'Days like this; Blue Chopper'

A trip down memory lane

I recently visited Ireland with my brother and Dad to see relatives, we stayed in the house my Dad grew up in in the middle of the countryside surrounded by farms and fields, it was a really nice change of scenery. The area where my Dad grew up is known as Battlehill, there is a four mile walk around the hill, we always walk around and he shows us where he used to play football and cricket as a child, his old schools, places he got into trouble etc. Its always nice to hear the stories his adventures and mischeif.

Last year when just my brother and Dad were visiting Ireland they were walking around one day and exploring when they came across a house my Dad used to go to when he was younger, this house being a little further away from where my Dad's house is. He used to go there with his cousins to play pool with friends that lived there. So when he came across the house he was intrigued to look inside as it had been abandoned, to his complete surprise, they discovered that alot of things had been left behind, including the pool table he used to play on, now a wreck but still there. They discovered old china sets, a television, a coat still hanging up, toys, my Dad was amazed and it made him reminiscent of the happy days he had spent there.

So on our recent visit we went back as I really wanted to see the house for myself, I found it really incredible to look around and a little eerie, hard to imagine someone living in it now.



Old china.



Trees and plants growing into the house.



The roof has caved into the pool table since my brother and Dad discovered it.



It was tricky to navigate around!



The coat on the hanger has been there for over 30 years now.



A newspaper from Friday June 15th 1956, my Dad was only 2 months old then!



A very old television.



Wallpaper still up.

Exhibition

The final series of 66 Postcards made from all of the collected information in my journals, all about memory and language, why people are the way they are, what triggers memories, sayings, stories, photographs, drawings. I came across alot of handwritten postcards, letters and notes, with messages of celebration and stories. I really like this way of communication and hope it is kept up even with all of this technology! I really enjoyed this project it provided many comical stories and a chance to reminisce, these ideas and project could continue forever :)

Postcards

I have made a series of postcards using memories, photographs, drawings, language, observations etc. It involved a lot of tea stained paper and messiness, the best way to work I think... this is one of my favourites of my parents aged 24/25, I thought the photo was so sweet!

Copenhagen

Last weekend I went to Copenhagen with my family, it was very cold and snowy and pretty. Also full of comedy moments, the best being my sister knocking over a full pint of beer over my Mum which cost almost 5 pounds (it's quite expensive). I really like the city, it had really cool buildings and statues everywhere.





The water was completely frozen over, and walking down the streets enormous blocks of ice would just fall off the roofs of the buildings, quite disconcerting, we walked closer to the road when we discovered this.







On the way home our plane was delayed because of snow in Manchester, it gave me a good eight hours to doodle which helped pass the time, it turned into a sort of journal/documentation of our trip, and has alot to do with how much I would have rather been home than stuck in an airport! I collected some cool leaflets, postcards, newspapers and things from places we visited.