No smoke without fire

Well mother nature is wagging her finger at us. I'm wondering with all the major earthquakes over the last few months and now this volcano is the earth rearranging the furniture - so-to-speak, so who knows what will transpire. It really brings it home to me that despite all our fancy gadgets and great discoveries this is still a planet created and formed by natural forces that don't pander to our wants and needs.

CONFUSED

We got a 3rd evaluation for the house this morning and it confused us both. The first two were disappointing both between 5 and 10 grand under what we paid for it originally but this one was 26 grand over!! So we're thinking maybe chance a little more than the average. Comes to someone wanting to live in Ballyhalbert and in a reasonably fabulous semi.

Well here's the set design I mentioned in my last blog. For the last 3 years I've been "design mentor" - whatever that means - for the Drama department at Queens Belfast. I assist the 3rd yr students with their own small plays and this time of year the 2nd yrs put on a larger all encompassing production their opportunity to experience proper professional theatre. The last 2 years I was given the task of designing the 2nd yr show.

The first was 'The Last Days of Judas Escariot', directed by the lovely Des Kennedy, the set was lots of platforms with hidden doors/traps and the idea was to make it look along the lines of a shanty town. I was pleased with it but not as pleased as I was with the one I did the following year. It was called 'Attempts On Her Life' directed by the incredibly smart Allyson Campbell, and Post modern so a real challenge as I'm not remotely up on post modernism.

It's a play that doesn't follow the conventional form of narrative it consists of different scenarios that are like they are snippets from other plays and can be interpreted pretty much in any way desired by the individual production. It has very little stage direction. Allyson wanted a white stage with a raked floor and the back wall to resemble a computers circuit board that would have red lights appear at particular times. It looked so cool lit.

Minesweeper

^This is the big news.^

Right I am really really bad at this stuff but I have decided to use this blog to show off and that may just make me a more decent blogger - doubt it but lets just see.

I'm now going to explain the mask. It's the start of one of my many many ideas for art projects that I plan to pursue in the coming months. For the last 10 years I've been employed in the theatre world in Northern Ireland (mainly Belfast). However, I've come to realise recently that I know longer get the artistic satisfaction from painting sets, making props or other wierd shit for other people as I used to. I have designed some sets over the years but only one has ever left me feeling truely contented. I shall put pictures up in next post.

When I say I've been feeling this recently it's been over about 3 years, only now am I aware that time's aticking. So I have just 2 days ago acquired an artists studio, (see top photo). It's in west Belfast not far from the falls road and so reasonably close to the city centre, in an old linen mill great big windows tiled floors, a double sink and pigeons nesting outside, a rock band rehearse down the corridor and a t-shirt company directly across from me who watch day time tv loudly. Haven't got all my crap in there yet there's a bit of cleaning to do and I've 3 jobs looming over the next 6 weeks so maynot get alot of my own work. Thing is there's no lease I just have to pay a month in advance works out at £140 per month all in, though they keep an eye on the lecky meter if it goes overf £15p/m then I pay the difference. If I want to leave I just let them know before the month's up. Hopefully that wont be for a while.

This is also really handy as I'm able to get the room I've been using in the house clear as we are about to put the house on the market with the hope that we'll be able to move back to Belfast very soon.