns out and then cutting down the middle of those columns and mismatching columns to see what sentences are made. Later on they let us have more control and cut out lines from columns and put them together however we want. Then they wanted us to illustrate the sentences we formed using juxtaposition of images found in the magazines and newspaper. This was hard because this wasn't a very control-based assignment. It was harder working with the images and words/sentences that existed to create something new and original rather than starting from scratch with nothing.

Reading week

2010-11-01T15:21:00.000Z

Next week is reading week and I've already booked my train ticket up to Glasgow to visit the McQuistons form wednesday to sunday. I'M SO EXCITED to see them and to just get out of London. I really miss seeing the countryside and whatnot. BUT I just checked my e-mail and I have to do 100 drawings during reading week for Illustration. After this reading week, everyone in Foundation switches groups to go into their specialism groups, so now I'm going to be in the Illustration group with new tutors and people. I'm excited because ALL of my friends are doing Illustration. :) So we are given our first assignment during reading week. 100 drawings!! WHAT THE WHAT. That's like Art Center work-load. But I just really have to tell myself that I can do...even if I'm going to Glasgow. It'll happen!

This is the assignment brief.

Brief Choose 1 method:

collage cut-outs stencils charcoal embroidery biro

paint brush pencil finger potato stamping circles triangles stickers string

wire glue + glitter. Quink (ink) + bleach

Choose 1 subject:

organisms jokes clichés films ends fights silences pauses gaps conversations beginnings miracles loops meetings. dreams. victims. wins.

wishes journeys

adventures details prayers finds answers solutions instructions curses promises satisfactions surprises sleeps blemishes beauties things that look like the letter ‘e’

people that look like they are not really human that you actually see

Make 100 drawings. ALL on A5 paper. ALL portrait OR ALL landscape.

Work from primary sources (from life) where practical and think carefully about your choices of secondary reference materials and sources of imagery; working from your imagination might work but make this a considered approach.

The process of completing 100 is as important as the

results.

If there aren’t 100, you haven’t done it!

Stick them up in the studio on Monday 15 November by 10:30.

Don’t wait to be asked.

This is generally how all my briefs have been like. They're really vague so that there's a lot of room for interpretation. There's just so many possibilities that it's always hard for me to decide on what to do because I always want to go in several different directions.

Yesterday.

2010-10-31T22:11:00.000Z

So yesterday was Saturday for me and I went to Luciana (31) and Momo's(27) birthday party at Luciana's house in Hackney. Momo, Haruka, Luciana, and Luciana's boyfriend cooked soo much food for the party! Since Luciana is Brazilian, she made cassava and Brazilian chocolate truffles. But really Haruka and Momo made everyyything. They made miso soup, fried spring rolls, and different kinds of sushi. Momo also made chocolate cake and Haruka bought cupcakes. It was a reallyy nice party. A lot of Luciana's cousins that live in London came over and along with her friends from Spain and Argentina. Luciana's boyfriend deejays so there was really nice music playing with candles everywhere. Then I left at 6:30 because Soo and I were meeting Jay at my room at 7:30 for dinner and to get ready. But it was crazy. I forgot that during the weekends, a lot of lines close down for construction. Even though you, the reader, will not understand any of what I'm about to say, I'm going to say it in detail anyways. So I took the Overground from Homerton to Dalston Kingsland. But I need to get to Canada Water, and I thought Dalston Junction was connected to Dalston Kingsland, but it wasn't so I had to walk 250 metres to Dalston Junction from Dalston Kingsland. Then there was an announcement while I was on the overground that the Jubilee line is not in service from Canada Water. Sooo I got off at Whitechapel so I could talk the District line. But when I got out, the district line was also closed so I had to take a replacement bus. Then I waited forever for the replacement bus. On the replacement bus my plan was to get off at Bank so I could take the Northern line all the way home. But thennnn when I got off the bus, someone told me Bank station was closed. So I had to wait for another replacement bus to take me to Tottenham Court Road where then I took the northern line all the way down home. And I didn't get home until 8:30. And it was dark the whole journey so it made me feel even more anxious, and most of the time I had no idea where I was! Annddd Jay was waiting for me, and she was really hungry because she hadn't eaten since 11am. And I felt so bad because I was soooo full. Also Jay brought me Korean ramen because I told her I've never had it before so she wanted to eat it with me... But she ate the ramen and we got ready and got dressed in our Halloween costumes and went out clubbing because Jay wanted to really go clubbing. *sigh* I HATE CLUBBING, but I went just to be with my friends. It's really not my thing at all, but I guess last night was somewhat fun. It was fun dancing really silly and imitating lame guys. At 2am I was really tired so I decided to go home, but Jay and Soo wanted to stay in the club, but they walked with me to the bus stop and waited with me and told me to text them when I got home. I'm so thankful to have such caring friends!! Anyways I got home safely, ate two boiled eggs, and went to sleep. And my fridge is soo empty!! But I'm still gaining weight. :( I've been eating all the wrong things like home-cooked boba, ramen, and chocolate snacks. Sooo bad! I've been trying to eat more veggies and fruits, but I'm not consistent enough.

Hayward Gallery - Southbank - GO NOW!

2010-10-21T22:52:00.001+01:00

Thursday Oct. 14, 2010

2010-10-14T22:32:00.000+01:00

My mapping project. The assignment was to create art from mapping something. I first started mapping eye movements, and I decided to make a nice pattern.

My neighborhood. Walk on the way to school.

Emily's work.

Matt's work.

Jess's work.

Our work space. L-R: Cristina, Sophie, Fernando, Emily.

Chloe, working.

Mapping of scrunched up faces of classmates. Can you find me?

overlapping of faces. cool!

Charlie's work.

Maciej's work.

Lydia's mapping of human body parts.

Lucie's mapping or more like collection of forks.

Matt's work.

Matt. He mapped the locations of where this one guy killed prostitutes in Yorkshire. Lucie told him to act like a serial killer for the picture. I think he looks more like a dinosaur.

Sophie and her puppet. Sophie mapped people's fears. Chloe's fear was someone whispering in her ear when she's asleep , so Sophie made a puppet of a mouth.

Chloe's mapping of distorted faces.

L-R: Lydia, Sophie, Lucie

Another classroom's work.

Lucie explaining her work.

Restroom stall window.

Sophie working.

forks. forks. forks. forks. forks. forks.

Lucie and forks.

Charlie.

Amy's mapping of her dreams.

Awkward Moment Type #1

2010-10-09T03:36:00.000+01:00

I hate those moments in conversations where you laugh at something someone says when they're totally serious about it, but it's something that is total okay to laugh at.
Example from this week:
Girl in my class: I'm scared of fat men. They probably never get lucky so you never know if they're just going to suddenly go crazy and rape you.
Me: laughing.
Girl: No reaction.

I have the right to laugh at that right?

2010-10-03T19:48:00.000+01:00

Since I've come here, I've been in a really big dry spell when it comes to my creativity, and none of the music I've been listening to has been evoking any of the usual inspirations that drive my creations. The big obstacle that prevents me to create art comfortably is that fact that I'm so insecure in my new setting. My mind is so caught up in the fact that I"m living alone in a new country without any close friends or family and the fact that I haven't been making any close friends yet. I'm also faced with the challenge of changing my way of thinking to fit my new school's ideals, etc. So today I set out to not only make art and write my essay, but to also find new music that will motivate me. On Youtube, there are a 'Recommended Videos For Me' section, and I always see a Morning Benders video for La Blogotheque; however, I never watched it because I don't particularly like The Morning Benders. I decided to give it a chance because it's La Blogotheque! Really nothing can go wrong with La Blogotheque. And damn, The Morning Benders got so much better from their first album. They've gone beyond poppy electric guitar melodies and simple drum beats.

I also rewatched Phoenix's La Blogotheque performance of Liztomania and One Time Too Many. It made me really nostalgic for Paris and driving through tunnels in LA at night with friends while blasting Phoenix.

I drew these simple drawings. They're not much, but I'm happy with the fact that I got stuff down on paper. I did the first drawing while eating at Japan Centre yesterday. The second drawing was an idea that I had for a long time for a portrait that is a similar idea to the album cover for the band, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. I had the idea before I saw the album cover, I swear, but never executed it. I want to develop the second drawing once I buy acrylics.

I'm Gonna Be Harsh With Myself.

2010-09-30T17:41:00.000+01:00

I made a realization today. I have the technical skills, but I don't think I have the intelligence/creativity to actually call myself an artist. Today all 400 foundation students got to walk around the rooms and see each other's art that they made from the past 2 week research project. A lot of people made work that was utterly incredible and really showed that they could develop what they gathered on the streets/museum and could turn it into amazing pieces of artwork. The different things I recorded and collected weren't really relevant to each other, and I didn't feel inspired really by any of it. I still haven't found what my source of inspiration really is. Next week I will try to prove to myself that I do have what it takes to become an artist.

My weekend in pictures

2010-09-26T23:42:00.000+01:00

I've been listening to this song a lot today. It's nice to listen to on a rainy and windy Sunday, and Younha has such a lovely voice.

2010-09-24T01:29:00.000+01:00

I did this drawing on Tuesday for a research assignment. We went to Southbank to observe and record. We had to focus on one subject or idea we found interesting and collect and record lots of it in our surroundings. So I decided to draw the back of people's heads. I've always been fascinated in the texture of people's hair in the back of their heads. Also I think it also tells who I am as a person. I'm very hesitant when it comes to meeting new people, and I feel very self-conscious when I look at strangers in the eyes. I did most of these on buses and sitting in the park while quickly sketching people walking past. I had to sketch so fast! A couple of them I sketched from looking at photos I took. One woman was reading when I was sketching her and once she noticed, she calmly stopped, got up, and left. A middle-aged businessman came back to ask me what I was drawing. He was so posh and jolly. I love old British people.

I have a three day in-studio week, and on each of the three days, we get three different tutors. On Monday we have Nikki. On Tuesday we get John. On Thursday we get David. Today David made us lay out everything we did on Tuesday for him to see and so that we could talk about it. We had to do that for two hours...and obviously everyone just sat there, chatting away about everything except our assignment. -.- I felt really frustrated about this. At times like this, it's hard for me to understand what the point of me being there is and what I am supposed to be learning. In the second half of the day, David told us to go out of the class to research even more and to collect more and more. Except I there wasn't much more I could do with my drawing so I showed it to him and asked him for help. I was really amazed by what David said to me. He pointed out immediately that from my drawing, my way of working seemed like I wanted to tell stories and that my drawings were heading in the direction of illustration. I was really surprised that he pointed this out because I wasn't intentionally thinking about making my drawings look like Illustration when I was doing these sketches. So I think this sort of solidifies my idea of majoring in Illustration. I was very hesitant about going into Illustration last year because I kept convincing myself that I was just choosing Illustration just because 1) I could get a job perhaps and 2) It's not fine art or graphic design. I didn't particularly feel like I was choosing it because I was passionate about it because I hadn't taken an Illustration course before. But after David pointed out that my drawing are closer to Illustration, I think I would be happy majoring in Illustration. Also David is very talkative and kind of went into giving me a pep talk about being an artist or designer. He said that I need to start looking at things that people don't take particular attention to. He explained to me how his partner is a colorist so when they are walking down the street, she'll note the color of a certain shadow. I think I've always been this kind of person where I'm fascinated with things around me that people don't really care about. I've always thought I was just easily amused, and that people think I'm really weird because I always like things that no one cares about. But now I see that this is an important trait and I have to train myself to be even more so like this to become an even better artist.

Week 2

2010-09-14T22:18:00.000+01:00

A product of my first homework assignment which was to draw a self-portrait of anything. All foundation student's postcards were put up in front of the school.

So this week we started our drawing lessons. Camberwell has three pathways:Art, Design, Communication, and Foundation's purpose is to expose us to each pathway. In the art pathway it' drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture. So this week we are starting drawing. On Monday we did some drawing exercises and had an art pathway lecture. For the drawing exercise our teacher made us try different methods of drawing that we aren't comfortable with. We drew using our mouths, opposite hands, contour drawing, continuous line drawing, and so forth. I'm not sure exactly what she wanted to teach us from it, but I think it was to make us draw outside our comfort zone and to make us look at the object more often. To ME this was a complete waste of time and my day. I should be more respectful because I know a lot of people haven't done these things before. Then at the end of the day we had a lecture on the entire Art pathway. The teacher showed us a slideshow of work from professionals in each area. None of the art shown interested me at all. all of it was mostly conceptual art, and that's not the kind of art I want to do.
Today we did more drawing, but with a different teacher. We have two teachers that alternate each day so we kind of have to adjust to how the teacher is. Nikki is quiet and relaxed while John is strict, talkative, very serious, and expects a lot from us. Today we had John and he made us bring in a garment and distort it. I brought in a beanie and tied rubber bands all around it. He told us that drawing is a way for us to record what we see to be able to use later on. He also said that he doesn't care about how well we can draw. He only cares about drawing as a means of recording what we see. Those were almost the exact words, and his choice of wording really makes it difficult for me to understand what he means. He made us draw everyone's garment in 20 minutes. He also made us draw one garment that we liked using 10 different methods and materials. I used eraser dust, rubber bands, chocolate, and other outlandish stuff. He looked at it and said it was beautiful. He was completely serious about it too. I feel like it's so pretentious. I dunno...I really don't get it. I just thought, "What's the shittiest way I can draw this? I bet you he will like this"...and he did like it. He said they are trying to teach us how to see the world, not really how to draw. I feel like they are trying to hard to make us try to be uniquely artistic. Am i too rash in my assumption? Everything I've learned before contradicts what my school is teaching us now. I think they are constantly trying to show and tell us that art has no rules and that we need to explore the possibilities, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to go with the flow and hopefully in the end I will really have a clear understanding of what I want to do. But right now I feel like the kind of art I want to do is really not the kind of art that their looking for. I feel like I have to change my way of making art if I want to fulfill what they want to see, but I feel like I'm lying to myself by doing that. I have to try to find a way to do what they want but yet stay true to me. Anyways am I rambling?
Girls in my class started asking me if I ever got drunk. I don't know how the conversation lead to that, but it was a very uncomfortable situation for me. When I told them no, their faces were in complete shock. It was as if they were looking at a ghost. Then they proceeded to ask me even more questions that made me very uncomfortable and awkward like "Have you even ever drank alcohol before?" and such. I don't know how to respond in these situations. Really. They kept telling me that they wanted to take me out to drink or go to my dorm to drink and hang out...and I didn't know what to say....They are really really nice girls but I don't want to drink. I don't know how to tell them that either. i just completely didn't respond when they kept proposing to go out. One girl was like "I don't know what I'd be if I didn't drink". It's really hard for me because everyone socializes by drinking, and I don't know how I'm going to make friends if I don't drink. I'm not at all saying I will drink though. And on Monday when everyone was walking to another building for a lecture, I tripped and fell and no one helped me up or asked if I was okay. Everyone looked at me and kept walking. This really made me upset. No one seems human.
One good thing is that this weekend I went to Portobello Market with Haruka, Momo, and Soo. Haruka and Momo are from Japan and Soo is from Korea. Their English is not perfect, but we get along fine. I bought a vintage dress which was going for 30 pounds but I haggled for 22. I also bought a Paddington bear which was going for 27 but I haggled for 22 as well. I really tried to go lower, but it was really hard! I need to learn the secrets of haggling. It's just amazing how much different antiques and fresh foods were there. I really can't explain the environment. You would have to experience it.

School days

2010-09-10T15:31:00.000+01:00

Right now its 3:31PM on a friday afternoon in half gloomy half sunny London. I'm sorry to my friends and fam that have been checking this that I haven't been posting any blog posts. This week has been pretty hectic, and I will try to sum up everything that happened in this blog post. So since my last post, I moved into my halls in Camberwell and started my foundation course at Camberwell College of Arts. I don't think I could've asked for a better dorm room.
School started Monday at 10:30 am. It's a 15 minute walk to school, which isn't bad at all. I like having to walk now. I feel healthier. So the first day was probably the worst day. On the first day one of our teachers gave us a lecture on what we will be doing and what we're here to do. Basically the first 10 weeks we will be for us to try out the different pathways - art, communication, design. We will get lectures on each and by the end of the 10 weeks we have to choose a pathway and prepare our portfolios to apply for unis.
We started off with an ice breakers game where each of us were assigned a question and had to draw everyone's answers. Then our teacher told us our first project. We had to get into groups of 3-5 and create a song using garbage to make instruments. Everyone chose groups just based on who they were sitting around. There were 5 people in my group, and we spent the whole first day messing around with the junk that we had and trying to figure out what instruments we could make.
On Tuesday we just continued to work on our project and it was torturous because that's all we did from 10:15 to 4:30. My group frustrated me a lot on that day because a lot of them were too lazy to actually work. I wanted for us to discuss our score and what specifically we were going to do. I also wanted to discuss the various sounds we were going to make that worked well together. Instead they just wanted to make random instruments and wing it. Luckily this one girl named Amy in my group was also taking this project seriously. We seem to have a similar way of thinking so we came up with a solution that we could agree on. So we decided to fill balloons up with various things. She would pop them and I would catch the things in a metal bowl and squish it around to the beat the others were going to make. It sounds lame, but it was visually and physically fun. Anyways so Colin and I walked out to go buy the balloons, and Amy was already outside smoking a fag. When we got outside Colin told me to go by myself because the store was right across the street. But I was like what, you're supposed to come with me. Then he specifically said, "Are you a child? Can you not go by yourself? I don't have money anyways". I was so pissed when he said this, but I didn't do or say anything. Amy cut in and told him he was mean and then said to me that she would go with me if I waited for her to finish her fag. Self-reflection: Maybe I am a child for not being able to talk back to him. I need to learn how to stand up for myself on the spot!
On Wednesday Haruka, Momo, and I went to the Bold Tenancies exhibition in the Peckham Cinema car park for the Fresher's Event. The point of the event was for freshers to meet and talk, but no one talked to people outside their little clicks. We were going to get drinks but Haruka and I hadn't eaten lunch so we didn't that wasn't a good idea either. Instead we just left and went to eat falafels and kababs. The guy working at the kabab place asked me where I was from and I told him America. He said "You don't look American. Where are you really from?". I was pretty calm when I answered him, but on the inside I was a little angry. I told him I was born and raised in Los Angeles...then sighed and told him I was Chinese-Filipino. I'm surprised I got this question in London which, like America, is a huge melting pot. Afterwards, we went shopping for food, and went home.
On Thursday we watched everybody in groups 3 and 4 perform. Most of the performances were pretty amazing. Many groups came up with really creative stuff and others weren't so good. But everyone was respectful of each other and didn't make fun of anyone. The teachers always had something positive to say to every group. However sometimes I felt like the teacher's critiques were too pretentious and forced. They are very fine artsy type of people. All they said to my group was 'very nice' and other comments related to that. I think that's because it was lunch and everyone wanted to leave so they were just trying to hurry it up. But I didn't learn anything from the crit. They made me think about what music is and what music can be, but they didn't teach me anything about what I was doing or what we could've done better. I liked Sang's critiques when I was at Ryman Arts. I improved so much because of him. He would tell us straight up what we were doing wrong and what we were doing right. But most of the time he just told us what we were doing wrong. I think I improve the most when I see more wrong than right in my work.
So on fridays we are told to go to various galleries and cinema showings. Today we were assigned to go to the Saatchi Gallery. The point of these independent trips is to constantly expose us to art so we can a firmer grip on what art we like/don't like and what we want to do. It was my first time at the Saatchi Gallery and I think it one of the most interesting museums I've ever been to. The exhibition was called British Art Now. It showed sculptures, paintings, and installations from British artists/artists living in the UK. All of it was interesting to me. I wrote down so many artists' names and pieces. When I saw a piece I really liked I tried to think about what specifically makes me attracted to it rather than just thinking "oh that's cool". Now that I'm an art student I need to think of better comments than "that's interesting". The sad part is that I forgot my camera so I will definitely be going back with my camera. I sat and drew one installation piece for ten minutes. Afterwards I went to Partridges next door and ate a quiche and drank a cola for lunch. I was going to go to South Kensington to go to the Victoria and Albert museum, but on the way to the Sloane Square station, I bought a Cath Kidston duvet cover and 1 quid flowers. I decided that I should just go back home anyways since I forgot my camera and I needed to put the flowers in water. Today I felt so relaxed being by myself. I didn't have to worry about making conversation with anyone or worry about what anyone else wanted to do. I felt so free getting to choose what I wanted to do. I had London all to myself!!
My first homework assignment was assigned to us on thursday and we have to turn it in on monday. We have to draw a portrait on a postcard. It can be of absolutely anything. Personally I think that the weekend is too short a time period to do a self-portrait. I probably won't end up doing it until the last minute. Tomorrow I'm going to Portobello Market with Haruka, Momo, and Soo.

London Day 1 & 2

2010-09-01T01:29:00.001+01:00

I arrived in London on Monday August 30th. My father and I took a taxi, and we ended up in the worst traffic I've ever seen. Traffic on the highway was at a full stop and it stretched on for about five miles for like an hour. We got to surpass four miles of it by going in the bus lane. By the time we got to the hotel, you wouldn't believe how much the taxi ride cost. We took a nap in the hotel and it was 9 pm when we woke up. Everything was closed except for pubs. My father asked me how to order food at a pub and I told him you go to the bar and order and take a seat. So we walk in, and it's totally embarrassing walking into a pub late at night with my father. There were so many hipsters and such. We walks up to a worker (He was wearing a Klaxons shirt btw) and he says to the guy "This is our first time in a pub. We want some food. How do we get that?". I wanted to just die. The guy looks at me really confused and kind of smirks but he politely tells my father what to do. I got really ticked off since I already told my dad what to do. It's been a struggle because every time I tell him something, he doesn't believe me and has to ask someone else, who gives him the same answer. His reasoning for asking someone else is that "I'm not a local".
Luckily the pub's kitchen was already closed so we ate in some random restaurant. Only the first night here in London and I feel so miserably homesick. I'm just going to say straight up that it's because I'm here with my father. I don't feel comfortable with him. I"m basically traveling with a stranger. I don't trust him to do anything for me, and he doesn't trust me either, obviously. I realize it would've made the transition from home to London/college a LOT better if I had my mother here with me who knows me and also is not afraid to try new things or explore.
Today I had registration for my school. We arrived by taxi even though I insisted on learning how to take the subway and bus there because I need to learn how to use the transport system. So why not now? Registration was really quiet. I arrived there an hour early so there were only a handful of people. All I had to do was fill out some forms, give it to them, and pay tuition. I was done after that. I got my ID card and some information on my course. They told me that I am in Group 3 and to arrive at school at 10 am with certain supplies. They didn't tell me how long the first day was going to be or what I would be doing. I feel so unprepared. We walked around Camberwell for a bit. There's not much around. I starting to second-guess everything at the moment. I'm hoping that once school starts my classes will be good, I'll meet good people, I'll familiarize myself with the city, and everything will be alright.
Continuing with the negativity, so far I noticed Londoners are also serious and drab, never smiling. This means I need to try even harder to stay happy and positive. I always look for happy people to be in my life, but I think I need to become the happy person in people's lives. It's so corny but so true.
With time, everything will be fine. I just have to tell myself this. I'm vowing to myself that after I complain and let everything out in my blog posts, I'm going to put it behind me, completely let it go, and look forward. That's all I can really do to stay sane.
p.s. Oddly, I really miss Japan more than LA. Why is that?!?! But I miss family and friends more than anything. :(

I'm currently loving Ra Ra Riot's sophomore album. It's so much cleaner, more emotional (they have a song about their drummer who past away a couple of years ago), and the arrangements are more catchy and flow nicely.

I can't stop staring at this blouse.

2010-08-19T03:03:00.000+01:00

Look at those gorgeous sleeves!

I just want to stuff my face with all of this stuff at the same time right now.

2010-07-26T14:46:00.001+01:00

Asia

2010-07-17T14:57:00.000+01:00

Please stop with the nonsensical phrases on T-shirts, bags, everything. They are insults to the English language, and it really is starting to piss me off.

2010-07-07T06:35:00.000+01:00

I spent three days, not consecutively, painting my art teacher's antique blender during her art classes. She teaches elementary/middle school kids but they were mostly 7-10 year olds. It was so nice to be around little kids. They are so innocent, fun, and simple-minded. When I see how happy my teacher is to be working with little kids, it makes me want to teach. I think being around little'uns makes one more energetic and happy. Although I know it can be tiring and it can be hard to discipline them. But it's really great to see how happy the kids get making art. It's a beautiful thing to have such a positive effect on children with art and to see that they are being creative and making their own choices. I've thought about teaching art in the future in my school district because the majority of the students do not take art seriously. Parents tell their children that academics are the only thing that's important. They make them take SAT classes, tutoring in every subject, and classical instrument lessons. It may seem obvious that art fosters creativity and the ability to think outside the box, but no one seems to know this in my town. It depresses me to see smart students not even try in art classes. They take art classes just because they think they can get an easy A. Then they realize it's not easy, but they still don't want to bother to try. I've heard too many people say that "they can't draw" and don't even TRY. It doesn't help when the art teachers are not even good. One of my past art teachers from school did not pay any attention or encourage me. I also did not see her pick up a brush or pencil even once. A lot of the times she put down my art work without a reason. She would always just say, "What is this?", then walk away. But anyways my point is that I want kids to know how important art is and how capable they are of creating what ever it is that they want. But I think I will be teaching in the far future. Right now I want to focus on making a career for myself and settling in England...if I can.
Today was a crazy day. In addition to painting, I did a TON of chores. I ran in the gym this morning from 8:30 to 9:30 and found out I don't exercise well in the mornings. Since I'm not a morning person, I didn't have much energy. Then I returned books and checked out two more books at the libarary: Murder on the Orient Express and Brideshead Revisited. Orient Express-I've been on a mystery novel addiction. Brideshead Revisited-I only want o read British lit. at the moment. Then I picked up prescription medicine , returned some Apple products due to me finding cheaper iTouch covers at Frys (Apple products are such a rip-off), bought pencils and eraser from the art store so I can sketch in Tokyo, and bought some clothes from Urban Outfitters with a gift card. Then I ate the best ravioli I've ever had in my life at Mi Piace. It was braised beef ravioli in a port wine reduction with citrus flavoring.
Right now I'm starting to pack for Tokyo. PACKING IS SO HARD! I always end up packing things that I don't end up wearing, and it drives me crazy knowing that I'm carrying extra weight in my suitcase. That's what happened when I went to England for a month, and it was hell. I used to pack comfortable clothes but now I realize it is better to pack things I normally wear. But I'm scared to bring my normal shoes since I will be walking a lot. However I DO NOT want to be wearing tennis shoes. We'll see what happens.

2010-07-04T18:08:00.001+01:00

2010-06-30T07:29:00.000+01:00

The new Foals album Total Life Forever is magnificent. It took me a while to warm up to it.

So starting from today I'm going to try to record, to some extent, what I did in a day. Sometimes I try to think of what I did the day before, and my mind goes blank....not good. I tried not to write specifics in my daily life in the past because I felt a bit weird having a public diary, and I never know who is reading. However, my desperation to have my memories permanently stored to be read in the future outweighs caution.

Today I woke up and watched a Japanese/Taiwanese movie called About Love which was pretty much a waste of my time...it was a very pointless movie. Then I was going to go running at the gym, but my car would not start and I couldn't find my gym membership card. I've been losing so many things recently. I think it's because I haven't cleaned my room since a long time. It's summer, and I haven't been that busy, but I still can't find the time to clean up. Afterwards I went shopping with Sarah. I bought a lot at Urban Outfitters thanks to their fourth of July sale and my gift cards! I bought jeans because I basically only have one pair that I really wear, and I need more pants for cold winters in London. Actually my whole wardrobe is not fit for English weather. I'm so used to wearing shorts, T-shirt, and sandals during winters here in SoCal. I also bought a Peter Pan collared blouse from Zara. One of my summer to-do list things was to sew my own peter pan collared blouse, but I don't think I could make one that is decent enough. I gave in and bought the store kind. Sarah and I both have hypoglycemia, and we were both feeling weak, dizzy, and indecisive so we ate at Noodle World. Supposedly, as Sarah says, the inability to make decision or think straight in general is due to the low blood sugar. Afterwards we went back to Sarah's house watch both parts of the season finale of Doctor Who series 5. First thing I have to point out is that Amy and Rory are crazy. Amy never knows when she's crying and Rory talks to Amy while she is dead. However, they are the cutest couple! When Rory protects the Pandorica for 2,000 years to protect Amy because she's inside of it, that has to be one of the most romantic things ever. Second thing is that the dramatic music sometimes bothers me. Third is that Daleks do not scare me at all. Are they supposed to be scary? Lastly, Matt Smith is suchh a good actor. Where the hell has he been in TV and movies? I loved David Tennant but am starting to like Matt Smith even more. He's honestly really is refreshing and brings something else to the doctor. Not to mention Steven Moffat! Doctor Who has been more interesting for sure. I can't wait to see what happens with River Song in the next season. And that was my day.

I went hiking last friday with friends. I honestly do not remember when I went hiking. I had to look up the date I uploaded these pictures on flickr to remind me. How sad. It was a crazy day. I tripped and almost fell down the side of cliff. Fun. I DO NOT want to die before going to college. Then for lunch, we sat and ate at the top of a waterfall. Taylor sat at the other side of the falls. She's eating her sandwich and randomly called the dog, Metoo, over to her. Metoo ran and slipped on the slippery rock. Taylor grabbed her and they both plus sandwich slide down the small waterfall into a small pool of water. That small pool of water leads to a larger waterfall and Taylor was desperately clinging onto the side so they don't actually fall down the bigger fall. The whole thing felt like time was in going slow motion. Whenever crazy things happen, it always feels like time goes in slow motion. Like one time a car flipped in the air right in front of me, and it felt like the car was flipping in slow mo. Anyways I'm just repeating myself. So then Taylor is pushing the dog's butt up the side of the pool of water but the dog can't seem to climb up because of the combination of wet paws and a smooth surface. At this point I'm laughing really hard. But this guy comes over and he manages to rescue Taylor and Metoo. All that time Sarah, Monica, Jessica, and I just sat there panicking and trying to tell Taylor what to do. Now that it's over, I realize how un-serious that situation was.

Another brillant work by La Blogotheque

2010-06-21T20:41:00.001+01:00

Take Away Show #105 _ MUMFORD & SONS (with Johnny Flynn) from vincent moon / temporary areas on Vimeo.

2010-06-21T01:40:00.000+01:00

Carnivals and cotton candy
Carousels and calliopes

Best Best Night of Summer so far

2010-06-20T23:06:00.000+01:00

E-P2

2010-06-20T09:19:00.000+01:00

I'm L I T E R A L L Y drooling over this camera.
A friend and I will be playing Beirut songs with our ukuleles on the streets of Tokyo for money to buy this.... Actually we'll be playing beirut songs just to play them

Today's Schedule

2010-06-09T18:24:00.000+01:00

1)read
2)paint

2010-06-08T22:20:00.001+01:00

2010-06-08T10:30:00.000+01:00

My day started off waking up at 9 to do my last screen printing session at school. I will post pics of my shirt up soon. Then I went to Ten Ren to buy boba. I couldn't bring myself to use money to buy any food. It was like 12:30 and I hadn't eaten any food for breakfast or lunch. Then I went to see Get Him To The Greek with Taylor and Monica. Throughout the movie I could feel myself getting faint and adrenaline kicking in from not eating anything all day. By the time I stepped out, I was pale and shaking, so I quickly bought chicken nuggets and a coke. After wards I got home and quickly changed to go to the Largo to see Andrew Bird with Jilly, Jasmin, and my mom. Two words--fucking magical. When he first came on I couldn't help but look at the audience. Everyone was in complete awe. I heard a couple gasps too. He so easily grabs people's full attention. He creates music that I don't think is possible but then there it is coming out of his violin and mouth and guitar. What I was hearing the whole time was so overwhelmingly beautiful that I was holding on to my friend's arm most of the time and smiling and holding my breath. I especially loved the jazz song he played with his friends. His jazz singing is epic! But then there was after the show....
Meeting him was like living my worst nightmare. It didn't take long for him to come out. Jilly and I were waiting for him to talk to everyone, and we were literally shaking. I felt like throwing up. I was getting the exact feeling as when I was waiting to meet Laura Marling at the Largo. I think the venue has some sort of nerve inducing effect on me. Anyways so we finally talk to him...and he's not saying a word. I stand there petrified. I don't remember what Jilly told him, but I thanked him for the fun night and that I really liked the new song about the hole on the bottom of the ocean. He didn't respond to anything we said. Then my mom cut in and started crying, telling him how emotionally stirring his performance was. Andrew Bird stood there terrified. He didn't know what to say or do. I apologized under my breath because he just looked excruciatingly awkward, and I didn't know what else to do. Afterward Jilly and I asked him for a picture, and he basically said no. Then I asked him for a hug, and he was very hesitant. He was about to say no but then hugged me and Jilly distantly. When he left, Jilly and Jasmin went to the restroom, and I sat on the steps not being able to believe what happened. Embarrassment enveloped me, and I just wanted to disappear. I have never felt so unwanted and unappreciated as a fan. He seemed so desensitized, and didn't really care about what we were saying. I also felt like he thought we were annoying and weird. Even though it might not be intentional for him to make me feel that way, I just can't help but feel like shit. The entire time I felt like I shouldn't have said 'this' and I shouldn't have done 'that'. It clearly seems like he writes music only for himself and not for the people. I respect that to some extent, but if I'd only known that before I would've never have met him. I would still see him perform a million times though.

2010-06-07T04:23:00.000+01:00

The thing he is playing right there is called my heart. Johnny Flynn is such a sweetheart. "Something's happened to my brain. When's the second verse? The one I missed. How does that one go?"

2010-06-04T01:12:00.000+01:00

Today amusing because people were amused by my outfit. -.- I bought a dress that kinda looks like what Alexa Chung is wearing in the picture above. People said I looked like a schoolgirl, sailor, sailor moon, and a pornstar. Two girls even asked me if I was cosplaying today. AHHAHAHHAHAHA I like how people are still surprised at the clothes I wear after seeing me everyday for like the past 7+ years and after getting Most Unique for senior polls. My clothes aren't even that crazy! It's funny how conservative my school is for a public school. I will probably upload my outfit in this post some other time. I'm just about off to go see Mumford & Sons. :)

Stephen Appleby-Barr

2010-05-29T19:38:00.000+01:00

Emerging artist Stephen Appleby-Barr presents a solo show of portraits at Narwhal Art Projects. Entitled The Invisible College, this new body of oil paintings explores Appleby-Barr's profound involvement with the merits of portraiture. The Invisible College draws inspiration from an independent organization of philosophers whose purpose was to acquire knowledge through experimental investigation in 16th century Europe. Akin to the guild system, this group practice is exemplified by Hegelian collaboration: the free transfer of thought, expertise and tradition carried out without the establishment of designated facilities or institutional authority. Appleby-Barr explores the state of the personal disassociation with tradition and searches to find a connection with one's self and heritage. Working within a body of meticulously detailed oil portraits, Appleby-Barr conjures clues to uncovering the secrets of his own creation.

Continuing with the imagined legacies first constructed in the esoteric Nortammag Archives, allegoric images depicting varsity, academia, the occult and couture give lineage to an arcane society. Through the deliberate celebrity and obscurement of each character, Appleby-Barr speculates on the traditions of metaphorical, social and personal history. The Invisible College runs October 29th to November 29th at Narwhal Art Projects. The opening reception is Thursday, October 29th from 7-10pm. The artist will be in attendance.

All taken from: http://www.narwhalartprojects.com/exhibitions/2009/sab/

It's works like these that are the reason I want to do painting and illustration.

Iain Macarthur

2010-05-28T03:34:00.000+01:00

Iain Macarthur's work is amazingg. That's all I have to say. I've always thought about doing a double exposure drawing, but I didn't think it was possible. I was proved wrong. :)

On an unrelated art note, I think this might possibly be the best album cover I've ever seen.

2nd screen print

2010-05-27T01:21:00.000+01:00

hand drawn
ignore my face