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Swinging-London-Shocked-Girl.jpg

Get Messy Art Journal: 'Carnaby Girl' in London

June 18, 2015

This week's prompts really asked me to dig deep as I explored one of the most adventurous things I've ever done. At first I wasn't even sure what that was, which didn't seem very adventurous. But then I remembered the time I went to London to do a work placement, for one week, that I funded myself in my final year of university. It feels like a crossover between ADVENTURE and BRAVE.

There was a big element of being brave and of going with the flow and adapting quickly to what became a very difficult situation in the youth hostel I was staying in. Each night I packed up my things and moved on - to a different room and then to a different hostel. I felt very vulnerable and alone. It was definitely an adventure. But I learnt to trust my instincts, rely on myself, be strong in the face of adversity, and realised that sometimes, you just need to weather the storm and wait for the rainbow at the other side.

I loved the work I was doing (at a global trend prediction agency) and they offered me a job to start when I finished university. But then. Well. Life got in the way. It was my dream job, and I let it slip away.

I'll always think back and wonder: what if? What if I'd just done it, gone to London? Lived the dream and not worried about debts or being away from family and friends. Carried on indefinitely, living it up London-style as the proverbial 'Carnaby Girl'.

But I couldn't do it. I didn't do it. So no regrets.

Swinging London - Close UpSwinging London - An Adventure

I've used a background of some super-funky 'Swinging London' themed wallpaper that I got in a charity shop for 25p. Bargain!

I then layered strips of cut-off scraps from another project to form my journaling canvas and space. I wanted to convey the vibrancy of 'the big smoke' to my then small-town experience, and how dazzling it was to be set free in a city as eclectic and 'on' as London.

To be able to visit famous streets and places like Carnaby Street and Liberty and galleries and shop in the world's biggest Topshop until 9pm! It had me under its spell; lights blurring in and out of focus as I walked for miles instead of taking the tube to save money.

Swinging London - Carnaby Street Close UpSwinging London - Carnaby Street

As I worked on my first page, I lay my strips down on the other side of the paper and then noticed how they 'boxed in' the shocked impression of the vintage/60's woman.

I liked how that echoed the feelings I started to experience as my week ticked on, so I let that lead the second page. I used more scrap notepaper for my words so they lay across the mish-mash of colour that represents everything loud and bright and vibrant that London was for me.

The wallpaper is the star of this show I think?

I love the way that it's never too late to 'journal' an experience and express feelings in this way. I'm going to do some more pages around this.

Meanwhile, delve into the biggest adventures of some other Get Messy members and find out how to register.

 

In Art Journal Tags adventure, carnaby girl, carnaby street, get messy art journal, getmessyadventureprompts, London, swinging london
← They call it Wanderlust: Season of Adventure - Wk4Get Messy Art Journal Game: Season of ADVENTURE - Wk 2 →
 
 

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