Hello all! It's been a turbulent few weeks which culminated in good things: a much-needed spell in volcanic, tempestuous Sicily as well as my first ever 'real' job offer! At the end of July I was delighted to win a training contract at a City law firm. The actual work starts in 2017 and for the next two years I'll be going to law school, sponsored by the firm. It's weirdly amazing to have my next four years planned out, and I feel like I'm embarking on a new chapter of my life. My course starts in September, with the first year dedicated to the GDL (Graduate Diploma of Law), essentially a three-year law degree condensed into eight months. It's terrifying but exciting, and just goes to show that a lot can change in a year! I left university in June 2014 uncertain of the path I wanted to take and after a lot of mental wandering and feeling lost, I'm incredibly lucky to have found something that makes me feel both challenged and fulfilled.
So anyway, I hope you'll forgive the unintentional radio silence! I have lots to share with you from the past couple of months. I'll begin with a short run-down on my visit to the annual Art Car Boot Fair off Brick Lane back in June. The Art Car Boot Fair is a great place to pick up pieces of modern art that cater to every budget - small prints under £30, more expensive prints and woodcuts by big names such as Tracey Emin and Sir Peter Blake, and actual car boots - well, bonnets - painted by artists like Jake and Dinos Chapman and Bob & Roberta Smith and sold via auction. The proceeds from the sale of the bonnets go to charities, this year Just For Kids Law and Hepatitis C Trust.
Due to the often eccentric nature of the artists and attendees, people-watching is almost more fun than hunting through the art. Spotted: a brooding-looking Gavin Turk hanging out behind his stall, a slightly bored and precocious-looking French child hailed as the next artistic genius sitting next to her mini canvases, a man in the most incredibly flamboyant jacket with an equally well-heeled dog in tow (the theme for this year's fair was Dog, after all...)
Other memories from the day? Hopelessly lusting after the True Rocks/Gavin Turk digestive biscuit necklaces, having a little boogie to the rambunctious live music, finger-licking street food picked up from the nearby Ely's Yard next to the Old Truman Brewery, the prettiest symmetrical sketches of honeybees on card and hand-carved honeycomb blocks which I bitterly regret not buying, a fire-in-the-belly taste of the honey whisky and chat with the beekeeper at the Idler Academy stall and browsing through the dusty art historical tomes in the mobile bookshop parked in the lot.
As an art historian I'm more familiar with wandering around echoing galleries displaying Old Masters or 19th century society portraits, but going to events like this really gives me the bug for accessible, bargain-price modern art. If any of you have been to similar events where it's possible to pick up inexpensive, gorgeous pieces, I would love to know!
