Rachel

Model Rachel Wobus. Photography Nicole Jones.

Emma

Model Emma Eccles. Photography Nicole Jones.

collage journalling scans

Mindfulness is kind of a buzz-word right now: western individuals seem to be looking once more to Buddhist practices seeking refuge from the relentless stress of modern living. Adults are reaching to their colouring pencils with no shortage of 'colouring for mindfulness' books on the selves, or maybe taking up recommended meditation and yoga. Unfortunately for me, I struggle with even the most basic of asanas (even as a child I could not touch my toes) and the colouring book I bought is far from completion, as any time spent on it is a guild-ridden activity when I almost always have outstanding art deadlines. 'Mindful walking' is one thing I came across that suited me - I've often pretended I'm a cinematographer when observing on walks (I'm not sure if that's sad...I'm a photographer, I do it with everything?)

Anyway, I found that collaging, something I had only touched upon in the past, was something I could do regularly, dedicating a small amount of time to every day and feel productive about. It's not that these other things aren't productive, just that I find collaging especially so; cutting up magazines and books is strangely therapeutic and distracting in that your mind is occupied with the aligning of images and what you can say with them rather than whatever stressful rubbish you've got going on. I feel obliged to say don't rip up books until you have assessed: whether this book was expensive, whether you will want have this book intact at any point in the future, and whether this collage will be making better use of the book's page. 

Here are some of the pages so far in the order they come in the journal.

McQueen: Mastering the Unsettled

It's one-thirty am, half an hour until our viewing slot and four hours until McQueen: Savage Beauty will close it's doors and become the UK's most popular paid exhibition of all time. Those leaving the V&A are buzzing (their complimentary Horn of Plenty masks sure to frighten the unsuspecting dog walker) but I cant help but wonder if a weekend planned around a show made a reality by a six-hour bus journey and 24 hours without sleep leaves us susceptible to disappointment.

Fortunately, a failed pilgrimage this was not.

Jurassic World: Summary & Review

Keeping with the usual Jurassic Park unfolding of events, everything in Jurassic World goes to s*** very quickly, however, little is done to ensure we actually care about the outcome. Unlike its predecessors, the film boasts no interesting characters - any 3D is limited to highlighting dinosaur acrobatics, while the remaining cardboard cut outs converse awkwardly.