Time to get to work!

We made sure to wear our reflective vests on those scary roads.
We also made sure to take a mid day ice cream break when we passed through town.

After getting our studios set up, the second day we were able to get started on our work. Rachel, Naomi and I went hiking around the Burren all day. We wanted to take advantage of the landscape (and local delicacies) right away. Naomi began collecting Hazel, Rachel started measuring and catologing rocks, and I started taking self portrait photos of myself in the landscape. We climbed up the side of the mountain behind the college, hiked home to change out of our we clothes, and then hiked back to the fairy fort we saw on the tour the first day (but didn't get a chance to explore then.)

Two weeks ago I was diagnosed with a melanoma (skin cancer) and had it removed in two surgeries only days before leaving for Ireland. Needless to say, this event has had some impact on me and will become a new focus in my art work. I really wanted to take a series of self-portrait photos while I still had my stitches, so today Rachel and Naomi helped me take a whole series of photos. These are just a few.

While I don't think its the direction my final work will go while I'm here in the Burren, I am really happy with the way the series turned out. I definitely want to keep working with my stitches (and scar in the future) and find ways to address issues about the sun, exposure, shade/shadow, fear, and mortality... but there a lot of issues to address in a month!

All in all, it was an awesome and exhausting day of hiking all around the country side! Can't wait for more!