| How are you getting on with your art project, Tom? |
| OK. |
| Like, they gave us the theme of birds to base our project on, |
| and I'm not really all that interested in wildlife. |
| But I'm starting to get into it. |
| I've pretty well finished the introductory stage. |
| So have I. |
| When they gave us all those handouts with details of books and websites to look at, |
| I was really put off, |
| but the more I read, the more interested I got. |
| Me too. |
| I found I could research so many different aspects of birds in art - colour, movement, texture. |
| So I was looking forward to the Bird Park visit. |
| What a letdown! |
| It poured with rain and we hardly saw a single bird. |
| Much less use than the trip to the Natural History Museum. |
| Yeah, I liked all the stuff about evolution there. |
| The workshop sessions with Dr Fletcher were good too, |
| especially the brainstorming sessions. |
| Oh... I missed those because I was ill. |
| I wish we could've seen the projects last year's students did. |
| Mm. I suppose they want us to do our own thing, not copy. |
| Have you drafted your proposal yet? |
| Yes, but I haven't handed it in. |
| I need to amend some parts. |
| I've realised the notes from my research are almost all just descriptions, |
| I haven't actually evaluated anything. |
| So I'll have to fix that. |
| Oh, I didn't know we had to do that. |
| I'll have to look at that too. |
| Did you do a timeline for the project? |
| Yes, and a mind map. |
| Yeah, so did I. |
| I quite enjoyed that. |
| But it was hard having to explain the basis for my decisions in my action plan. |
| What? |
| You know, give a rationale. |
| I didn't realise we had to do that. |
| OK, I can add it now. |
| And I've done the video diary presentation, |
| and worked out what I want my outcome to be in the project. |
| Someone told me it's best not to be too precise about your actual outcome at this stage, |
| so you have more scope to explore your ideas later on. |
| So I'm going to go back to my proposal to make it a bit more vague. |
| Really? OK, I'll change that too then. |
| One part of the project I'm unsure about is where we choose some paintings of birds and say what they mean to us. |
| Like, I chose a painting of a falcon by Landseer. |
| I like it because the bird's standing there with his head turned to one side, |
| but he seems to be staring straight at you. |
| But I can't just say it's a bit scary, can I? |
| You could talk about the possible danger suggested by the bird's look. |
| Oh, OK. |
| There's a picture of a fish hawk by Audubon I like. |
| It's swooping over the water with a fish in its talons, |
| and with great black wings which take up most of the picture. |
| So you could discuss it in relation to predators and food chains? |
| Well actually I think I'll concentrate on the impression of rapid motion it gives. |
| Right. |
| Do you know that picture of a kingfisher by van Gogh - |
| it's perching on a reed growing near a stream. |
| Yes, it's got these beautiful blue and red and black shades. |
| I've actually chosen it because I saw a real kingfisher once when I was little, |
| I was out walking with my grandfather, and I've never forgotten it. |
| So we can use a personal link? |
| Sure. |
| OK. |
| There's a portrait called William Wells. |
| I can't remember the artist but it's a middle-aged man who's just shot a bird. |
| And his expression, and the way he's holding the bird in his hand |
| suggests he's not sure about what he's done. |
| To me it's about how ambiguous people are in the way they exploit the natural world. |
| Interesting. |
| There's Gauguin's picture Vairumati. |
| He did it in Tahiti. |
| It's a woman with a white bird behind her that is eating a lizard, |
| and what I'm interested in is what idea this bird refers to. |
| Apparently, it's a reference to the never-ending cycle of existence. |
| Wow. |
| I chose a portrait of a little boy, Giovanni de Medici. |
| He's holding a tiny bird in one fist. |
| I like the way he's holding it carefully so he doesn't hurt it. |
| Ah right. |