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Walking #1

One of my summer goals, was to walk with the dog more. I walk her several times a day, but I take the same routes. We want to discover different routes and find new places that we can get to (by foot).  This also completes my goal of going for a coffee with Keira and letting her have a more relaxed pace.

Liberty Coffee is one of our favourite places to go in Launceston. They allow dogs and do milk alternatives, what more do I need? Keira loves going there, mostly so she can get unsuspecting customers to give her attention. On this day, we sat in the window seat on and sofas. I read my book and Keira sat beside the door so everybody would have to greet her. 

Afterwards, I took Keira down to Launceston Castle so she could have a run around and stretch her legs. It was really quiet when we went there, so she was able to run around undisturbed. The sun came out, so we quickly headed back into town to get Keira some water and begin the walk home again. 



Summer Goals:


  • Embroidery (self-embroidering shirts/decorations/etc),
  • Reading List,
  • Walking. Walk the town. Find a new route to walk the dog. Or allow the dog to choose the route,
  • Decorate a mug,
  • Yoga,
  • Try new foods,
  • Create a summer scrapbook/bullet journal,
  • Paint,
  • Work on a mini-summer photography project,
  • Tie dye,
  • Re-pot my plants,
  • Blog, Blog, Blog,
  • Go out for a coffee with Keira,
  • Visit an alternative city (not Exeter, Plymouth or Truro),
  • Make a dream catcher,
  • Make ice pops,
  • Go to the park,
  • Organise the domain,
  • Take a camera out with me,
  • Spontaneous,
  • Use the 120 pinhole camera,
  • Visit friends 
  • Summer Journal #1

    As part of my summer 'to-do' list, I wanted to create a physical piece of memory from this summer. Even if it's just to track the books I read, or print some images off into. Naturally, it was on of the first tasks I started, because I want to be able to document the others in it.
    I chose an old (faux)leather bound notebook, wrote down my summer reading list and tasks. From there I've documented what I've done on more exciting days, the books I've read, and images that inspire me.

    I thought it would be nice to collect some of my favourite pages here, that way even if I rip the pages out and give up on the idea, I'll still have copies of them somewhere!







    Summer Goals:

  • Embroidery (self-embroidering shirts/decorations/etc),
  • Reading List,
  • Walking. Walk the town. Find a new route to walk the dog. Or allow the dog to choose the route,
  • Decorate a mug,
  • Yoga,
  • Try new foods,
  • Create a summer scrapbook/bullet journal,
  • Paint,
  • Work on a mini-summer photography project,
  • Tie dye,
  • Re-pot my plants,
  • Blog, Blog, Blog,
  • Go out for a coffee with Keira,
  • Visit an alternative city (not Exeter, Plymouth or Truro),
  • Make a dream catcher,
  • Make ice pops,
  • Go to the park,
  • Organise the domain,
  • Take a camera out with me,
  • Spontaneous,
  • Use the 120 pinhole camera,
  • Visit friends 
  • Summer Inspiration List

    It can be difficult to initially think of activities to do, especially while others are still in uni/college/work at the start of summer. If you Google or Pinterest search 'Summer to do lists', you'll get a list made for young American's. Making smores. Going to the cinema. Although some would be great ideas, many are weak and not something I would want to do. I have no interest in making smores or creating my own recipes at the moment. So here is my summer to-do list, although I plan on getting a summer job so it's not set in stone.

    A list of things that you can do outside of the education system to keep your creative juices flowing:

    • Embroidery (self-embroidering shirts/decorations/etc),
    • Reading List,
    • Walking. Walk the town. Find a new route to walk the dog. Or allow the dog to choose the route,
    • Decorate a mug,
    • Yoga,
    • Try new foods,
    • Create a summer scrapbook/bullet journal,
    • Paint,
    • Work on a mini-summer photography project,
    • Tie dye,
    • Re-pot my plants,
    • Blog, Blog, Blog,
    • Go out for a coffee with Keira,
    • Visit an alternative city (not Exeter, Plymouth or Truro),
    • Make a dream catcher,
    • Make ice pops,
    • Go to the park,
    • Organise the domain,
    • Take a camera out with me,
    • Spontaneous,
    • Use the 120 pinhole camera,
    • Visit friends 

    Don't put pressure on yourself to have 'the best summer ever', you'll be let down. Just let the summer happen naturally.

    - K.B



    Summer Reading List


    The summer, for me, is here!!
    That means I can read... for fun, again. A strange mixture of books this summer, I'm mostly aiming to read all of the books that I've brought and not touched. Some I brought because they were popular, some I bought just because they were cheap in charity shops. I made a Goodreads goal at the start of the year to read 12 books (one a month), I've already read 10 so this should finish my goal and more!


    I am currently around a third of the way through Spectacles - Sue Perkins, and finishing off the final book in the Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)! I'm going to attempt to track how well I get through this list on here, though the other places to look would be Goodreads!


    *All of the books have links to an Amazon page where you can easily buy them! Or do what I do and wait for them to appear cheaply in charity stores.

    - K.B

    An Exploration of Hedgerows

    To do list:
    Complete First Year of FdA
    Complete Second Year of FdA
    Complete (my first) Second Year of BA
    Complete Third Year of BA
    Decide what you're doing next?

    Although, technically, I was supposed to graduate last October, I'm now on my final summer with the freedom of an education system. I'm feeling a lot of pressure to a) enjoy my final summer, b) work out what I'm doing with my life, c) get a summer job, d) (possibly the most stressful) starting the final year of my degree!
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In the mean time, time to get up-to-date with my last project. I had three weeks to either complete a project or to create a pilot project. After my last project, looking at the consumerism of the flower industry, I knew I wanted to continue looking at botanics and still life photography. I needed to find a subject that was nearby, I couldn't be *too* ambitious because of the short deadline. I had a week to experiment, a week to narrow down my ideas, and a week to smooth out any rough edges. 
    Inspired by Anna Atkins beautiful cyanotypes, used to document her seaweed and botanical collection, I decided to firstly look at creating cyanotypes and creating them on location. 


    I chose a small area of hedgerow to base my work in a small 600m length of hedge with a junction at the start and finish. This is along the route that I walk my dog daily, part of my daily routine, with Dartmoor in the distance and surrounded by local farmland. Along the lane is a small wooded area, about half way. To begin my photographic exploration, I chose to walk down the lane and take images of what appealed to me, what stood out, and just react to my environment. It can be difficult to find something interesting in a place that you explore daily. 





    I mostly explored the details of the plants and the variety of plants that were along the hedgerows. I read somewhere that for every 5 species found in a square metre of hedgerow equals 10 years of growth (5 species = 10 years). Now it's the middle of Spring and approaching the start of Summer, the hedges have bloomed with wildflowers and plants. Turning what were wide lanes, into narrow and difficult to see beyond the nearest corner. 
    While shooting I collected a bag of samples from along the lane...
    The wildflowers collected in a plastic bag with the evening light shining through them. I took the bag of samples home, to create small still lifes. Bringing something that was created to help the hedgerow's plants and creatures grow every year, put into the domestic location of my home. Reminiscent of being a young child and collecting wildflowers for your family and friends.
    I went back to the lane several times along the three weeks, I went to explore what surrounded the lane. You couldn't see much above the lane, now that the wild plants were growing higher and higher throughout Spring.

    On one of the trips along the lane, I took a photograph of a wooden electric pole...
    This gave me the idea to photograph every wooden electric pole, along the lane, and to create a mini typography of items along the lane.
    This collection of images shows how every pole is in a different environment, they all have their own mini environments around the poles. Some are in wooded areas, some have hardly any plants, some are in full blooming areas. 
    I then went onto doing 'experiments' along the lane. I would take 10 steps and then take a photograph on the right-hand side of the lane.




    This created a lot of images, 70-something to be more precise. 
    I felt (and still feel) as though, I was only just beginning this project. I finished it as a pilot project. I'm interested in starting this project up again, in the future. Through the summer, I will look at creating my own small briefs and working more commercially. This project might be picked up again in September, or in a few years from now. 




    Independent Launceston

    My final adverts from my Independent Launceston project. I've been working with independent businesses based in Launceston, Cornwall and creating an advertisement that appeals more to the younger generations without the boundaries from online advertisement creators.


    Little Bakehouse in Launceston

    The Mad American Barbershop

    Country Chic

    Cameo Beauty