Week 3.

No Pics at all this week. We found the battery charger but not until Friday so it was too late to take any photo's. I'll bring it with me tomorrow and take photo's of the class, school etc.

 So last week was difficult. The work load is heavy but interesting. A lot of people caught a bad cold going around and I thought I was clear, but it hit me on Friday. Today I have the hot and colds, was awake all night with a hacking cough so I'll be glad to see the back of it.
 I thought actually, I caught a sinus infection, so before you go thinking I'm a wuss, here's how it involves my classroom. We were short on dust masks, which we wear for polishing and sanding. I was using a bandana over my mouth but on Thursday night my throat was raw. On Friday I had a sharp pain under my cheekbone.  A few other people had the same complaint earlier in the week. Manifestation of the recession !
 I was also noting how a lot of the equipment was worn out or simply broken and not replaced.  There is a good side to this, in that it makes you think laterally about how else to achieve the effect you need. This is also good because when I set up my own workshop, and won't be able to fork out £1000 for a clapped out rolling mill, I'll be used to solving problems. There's always another way !
 I asked our instructor would we be going on any field trips this year. He said they normally go to the Kilkenny design studios, but it depresses the students to see the state of the art equipment  they have there, and then come back to St. Johns. I suggested the National museum, and the Museum in Collins Barracks  so he thought that was a better idea. Won't be until spring time though.

 Next week, our brief is to design a piece we don't normally do (in my case, a pendant) and incorporate pattern into it. I've had the idea for a few weeks now to do something to "bring out your Urban Goddess/High Priestess", so I'm thinking a triangular shape with a zebra skin pattern. We'll see if it gets accepted tomorrow.