I live. For now...

Long time, no speak. Many apologies.

So, I graduated from Edinburgh College of Art. Proof:

Or at least proof that I had a nice photograph taken with a fake degree.

Just before that, I did my first paid singing gig back in The Ham of Old. Proof:

This is about the only photo where I'm not pulling a silly face from singing.

I finished my scarf. It just needs the loose ends hiding and tassels adding to it. Proof:

Methinks it's about 7 and a half feet in length.

I did my final Fringe festival as an Edinburgh resident (for now, at least). I met some very ace people. Proof:

Charlesworth and I with The Axis of Awesome.

Charlesworth and I with Norman Lovett, most famously known as Holly from Red Dwarf

.

(I got very excited about this. Red Dwarf is my favourite TV programme and therefore its cast are some of my favourite people ever so to finally meet one of them and finally see his stand-up made me extremely happy indeed.)

Charlesworth and I with Jon Richardson. He wished me good luck job hunting.

Excellent times all round.

I have also just been paid for my first illustration commission. I would put proof but I'm not sure the drawings have been fully approved yet (they are instructional drawings).

Now I have entered my final month of living in Edinburgh before I move back home. I have been reading, catching up with my book of Codewords for every day of the year (I've only just got to the beginning of May) and other such stuff before my boxes and bubble wrap arrive tomorrow and the packing begins. In the meantime, here's a drawing of my dear friend Kay and myself and the possible conspiracy theory we may have uncovered:

I have no working scanner currently. Apologies.

Stuff what is going on.

This has been my life recently:

Degree Show

The front of my postcards and business cards:

The back of my postcards and business cards:

The Animation exhibit on the Business Opening:

Note my hand in the 'Making Of' projected on the screen.

My station in the exhibit:

My brother, Morgan, and I (aka Jay and Lori in my film) on the Family and Friends Opening night:

The degree show's been going really well, us animation folks have had a lot of positive feedback, which is grand. The whole degree show is pretty damned strong so I highly recommend people around and about Edinburgh having a gander before it closes on Sunday evening!

Other than that, I've been drawing and doodling again now that I don't have to draw Jay and Lori a bazillion times over.

Drawings

A couple of parent and kiddywinkle sketches. I shall be colouring them soon. I'm thinking of doing two different coloured versions for each, one digital, one traditional.

A Forest by The Cure came on the radio whilst I was drawing in Starbucks, so I was compelled to draw this as I do love that song a great deal:

Whilst I've been invigilating I've been sketching to stop myself from going a bit spare staring at the same bit of wall for 5 hours, so this is what spilled out of my brain whilst on duty yesterday:

Because I am small.

I saw a girl with knee socks watching one of our films so I suddenly felt compelled to draw socks.

Knitting
I've also been knitting. I am working on a scarf, and this is how it's looking currently:

Singing

Tis time to practice the songs for the gig next week again. I'm singing Complainte De La Butte by Rufus Wainwright, Walk On The Wild Side by Lou Reed, Port of Amsterdam originally by Jacques Brel but I shall by singing a Brel/David Bowie hybrid and El Tango De Roxanne from Moulin Rouge!. Practice is going... alright. Some of them are not too bad but some of them *cough*Port of Amsterdam*cough* are proving to be a bit of a nightmare. Plus, I seem to be developing a sore throat and that is exactly NOT what you need for singing times. Here's hoping it'll be gone for next Friday...

Anywho, now to more tidying and packing. Charlesworth is arriving tomorrow to see the degree show and then I will be traveling back to Oldham with her in order to watch my brother's last Showcase concerts with Oldham Music Centre. Then back to Edinburgh to graduate.
So... next time I'm back here I might have a funny picture of me wearing a mortar board to share.

Frank is my Aslan

Good evening to all from here in Narnia.


Let me introduce myself. I am Tasha, a small little critter originally from deepest, darkest Oldham. Having said that, I'm not in Oldham at the moment. I'm in my last year at Edinburgh College of Art (eca), studying Animation. This year shall be spent making one glorious film (or at least that's the intention) and the idea of this little blog is to update about said film whilst I figure out how to construct my main website (any knowledge I had of Dreamweaver and the like has abandoned me). But updates of my currently untitled film shall come soon. Right now, other endeavours shall be explored.

Edinburgh looks like Narnia. eca was closed because of all the snow so that means that the child in everyone can take advantage of the free time. Animators naturally have a Peter Pan complex so this is perfect for us. I had a different agenda though. I wasn't going to play in the snow, I was going to check on the snowy antics I had been involved in the night before.

Fellow animators and excellent friends of mine, Christina and Richard, and myself went for snow fights and obligatory snowman building last night. After making hefty snowballs to begin making a fairly large snowman, we agreed that the shape of it vaguely resembled a rabbit. Thus, the making of Frank began.

Here he is.

We were determined to give those Sculpture students a run for their money. Granted, passers-by and ourselves thought at moments that Frank looked like a T-Rex, a squirrel and a rat but ah well, details. The ears proved tricky so this was the compromise:

This was the point where I suggested naming him Frank as I felt the ears made him look like Frank from Donnie Darko. My mum pointed out later that Harvey would've been a good name, considering the film is about a 6ft white rabbit. Harvey can be his last name. This was also the point where I felt Frank looked a little like a grasshopper.

Here I am with Frank.

Here we all are with Frank.

However, this is what I found today:

Goodbye Frank. I then wandered about the Meadows aimlessly for 20 minutes because I like the crunching sound walking in snow makes.

Snow is very distracting when it comes to making final films.

This is the first thing that's made me feel like it's nearly Christmas. There's nothing more Christmassy than a pillarbox topped with snow in my mind.

I realise this is a ramble, but I like to ramble.