Planet Ruby Starrs

While college is frustrating me a little at the moment - and I'm not really moaning... life can't all be roses all the time - the rest of my life has been fairly manic, interesting and I have recently seen quite a lot of old acquaintances which has been a great deal of fun!! Some friends came over from France to visit family and managed a flying visit to Amble and lunch on the little shore with us. It was really good to see them both.  Another old friend (in fact very old friend we were saturday girls together) was visiting with her family on holiday in the area so I was able to have a nice walk at Craster and a good catch up. Also my very good friends - featured on my blog previously with the amazing kitchen extension and two bonkers dogs came to stay for a few days and we scooted up and down various beaches, coffee shops and castles... After walking the dogs on Low Newton beach , we aimed for a bit of culture, but deciding Alnwick Castle was too expensive for a short visit w...

One of the nice things I did this week (I did many nice things with good friends visiting) was to visit Bamburgh Castle - wonderful place, beautiful sunny afternoon, magnificent views, interesting artifacts, lots of very beautiful vaulted ceilings and interesting stone work - some huge chains and generally just a pleasant day out..... more of that later... but this post is about really about college work!! I am being challenged once again with CAD at college.  This time its Adobe Illustrator - aggghhh although to be honest I'm finding it easier than I did photoshop... I guess that's because I did Photoshop and some of it has stuck so doing CAD isn't quite as alien as it seemed last year. Still technology defeats me, give me a skein of wool and a pen any time, it's a bit like Ebooks nothing can replace the smell and feel of the real thing and I can't help wondering how much this technology contributes toward ''Fast Fashion'' which will eve...

Those of you that know me or read the blog regularly will know I was one of the 5 students from Newcastle college who designed and painted a Snowdog for the Wild in Art Great North Snowdog trail and now I am trying to raise money to bid for our dog known as Wor Geordie when they are auctioned in December.  If we can raise enough money to bid the Snowdog will come and be a permanent fixture and inspiration at the college.  All the money raised from the auction goes to St Oswald's Hospice so its all for an excellent cause. Its a tall task as the reserve price for any dog is £4000 - but I'm ever optimistic and what ever happens the Hospice will benefit as any money we do raise will go tot he Hospice what ever.   To raise the money I have set up a crowdfunding page on 'justgiving' - an interesting experience, I didn't get it quite right the first time round but the site was really helpful and gave me positive feedback and I sorted the glitches - checked it with ...

Its been a quiet few days while I try to catch up with college work and decide how best to "brand" Ruby Starrs...  I'm doing a lot of research into how other people brand themselves, and there are some funky ideas out there but I want something different, classy but fun. We've been asked to write a CV and I have a feeling that Ruby Starrs CV will be very different from her alter ego who worked in the addictions field for 30 years, I dug my old CV out to see what I could use as transferable skills but in the end apart from a few obvious bits I decided to condense 3 decades worth of professionalism into Work Experience "in a past life I worked in the addiction field and my duties included everything it takes to manage charitable services on a ridiculous budget in an effective and creative manner......"  and that sums up my previous career... So Ruby Starrs - Advocate of Slam it in Style emerges as an entity to be reckoned with... jobs include Artist in ...

lions outside Leeds Town Hall Have had to go to Leeds this week, family stuff... its a handsome city in spite of the monstrosities they have put up to house John Lewis and car parks... one of the many stone statues that adorn the ornate victorian buildings I wasn't terribly organised about coming to Leeds, but was able to stay at my son's flat while he's away in New York.   When I got there there was no electricity it was 10 o'clock at night and I was in a bit of a panic as because if no electricity - no wifi - and my phone was completely dead - and I didn't really know what to do with an electricity key ha ha especially an empty one!!! I didn't even know where the meters were in the building!!! the irony is that my son had said to use the flat and then said you know how to do the electric don't you and I of course had lied and rather blithely said oh yes...- what a joke - I ended up tramping the streets of city centre leeds with an empty use...

setting sun on hill opposite NineBanks Hostel I feel autumn is on us, I drove to Ninebanks youth hostel this weekend and the trees were really quite stunning as I motored through the forest - on Friday afternoon the low sun just touched the leaves with a hint of orange and a very deep russet - there is still quite a bit of green there so the effect was very pretty and a very pleasant visual start to a great weekend.   So spirits lifted after a hard computer based day at college (interesting, enjoyable but tiring)  I headed to meet the willing delegates for the star weekend Yuri Cosmos aka Dr Fred and I arrange twice a year. The autumn event is always busy, and there were mostly  familiar faces, and some people we hadn't seen for a long time. I set about sorting people into the right rooms and getting dinner on - As now officially - its on my CV - Artist in Residence / Glamorous Assistant its my job to take care of hospitality and entertainment ha ha .... basical...

Back to college with a vengeance, renewed enthusiasm and creativity. We have been giving our current module briefs, it feels very different to last year.  I think its because the current work load feels more 'academic' and I use that term loosely - totally understanding that a little bit of Computer Aided Drawing (CAD), PPD - designing a brand and writing CV's and artists statements plus a short essay on ethical consumerism is hardly academic but compared to sitting a embroidering, weaving or drawing all day its quite a change! Learning 'Illustrator' is easier so far (one week in) then I expected - this time on the Photoshop module I was crying with frustration and deeply rejecting the whole system as it was slowly painfully poured into my little non technical brain.. obviously something stuck as it helped build up an immunity, this time it all seems so much more simpler - mind you I made sure I sat next to someone who knew and was helpful... BUT -  its still co...

Last Nights’ Dream The iron dogs howl up to the moon Out of their mouths fly stars and flowers Exploding comets and brilliant, showers Of glitter which Litters the band Who play a tune….. There’s a cat with a fiddle A dog with a bone A carp with a harp The silver tailed fox is singing along As the clouds write the words of the song In the sky And the neighbours from number ten Come tap dancing by…….

Time flies when you are having fun... but in fact I find time just flies... As Dr Fred often says - Time marches on - I suppose those moments in the dentists chair go a bit slower but fortunately I don't spend too much time in that situation... (actually that's not true - I've had a dreadful time with my teeth this year but that's a boring story) I wonder how many people can relate to this.... Just recently I find myself more and more slipping into my, or hopefully somebody elses dotage, as I'm having quite a few conversations with similar aged friends about how recent the millennium was - and then we all realise it was nearly 17 years ago!!!  I played a 'recent'  album the other day - again to realise it was new in my, and probably the artist's, scheme of things - though probably one of the last ten cd's I ever bought but that was in 2004..... well at least I'm in this century!   Leeds Poly Disco 1975? If we are lucky we can live se...