A wee night in....

Its been a pretty tiring few weeks, running two shows at once. Now for a little downtime.
I have some stuff to sort out for going to New York (um.....like my visa, which STILL hasn't come through).
I'm also off to Amsterdam at the start of next month for my aerial groups annual bootcamp! Usually we go camping around Scotland for bootcamp but this year we've teamed up with a venue in Amsterdam for a wholelong weekend of workshops. (and a show which I've just been told I'm a part of...)

Lots of exciting stuff coming up,but for now I am chillin with some tea and good book.....

This is a circus masterpost..........

Well, today is World Circus Day so I have decided to share with you some of my favourite pictures I have been collecting of various acts.....

One of my personal goals for the year is to be able to touch my head with my feet. At the moment, if I lie on my chest I can get about 6 inches away (ITS GOING TO HAPPEN!) but this lady's bend is crazy and amazing.

And of course I had to add in one of my own, we decided to take a group picture at my acro class, generally as I'm the smallest, I get to do all the high up top bits. There I am on top of my friends shoulders.

Circus antics...

Well, its been a crazy few weeks!
My acrobatic troupe have been devising a new show for a gig we have at my old university!
Each year the students of the Technical Theatre course at RCS have a Grad Show, where they invite industry professionals along to view their work and have a chance to meet.
This years graduates decided they wanted something a little different and asked if Spinal Chord could provide a short circus themed show.

I am actually a graduate from the same course, so it was a little strange for me to be back as part of the performing group rather than a student.

On the Friday went along to help with the set up, rigging the trapeze and silks, making sure everything was ready for our first onstage rehearsal on the Saturday.

I was a little sad I wasn't performing in this one, I was suppose to be but pulled my hamstrings in a rehearsal and had to pull out. I took on more of a stage management role instead, as there was alot of organising and liasing with the students of the course to ensure the show went up.

We opened on the Tuesday night and all seemed to go well, the audience enjoyed it, the pyrotechnics went off in the right place.....
Heres a wee sneak peak.... (apologies for the photo quality, they are stills from the video camera)

Just another day at the office....

Im working at the Citizens Theatre this week, helping out with the painting for King Lear. I've only worked here once before, at Christmas,  it was nice to be back though!

Kids and creatures...

As a freelancer, I've worked in some pretty  and interesting places. However, this weekend I ended up on a bus complete with monsters and a slide!

I was taken on board the Moshi bus as PR/events staff, where my days consisted of colouring in, badge making and trading toys and cards with the avid Moshi fans that came to visit us.   

I had no idea what this craze was before I started so was pretty surprised when I turned up on my first day to see a very long queue already waitng for us!!!

The rest of the day was just as crazy, people literally queued for 4 hours just to get on the bus! 

                                            

It was a really fun way to spend my easter weekend (and earn some money). I've worked with kids quite alot before and its always a......... unique experience?!

Also... good practise for this summer when I'll be going over to New York for camp- more on that later though!!!

ATYN...

You know there are somethings that you keep saying you're going to do then never get round to it? Well last night, I finally did one!

I'd been meaning to check out the life drawing class at The Flying Duck for a while now and I'm really glad I did!
Theres a really nice relaxed vibe at the class and the three models rotate around the room so you have a variety of people and poses to choose from.

It had been quite a while since I had done any life drawing and I found I still have a bad habit of trying to avoid drawing the faces. I think next time I go, I'll focus some more time on this aspect!

We started out with a range of 2 minute sketches to get warmed up, then moved onto a range of 20/3omin poses.

Classes run Tueday 8-10pm, £4

http://www.atyn.co.uk/

Graphite and feathers...

A few more sketches I've been working on at the moment....
A little graphite view of the Glasgow skyline. My crane tower is a little wobbly but I drew this very late at night and my mind was wobbly! Very fitting grey colour for Glasgow...
I'm reading a book at the moment in which the main female character during puberty actually develops a pair of wings. I've not finished the book yet, but so far its been her account of learning how to use them, her first steps into flight and how her wings grow as she does. It inspired me to draw this lady here...
I'm really drawn to stories that are set in the real world with real people but have this little element of fantasy. Don't get me wrong, I love watching and reading about fully fantastical worlds with creatures upon creatures.

I dont know, I guess I just really like the idea that one of these extraordinary characters could exsist in our world.

Making the most of your junk...

I was given this Rosco apron when I was in New York last year and met one of their representatives.
Now, an apron is really no use to me while I'm painting, as my most of my clothes are already covered in paint anyway! It seemed a little too good to throw away though, so I decided to turn it into a handy little bag for my brushes instead!
I usually keep my brushes in my tool bag, but I found they kept getting squashed my my hammer, and other bits of kit and I was worried I was actually beginning to ruin the bristles.

I started by turning the apron outside-in to make the actual bag shape. I wanted to keep the pockets, as I reckoned they would be pretty handy for putting the brushes in to seperate them.

However this meant to Rosco sign was the wrong way so once I had stitched the bag part together, I cut off the top part with the logo and turn it round to make a sort of cover.
I kept the bits you tie round your waist and have used them as straps so I can sling it over my should and carry it around.Its a little rough as I don't have a sewing machine at the moment so some of the edges are little more raw than I'd like them to be. However I think it is a big improvment to stuffing them into my tool bag!