A kind of life-update / diary entry / random rambles type post...

Hello!

So I'm back for Easter holidays in Brighton, hungover from being out three nights in a row and I'm finally having one of those 'sensible, cosy nights-in' kind of evenings. Today I've been binge watching YouTube and Friends in bed all day and I feel like mush but I kinda wanted to do something productive and I really enjoy writing about life. I feel this helps me organise my thoughts and it allows me to work out what goals I want to achieve, its also good to look back on to see how my life has changed - and if anyone wants to give it a read, go for it!

So I guess at the moment all is going well. I'm really enjoying University in Cardiff (if you didn't know I study Textiles BA Hons) now that I've moved into a more quite flat and made new friends. I've also started to love Cardiff as a city way more as I've discovered new places to eat and drink and in class we've formed our little friendship group which is cute. If you've seen my recent life-update video, I had what I called a 'wobble' over Christmas time and I associated all the shitty things that were happening in my life with Cardiff and I planned to transfer closer to home for my second year. However, when I came back I was so happy and its weird to think I went from hating Cardiff to loving living there. I'm also enjoying my current modulles- in class Ive chosen a theme of 'Naive Doodles' so I've been working in this new, simplistic, child-like style which was quite far away from my style as an artist but it's taught me a lot. I'm basing my mark-makings on my dreams and keeping a dream journal which is such an interesting project and researching what specific elements in my dreams mean has been an eye-opener to maybe what I feel excited, nervous or anxious about in real life. (if you wanted to see some of my work my art instagram is @charliepriceart) I'm also about to start my essay which is on subcultures. In a nerdy way I'm super excited to do this essay and I've enjoyed the lectures so far as I'm a bit fan of the This Is England series and movie which explored skinhead subculture and style is important to me, I love learning about it and how it shows who you are.

So Uni is going well and I'm pretty excited about this year too. Me and my Uni friend Katie are going to Sweden for my birthday which is cool as I usually stay at home and have a big party there but it will be fun as were also going to a festival in Stockholm. I'm also going to Spain with my family and potentially going to Spain again with my old college mates for another festival, which I still need to book but fingers crossed it all goes to plan!

Something I've learnt this year about myself is that I'm a really strong person for getting through my 'wobble'. I don't think I'll ever mention online what really happened because although I keep a virtual diary of my life, theres stuff that I want to keep private. I also feel that I've started to really appreciate the perks of being single. I've got so much time on my hands and I can do whatever I like so I've been setting myself little projects that I never used to get round to doing. Like last term, I decided to teach myself how to cook so I don't just end up eating pasta pesto overnight (classic me) and when I come back for the next term, I've decided I am going to buy second hand/ charity shop clothing and DIY them to completely transform them for example, festivals. I've got a Pinterest board for this project I'm setting myself and I got loads of good ideas. I saw this one I really wanna try thats basically smashing up CDs then sticking all the individual fragments onto a hat or whatever which makes a really cool reflective pattern - perfect for a party or festival. I then could potentially make a Depop page and sell some of my stuff but I'll see how it goes, I'm more up for just setting myself this creative project as a hobby. I guess this could tie into my YouTube too as I could record the thrift store to festival transformation process. I love watching this kind of videos myself so they would be so fun to make!!

Speaking of hobbies and YouTube, I want to take a new direction with my videos and make them more thrift store, fashion and style focused because fashion is something I am passionate about and I find those ones really fun to edit. I also need to vlog more as its so lovely looking back on them in the future. I guess that ties into the Sweden and Spain trips too. I hope to get really creative with my editing skills and push myself, making blogs super sharp quality and aesthetically pleasing to watch. I love editing way more then filming so I am defiantly going to look into pushing my creativity further online. 

If I'm thinking long term plans for life, at this current moment I think I would love to be an art teacher. My plan is to finish my degree then do a 1 year teaching degree and then I'll be qualified to teach later in life. I don't want to come straight out of education and go straight back in so I'll give it some time if I did decide to be a teacher. I think between then I see myself moving back to Brighton and having a few different jobs and pushing myself as an artist. I would love to do open houses and workshop classes and potentially sell some of my art. Obviously the dream job is to make enough money from vlogging that I can have stability but its hard, especially in this day and age when everyone wants that too. For me its now about the views though, either way I am going to continue showing my life online because I love watching other peoples lifes too and he whole editing process and everything is a great hobby to have. But, who knows what the future hols for me, a lot could change. 

Well anyway, I reckon I'm gunna head to sleep as I really do need it. Let me know how your life is going as I'm loving reading at the moment, I've also been listening to podcasts on the way to Uni which is a new interest of mine. I hope you enjoyed reading this- I definitely enjoyed writing it and getting out all my thoughts. It's funny to think I might look back on this post one day and laugh about how much has changed, strange. 

Night, Charlie x x x

My Highlights of 2017 (with polaroids)

I really enjoy writing and discussing things so I thought I'd make a blog post reflecting on my highlights of 2017. Looking back at 2017, it's been full of ups and downs - some parts of it were life-long memories I'll never forget and some other parts of this year were really sad and hard for me. I thought looking back at the best bits of last year would cheer me up and remind me of all the good times, I hope you like it!

J A N U A R Y

I remember January '17 as being one of the coldest times of my life so my big faux fur coat comes into mind when I look back at this month. I also remember I had just started the textiles pathway on the art foundation and I began to explore my creativity further and learn lots of new ideas.

A highlight for me was definitely when Trainspotting 2 came out and all me and my chums went to go see it at the cinema. I think just before/around the time it came out (on the 29th) there was a Trainspotting 2 club night at Sticky Mikes Frog Bar.

This was such a fun night and so many people from collage came along. All the songs were from the soundtrack to the new film as well as some from the first one, so when I hear them they always take me back to this night.

F E B R U A R Y 

I remember February '17 as having loads of random nights out and funny memories - I look back at it as really enjoying being a teenager while I still was one. 

This was a cute cinema trip with my best chum Ellen but I can't remember what we actually watched, I'm sure she'll remember.

Here are some little pictures from when I was chilling with my friends at Brighton beach. I remember I was super cold so I decided to wear a wig to keep my head warm (also because I wanted long silver hair).

Memories from places outside of Brighton. Theres always a trolly about in Burgess Hill. 

M A R C H

March was just as fun. One of my best nights was when I went to Patterns with a group of mates. It's one of my favourite clubs in Brighton and I always have a good time. 

(the morning after looking cool in Jordan's garden)

I think March was around the time I started having interviews for University, I definitely had a trip to manchester and had a great time with one of my friend's Lily. Apart from that it was just random parties and pub events along side the art foundation.

A P R I L

Looking back at photos to remind myself, I really didn't do that much in April. I think I was probably focusing a lot on my coursework and uni interviews so I was quite busy. However I did find this picture from my Instagram of me and my group of friends on the art foundation. 

I also found this picture of me with a giraffe mask at a party just outside Brighton, I don't think it fitted on my head very well.

M A Y

I think this was around the time I started working part-time as a housekeeper at a nice hotel in kemp town alongside college so I had more money to go out but I remember feeling pretty exhasted a lot of the time. 

It started to get hotter weather wise and I helped my friend Seamus with his project for fine art. It was such a lovely day in the sun and taking pictures near the beach. I had to wear this huge spiky creation but it was surprisingly really comfortable. 

I found these two pictures and I literally have no idea of how these came about, I think I was just messing around at the time and some one took a picture.

This was probably one of my favourite memories of May, we all just stayed in and had a great time chatting, drinking and hanging out. 

J U N E

June was probably my most memorable month of 2017. It included a trip to Norrkoping to see family friends and my first ever Glasto experience which included seeing my fave band ever (Radiohead) which was on my bucket list.

This was such a nice trip and it was lovely to spend time with my mum and Swedish family before starting Uni in September later that year. 

I remember when we arrived they announced it was officially the hottest day of the year when we got to Glastonbury and there were people spraying us with huge hoses as we walked into the festival entrance. The trip there was super sweaty (as you can see from the first picture).

Seeing Radiohead was of the greatest experiences of my life and I remember being so emotional and I felt so lucky in that moment.

Me and Zak had a great time, it was so fun going with one of my best mates.

My friend Elfy also had a party at Stamner park. It was so fun but it took us so long to get there and it kinda felt like that scene in This Is England (90s series) when it takes them ages to find the festival. 

A huge achievement for me in June was finishing my final major project for the art foundation. Although I missed the exhibition because I was at Glastonbury, I popped into the public display after I got back and I felt really proud of my large-scale weave inspired by my dyspraxia. 

J U L Y

After June, I found out I got a distinction in my final major project which made me so happy. Now I had finished the art foundation, I decided to start working full time at my job to earn more money for the summer holidays. In-between this, I had friends round every now and then.

I also found this picture of me and Joe messing around with orange peel (as art students do) when we were hanging out at our friend Jake's house which I found very funny.

A U G U S T 

August 2017 was equally just as good as June. I went to New York for the first time for a few days and I had my first experience at Boomtown festival with all my collage friends, it felt like the perfect way to say goodbye before we all went our separate ways to Uni.

Although I only went for three days, New York was such a great experience. I particularly loved having a food tour in Greenwich Village. It was lovely and hot and it was a great first trip to America.

Boomtown was also an amazing experience. I was disappointed about the que on the way in as we had to wait 12 hours in the boiling hot sun but it was worth it in the end, it was so much fun! Boomtown is like being in a whole another world, its truly mad!

Another highlight of August 2017 was my 20th birthday at The Signalman Pub. It was black and white/suit and tie themed which made all the pictures look so cool and sassy.

And of course, there was Brighton Pride - I handmade my costume this year and put a lot of effort in. It was boiling hot and everyone had a great time. 

S E P T E M B E R

September was full of change and a mix of emotions. Summer was over and I was about to start my new life in Cardiff for University. This meant saying goodbye to all my pals. I remember I had finished working at my job so everyday of September up to when I started Uni I would meet up with a different friend. 

After lots of emotional goodbyes, I moved to Cardiff. I became really good friends with my flat mate Katie and we had loads of fun at freshers which included the Inside Out Festival. 

O C T O B E R

After the madness of freshers events, I felt a bit more settled into Uni life and knew my way round Cardiff. My boyfriend at the time had already came to visit me once since moving to Cardiff so I slowly started to feel more comfortable with living so far from Brighton.

I had my first trip back to Brighton in October to see my group of friends again which cheered me up from being so far away. 

I also had many more fun nights out, including my first halloween outside of Brighton.

N O V E M B E R

November was a really difficult month for me for many reasons. I was really unhappy with the boys I lived with and me and my long-term boyfriend split up. This combined with other personal issues meant November was a tough one for me. 

However, I want to focus on the positive bits of this month.

I came back to Brighton for the second time and one great memory was Lewes Bonfire Night which has become a kind of yearly tradition for me and my friendship group to see the parade then stay round our friend's house.  You have to get an early train as they stop after midday so we went for lunch and did some charity shopping, just like last year. I took a load of photos on my film camera but unfortunately they didn't come out when I got them developed.

As always, it was a brilliant night. All my clothes and hair smelt like bonfire for a long time after that.

Once I was back in Cardiff, I went out with some Uni friends to Rev's, I love this place because it has flavoured shots. The smell of the salted popcorn flavoured shot reminds me of this night. 

D E C E M B E R

December was a very tough month for me as I had a lot of personal stuff going on. I realised I needed to look after myself better and see lots of my close friends. I went home for Christmas and it was good to take a step back and realise I was struggling at Uni.

Here are some last pictures I took in Cardiff before coming home for Christmas. I had so much coursework to do so me and Katie had a coursework night in the kitchen together and I started posing with my samples which was funny, I think all the work drove us a bit mad. It also started snowing which was really cute.

I realised things needed to change when I came back to Brighton as I wasn't happy at Uni. The accommodation people were super understanding and let me move to a different, more quite flat. I had to go up to Cardiff and pack away my old bedroom and move into my new one over the holidays so heres a picture of my old room, which holds lots of memories.

Being back home and seeing mates was just what I needed, I didn't think I was struggling so much at Uni and it was nice to be back home and de-stress. I'm happier now going into 2018 knowing that I can have a fresh start in my new flat and settle back in. 

Doing this blogpost has reminded me of all the fun I've had this year, despite some really rough patches, making it one of the best years so far. I hope I'll feel more settled and happy at Uni and I'm excited to see what 2018 brings.

Hope you enjoyed this post,

Charlie x