2019-03-21
I was settling into painting in the warehouse on the botanical gardens of Floripa when the percussive introduction of a very specific song began to ring out of my phone’s tiny speaker. “Magalenha” by Sergio Mendes. A little random, I know – I’d recommend a listen though. I love painting because it completely focuses one...
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2018-12-18
In taking a gap year, I made the decision to learn by looking up. For a nerd like me, admitting that you can’t learn everything with your nose in a book can be painful. Admittedly, I would still dive straight into a library if I were looking for nuclear theories or a chronology of the...
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2018-10-25
Time is different in Brazil. There are many reasons why – I went from British summer time with the sun setting at 11pm, to it setting here at 6:30pm. We eat lunch anywhere between 1pm and 4pm, and tea just before going to bed. The busses can come up to 20 minutes before or after...
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2018-09-30
Whilst drawing out in the landscape, an art teacher once told me that “you must draw faster, because every time you look up, what you see will have changed.” Pencil in hand, and sheltering my sketchpad from the late winter drizzle, I realise that this concept transcends much further than the Tuscan hills. On the...
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2018-09-11
In three weeks of orientation, I’ve carried my notebook, pen and water bottle around my fair share of classrooms, lecture halls and conference rooms. I carried them around the Tufts and Stanford Campuses and the Morros Das Pedras Hotel in my tote bag, somewhat obnoxiously adorned with a print of Botticelli’s Primavera. I could derive...
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The dappled shade protects my pale shoulders from the sun and the grass is damp under my bare legs. The taste of Thai food is new and there’s probably as much on my face as in my mouth. I unfold one leg and stretch it out into the circle. The circle consists of the other...
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2018-08-12
“Don’t forget to take a casserole recipe!” “Make sure you pack Pride and Prejudice!” “Brush up on Brexit in case you get asked!” Approaching the cultural exchange I will participate in over the next year, I am beginning to realise quite how British I am. My parents are tea addicts; my favourite author is...
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