Art on the Underground: I'm a Professional, Y'all!

A few weeks ago, I started my new placement at Art on the Underground. For those of you who don't know much about the London Underground or why someone would want to put art in a tube station, click HERE. What makes AotU cool is that many of these stations have been open since the mid 1800s, so there is so much history, and over 2 million people use the tube a DAY. The underground is something that connects the entire city together- anyone who lives here immediately recognizes the roundel (see picture above)

My first day, I had a brief meeting with one of the curators, Louise. She explained what her job was and asked if I would be interested in working close with her on the Mark Wallinger Poster Project and school Station Visits surrounding the Labyrinths. Mark Wallinger is a VERY prominent artist in London (he is known globally as well). He has become the first artist to put in artwork that connects a citywide railway system- all 270 stations in the city! 

I will be acting as assistant to the curator, talking with schools about submitting their posters for the Poster Contest. I was also excited about meeting with Mark Wallinger to judge the contestants (gasp, excitement, gasp!). If you want to learn more about the Labyrinth project, click here! It is very exciting to finally be doing what I’ve wanted to do all year. I’m really looking forward to learning all the odds and ends of what makes a program like AotU work.

In front of the Woodside Park Station Labyrinth

I will also be assisting on school group Station Visits. On Wednesday we went to Woodside Park Station to meet up with a group of 11-13 year old special education students. We asked them to present work that they brought with them- they had drawn their own Labyrinths and colored them. Many had very clever things to say about their work like, “Then I got off the tube and saw a dragon, and slayed it with a sword,” or “I went on the tube, saw a spotted blue dog, and then decided to get off for a spot of tea.” (a ten year old actually said 'spot of tea')  

Speaking of tea, I thought it was funny that my office has a tea station! There are thousands of tea bags, a fridge full of milk/cream and three water boilers. I've been drinking about six cups of tea a day- its an obsession. The funniest part is that next to the station they have tube seats for a sitting area! People of London, you know exactly what I mean, but for those of you back home I've posted a picture. 

This week I have been heading the School Poster Competition, which is a pretty big deal! Lots of responsibilities. I've been contacting teachers with inquiries, keeping track of schools on the registry list who have uploaded successfully, and at times uploading images for teachers myself when they are unable to.  I have learned a lot about using Word Press efficiently, which is the system that uploads information and images onto the website.

 As we have had almost 800 entries from 50 different schools I’ve had my work cut out for me. Of the 15 different teacher/headmaster inquiries/technical difficulty reports I received, 13 uploaded images into the contest successfully. I also designed a system for how Mark judged the posters.

Mark Wallinger in his studio judging the Posters! 
I went to Mark's studio today with Louise, and I was COMPLETELY prepared with a huge box full of entries! Mark was so friendly and welcoming to me as a new face on the project, so I really enjoyed it (and, lets be real, I was SOOOO excited to meet such a well known artist and get to pick his brain). The process could not have gone more smoothly. We now have 12 winning images: first, second, third, and runner up for each age group. The winners won't be announced until October, so I'm a little bummed that I won't get to see it through. 

Afterwards, though, Louise told me that I had done "brilliantly", and that  she wished she could hire me on for another year! I have been working really hard, and more often than not I'm the last person in the office at the end of the day, so having all of it pay off felt amazing! 

I've been a very busy girl and working really hard. I think cubicle life suits me :)

Katie and Beth Visit, Saatchi 'Paper' Private Opening Party, & Summer Nights in Soho

I really lived it up the first part of June before I started my internship. I did end up getting 6,000 words done on my thesis- half way to go! 

Katie and Beth got to make the trip over the pond! I mainly worked on thesis crap, but they got to explore together. They bunked up here, so it was fun to get to have coffee and tea in the mornings and chat before they went out on adventures during the day. We went to the new musical Matilda and it was so fun! I thought the props, transitions, and lighting was especially cool. On their last night in town we went to dinner in Soho and then took a bottle of wine to the steps in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and watched the skyline and fountain. It was perfect! I am so glad they got to come and experience this fab city. 

Last week we went to the private viewing of Saatchi's new collection 'Paper'. There were four or five waiters walking around with grapefruit and apple martinis, champagne, and gin and tonics- FREE. So, we had a jolly good time. The art was rad. Lots of really great painters in the show, which was refreshing as tons of contemporary art here in London has been very conceptual. 

This is a picture of one in a series of bags- this one is a McDonalds bag. The artist has cut into the bag and created tiny trees inside. 

This is Matthew Billingham, his color palette and lines make his work some of my favorites from the show

This work was suspended in the middle of a long 50 foot room. It is made of tissue type paper and hung with string. 

 This last weekend Lilly and Tom invited us out to dinner in Chinatown. We had fun trying a highly rated chinese place in our friend George's Top 100 Restaurants in London book. After, we hit up our new favorite place, Gordon's wine bar, for some cheese, bread and wine. We have had great summer night weather. It stays about the same temperature (around 65 degrees) and the sun hasn't been setting until 10pm or half past.

I'm making every moment count while I'm here!

Until next time.... cheers, y'all! XX

Carly

Into the Country

Since I have been in London, I've joined a bible study at HTB, my church here. They are called Pastorates, since a pastor heads each one. Our pastor, Jamie, is

my age as are most of the members. The theme of the weekend was Kingdoms and Jesus as the Supreme Ruler. The group is so fun, and very diverse. We have members from Australia, South Africa, China, and the States... and England of course! This weekend, we all headed out to the country near Basingstoke, southern England close to the coast, for a holiday in nature with Jesus. Here in the city, we don't get much "nature" time, so seeing the rolling farmlands, trees, and being able to play "football" and cricket just out on the lawn was really enjoyable. We definitely took advantage of the good weather, too! Both days were sunny and warm. 

I showed up to the place we would stay thinking that English camping meant staying in a small cottage, and it was a MANOR home of the Coleman's Mustard family! Absolutely beautiful, and it was surrounded by rolling fields with sheep and forest. The Earl and his wife stay on the other side of the house, and our church uses the rest for retreats and such. It is called the Malshanger House. 

On Saturday I woke up early and went for a 4 mile run, stopping along the road to enjoy the view. There are entire fields of this bright yellow flower, and from afar it looks like a field of sunshine/lake of BRIGHT yellow water. I've never seen anything like it! It is a weed that spreads over entire fields of grass. The English seem to find it annoying, but I thought it was beautiful. 

We had breakfast, did a crossword (found out that a stinging plant is a "nettle"! It's a British thing) and tossed around my nerf "American Football", then had a bible study session and some worship time. The afternoon was full of games outside. They taught me how to play Cricket! As I was the only American, the rest already knew how to play. 
We wandered back behind the Manor and found a tire swing and a rope ladder leading up a willowy,

thick tree. I climbed up and immediately regretted it as I hate feeling like I'm going to fall! We made it back down safely and continued through the forested area along the path until it circled back around. They pointed out the nettles to me- leaved plants with pointy ends that apparently really hurt. There is another plant that grows near it that eases the sting if you rub it over your skin. After going a lifetime without hearing the word "nettle" I probably heard it fifty times that day (and it was a little ironic it showed up in the crossword first). After a full day in the sun, we made what I now know to be Pimm's! It is so delicious. It has Pimm's liquor, lemonade, strawberries, cucumber, oranges, mint leaves and a little bit of sugar. They explained to me that it is a British drink. (I feel that I've learned a lot about being British over the weekend!) 

We took out the speakers to play some music, pulled some chairs onto the lawn, and had a few drinks and crisps for a proper afternoon snack! 

We moved the music inside and cracked open some wine to make dinner. A feast of ravioli pasta, garlic bread, and salad with Plum Crumble had been pre-prepared for us and it was so good! 

After a late meal, we settled in to the den for some games. We played murder- an alternative game to what most of you in America know- instead of

winking while you sit in a circle we would walk around the house and the murderer would come up and say, "Go die in the kitchen." Which made it even funnier! The rest of the "undead" would try to figure out who the killer was before they could kill everyone else. We also tapped into our inner-child and played a few games of hide and seek! It was the perfect house, we couldn't resist. 

We woke up this morning, made breakfast, cleaned up and had one last session before heading back to London. This weekend has been so refreshing and fun- it has definitely been one of the nicest weekends I've had here thus far!

Til next time.. cheers mates!

Carly

Pokey's Visit: London and France

 My mom was fortunate enough to make the journey across the pond to come visit! She had never been overseas to Europe before, so it was fun to be a part of her new experience. We walked all around town, because visiting London is first and foremost about seeing all the beautiful architecture and historical places like Parliament and Westminster Abbey. The first day she was in town we went to Parliament to meet Aleks for lunch with all the MPs. He gave us a tour and then we left to go see a play at the Apollo theatre called the Curious Incident of the Dog At Midnight.

I took her to see 23 Courtfield Gardens where I lived for most of the year. It is in a nice part of town, so she liked seeing all the other white washed front step buildings. 

The Shard

We walked in South London as well and saw the new Shard building. It looks smaller from far away but up close it reminds me of the Empire State Building! It is being built to house living spaces, grocery stores, a mall, and anything else a person might need to live. Later, we went to Kensington Palace to see the Victoria Revealed exhibit about Queen Victoria and had High Tea at the Orangery next door. Later, we watched the movie 'Young Victoria' with Emily Blunt to get a visual context. 

In front of Westminster Abbey

 She was keen on visiting Westminster Abbey, but unfortunately they were closed the day we went! It was a huge bummer, but she still got to see the outside. 

The guard to Green Park and Buckingham Palace

View from our hotel balcony

We left for Nice, France on Monday morning super early at 2.30am to get a cab to the airport. I had come down with the "Lurgy" (British talk for Cold) and was at the peak of it on our day traveling. Once we got to the hotel we took a nice long nap. We left later for a delicious dinner that my grandma gave us!

 The next day we hit the ground running and walked around town. The centre was beautiful with red, orange, and yellow buildings, fountains patina'd with turquoise. We did some shopping and walked down the beach collecting pretty rocks. We found Castel Plage, a seaside restaurant and cabana spot. Apparently, Elton John and Emma Watson love going there when they holiday in Nice so we knew it was good! If you ever go, I suggest the clam linguine and some white wine for lunch.

At the Castel Plage having some cocktails... it's 5 o'clock somewhere!

 We had a drink and decided to go back the next day.
The photo below is a picture looking down the beach at the Castel Plage. The water there was the prettiest, too! They had chairs you could rent for the day, so we got to soak in the sun. The view wasn't too bad either. :)



















The trip went much too fast, and when we got back to London around midnight we packed my mom up to leave for the States the next day. It was so fun showing her all the places here that I have loved, and going to France to a city we could explore together. It was truly the trip of a lifetime for both of us!

Turkeys in Istanbul and Some Lessons Learned

We finished our dissertation presentations May 3rd and after a very stressful and prolonged week we were ready to take on Istanbul, Turkey with our professor Charlotte. 

We left our new flat in Clapham, after hiding all our valuables away, and headed to the airport. The city of Istanbul is so different and beautiful in a way I've never seen. There are many diverse and interesting people, shops, and buildings. There are ancient, crumbling walls next to bright and newly painted mosques and houses. The Bosphorus, a straight which connects the Aegean and Black Sea, flows through the city and separates continents Europe and Asia- I can officially say I've been to Asia! The view from our hotel room overlooked the red bricked roofs and the Bosphorus. We were fortunate enough to have lovely sunny days all week. Charlotte took us to the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Roman Aquaducts on the first full day in town.

Many of us had studied the art, architecture, and decor within these Byzantine churches and so seeing it in person was a great experience. There are no pictures or videos that can quite fully capture what it is like to be in these places. The colors, patterns, and light overwhelms you. We had to cover our heads in respect to the mosques, which made for some funny photos..Apparently I shouldn't have worn my cat-eye sunglasses that day- hence I was proclaimed, "diva-esque" by Charlotte. If ya got it, FLAUNT IT! (just kidding.) Afterward, we went to the Roman basilica Cistern and saw the famous medusa stone heads. 

Istanbul is such a different place. The language is complex, too. It took us a week to truly know how to say "thank you" (Tesh-a kur adem!) 
During a free afternoon Kate and I visited the Topkapi Palace. This was one of my favorite places in Istanbul. The rooms were tiled with patterns in blues, greens, yellows, and reds and embossed in gold. No two rooms were the same. The balconies also gave us spectacular views!

In the nighttime we would have delicious dinners and drinks, and talk. Our last evening in town Kate, Lisa, Lilly, Tom, Lisa's friend Kate, and I went to a rooftop restaurant overlooking the city and straight.

 It was one of the best nights of my life! The food was exquisite, and the company even better. There is nothing like being surrounded by good friends, good food, and a panoramic view of such a gorgeous place. The sun set and we talked for hours until our bellies were full and it was almost midnight, then we went down to the bank to a hookah bar. 
The next morning we were up bright and early to head to the airport. The best day of our life had somehow morphed overnight into what would become one of the worst. Lisa and her friend Kate were feeling the effects of food poisoning... rut-roh. We piled into the van, some looking a little green already, and started on the fast and winding taxi ride. One of the girls in our group got car sick and threw up in a zip lock baggy. We arrived to the airport and realized that the cabbie had put Lisa's friend's bags into the taxi with ours (She was still back at the hotel and getting ready to leave on a different flight to her village in Turkey...) Once we made it through, Lisa was looking and feeling worse. When she came back to the table after another bout of sickness she was as white as a sheet and sweating profusely. I decided to go find Charlotte, and by the time I got back with her Lisa had apparently passed out on the way to the bathroom with Kate. When we went in to check on her she was on the bathroom floor, and the medics soon arrived. They carted her off to the hospital wing of the airport and got her on an IV. At this point I couldn't imagine the day going more awry.... until they told us she couldn't fly for another day. It was decided I could stay back with her for another night and the rest of the group would go on. Once again, I thought that nothing else could possibly go wrong. I should have been knocking on wood ten thousand times. 
Lisa and I finally made it to the hotel that the airport booked us. I took a nice bath and felt all the bad karma melting away. Theeeennnnn we got a call and text from Kate. Our apartment had been robbed while we'd been on holiday. In a way, I think we knew deep down that something was going to happen. We had hidden our jewelry, perfumes, computers, and valuables to an obsessive degree. I had a last minute thought (divine intervention in my opinion) to hide my computer in a genius place which will go undisclosed for future use. Kate decided last minute to move hers in with mine. Lisa kept hers between the box springs under her bed, where I hid my own iPad. The robbers came in and flipped EVERYTHING. The tables, the drawers, the bed and box spring. They snatched Lisa's Macbook Pro, my iPad, all of our mac chargers and left our pretty, expensive girly things (freakin' dudes). They didn't get Lisa's back up hard drive so she didn't lose any of her priceless research. If they had taken my computer ALL my work would have been lost. While the day was terrible, we were very blessed that no true harm was done, and that all our research was not gone. We learned a valuable lesson about counting the blessings and being thankful for the small things.

Cheers, my friends!

Carly