Quiet

Reading challenge

  Hooray, I finished my Reading challenge for 2014! Though it was fun, next year I'll lower the target... perhaps mid 20s. But this is definately a good way for me to motivate myself to read more.

Christmas

It's Christmas Day and though I promised myself I wouldn't go online today, the soaps are on (Emmerdale Christmas special urgh) so I stole some time away from the cosy couch/fire/tiramisu irish cream to write here. Christmas is lovely!!

 

I wanted to post my winning Christmas card. I entered a competition held by the scaffolding company working on our flats (Mulally) and the winner of the design competition would get £250 Tesco vouchers! When I won I was thrilled... our Christmas food shop was covered!!

I’m very grateful for all the gifts I got this year. Amongst my favourite are tickets to the View from the shard, a hand-knitted scarf, 2 dresses and lots of mandara spa bath gifts

My Christmas Card for 2014. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! xxxxxx

December 2014

December has been very busy and fun. Plenty of mulled wine has been sipped at Christmas markets and starting a job in London in November has meant I can see the skyline daily and truly admire the beauty of London at Christmas.

At work we have had several festive themed competitions. Our team was lucky to win the wreath design one. 

I enjoyed doodling each team member then dousing the entire wreath in glitter!!! We will be rewarded with a cream tea hamper in January! We also won the wrapping challenge, which involved me being wrapped up as a present in record time. I looked like a turkey but enjoyed being wrapped. I’ve been wrapped before several times actually.

The chairoplanes at Leister Square were a delight (my all time favourite ride) and the Muppet Christmas Carol sing-a-long at The Prince Charles Cinema a joy!!

Christmas admin and drinks do with my ‘CSI’ group was charming and also resulted in a mini award ceremony and giant toast to all the dead fictional characters we murdered this year!!

My work colleagues ‘Dead but Happy’ at the bread and roses theatre in clapham was an intriguing play with the perfect balance of philosophy and humour. I love a play that explores human purpose and existence but with a witty approach such as this one. My colleagues Johnny and Phil were incredible and should this play make a comeback… I’d really recommend seeing it!!

 I also had some candyfloss at the Southbank market which is something I haven't eaten in years!! It was not very nice and made my hands and face sticky. But I enjoyed the colour, fluffiness and feeling of pride as I held the stick high!!!

Jack White the 02

 I’m not usually a fan of seeing live music in venues as big as the O2 but was happy when Jack got tickets to see ‘Jack White’ in November as I’ve never seen him live and love the new Lazaretto album.

 The 02 was particularly busy and as we arrived early we enjoyed some sushi and took a look around a mini Sky exhibition. During this sky experience we could have a chance presenting the news. Jack was reluctant at first but then agreed to join me presenting if we chose sky sports news. We did and it was very fun/silly.

Before Jack White made his appearance, the curtain was parted and a man in a suit stepped out. “Music is to be experienced live and witnessed live” he said “therefore can everyone please put away any mobile phones or recording devices”. Bravo! Of course it wasn’t long before some people had their phones out recording the gig but the majority of people were present and tuned in with phones forgotten. It is strange to say an o2 gig was intimate but it truly felt cosy and personal.

 

the dulcimer?

Bernadette Peters as 'Raven'

I love Bernadette Peters and this episode of  ‘THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW’ is particularly funny because of Peter’s little girl character Raven. I love this hysterically camp script and hammy acting. Bernadette is wonderful

A drawing by my 4 yr old self

I found this drawing in my reception schoolbook, I must've been 4 when I drew it! I love the little grin on the sheep's face and how giant the animals are compared to the car!!

Smileeee

 This photo of Prince Charles is marvelous- look how much fun he’s having. I can hear the type of squeals he must’ve been making as he jigged around in Mexico. These types of photos make me smile and I take them from the paper and add them to my collections of happy photos.

Here are some others, just to make us all SMILE

 

 Baby Alpaca

This photo makes me smile because it was from a recent comedy show I was in where Sarah and I were taking a cheeky look at the bus drivers butt 

Halloween 2014

This Halloween I did 2 fun things. I was in the 'Goblins' show in London Bridge at 'The Miller' and then went to a party dressed as a matador. The Goblins show was an improvised comedy with masks! The masks really transformed the wearer and brought to life commedia dell'arte theatre for a contemporary audience at a Halloween themed show. Something about the masks felt very liberating and playful, they gave us permission to be naughty/wicked and exaggerate our gestures and mannerisms. Every performer could benefit from mask work to explore new characters and sides of your personality!! I made these little Goblin sketches as it was Halloween and people at the show could have a little image to remind them of the show. Below, me in my matador costume with Sweeney Todd

Elsa Mars and Dandy

The new American Horror Story is so much more than I was expecting. I thought the whole circus genre was rather exhausted but these 2 episodes sure have proved me wrong! The colours are dreamy, the 'freaks' compelling and Jessica Lange's Elsa Mars is smouldering, glamorous and tragic. The 'life on Mars' rendition was one of my favourite scenes EVER! I like the planet themes with Elsa Mars and the Jupiter setting and the playfulness of 50s stereotypes (many times the hideous clown 'twisty' has been innocently mistaken for a party clown which of course seems absurd).

Bratty Dandy is another amazing character; he is so disgustingly delightful to watch!! I would love to have Dandy's bedroom fit with his own mini stage, pastel color scheme and box of toys.... and to take the bizarre even further, drink spirits from a gold plated babies bottle!!!

Violet hair

As October draws towards Halloween, the excitement of pumpkins and broomsticks ever increases. Ive been doodling with paint alot recently and my bedroom floor is scattered with drawings that are drying (much to my cats curiosity). Here is my latest female with violet locks

Goblins

Last night, I performed as a goblin in this improvised piece at 'The Miller' in London Bridge. Led by Steve Roe, the 6 of us burst onstage in half masks but full on hysteria! Later, I took part in my first improv jam and was cheered/whooped/encouraged far more than necessary (but in a really nice way). The other improvisers were super encouraging and made the jam very fun.

Lady Windermere's Fan

 

 

Here are some of my designs used in the programme for 'lady Windermere’s fan' at The Tabard Theatre. Directed by Linnie Reedman, this production opened last week with a 30s themed evening. Linnie's expertise in all things Oscar Wilde comes across in her adaptation of this classic and though I have yet to see the production at The Tabard I did catch it a few months ago at The Kings Head Theatre. It is a story that stayed with me long after I saw the play and filled with such brilliant quotes and life lessons. The 30s is such a visually inspiring period that designing the borders for my illustrations was most fun.

CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation

This is one of the quick posters I made for the improv group I'm part of 'The chandeliers'. We meet weekly to rehearse and always have a great time inventing absurd narratives and characters. The main show we work on and have performed once ('The Ophelia' in Dalston) is 'CSI Crime Scene Improvisation'. This is a murder mystery style play that is made-up as we go along! With the help of the audience we discover the name and occupation of a victim and with help of a detective find out who committed the murder and why!! Its a great chance to develop a plot rich in detail, quirks and subplots. We are a group who love creating realistic characters and believe in creating an entertaining but strong play that is not just farce/nonsense but silly enough to still be fun. https://twitter.com/CrimeSceneImpro

September

September has included yet more fun outings for Danielle.

 

Pink balloons and U.S.A flags adorned the foyer of The Royal Opera House for the Grand opening of ‘Anna Nicole’ the Opera where tackiness reigned. A mob of hungry video cameras pecking at the remains of Anna Nicole’s trash made a visually alluring ending.

I visited Spitalfields farm with 2 lovely friends and enjoyed meeting some animals and eating some cake. Pigs, Watson and Holmes were delightfully big and covered in mud. My friend Kyrill threw an apple which led to them squabbling. The bug hotel wasn't very good but the name was. The donkeys and cows and goats were very nice. When meeting the goats I was reminded of a quote from my friend Eva who disliked them because they only had 'lines for eyes'.

On Friday 12th September Jack and I went to the screening of 'Wish I was here' with a Q&A after with Zach Braff. Our friends in Canada had got these tickets but as they were for London at the O2 they gave them to us. I really really enjoyed the film, it had a great mix of reality and fantasy. There were some really playful scenes such as the ones at comic con which contrasted beautifully with the more emotional hospital scenes. Zach Braff sighted 'Her' as a film he had really enjoyed and I can see how a similar dreaminess has been explored in 'wish I was here'. I don't think I wouldve seen the movie had I not got the tickets, the poster is not very appealing which is a shame as the film is really worth watching. I loved how when things got hard the parents went out on an emergency date night to discuss the next steps rather than drift apart/make the stress internal.

Last Saturday I danced/ran my way through a 5k track at the Excel 'Electrodash'. My favourite part of the run was when we entered the carpark and there were giant glowing jellyfish!! When you completed the run you came to a warehouse rave/dance. This was my first warehouse rave and I'm suprised to say actually very enjoyable. Running by the water with view of the O2 was really nice and it was a lovely warm evening :)

Amsterdam Red Light

Visiting museums and galleries in Amsterdam was really pleasurable. I found the Van Gogh museum particularly inspiring as all the paintings there were done in the last 10 years of Van Gogh's life. Ive always been captivated by his evocative style and being up close to his work really made me itch to paint again. I made this painting based on the red light district in Amsterdam... its not how I wanted it to be and there's much to improve on but I enjoyed painting again and this time on quite a large piece of board.
I'm not sure which version I like more colour wise so just put them both

Amsterdam

Some photos from my lovely visit to Amsterdam at the end of July.

Beer and Bicycles

Canals and a cat

 Proud Jack posing with (Bruce Wayne) Batman in museum square

 We went to an amazing museum 'Yab Yum' which used to be one of the best-known and most exclusive brothels in Amsterdam. This was me posing by a bubble bath in one of the girl rooms.
I really liked the bath tub and wall paintings, it reminded me of the bathroom described in the Harry Potter books (when Harry opens the wailing egg).

Trying the local breaded delicacies

Jack and I on our hotel balcony

pancakes swimming in ice cream and coffee syrup