Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Dreaming of the Show: Nurse from Romeo and Juliet
My idea of the Nurse in her youth
So this is a special request from my little sis, the best little sis EVER! She sent me such an encouraging letter the other day telling me how proud she was of me and I just want to say I love and I'm really proud of you too sister!
Ever since she suggested doing Nurse in Romeo and Juliet I've been trying to figure out what would be the best representation of her character, should I have the chance of running a Romeo and Juliet production . This post like all other dreaming of the show post will be done in the process of costume designer. To find out more about costume design and dreaming of the show posts you can click here.
Nurse from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Time period and place I would set it in:
21st Century America
Plot Summary:
I don't know if there is anyone who isn't familiar with the plot of Romeo and Juliet but it can be found here. Just to refresh your memory, it is a play about two teenagers who fall in love and who come from opposing families in a long standing feud. They have to meet in secret and after they get married in secret, it is hard for them to stay together because of the feud and because of Juliet's father's insistence on her marriage to Paris ( the suitor her father favors). In order to stay with Romeo, she and Friar Lawrence come up with a plan of escape. They decide Juliet should drink a potion to put her in such a deep sleep that she appears to be dead, and after her family has placed her in a tomb the Friar and Romeo would rescue her so that she and Romeo could run away to Mantua. Unfortunately, Romeo never gets the message of the plan. Instead thinking that Juliet is dead, he kills himself at her tomb (as well as Paris whom he finds there). Juliet wakes and finding Romeo dead, she kisses him one last time to retrieve some of the poison that killed him and when that doesn't kill her she stabs herself with his dagger. After seeing what became of their children, the two families reconcile.
Character summary: I imagine the nurse as having a character similar to that of the cool aunt who encourages you and who believes in love, free will and flower power.In the beginning she is Juliet's confidante, who takes care of her and worries about her, but is also someone Juliet feels she can trust with the knowledge of her secret relationship and who believes she must follow her heart. She is the one who tells Romeo Juliet's name, and even helps them to meet by getting a rope ladder for her. However, as time goes on she seems to become more hesitant to help them and finally tells Juliet it would be best if she just married Paris and acted like Romeo was dead( I imagine at this point in my production she would tell Juliet to just 'go with the flow'). At this point Juliet stops speaking to her because of her 'disloyalty', . Despite her change of heart I still believe she deeply cares about and loves Juliet and wants nothing but the best for her.
Keywords to describe her: flower child (70s youth), grown up hippie, cool, generally laid back, caring, peace, love and happiness, loves Juliet, responsible, up to date with current trends, young at heart, slightly annoying and embarrassing at times.
Key Elements to The Nurse's Style:
long maxi skirts
free flowing floral print tops in bright colors
big flower hairbands and curly untame hair
tie-dye shirts on days off,
minimal fringe on bags and shoes
beaded leather headbands
tan leather jackets
vests paired with billowy shirts (blousons)
flared trousers
Delicate gold peace sign earrings and flower necklaces.
Make-up: pretty light. even distribution of foundation, light grey eyeshadow with brown eyeliner and pale pink lips. The goal is to appear youthful, with a minimalist approach towards makeup. Brightly coloured nail (maybe sky blue).
The Nurse to me:
In case you were wondering the pictures are of Jennifer Ferrin and Drew Barrymore.
Photos from: We Heart it and Google images. I claim no rights over them.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. Have you read Romeo and Juliet? What did you think of it? I personally didn't consider it one of Shakespeare's best but it was beautifully written. How would you portray the Nurse if you had the chance to run a Romeo and Juliet show? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
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Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Gallant Giveaway to celebrate my first blogiversary!!!!
Dearest Devotees,
*rises and adjusts the speaker stands awkwardly*
Warning: LOADS of gushy appreciation ahead :)
This time a year ago was the first time I began this amazing journey that I'm on and along the way I have met so many lovely, talented, intelligent and all-round beautiful people. This experience would not have been the same without any of you. Sometimes people ask me how I do all the things I do and what keeps me motivated and my answer is and will always be that there is intense desire I have to connect with people that share my dreams, aspirations, values and interests. I love sharing everything of myself with these people, to help them in whatever way I can but I also really love the response that I get from you, my lovely devotees and supporters. Good relationships are never one-sided and I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know some of you through the comments you leave and through other social media, including your blogs. You are my biggest source of inspiration and without you all I can't imagine I would be the same person I am today. You make me believe that I can achieve all my dreams and in the one year since I started blogging I have come so far from the person with all the amazing ideas and none of the wherewithal to complete them. Now when I say I want to do something I go for it. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't but at least I know in the end that I've tried.
I guess all I'm really trying to say is Thank you all for everything. I love blogging, the blogosphere and my devotees :)
To celebrate, I've decided to host a giveaway partially in conjunction with CSN stores. The first prize is for devotees only because it is straight from me to thank you guys for supporting me :) It is a surprise gift that I will hunt for in the upcoming week. The second prize is open to everyone and is $40 gift card to be used on anything you want on CSN stores site, which is this huge online retail site with everything from decor pieces for your personal space to trunks to potential inspiration boards. I currently have my eyes on their wooden bulletin boards. To enter all you need is to leave a comment below. If you are a devotee and want to enter for the first prize just let me know in the comments below.
Entries will be taken from now until the 6th of July after which I will randomly select the two winners.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Artist's Corner: A Haiku on Bliss
Lately, I've been feeling moved to write poetry again. It's been the strangest thing, because for a while there I thought I'd sort of moved past that point in my life. Apparently I haven't though, and I can't begin to tell you how glad this makes me. I absolutely adore poetry. All that emotion, captured beautifully and compactly into just a few words. In high school I would write poetry at the back of my notes during class whenever I felt bored. In those days writing was my source of escape. In many ways, it still is now actually, but for whatever reason I haven't felt such an intense need to paint a picture with my words since then. That is what poetry is to me, by the way. It is the creation of a poignant vivid visual experience by using experienced emotions as your paintbrush and words as your paint.
I'm really glad I'm writing poetry again. It's my purest form of self-expression.
Here is my latest haiku, inspired by the theme of bliss.
Bliss
Bright Bursts of colour:
sprinkles of rain mixed with dazzling light
on a summer's day.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. What does poetry mean to you? What is your purest form of self-expression? What is making you happy today? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Blogger Awards from Zmaga (and Debbie!) make me blissful :)
My Darling Devotees,
Quite a while back (Sorry it took so long, dearest) the lovely Zmaga tagged me for not one but two really awesome blogger awards! Thank you so much!
Rules:
1. Post the logo on my blog.
2. Pass the award on to 12 other bloggers.
3. Link the nominees' blogs so others can get to know them.
4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person you received this award from.
1. Post the logo on my blog.
2. Pass the award on to 12 other bloggers.
3. Link the nominees' blogs so others can get to know them.
4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person you received this award from.
The only rule for the I love your blog award is to tag 13 bloggers whose blogs I love :)
I think I'm going to have to tweak the rules a little because altogether that would be 25 bloggers to link and I feel like linking 25 bloggers I love might be overkill. Instead I will just link 10 of the ones that have been inspiring me a lot right now, and that I haven't linked before ( or in quite awhile) so that you lovely people can 'meet' them too :)
Also Debbie of The College Years has tagged me for another award but that deserves its own post too. It's a pretty epic award that requires some soul searching :)
Love you all and Stay inspired,
Sunday, 13 June 2010
Life's Little Lessons: Put it into perspective
Dearest Devotees,
Studying all hours of the night, constantly chewing caffeine gums so as not to crash, being so frazzled that you don't even realize that your hair looks like it hasn't seen a comb in days (or weeks!), forgetting all your appointments because you thought it was Friday when it was really Wednesday, honestly my darlings if this sounds anything like you, you need to stop.
Just stop.
"But how is everything you need to get done going to get done?" you may ask.
Look at it this way.
Let's say you go ahead and pull not 1, not 2 but 5 consecutive all nighters and on the day of the exam you somehow managed to remain conscious enough to write your name on the paper. There is a very high chance that a few minutes into the exam, the graveyard silence of the room will be lull you from your already dream-like state into total unconsciousness. By the time you wake up you find that you have 10 minutes left to do 5 essay questions. You may remember the answers, (unlikely, considering your current state of panic) but there is no way that you would be able to finish any of the 5 questions sufficiently in that time. So you do what you can and dejectedly turn in your nowhere-near complete paper.
The above situation might seem a bit extreme, but trust me it really can happen. I really do know what I'm talking about too because unfortunately I'm speaking from experience. No I didn't fall asleep for a majority of my exam time but I have been so exhausted that I could have sworn things were moving of their own volition during my exam. I have also been so overcome with fatigue that I had a nervous breakdown in the exact midpoint of my exam and forgot everything. I got everything up until that and ended up with half of the total grade.
Last week, after coming late for another study session because I slept through my alarms again, I decided that it just wasn't worth it. I made a conscious decision to start making as much use of almost every minute of my waking time so that I would never have to cut into my sleeping time again. A friend of mine had fallen really ill because she was so susceptible to any illness that came her way due to exhaustion. Ignoring my physical and emotional needs for sleep, for exercise, for self-expression through my art, and for solitude was not doing me any favors. During that exam, I felt like I was losing it and that it was not worth it for me to lose my mind to get the grade I wanted. I never want to feel like I'm actually going crazy again.
I know I said in Never Alone that artistic spirits need to enjoy solitude every once in awhile in order to access inspiration, but more important than that, everyone needs a little bit of solitude so that they can have the time to put everything back into perspective. If you are always doing and not stopping to see the effects of what you've done or taking stock of what's really important, life can become empty really quickly. You could begin to feel like a hamster in a wheel, always running but without getting anywhere. If you look at it this way, taking some time for yourself to put everything in perspective will let your body and mind recuperate, give you a chance to re-evaluate your life and renew your will to carry on by letting you see your progress and reminding you of what is important. Taking some time to put everything in perspective is worth it.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. Are you constantly on the move? How do you feel when you/ what do you learn about yourself when you actually have a chance to put everything in perspective. Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
All images from We Heart it.
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Seeking Inspiration: Never Alone
I love people, I really do. I love being around people (particularly people I know and love) and I can even be said to get my energy from being around many of the people I love at the same time. However, and I'm sure all of you lovely artistic and creative spirits out there can relate, sometimes you just need to get away from it all for awhile to enjoy some quality time with yourself. Inspiration can most certainly come while going through the motions of your daily life, but it is much more likely to hit you in the moments of calm in which you can take in everything that you've experienced, process it all and create with it. This is why I did an artistic retreat at the beginning of this year. I just really needed some time to let things sink in and to prepare my heart, soul and mind to create. This is why some writers go away to quiet little cabins in the middle of nature to write. This is also why I've decided my favorite time of the day is dawn because everything is so quiet and calm and beautiful that I am able to ponder various things freely and without distraction.
Lately, I've felt an intense desire to disappear into some remote place with nothing but the bare necessities, and all my art supplies, and I really think that I may do this after summer school is over before the next school year starts. It would be a creation (rather than inspiration) centered artistic retreat and would honestly be one of the best ways I could spend the remainder of my summer holiday.
That said, not everyone has the luxury of dropping all of their responsibilities and disappearing into the wilderness for two weeks, and even if you do, that isn't always the best plan of action. So here are some ways of injecting little drops of solitude into your week.
- Set apart a creative space for yourself in which you can return to regularly when you want to create. Decorate this place in such a way that it inspires you and moves you to create.
- Use beautiful music, pictures, or scents if suitable to help create the desired atmosphere.
- Find a particular time in the day in which you are least likely to be disturbed while creating. If necessary, ask people not to seek you out at this time. If necessary, get noise canceling headphones that can block out average background noise (very useful if you happen to have a roommate).
- Give yourself time to think. Seriously, I've heard of CEOs who schedule meetings with themselves throughout the day, so they can just stop and breathe every once in a while. The best thing for you to do at these times it to just sit quietly and let your mind wander.
- Take tranquil scenic walks or runs. By doing this, you can exercise and wind down at the same time.
- Do yoga/meditate at the beginning and/or end of your day. Again its all about clearing your mind and taking stock of all the stimuli you receive each day.
Assignment for the week
I'm still working on last week's assignment but I'm happy to say it's going quite well and that it has two different parts to it that I will be really excited to show you next week. That said, here's this week's assignment. It's another song called Never Alone by Barlow Girl and I actually have the assignment for this done.
My Translation
It's a part of one of my songs. It's a pretty loose translation of the above song, (I only really used it as a spring board) but it also has to be pretty loose since they are both in the same medium. I hope you like it. The song is called Locked up.
Chorus
Locked Up in this tower
Away from it all.
Don't want to listen
'Cause I don't wanna fall.
Locked away in this tower
Away from it all.
Don't want to listen
Because I don't want to fall.
Broken pieces, parts of me
Lying on the ground.
People, places, things I've seen
Have turned my life around.
Run me into desperation.
Seeking for a light within
The cold
and the dark that surrounds me.
Ran up here to get away
From everything else.
Hope is so bizarre to me
When all I know is hell.
But yet I want something more.
I long to finally reach that door
And break out.
Escape.
But I am....
Chorus.
It's a work in progress and when its fleshed out complete with melody, harmony and accompaniment I will present it to you in an Artist Corner feature.
Links I've loved this week include:
I absolutely adore the SparkNotes site, especially when I stumbled upon this really sweet playlist on it!
I really miss polaroids, so much so I am considering getting a new polaroid camera. Until then this free application Poladroid is definitely keeping me happy!
Zen Habits is just amazing. AMAZING! I suggest you start off your journey there with this blog post.
All images come from We Heart It.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. What's inspired you this week? What links have you been loving this week? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
P.P.S A huge Welcome to all my new devotees. You make me ridicu-crazily happy :)
Artist's Corner: A whole bunch of Boston winter pics gave me bliss!
This is a feature in which I will just share with you some of the art projects I've been working on every once in awhile. I feel like posting here will motivate me to do more and I really hope it will inspire you too :) Also, I feel like I talk a lot about doing art but don't show you any proof that I actually do do art.
I was uploading all of the pictures and videos from my video camera recently and discovered these.
I took them during the course of my first winter in Boston and was testing out the quality of the camera.
What do you think?
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. A seeking inspiration post is currently in the works. Just wanted to post this tonight but I am really excited to get that post out to you because I really hope it will resonate with you all. I love and miss you.I had exams all week , but they went well! :)
Friday, 4 June 2010
Mirror Me: Things that make me happy
Jeans vest: Pimkies
Sandals: Tally Weijl
Jeggings: H and M accessories
Dress: Pimkies
Flower hair pin: So Good Jewelry
Dearest Devotees,
As I've mentioned before I've just recently decided to join the Creative Everyday Challenge hosted by Leah on her blog and this month's topic is Bliss. So I've decided to tell you some of the things that make me happy. This ties in with being indie because an independent person can come close to but does not fit any real stereotypical style. You don't blindly follow trends but instead have your own style that you adapt as you deem fit. Seeing people that exude personality in their dressing makes me really happy. That as well as having a pretty indie inspired day like this:
9 am wake up to the sound of loudly playing Ingrid Michaelson music. Throw open my curtains to beautiful sunlight streaming into my window. Do yoga to a special playlist. Have a lovely hot shower with wildflower shower gel. Dress in a lovely new summer dress and sandals with daisy in hair. Eat strawberries with cream and vanilla yoghurt for breakfast. Bike out to favorite orchard and take random black and white pictures of nature up close with my SLR camera. Spend afternoon writing songs and poetry with my recorder and notebook by the creek. Have picnic with friends at a cute little family owned cafe. Go for poetry reading at jazz club in the evening. Go to indie rock concert (Flyleaf!) at night. Come home and bathe in lavender-scented therapeutic bath oils. Practice piano and french before bed. Meditate and pray. Go to window and wish the stars goodnight. Sleep.
This would make me subliminally happy.
Other things making me happy in my life:
Having lovely friends and family that love me.
A strong faith and belief that sustain me.
Working on my creativity and finding inspiration again :)
Exploring the idea of an artistic retreat after summer school for two weeks...
Hip Hop Classes- So much fun and an awesome workout.
Friends of mine getting engaged!!!!
Having 72 followers on GoogleReader and 7 on Bloglovin'. I love my devotees so much!
Turning my desk, now that its organized, into an inspiration station.
Being almost done with my first collaboration song!
Recording lectures and studying at my own pace. Honestly if you have ADHD or just have problems paying attention during lectures the idea of recording them is a godsend.
This poster makes me really happy.
Finishing my silhouette for the seeking inspiration: cross-training post I did. I said I'd share my translation of this picture:
And here it is:
Not too bad considering this is my first attempt at a silhouette drawing and my first use of acrylic paints to draw. I mean at least it looks vaguely like the photo above. Also I really loved playing with the trees. Practice makes perfect I guess. (Note I only share this with you because I love and respect you all. If you have any constructive criticism to help me with my silhouette drawing I am totally open to it. But please be nice because I am really sensitive about my art. )
Getting ready to attend the 2010 Where Bloggers Create online party! It's open to everyone and anyone who wants to show people their real life creative spaces. You post images and explain the decor and you get to see other peoples creative spaces too! I invite you all to come!!!
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. What makes you happy? What makes you blissful? Will you come for the Where bloggers create party (Please come) ? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
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