College Life

The park near my college looks pretty at night. The photos don't really do it a lot of justice.

I figured that at least by now, I should do one of these posts on college - not just the work but everything else that goes on; a little more about me as a person when I'm there now I've fully relaxed. It doesn't seem like I've been here nearly three months, it seems so much longer.

Most days, I dress in older clothes. Jeans, older shirts and jumpers are the norm. Usually outside of college I enjoy steampunk and lolita fashion, and I have worn both styles to college before (I actually turned up to my interview with my barometer around my neck, my teacher still remembers) but in Fine Art when you're mucking around with paints and other substances that can easily wreck your clothes ... I don't wanna ruin my nice stuff. I also don't want to hold back from doing certain things 'cause I'm afraid I'll get my clothes grubby. Sleeves are the worst for getting stained, as well as the side of me (if I brush against wet paint or something). That being said, I still try to look presentable. <.<

I get quite an early bus in, and by the time I arrive I usually have about 25 minutes to spare, sometimes longer. That gives me time to get settled into the classroom while it's not too busy, get a cup of coffee (whether from my Thermos or from the machine), fetch my toolbox and current work from the shelf, get the materials I need set up, and then just have a relax for a few minutes before going to registration and starting the day's work. Sometimes I have a book with me to read, knitting, or a free copy of Metro (I got a few little cross-stitching kits earlier, they're quite compact so I think I'll start taking those in) which come in handy for the breaktimes.

It's about 50-50 whether I buy lunch or take in food with me. Sometimes in the morning it's just so much easier to grab a couple of quid than prepare a lunchbox (I know I could do the latter at night before I go to bed, but I end up either being too tired or just forgetting). Yet, it's a little easier if I take in food because I can then eat when I want and work through breaks if I need to without having to run out and get food. The teachers are pretty relaxed about us eating or drinking in the room as long as we're hygienic about it and do our work at the same time.

One of these days I want to try and make a bento box, but they look so fiddly ;_;

I get along with many people. That being said, I have my off-days like everyone does (especially recently, what with all that's going on) when I can be a bit quiet or occasionally my voice has an edge to it - even ranty, but me being ranty is quite rare for college and even then lasts all of ten minutes or so. Often when I feel a bit 'ugh', I put on my MP3 player and concentrate on the work in front of me (warning my friends that if they want my attention they'll have to poke me with the end of a paintbrush - also, see below for a playlist I like). I'm definitely a lot more sociable here than I was at sixth-form or high-school - not that I didn't talk, I just chose not to or chose just to casually listen in to other conversations in class. Here, because I'm with a lot of like-minded people, I find it easier to strike up a conversation while mixing paint or writing in my studio-diary. :3

Bringing it back to the MP3-player I mentioned earlier, here's some of the playlist I like to have for working on Art (and some of these date back a few years to GCSE times, so they're tried-n'-tested):
Ebudae - Enya
Only Time - Enya
Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring - Celtic Woman
Agnus Dei (Adagio for Strings) - Choir of Trinity College
Aozora, Piano Version - Lia (I actually prefer this version to the original vocal)
Natsukage, Vocal Version - Lia
Dango Daikazoku - Chata
Bridge over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel
Bright Eyes - Art Garfunkel


The songs I prefer to listen to while doing artwork are also the songs I play when it's late at night and I can't relax enough to sleep. They all have that gentleness about them, and I feel that while I'm putting energy (both mental and physical) into my artwork, I need something relaxing to balance it out.




Still lookin' pretty!

That's certainly not everything, but this post is getting long. *nod* So much of my time at college is work, very enjoyable work at that, but there are other aspects to it that makes me look forward to returning the next day. *thumbs up*