Saturday, June 12, 2010

3 days down, 2 to go.

For some reason this measly 6 hour time difference is kicking my ass on this trip. I've been staying up too late, napping during the day and running on fumes. Not to say that my time I've spent here in Scotland hasn't been fantastic. I've seen a ton, met amazing people and you know this is a work trip so there is that element to top it off.

I'll give a quick recap of the past few days then I'm off to catch my train to Aberdeen where I have a workshop to teach and a screening this afternoon. Then it's back on-board to Edinburgh. Everyone has said that the train ride from Aberdeen to Edinburgh is going to be beautiful since it's a long the water, lucky for me it has been staying light out until almost 11pm so I'll actually be able to see during the ride. I decided to just spend the day in Aberdeen so I could wake up in Edinburgh and have a full day of wandering. I even have an afternoon date with Amanda who runs Dovecot Studios that houses weaving facilities in a refurbished Victorian bathhouse. So before my time is up.....

Wednesday:

My workshop at Dundee Contemporary Arts
my workshop at Dundee Contemporary Arts

Dinner before the screening in Dundee
"Tea" before the screening with the ladies of DCA & visitors who came all the way from Leeds to see the movie.

Handmade Nation tickets at DCA

Screening room at DCA with Handmade Nation on the screen
Tickets for the show & view from the screening room at DCA

Thursday:

Part of my visit to Scotland was co-sponsored by an international Symposium happening in Dundee called "Prototype: Craft in the Future Tense". The line-up of speakers was diverse and top-notch, I felt honored to be included in the programing and enjoyed it much more than I expected. I should also admit I didn't make it through two full days of lectures due to my jet lag . However, the two highlights for me (besides finally getting to meet Glenn Adamson after a few years of corrsoponding online) were meeting and listening to Constance Adams speak and hearing Simon Sterling talk about his work.

Constance Adams speaking at the Prototype Symposium in Dundee
Here Constance is taking the scrimshaw & relating it to craft that came out of having time at sea in relation to the question of what crafts will come out of the downtime during space travel. Constance is an architect that works with NASA & mother of two daughters. She sorta kinda blew my mind.

wandering around Dundee
Dundee

Chicks on Speed film at DCA
Photo of the Chicks On Speed film at the DCA

Friday:
I went to some morning lectures at the Symposium then Sarah from DCA dropped me off in St. Andrew and I wandered the small magical city with a hangover and my camera. Saw some beautiful things.

North Sea
North Sea

Wandering around St. Andrew
St. Andrew

St. Andrews Cathedral
St. Andrews Cathedral

Got to catch my train! All the Scotland photos are here.

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