Sammie On Toast: set designs

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Summer Commences...

Hello, toasters!
I know, I know, it's been a while.
But I'm sure, with time and counselling, you'll be able to forgive me for my lack of recent posts.
The last term of uni has been really intense, with two hand-ins only a week apart. I basically feel like I’ve been pulled apart, limb by limb, by screaming children who all want to run off in different directions. But, like Supernanny, I managed to put them all on the naughty step and pull together two submissions that I’m actually really proud of.

(Sammie 1- Metaphorical screaming children 0)

I've just come back from holiday in Lemnos, Greece. Before I left, I couldn't remember the exact name of the island, so when anyone asked me where I was headed I mumbled something made up and Greek-sounding like 'Kevlaka' or 'Steffikos'. A surprising number of people responded with 'ooh, I think I've been there!' so it quickly became my new favourite hobby.

Myrina, Lemnos

Lemnos was beautiful, and I had a great time sailing (or at least attempting to) and meeting some really interesting people. I know it sounds soppy, but my favourite moment was watching the thunderstorm whilst curled up in my hammock with my sketchbook. I don't think I could get any more 'arty' if i tried.

Nicki Minaj hair time

The only downside with going on holiday is that my hair has gone from bright red to a faded pink/ coral colour. I can fix it back up no problem, but what's annoying is the fact that my family really likes it this way and are trying to get me to keep it this colour. I even got offered a bribe by my stepmum yesterday!!

Whilst this could be a nifty way to extort money and/or cake from my family, I miss the red so much and can't wait to go back to my usual, vibrant self.

So, to truly signal the start of summer, I thought I had better throw a party. And what better occasion than my 20th birthday?

They'll be plenty of mojitos and cake pops, and plenty of cups of tea as it's a 'best of British' tea party. Currently, my biggest issue is how to dress up as the Queen without, well... looking like the Queen I guess. Although her unimpressed-who-the-hell-is-Will.i.am face completely stole the show at the Jubilee.

I don't have too many plans for summer yet, but I'm sure it will involve lots of trips to the pub, taking in lots of exhibitions in London and weeping over a paintbrush, trying to be as good as the artists in the aforementioned exhibitions.
I'm currently in limbo, waiting for the uni to let us know whose set design has been chosen for the Autumn AUB production 'The Rights of Man'. If my design gets chosen, it will actually be built and put on in November! So fingers crossed! (and toes! And eyes! And anything else that can be crossed!)
We went for a very abstract approach with everything taking on a hand-drawn quality. Here are a few pictures of my 1:25 scale set model so you can see what I’ve been working on…

What are your plans for summer? Let me know in the comments :)

Watch this space

Sammie

xoxo

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Thursday, April 10, 2014

Red hair & Rigoletto designs

Hello, toasters!

It’s been a while, but I’m afraid I had to put my blogging on hold whilst I was trying not to drown in my latest design project.
You’ll be glad to know that I’ve handed in, and it only took a few all-nighters, 3 models of a castle and enough caffeine to give a blue whale a heart condition.

I did cut my leg quite a lot with a scalpel (one of the many perils of modelmaking) and one of the cuts is pretty deep and looking infected….. I should probably do something about that rather than just sit here and type…..

*runs to the bathroom and douses lethal wound in TCP*

So as I haven’t blogged in a month (I missed you all!), I thought I’d do a catch-up post, just to let you know where I am in this overpriced and under-chocolate-filled maze we call ‘life’.

Let’s start with the biggest change- I’VE DYED MY HAIR BRIGHT RED!!!!

It’s halfway between Ariel the little mermaid and Jessica Rabbit, and it definitely looks like I’ve murdered someone a la Psycho every time I have a shower (which I find very amusing).

I’m looking forward to Halowe’en, as this hair colour really does open up a whole host of fancy dress opportunities. If I was less of a hermit, I would just get my ass to a comicon-type gathering but

a. I’m broke and

b. I like being snuggled up under a duvet and watching Netflix too much.

I’ve wanted to go this colour for ages, and I’m so glad that I finally had the balls to say goodbye to low-maintenance and employable-looking hair.

I mean, Uni is the time to experiment, right? So far, I’ve only experimented with different shapes of pasta and various scented handwashes, so I thought it was about time I started acting my age rather than 60.

Honestly, my mindset has been so ‘old lady’ lately, I even considered making my own jam. Then I remembered that it’s only 50p in Sainsburys and I really don’t have time for that.

One more thing that’s new- I’m now employed!

I work at the university library, putting all the books back when the students cba so just leave huge piles of them everywhere. I’m called a ‘Library Shelver’, but that’s far too serious for me so I’ve coined the term ‘Shelf Elf’, which I think is far more fun and invokes an image of me sat on a shelf singing away merrily.

The great thing is, all of us shelf elves are students, so the fact that my hair is brighter than Simon Cowell’s teeth is absolutely fine!

Another welcome change is the state of my usually barren fridge, which for some reason always seems to contain random cloves of garlic. As my mum dropped me back home after the Spring break, it's full and one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

*wipes a tear away as I look on at my beautiful full fridge*

As you can probably imagine, the chocolate yogurts disappeared rather quickly...

The only other big thing that's happened to me is my hand in, but considering I've been working on this project for 3 months, it feels like a massive achievement.

I've been designing the costumes and set for the opera Rigoletto, within the beautiful ruins of Corfe Castle. I got really into the costume designs, with each character drawing inspiration from a different insect.

Here's a quick look at my costume designs & set boxes, just so you guys know what I've been working on