As you walk around this abandoned quarry full of small (and some very large) chunks of stone you occasionally come across a scene like this. Nearly completed peak district millstones which have been left to be slowly reclaimed by the land they originated from. As you go for a close up inspection of them you can see the chisel marks and curves where they have been left incomplete. They give this area a strange ghostly ambiance of by gone times.
Lately I've been really wanting to make some sculptures from natural materials in natural settings so I have been exploring the Peak District looking for places to hide my work.
Don't get me wrong, I love the crisp fresh air of autumn and the golden leaves (which then fall off, to create a slippery path of brown mush, ready and waiting for you to fall over). But after all the work that I've had on over the past few months I'm longing after some down time to relax and have fun. Greece maybe? Morocco...
Is that to much to ask for? It doesn't matter either way because this dissertation isn't going to write itself! (no matter how much I wish it would) So here are few of my holiday snaps that cheered me up! Sun. sand and sea! I have always found it quite difficult to explain to people, or myself sometimes, what a Fine Art degree is and why anyone would embark on such a thing. I don't think I ever intended on gaining an Art Degree. It was a very long and winding path that took me to it but I think I couldn't fight my desire to explore the freedom and creativity that it temptingly offered. Every course provides a unique, insightful and hopefully inspirational experience for its students. Some are more focused on providing you with practical skills and other are more theoretical. But ultimately its up to you to decide which course suits you best. Here are my thoughts on what I have gotten out of my experience at Sheffield Hallam Art Collage
1. Freedom. There is an unrivaled, and almost barbaric, freedom in an art degree. We are the makers, thinkers and doers. 2. Experience. You will get to diversify your practical skills, travel regularly to see art, have lectures (twice a week) from successful practicing artists and have the support form your fellow students and tutors (who themselves should be practicing artists). 3.Because it won't limit you. You can quite literally make art about anything you want to, as long as you come at it from the right direction. I have moved round from surrealism to quantum-mechanics and installation to photography. 4. You don't have to know what your doing. This is meant to be I time of trial and failure, it's how you develop a good working practice. 5. Because you want to. I think to do a Fine Art degree is indulgent, you are doing what you are passionate about, and in many ways making is a selfish act. But what's wrong with that? I've lived in Sheffield for 3 years now and I hardly ever get a chance to explore the peak district so this weekend we put on our walking boots and went exploring! It only takes 20 minutes to get out to Surprise View (near Hathersage) on the bus and made an amazing picnic site. I think poppy enjoyed jumping through the heather too.
Every morning for the past few weeks I have ventured out to the tree at the bottom of the garden to forage out apples that have fallen during the night. What a tasty morning surprise... These should last me a while!
I was feeling a little down about being stuck inside all week reading and writing an essay. The sun was shining...but not in Sheffield! Either way I'd had enough so I threw on my coat and wellies and went for a stroll.
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