London 2012 - Olympic fever!

London 2012

I have returned! And in the last week, I've been in and out of London twice, braving the Tube and trains around central London, including Euston, Victoria, the Circle, Northern and District lines, all whilst carrying a handbag, suitcase and another carrier bag full of books and shoes (i.e, my life in a bag, essentially) - I think that this deserves some kind of recognition! I went over near Canterbury to my Dad's, in case anyone was wondering who on earth would go through such travel chaos at a time like this.

Oh, and it turns out that Victoria is in the direction of the Olympic Park, and I also had the stops for Horseguards' Parade and Hyde Park to navigate around, but I did it, albeit having to literally stop and take cover with my suitcase at times, when the crowds became unbearable, and then I scurried like a little mouse to the stairs, before the next tube could come in!

Whilst I was at the coast I had time to look around the Turner contemporary gallery in Margate, go to the beach at Deal, and walk through Canterbury. Pretty good, except for the weather, I have genuinely never seen a sunny day in Kent, it's like a geographical black hole, or maybe I'm just unlucky.

Anyway, back to London 2012 and team GB. When I left, they had only 1 silver medal I think? What a difference 5 days makes! Currently 3rd on the medal table (which could change in a week) which is an amazing feat considering the size of our population, compared to the USA, Russia or China, which just goes to show, quality over quantity every time. (The same is true of Olympic medals I have discovered, it matters less the no. of silver and bronze, it's all about the GOLD.)

Unless of course, you are discussing Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice;

"All that glisters is not gold."

End of an era

I had my Year 13 prom last week, and it's really hit me that it's the end of an era, the prom is a milestone in itself, because throughout your school years you never consider that one day it will be you leaving, it will be your turn at the Year 13 Prom (which you will have spent the time since the Year 11 Prom hearing about)...and now it's over I feel like I really, definitely have left secondary school. Strange.

All of the effort was worth it though, and contrary to popular belief, everything, clothes, shoes, bag, hair and make-up, the ticket to prom itself did cost just under £100, and anyone spending much more than that, is in my opinion, slightly over the top. I hate news articles with teenage girls and their mothers claiming that Prom is the most important night of their lives, and therefore they must have a £200 dress, or £50 nails. In what way does that increase the importance of the night, or what it represents?

In other news, I managed to see another £5 show, the lion, the witch and the wardrobe with Mousetrap (a threatre group working mainly in London to help young people see shows) which was in Kensington Gardens, and in a 360 degree threatre which moved kind of like a cinema, but with a circular stage as well - it was incredible! The special effects (visuals, puppets, lighting, fake snow) were so varied that I found myself really engaged in the entire show, which is unusual for me, because although I like theatre, I can never usually stay focused for the whole thing, I do tend to "zone out" for 5 minutes or so.

So, this image, I got the idea of strawberries and red from Wimbledon, watching the tennis last week, and then I found those pictures of Emma Watson in a white dress, and so I combined the floral dress with the wedges at the bottom as well, the frame is a template, but I think it works well, not exactly as a masterpiece, but the way that it makes you naturally want to look straight at the lower picture of Emma Watson, and at the strawberries. They must be the "focal points" for this picture, I think.

This was my post for the end of last week, sadly, something messed up when I was publishing it, and so I'm publishing it again, now, out of chronological order, sorry for any confusion but currently there doesn't seem to be a way to change the order of published posts on Blogger!

As scarce as the truth is, the supply has always been in excess of demand.

As scarce as the truth is, the supply has always been in excess of demand.

Insane week! Well, not quite insane, but you know what I mean, March is really starting to gather pace! To be fair, next week looks busier than the last (Mother's Day, various birthdays and outings etc.) but that's not a bad thing I guess, I just need to be prepared! There seems to have been quite a melancholy atmosphere around these last few days (possibly due to Jan. results day at school + coursework deadlines approaching?) so I'm glad the weekend has arrived, although I feel pretty good at the moment :) I have this calendar with daily quotes on, and somehow, it always manages to put the day in focus for me...

You know what the worst thing is? I made this image [above] so long ago I can't even remember the reasoning behind it, so I'm going to do what I always do, and interpret its meaning according to my current mood: the Audrey Hepburn quote = self-explanatory and 100% true, the camera/ postcard photo (I realise these items seem to feature in absolutely everything I make...maybe it's a sign?) are another reference to travel/ exploration, and the outfit shown is simple, no patterns, ordinary colours, blue jeans, just a classier version of something I would wear really :)

This week has been a contrast of very good and very bad occurences, and I'm deliberately posting this photo edit of London because Londoners are famous for their stamina, whatever happens they just keep going. They're survivors.

On the plus side I got my first ever university offer this week and am extremely pleased to be reassured so soon that I HAVE a place at university next year, as long as I get the grades, and I quite like this university, so they may even be my insurance choice! I'll keep waiting patiently for the others though...

On the downside I've had quite a few setbacks, disappointments and a lot of bad news today (and it's not over yet :( ) which has really brought me down from yesterday's high and thrown a real spanner in the works. I'm just so stressed, I don't even know where to start.

Looking at this photo reminds me of better times, when I seemed to have so much less on my mind at the end of summer. Remember what I said in the last post? Ironically now my friends finally have time for me I have so much schoolwork the thought of even taking a day and night off for the weekend makes me panic!

But I'll keep going, keep plodding along :) Now I have a university offer it's all about making the grades - what use would it be to quit now, when (whatever things look like at the moment) I'm ahead. All I need is a little strength and I'll do this. Here's to the hope that next week I'll be able to update in a better tone.

London, 2011

London, 2011 by nikigirl featuring links of london jewelry

London 2011

The City itself and it's 32 boroughs with approximately 2000 years of history (c.AD 43, originating as "Londinium")...I must be referring to London, one of the biggest Metropolitan areas in the world and a leading capital city of Europe in terms of fashion, entertainment, commerce and finance. London is also home to 43 universities putting it in the lead for higher education too, although I'm not sure I could handle the everyday hustle and bustle and live there myself!


This is my own photo I am proud to say, taken about a week ago with just a small edit - the phrase "Keep calm and carry on", associated with the British, reserved attitude and I thought, applicable to London in particular, and perhaps even to the stresses of everyday term-time life...

Started planning for my Personal Statement and university application, really made me think about what makes me myself, and I think that this montage/collage/ image gives a pretty good idea :)

Seriously though, I wish that we could submit a picture instead of statements, writing about myself is one of the hardest things I've ever done :/.

Spent the weekend in London, Tower Bridge, The Globe, Waterloo, Euston and the Brixton Academy to be precise, should have probably done some work during the approximate 7 hours I have spent on trains these last two days (not to mention the underground!) but...meh, better sights to see, such as Canary Wharf and St.Paul's Cathedral - I think I may adopt the Londoner's work ethic of "work hard, play harder!"

You know how I said it's all a matter of perspective?

It's amazing how you can turn an old photo of a plain English town (well actually this is Camden market) look like a painted seaside master piece, complete with a fake sun for that unreliable British summer weather :)

I love photoshop.

So it's been a week! I apologise but from now on this blog will probably only be updated weekly, as that is how much time I have to produce new pieces of art & load them on here, I'm sorry but Sixth Form is so intense, and I'm also applying for a job as well as taking the Extended Project Qualification with my A-levels :O

Ignoring my excuses, here it is, a piece on London, a place where I have often visited (my mum's family origniate there) and might (?) end up living in at university! The image I made deliberately includes some of the most famous landmarks, using pictures I took myself in April 2010 :) ...