7/7-9 Goodbye London

I can’t believe our time in London is over! We have all looked forward to this trip for so long and now it’s over! I can definitely say I have had an amazing time here, experiencing the culture and also getting so much closer with my friends in VC. I have made some wonderful friends and I know I have a support system as well, which is great because we all go through the same things on a daily basis back at school.

I met up with Gemma one last time to say goodbye, I gave her the hand-painted fan I bought her in Barcelona and she loved it. It was so nice spending so much time with her this summer, I really do hope I can come back to see her soon.

We all had to spend a lot of time packing and cleaning up, I personally am the slowest packer in the whole world so it took me forever to get organized. I was stubborn when I left and just brought one big suitcase that was at the maximum weight limit, but with all the papers and magazines and STUFF I collected I had to buy another suitcase to go home with!

Our flat and the boy’s flat went out to Hoxton Square for our last night together in London. This is a trendy little area I wish we had found sooner, but we enjoyed our last night together, which is what matters. I think the late night dance parties at the flat, our frequent runs to the 24 hour store for hummus and chocolate, endless hours of listening to Girl Talk and my random 80’s music, going to hear speakers and actually realizing what they were saying applies to your life, the massive amounts of Tortellini that Alicia and I survived on, and running to catch the tube at 11:55, 5 minutes before it closes, are what I will remember most out of this summer. I feel so lucky that I still have one more year to have experiences like these and I am NOT going to take that for granted.

Cheers!

(Photos are of Alicia, Larry, Martin and I out in Hoxton Square, One of my favorite dance parties in the hallway of our flats, Our VCUK Club Soccer in Russell Square, and Laurel, Alex and I being silly in our masks)

7/5-6 WIMBLEDON

Not realizing how late it was in the tournament bunch of us packed our bags, bought a tarp, stopped at Sainsbury’s and headed to camp out for tickets to Wimbledon. We got there at noon to find that we were the first people in the queue, and would be the only people there until around 7 pm that day. We lost two after a few hours, they decided sleeping on the sidewalk just wasn’t worth it, but those of us who are tennis fans wanted to stay the whole time. While in line people going into and leaving were looking at us like we were nuts! The people that worked at Wimbledon sent special staff over to check on us and make sure we were all right. To be honest, I think I might have met some of the friendliest people while waiting in the queue. They would all stop to talk to us, ask if we needed anything, it was great.

Slowly the temperature began to drop, and the rain started. At one point they had handed us tickets that said “I’ve queued at Wimbledon” but these stickers suddenly began to say “I’ve queued in the rain at Wimbledon.” Other people had started to line up behind us, but they were experienced and had brought tarps. All we had was one tarp which we were allowed to put up an hour after all matches had ended. 2 rolls of duct tape, 2 boxes of garbage bags, and probably 40 heavy rocks later, we had constructed what could be considered a shelter. At this point we were freezing and thank god we had made friends with a bunch of 18 year old boys behind us who had a big tent because they let us cram in there for a while. When it came time to try to sleep, we all headed back to our sad little tent and crammed in like sardines, cold and miserable, with the wind blowing hard.

6am rolled around and the rain had stopped and it was time to get our queue cards! These would be our place-holders to show how long we had been in line. I asked nicely and the man handed me the first card in the pile, 00001! I was so happy! We eventually started moving towards the courts, and at 9am they opened the gates it was a free-for-all to get to the turnstiles. We got fourth row seats on Court 1…absolutely amazing. When we walked into the court my jaw dropped at how close our seats were.

The first match was Djokovic verses Baghdatis, and I immediately took to Baghdatis. He had a huge following there, and they would chant “Marcos- Bag-Dat-is!” the whole time it was great. They wound up playing a 5 hour match, I have never seen anything like it. The sportsmanship each player displayed was wonderful, they were gracious and even joked around. At one point a ball boy hurt himself and Baghdatis helped him walked off the court! They were both very scrappy players, diving for every ball, which on grass courts is hard because you move slower. In the end it was so close that either player could have won, but Djokovic wound up winning the match.

Next was Roddick playing Gasquet, which I have to say was not as good as the first match. Roddick is all about his serve, and he doesn’t dive for the ball the way other players do. He is just too big to play tennis, he can’t do it. I think their match lasted 3 or 4 hours with Gasquet coming back in the third set to beat Roddick 3 in a row.

At the end of the day I was absolutely exhausted and we got stuck on the tube for half an hour which did not help. Wimbledon was a wonderful experience, I think I would return to London just to stay and watch matches for a few days. I’ve loved everything here so far but these might have been two of my favorite days ever.

(Pictures are of Jill, Jillian, Eric and I in front of the queue, our pathetic attempt at shelter (yes, we actually all slept in there!) and also my new boyfriend Marcos Baghdatis. I didn’t even zoom this picture we were that close to all the players. I love Wimbledon!)

7/3-4 Togas, Greek Food & Boat Rides

We decided that since we all have white sheets on our beds, why not have a toga party? What I have learned over the past few years being an art major is that we do everything a little more creative than other kids our age. When we all sit around and doodle in class, they are not your typical doodles, some are really nice drawings. Therefore when we have toga parties you are dealing with the most intricate togas you have ever seen. We had so much fun, it was definitely one of the best nights of the trip and we never even left our flats!

The next day was July 4th although there wasn’t much celebration considering we were in the country we declared our independence from. Yeah. Bill and Ashley (and Jen!) took us out for our farewell lunch at Lemonia, an authentic Greek restaurant. This might have been one of the most exciting meals of my life. Course after course, it just kept getting better! There were olives (my favorite) hummus and warm pita, different kinds of Greek dips, spanakopita. Cheese, Greek salad, and then Rachel and I split lamb and Seabass for dinner. Sooooo good!

After lunch we walked to Strawberry Hill, one of the highest points in London. It wa a clear day so there was a nice view of the city. Then we all took a boat ride on the canal that runs by Camden market. It was pretty cold but we all had a nice time. It was weird because I had to say goodbye to Bill and Ashley because I wouldn’t be seeing them at the airport. I think we all had a nice last day together as a group, I know I will remember the lunch for sure.

7/2 Studio Morag Myerscough

We met as a group this morning to talk about our breaks and also the situation with the bombs that were found at Piccadilly Circus. Basically Bill and Ashley told us to just stay alert as always, and to try and enjoy the rest of the trip. I’m glad I got most of the touristy stuff I wanted to do done earlier in the summer because I didn’t want to be going to any crowded places anytime soon.

We headed over to the studio of Morag Myerscough who is a multi-disciplinary graphic designer. Her studio was a great space, and I felt totally at home with all the clutter. I decided to write my paper on her which basically sums up my time at her studio, so here it is:

It didn’t occur to me at the time that Morag Myerscough had changed my perception of design, but looking back on it I know that she did. I remember stepping into her studio and instead of feeling overwhelmed by the books and the clutter, I felt at home. The massive screen prints that hung crookedly on the wall, the plush patterned pillows piled in corners next to expensive China teetering on the edge of tables, the hot-pink tubular lighting hanging from the ceiling; I could live in this kind of organized disarray forever.

Morag Myerscough started Studio Myerscough in 1993 and it has since become one of the most respected and sought after design studios in the UK. She herself runs the studio and has two to three designers working under her at one time. When she can’t do something in-house, she knows exactly where to go to get the job done through the network of contacts she has built up over the years. Her cross-disciplinary approach to design keeps her work original, and also means that she hasn’t fallen into one type of work and one type alone. She once said, “Challenges keep my design fresh and I am always open to the unexpected. I never approach a job with any preconceptions; it is important to find the best way to work on a project and not be constrained by set formulas from the outset. I relish in productive collaborations and trust.”

Her work can be seen all over London, Her most recent success being the branding for the Royal College of Art’s Great Exhibition, in which she designed everything from the logo to the building the show was housed in. She has done work for the Design Museum, the Barking Learning Centre, Derwent London, Westminster Academy, and that’s all just in the past year! Even when she takes on an annual report, which can be dry and boring, she finds a way to liven it up, making it really interesting piece of design work. When we visited her studio there were printouts all over the wall of poster designs and logos for the city of Barcelona. I had just returned from there and typography and colors brought me right back. The pillows and dishes I talked about before were all for a hotel that she was branding through her choices in home goods and product design.

A few years back Morag took her love for graphic design to a new level, opening a store/gallery in her own home called Her House. In this store Morag displayed and sold work from new emerging artists who may have had trouble finding gallery space elsewhere. She presented these works to the public as a part of her personal lifestyle, and even developed new products under the Her House brand. Although the store is no longer open, at the time it was a staple for new and innovative home and design products. She proved that as a designer you don’t have to be stuck in one facet of design, and that branching out is very possible.

At the time we visited Morag she was very honest about the fact that she works long hours, and spends most of her time in the studio. She is not married and does not have children. In our society there is a tendency to feel bad for people who work all the time and don’t raise families, but the truth is everyone has different goals and standards for what makes them happy. As a female heading into this uncertain industry, I truly wonder if there is a happy medium, although I already know the answer to my own question.

I won’t know what I am capable of until I try. If I have the drive, the talent and the passion, and I make good decisions, I know I can make something of myself. I am young and in a position where I am only responsible for my actions and no one else’s. I don’t have to worry about what I can handle in the future; I just need to worry about how creative I can be now. Seeing Morag’s work spanning all different criteria was so inspiring to me, and for the first time made me realize I don’t have to conform to something I am not. I don’t have to force myself to pick a specialty if I’m not ready. I have so many ideas that I will never be able to express the way I want to if I am constantly trying to make them fit into a specific category.

I am determined to spend my senior year channeling my creativity in the right way. If I can truly be interested in what I am doing, I know I will be better off. I know what it’s like to go through the motions of getting work done, and with one year left I’m ready to hit the ground rolling, but also to slow down and spend my time wisely. Seeing Morag’s success was not what inspired me. It was seeing that she is out there in the real world, doing what she loves to do. There are so many so many different ways to be creative, and instead of choosing just one, I want to make my own path that combines them all.

6/29-71 Barcelona Part II

So basically we spent every day at the beach because the weather is just so gorgeous. I was still sick at the beginning of the trip but I think by the end the warm weather knocked my cold out of me. Erin has been great, she speaks Spanish fluently so I don’t think we could have survived without her. We decided one afternoon to go on a catamaran boat ride because Rosie did it last year and said it was amazing. We found an evening boat ride with a jazz musician, and it was a highlight of the trip. We sat out in front where the water splashes up on you, and just enjoyed the ride. There were two bachelor parties on the boat at the same time. Some of my friends were surrounded by the one from Manchester but Alicia, Rosie and I were with the one from Italy. Donatello, the groom to be, became my new best friend, connecting straws together for me so that I had one really long one for my sangria. Haha. I don’t speak any Italian but I have found it really fun to try to talk to people who speak other languages because you have to find other more expressive ways to communicate. Maybe all Italians never understand each other and that’s why they all use their hands?

We went exploring on Las Ramblas and discovered a huge market right off of it. I have never seen so much food in my life. Alicia and I wound up spending way too many euros on chocolate but oh well, chocolate is never a bad thing. We hit up a flea market at the end of the day and got some great gifts for our friends and families. I got my roommates handmade bracelets and this really cool drum/instrument thing in a coconut for my dad. I don’t know what I think he’ll love it but he will. On the way back we passed the different artists in the street and I wound up buying my first piece of art! I passed this guy a million times and I decided it was something I really wanted. It’s an acrylic scene of an alley in Barcelona, but on a rainy day, and even though it didn’t rain while I was there it reminded me of my time there.

In our hostel there was an ‘International Stencil Convention” which when I got back from the beach one day I found meant that all these graffiti artists had come and spray painted the roof of our hostel. These compositions were out of control, I couldn’t believe I missed watching them do it. Lucky for me Rachel got some cool pictures of them in action.




On our last day there Alicia and I went up to see the Sagrada Familia, the Gaudi Church. It was immense, and although we didn’t go in (there was lots of construction) the outside was enough. Then we went to Park Guell, Gaudi’s park that he designed. There was mosaic tile covering every inch, with trees twisting to the sky, and caves curling in on themselves. It was unreal. I could have spent the whole day there but we had to get back to catch our plane home.

Unfortunately the trip home did not go as smoothly as it did going. Laurel got pick-pocketed on the way to the airport, and once we all went to check in we found that Laurel and Alex were not on our plane and they were going to have to stay in Girona and leave the next day. Ugh. So we sadly said goodbye to our friends and then waited for our delayed flight to leave. We got into London’s Stansted so late that we missed our bus back to central London and had to pay for a different bus and then take a cab and collapse in our beds when we got home.

Barcelona to me felt very authentic, and I hope I have the chance to go back because I was really happy there.

(The pictures are of our Jazz musician on the catamaran ride, Alicia, Rosie and I on the boat, the market off Las Ramblas, The ridiculous graffiti on the roof of our hostel, the Sagrada Familia church and pictures from Park Guell.)

6/27-28 Barcelona Part I

How do I even begin to describe my amazing trip in Barcelona? Here goes:
We took two buses to get to Stansted airport, where we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by about 25 women in bright pink boas and feather cowboy hats, all wearing sashes with their names. It was a hen party, or bachelorette party as we call it. We ran into Bill and his family which was fun, and then finally got on our hideous Ryan air flight. I think it was only a 2 hour flight and once we got into Girona, where the airport was, we hopped on a bus into Barcelona. Somehow we all spoke enough Spanish combined to make it to our very colorful and funky hostel. The rooms were hysterical, we were all literally on top of each other. Somehow I got one of the beds on top meaning I had to climb a ladder every time I wanted to go to my bed or get my stuff. We made two new friends immediately, Erin who was a 22 year old teacher in Texas, and Jeff who was from Canada (Toronto I think?) and also was a teacher. We all headed out to lunch together and to explore our area, which was so beautiful and very close to Las Ramblas and about a 20 minute walk from the beach. We had some delicious Gelato (mmm!) and headed to the beach even though it was late it the day. After being in London in the cold it was so nice feel warm weather and see water. That night we all had dinner at La Crema Canella which was one of the best meals I ever had. They were small portions because they were rich, so I had duck on top of sweet potatoes with strawberries. Sooooo good! And the funny thing is mid trip I checked my email to see if my friends from home(who all studied abroad in Barcelona for spring semester) had sent me an itinerary, and that was the first restaurant my friend Amy had suggested so we did good.

We made it back to our colorful hostel where everyone was really friendly and social, and we all hung out in the common area before heading out. There were also vending machines with beer for a euro so I think that made everyone want to hand out thee too. We met some nice guys from Colorado who were just beginning their backpacking, and Alicia, Rachel, the boys and I headed down to Port Olympic which is down the beach. We found a very chic club called Shoko, which had a whole indoor dance floor and an outdoor lounge area with white couches along the beach. VERY cool. We hit the dance floor and I was amazed when the DJ mixed Lloyd’s “Get it Shawty” with Technotronic’s “Pump Up the Jam.” Hahahaha I haven’t stopped talking about it, it was just that good.

The next day we woke up and had breakfast in the hostel. Breakfast consists of eating as much cereal and toast and fruit as you can in the morning, and then taking as much as you can carry up to your room so that you won’t have to buy lunch that day. We headed to the beach immediately and settled in for the day. The weather was gorgeous and we were all ready to catch a tan. Unfortunately our bliss was cut short by the women that walked by us every 5 seconds asking if we wanted a massage. “MASS-A-GEE!?” they would scream in our ears, especially when we were sleeping. There were actually people selling stuff all over the beach and the only person who I didn’t mind was the guy selling coconut because it was soooooo good! Actually at one point the coconut man was next to us and all of a sudden dropped to the ground in front of us hiding. There were cops patrolling the beach and selling things there is illegal. We didn’t want to get our friend the coconut man in trouble so we let him hide for a while.

That afternoon a few of us went to the Picasso museum which I had been dying to see. We were living right near it so it was really convenient to get it. I didn’t realize how much of his early work would be there, but the majority of it was from his youth and time in school. I absolutely loved it, I knew I would. Picasso saw things like no one else, and he wasn’t afraid to change his style and try new things. The thing I have always respected about Picasso is that he had talent as well as passion. He could draw a portrait completely in proportion, no problem. He just chose not to, and to be abstract and I just have always loved his work.

(Photos are of me in front of the Hen Party, Barcelona Harbor, our beds stacked on top of each other in our hostel, us girls at the beach,and Rachel and I at dinner one night)

6/25-26 LCC Show & Letterpress Workshop, also Tom Eckersley & Stanley Kubrick Archives

We saw the London College of Communications show and I have to say my absolute favorite part was the illustration. I just couldn’t get enough of it. The line quality, subject matter, and different mediums used were all so interesting. There was also some interesting web design, which I got to check out on a million different computers that were set up. There were sound-based projects that I thought were awesome, one had goldfish that would swim around triggering chimes.

The Letterpress workshop with Alex Cooper was a lot of fun, and the man is a genius. He is very creative with letterpress, and explores different uses of the type, such as using the blocks backwards to create blocks of color. He helped our group a lot, because for whatever reason we could not get the press clean and screwed it up about 4 times. Dave, Rosie Alicia and I worked together and we used a newspaper headline that read “I’m bad at DIY.” Our concept was to flip the apostrophe on the “I’M” to look like we screwed it up, but it actually looked really beautiful the wrong way.

We had a lecture by Paul Rennie on the Tom Eckersley Archive. Tom Eckersley was a prominent poster designer in the 1930’s famous for his work for Shell and the London Transport. Actually, he had a relationship with London Transport for over 50 years, his posters being very recognizable in regards to LT. I really liked one he did for the Victoria Line (shown above) I thought it was very clever. I love the graphic style he uses, I know as I continue screen printing this year I am going to draw inspiration from his work.

We also saw the Stanley Kubrick archive which was basically a freezing warehouse with everything Kubrick had saved through the years that had to do with his films, etc. Jill and I had bought Clockwork Orange t-shirts earlier in the trip and were excited to wear them to the archive but we forgot/it wouldn’t have been appropriate anyway. Oh well! It was cool to see the amount of stuff he had amassed over the years, but since most of it was in boxes we couldn’t really look at it in depth.