On the weekend I went to Madrid, Spain and fell in love with the local culture and customs. The Spanish people don’t stress so much. They take time to really enjoy food, music, sangria and sleep- four things that I am especially fond of.
It really felt like a holiday- not a fast paced typical tourist holiday but a real cultural experience. One in which I consumed over 3litres of frozen yoghurt and managed to get (a little) sun tan (as an Australian I have been really missing the sun in Switzerland!).
Anyway… here are some photos from my trip to Madrid! I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them 😉
Today was my first day away on a 6 month European adventure. I have decided to study at university in Lucerne, Switzerland for a semester and so I have packed (a lot) of clothes and gadgets and left home!
Here are some photos from my first day of travel in Zurich, Switzerland before I head to my university accomodation.
P.S. Please forgive the selfies- when one travels alone one must learn to take photos of oneself.
Since the beginning of human existence, people have been using art to express a multitude of emotions and concepts. From cave paintings, to Egyptian hieroglyphics, all the way to contemporary abstract works, art has been used as a mode of codifying emotion and hiding messages for an audience. What’s hidden in art is open for interpretation, and no two people have the same experience.
For some, art is a way of expressing hidden emotion, whether positive or negative, and can help the individual cope with internal conflict. For 20-year-old Vanessa, painting is an essential mechanism for dealing with her mental illness. She uses her art to express her personal struggles and inner turmoil.
Vanessa lives with borderline personality disorder. She works every day to reign in her emotions, and hide her illness from others. Art is a welcome escape, one in which her illness can be communicated constructively. Vanessa is a firm advocate for mental illness awareness, stating that she wishes it was a normal part of everyone’s lives, as “It’s normal to me,” she explains. Her room is an escape where she can paint all over the walls, and amass a vast array of canvasses with different painting experiments. It’s a room with character. There are secrets hidden in the album covers lining the shelves, and in the hole in the wall from an angry kick delivered in a distressing episode. Her love for art first spawned studying Vincent Van Gogh in High School, and since she has developed a keen ability to recreate her pain in painting like he did with his.
In contrast, 19-year-old Jessica uses painting to embrace the positive aspects of life. She depicts various scenes of animals and insects, as she is passionate about animal rights and conservation. She hides these messages in soft and inviting watercolour paintings, attempting to show the beauty of all life. These hidden messages are easily deciphered upon inspection of the bright and detailed works.
While Jessica and Vanessa polarize in their reasons for artistic expression, they both maintain that art is an escape, one that helps them deal with any stressful situation they are faced with. They also praise the versatile nature of art, that messages can be hidden in art works and interpreted by audiences in different ways.
Liam walks his energetic puppy, Biscuit to the local dam nearly every day. He finds relief in the simple pleasure of being out in the open, traversing difficult terrain and running around with the world’s most playful dog. Although the regular visits to the dam began out of necessity, for fear of losing another lounge cushion or beanbag, the 19-year-old university student happily evades his busy schedule for an hour a day to go to his favourite place, with his favourite partner.
The World According to Sam 