Day 140

The calender clearly states that come March 28th, it is officially "British Summertime". It has been rainy and cold for the past five days and is getting very depressing. I'm not happy about this lets-call-it-summer-but-actually-make-it-feel-like-winter business. It makes me want to hop into the bath every five seconds.

There's something so distinctive about the morning time in England. I was out of the house at seven this morning (just for the record, this was not voluntary) and everything was all drizzly and quiet. It's how I'll always remember England feeling and reminded me of the first day I arrived, when everything around me just felt so British.

What does one do when it never stops raining? Write, read, fantasize about Greece holiday, consume tea non-stop, etc. etc. More exciting things to come though, I promise (I've got some adventures planned starting Friday).

Day 136

You know when you’ve just woken up and the pillows are positioned just right, the sun is steaming through the window, the blankets are pulled up to your chin and you just feel really safe? That was me this morning. A lazy start to a very lazy day.

I have so many things planned out to do next week (I’ve made a long list…what is it about lists that is just so satisfying?) but am trying not to spend any money so I can save as much as I can for Paris/Greece. I’ve still got a long list of all the clothes I still need (I guess this word should actually be want) to buy. Sometimes I secretly hope that the day will come where I’ll check my bank account balance and find that the numbers have magically doubled themselves. It’s quite sad.

I wrote a lot today. Not very exciting stuff. I think that my writing is going down hill. It’s all just so dramatic and repetitive. I need something new to write about!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Morning 136

I remember playing with Olivia when we were this young, untainted by the world around us, absorbed instead with childhood fantasies and naivety.

An Update! Day 135

Today was Ava and Maude's last day of school before a three week holiday! On Sunday, it is officially SUMMER here in England and I'm so excited. Magical things happen in the summer time.

Having not had my haircut for about five months or something ridiculous like that, my hair was getting a bit out of hand and had grown very very long. But earlier in the week, I got it all chopped off and now it's just below my shoulders. I was so nervous to get it all cut off (I have a bit of an attachment to my hair and so there was quite a lot of build up the days before I was due to have it cut...Samantha didn't quite understand what the big deal was) but I actually really, really love it short!

Today I went to the Photographers' Gallery


and it was really inspirational to see contemporary photography for a change. There were lots artists who presented their photos accompanied by words or displayed in a book. I was reminded today how photography has the ability to shift my mood and promote feelings inside of me more than any other art form, like the series today by Donovan Wylie. The photos document the demolition of the Maze Prison situated in Northern Ireland and made me feel incredibly sad. They gave off such a lonely, empty feeling.



I left feeling rather inspired:


I'm currently working on a photography project of portraits. Samantha's dining room has sliding glass doors across the whole wall that conveniently let in North light. I've got some people who are going to come and sit for me so I'm pretty excited especially because they're all interesting looking (and I don't mean that in a bad way at all!).

The girls also had a couple friends over to have an Easter egg hunt (do you remember how fun those were?!) and I got to hide all the eggs (this excited me much more than it should have).

I got really sad yesterday to realize that come April, everything is just going to fly by as I'm going to be travelling (camping with the girls, visiting my grandparents, GREECCCEE, PARISS!) not to mention I have a friend who has booked her ticket to come to London for a month! I'm so excited!! I am having the most amazing time in London and as much as I miss everyone, it is going to be hard leaving the life I have become familiar with. How am I going to be able to live without having wonderful conversations with Ava or Maude yelling "ANDRA"? I don't know.

Harrods, Day 130

I went to Harrods today to get my eyebrows threaded (up until today I thought I had a high pain threshold) and after 15 antagonizing minutes of repeating the mantra beauty is pain over and over again in my head, I left with perfectly shaped eyebrows.

As much as Harrods displays itself as a place for the posh and prestigious, it has turned into one of the major tourist destinations in London. Of course there were the ladies with perfectly frosted blond hair, manicured fingernails tapping away on their Blackberries as they waited to get themselves pampered, but the majority of people there were just like me- tourists there for the experience.

Definitely something I'd only like to experience once though- it was too painful!

Countryside Roadtrip, Day 129

Today Samantha and I took another road trip into the country. We saw many sheep (little baby sheep are my favourite things ever! They just leap about!), passed about 6000 village pubs called “The Red Lion”, and went to a small little country shop for lunch. As I've said so many times before, I love the British countryside, probably because there's nothing like it in Canada.

A Home Away from Home, Day 128

It's funny how you can be so far away from home but yet one place can make you easily forget this. Earlier this week Samantha and I went to Ikea, and for half an hour everything felt so familiar. Ikea is just one of those places that stays the same wherever you go (it even smelt the same!!) and there is something so comforting about this. Maybe that's the key to travelling-finding that person to travel with who is a source of comfort or visiting a store along the way that signifies home in some way. I think I would be a bit lost if I could never find a place while I was travelling that somehow connected me to Toronto....thank goodness for Ikea is all I have to say!

I can NOT believe how quickly this trip is going-it's really quite scary. I am really happy with all of the things I've done (and learnt) so far, and can't wait for the warm months ahead-they are going to bring lots more adventures!

Day 124

I’ve never really appreciated wildlife photography. Cute cuddly animals or “awe-inspiring” rock formations have just never been my thing...at all. However I have to say, there were some absolutely amazing photos at the exhibit I saw today at the National History Museum. There were different categories throughout the exhibit and the winner and runner-ups photos were displayed in each one. I really liked the category composed of images of animals in urban settings. The photo below by Igor Shpilenok won first place.


I think it's such a great photo because he was able to capture a unique and unexpected moment.

There were some amazing photos in the category relating to conservation issues. Each photo had to encourage respect or concern for our natural world and it was amazing how all the artists were able to clearly tell a story or send a message through their photographs. I thought that Johnathan Clay's photo Last of the Tuna was such an amazing image because it sends a very clear message.
I also loveddd this photo-the moment Robert Friel was able to capture says so much. He sums it up by saying: "It's a quirky moment, but it's also a reminder that, however brief and well-managed our visits, our presence leaves a mark."


There were also categories for young photographers and a wall dedicated to seventeen year old Fergus Gill (he's adorable, definitely have a little crush on him) who won the Young Wildlife Photographer Award for the photo below.

This is the third (!!) year in a row he's come in first place. I teared up (all this teary eyed business is getting a bit tiring) when I read his biography and how many awards he had won- it was amazing to see someone have so many talented photographs and win first prize so many times at such a young age.

I was definitely enjoyed the exhibit much more than I thought I would. Because wildlife photography is something so foreign to me and in a totally different world of photography that I’m used to, this show did make me appreciate it a lot more; all of the photos made me realize how much skill is actually needed in capturing wildlife. What was so impressive about each and every photo was the photographers ability to capture moments that many people will never have the privilege of witnessing in their lifetime.

Homesickness But Not Really, Day 123

This past week, I’ve been getting all teary eyed at the smallest of things. It all started after I watched the movie The Notebook. I’ve watched it so, so many times and have not once cried but there I was getting all emotional as the characters recited lines I memorized long ago. Then came emails from my mom which got me all worked up, and a documentary on tv about a group of poor boys who won $200,000 scholarships to one of the most prestigious schools in the world (Harrow). I began to wonder if all these tears was a sign of the homesickness that everyone told me I’d experience. Before I left for London, I was so scared about being homesick because I did not want to look back on my year off and only remember missing home. What I summed it down to today is this: I have been getting all emotional because I am constantly reminded of how much love I have surrounding me, something that is easily forgotten when you’re miles and miles away from your home and familiar surroundings. My mom for instance-writing me the most comforting email that reminded me she could be thousands of miles away and still make me feel better about any situation. Or yesterday, my not-related-to-me-but-apart-of-my-family aunt called me and left a simple message on my phone, letting me know she missed me. Or my friends, who write epically long emails (Pona wins the award this weekend I think for possibly the longest email EVER written) to fill me in on everything. So thank you everyone, for making me cry out of happiness and reminding me how lucky I am! Oh god-now I’m crying. No, just kidding.

Today we all got dressed up to go out for breakfast (Ava laid the dress she wanted me to wear on my bed! I thought that was the sweetest) and then changed into more appropriate clothing to teach Ava to ride her bike without training wheels.

There were a few tears,

and some smiles

and about 2.5 seconds of riding on her own!

We then decorated the cake,

and frolicked in the backyard,


and did some sunbathing!
(Please note Maude’s “sunbathing” outfit).

Today the air smelt sweet (you know, that mixture of grass and earth and rain?) and I experienced that feeling of realization I get once a year that it’s spring, and the weather is only going to get warmer. It’s the smell that defines it for me and just makes me feel so excited!

xxxxx

Day 122

A few years ago when we came to visit Samantha for Christmas, I remember rounding the corner to the coffee shop and being so overwhelmed with how everything looked so British. I now walk down this road everyday and I was suddenly hit with the realization this afternoon that I no longer think twice about all the British beauty. This saddened me; the foreignness of my surroundings always felt so exciting. I think that is what's so appealing about travelling all over the world- arriving somewhere that is so different than anywhere you've been before.

It's mother's day tomorrow-we're all going out for breakfast. The girls and I made a heart shaped cake today (Ava's idea for mother's day). I plan to post photos tomorrow after they decorate it!

I am missing everyone!!

Day 118

If getting packages in the mail isn't exciting enough, I received one today in a huge spotty envelope! Made my day.

I've been busy nannying the last couple weeks, and am trying to sort out driving lessons (I passed my theory test!) Lessons are just so expensive!!

I've also been writing a lot which is nice. I'm still working on that piece I uploaded a few posts back but at the moment it's just a jumble of paragraphs-I need to sort out where exactly it's going.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the almost-springtime weather!

The Saatchi Gallery, Day 114

Today I went to the Saatchi, a contemporary art gallery that houses young artists or international artists who have never had their art shown in the UK.

Though I wasn’t that impressed with everything being shown, there was one instillation that really stuck with me. American Servicemen and Women Who Have Died in Iraq and Afghanistan took up three huge walls of one of the gallery rooms, the whole piece spanning 40 meters. The installation is comprised of 5,213 tiny drawings of soldiers who have died in action since 2004, acting as both a tribute and a record. The artist Emily Prince was inspired by a website where families post photos of those they have lost, which she visits weekly and makes drawings for every update. The paper colour represents the soldiers’ ethnic origin, and personal details are given on each card (name, age, country of origin). If there was no picture uploaded, Emily leaves the square blank except for the personal details.

What I really got out of this piece was they way it gave each and every solider an identity. Suddenly they became more than just statistics of those lost in war; Prince has captured each person’s individuality in a tiny box, reminding us that these people have families and are mourned and cherished as individuals.

Emily Prince has stated that this project will not be complete until American involvement in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan ends. Since it began, 2,100 drawings have been added (obviously they cannot all fit in the gallery room, but are encased in bound books and boxes on display).

Emily Prince online: http://www.alloftheamericanservicemenandwomen.com

Irving Penn, Day 112

Today was pretty exciting. I woke up with the sun streaming through my window and Samantha saying, “spring is here!” And it really is! I can smell it in the air and it makes me feel so joyous!

I went to the National Portrait Gallery today where I saw an exhibit of Irving Penn’s work. It was a very memorable experience, especially because he was one of the first artists to really inspire me when I started studying photography. My first assignment in grade 11 photography was to take a roll of film of a subject in north light. My teacher had given us a lecture on Irving Penn before giving us the assignment, explaining that this natural light was the most beautiful light to use when taking photos. It was this roll of film that awakened my passion for portraits and the use of north light-I was astounded at the way it made absolutely anything look beautiful.

I remember being in awe of that first roll of film I took of Olivia using north light, for my teacher was right; the light transformed the overall mood and look of the photos. From that day on, Olivia’s bedroom (much to her displeasure) was dubbed my temporary photographic studio. Through the course of the year, Olivia (quite patiently) posed for me consistently as I experimented with this light. My teacher could see how much Irving Penn was inspiring me and began throwing all things Irving Penn my way (an old Roliflex Camera, the kind Irving Penn used to take a majority of his shots, a book of his photographs taken during his travels and a backdrop for my “studio”).

What I love about Irving Penn’s portraits is the way they capture the true nature of the person being photographed, whether this is by a simple gesture they are making or by the way they are smiling. Though he did photograph for Vogue and other high esteemed magazines, my favourite photos by Irving Penn are the ones taken of “normal” people. I poured over the book “Worlds in a Small Room” to help me with my culminating project, composed of portraits of butchers, sheep herders, electricians he had taken during his travels around the world. What amazed me about these photographs was the way the north light transformed the subjects, bathing them in a soft even glow. It revealed so much about them, allowing them to silently tell their story.


For my final culminating project at the end of grade 11, I had composed a book of photographs that explored the human body in north light, Irving Penn my chosen mentor. I became obsessed with capturing flaws of the body for I wanted to show how north light enables us to look past the flaws of a subject, things we so often get preoccupied with, and instead see the beauty these imperfections hold. I was amazed at how photography had the ability to essentially re-define beauty, turn flaws into works of art.

Seeing Irving Penn’s photos that I looked at over and over again on glossy photo books in real life today was just amazing. There was something so magical about looking at the images and knowing he had printed them himself. I can’t count how many times I thought “just stunning!” as I walked around the exhibit.

A couple of my north light photographs: