Been to Bodmin

Another couple of days running around like an idiot... Yesterday I was wiped out by 30 primary school children, who their class teacher describes as being "very hyperactive". They neglected to tell me that before I agreed to spend the day with them. They also decided to tell me at 3pm the day before that they were "doing Spain" and could I do something with a Spanish theme (all to be whipped up by 9am the next morning you understand). Of course my brain atrophied in an instant. What do you do with a bunch of 7 - 8 year olds that could be termed remotely Spanish? Picasso: no. Miro: no. Dali: possibly. Goya: definitely not. Then I had a brain wave: Gaudi. I printed off a load of pictures of his Barcelona buildings, told them to design their own organic house inspired by nature. Then of course we designed a tile for the house that was, wait for it...a plaster relief! Nothing like adapting something you've done enough times before to a new theme. Trouble is it gets boring after a while...for me at any rate, they loved it.

Today was a reccie to a venue that we'll be using for some art classes in the autumn. These will be for the Cornish Hedge Research and Education Group (CHREG) - all art to be inspired by the Cornish hedge. Sounds crazy, but offers lots of possibilities - flora, fauna, geology... Anyway, it meant a lovely drive up to the wilds of Bodmin Moor to the Stone Academy (pictures below), for a cup of coffee and a wander round the quintessentially Cornish grounds.

A Barn at the Stone Academy where we'll be running workshops this autumn, with members of CHREG doing a good impression of doing some work!

View of the grounds with one of them there Cornish hedges in the middle distance.

After that it was a mad dash back to Falmouth for another art club. I feel like I could sleep for a week now, but what I need to do is have a look at plan B for the August exhibition. With £450 to find just for hire of the venue and insurance, it's beginning to feel a bit of a nightmare - well, I've been waking up in the middle of the night thinking about it anyway. Not good. Doing, not thinking, that's what I should be doing...