the bluebell raven

A sunny evening in York

I am in York for the weekend - strolling around and thinking about Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I have tried to read it twice - and both times somehow wasn't in the mood - but I still have my heart set on finishing it someday. One of the scenes in the beginning, when a magician brings the stone statues of the York Minster to life on a frosty winter morning, is just something I keep thinking about; today I met the sunset on top of the minster tower, with some strong wind and amazing autumnal lighting.

Step two of my weekend adventures: went to the nearby town of Harrogate for a walk and COMPLETELY BY ACCIDENT stumbled upon a massive comic convention. (I'm still reeling from the fact that actually happened.) That was my first con and I enjoyed it a lot! Not what I expected from a Yorkshire hike but not complaining at all.

Still thinking a lot about this comic convention - it was my first, I had such a good time, and the fact that I found it totally by accident somewhere in Yorkshire still makes me giggle. Bought waaay more stuff than I can afford, but so looking forward to going through all this.

Probably some of the funniest moments were stopping by recruiting booths for local art unis and people asking whether I'd consider applying. "I'm three degrees into the wrong career, but you know what, in a different world, maybe..."

If you follow Selmers to the poetry society meeting in Night In The Woods, this is her poem. I loved it and the themes of the game, and wanted to use it as practice to see if i can control the way readers ‘hear’ the words through images.

A sunny evening in York

I am in York for the weekend - strolling around and thinking about Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I have tried to read it twice - and both times somehow wasn't in the mood - but I still have my heart set on finishing it someday. One of the scenes in the beginning, when a magician brings the stone statues of the York Minster to life on a frosty winter morning, is just something I keep thinking about; today I met the sunset on top of the minster tower, with some strong wind and amazing autumnal lighting.

Step two of my weekend adventures: went to the nearby town of Harrogate for a walk and COMPLETELY BY ACCIDENT stumbled upon a massive comic convention. (I'm still reeling from the fact that actually happened.) That was my first con and I enjoyed it a lot! Not what I expected from a Yorkshire hike but not complaining at all.

Some experimental The Chronicles of Narnia illustrations I did in my uni. I wanted to draw the most memorable landscapes from each book as I imagined them in my childhood. Tried to do some experiments with style and practice more in drawing environments¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

prints: x

Please appreciate this chap I've seen in the St John's College in Cambridge (I was in the area for a job interview and was doing some touristy things; this is my best picture of the trip by far).

I hope he brightens your day. The bestest scholar.

Wow you guys really seem to like this chap! I'm glad but then you are NOT ready for Walter

This beautiful boy is the cat of Exeter College, Oxford. He was adopted in the beginning of the pandemic and has been a staple of local life ever since.

There is even a painting of him already in one of the common rooms. No I'm not joking.

Please enjoy the bestest scholar of Oxford.

This is Simpkin the Hertford College cat erasure - although he is more of a fighter than a scholar, as seen from his being banned from the Exeter library for brawling with Walter and the students alike.

Thank you for this addition! I met Simpkin at some point but didn't know about the library drama 😂

just remembered my favorite swedish novel EVER is getting translated into english and you can bet I will be screaming at y’all to read it when it’s out

Yes of course! It’s called Samlade Verk in Swedish and is by Lydia Sandgren. I think it’ll be called Collected Works in English, and it’s a novel despite its name! It’s about a guy who works as a publisher and we go back in forth in time from when he wa maybe around 15 to the present. It’s about books and writing and art and it’s so so lovely, I love it so much

During one of my recent trips to London, I got to visit what is probably the most insane museum I've seen yet - Sir John Soane's. In its "mad Victorian's attic" aesthetic it outshines even the Pitt Rivers in Oxford (although strictly speaking it's a mad Regency attic: Sir John Soane was a famous Regency-era architect, who accumulated a big collection and upon his death arranged it to be preserved in the same way he kept it, and open to the public for free).

I'm struggling to give this place a review. It was... something, to be sure. The rooms and passages were comically tiny, and the bottom line I think is that it should be enjoyed on a gloomy winter day, with as few tourists as possible, or else it's difficult to take all this madness in. Still, a curious place, that is impossible to deny.

From my (hopefully) last job-hunting trip this season: Wollaton Hall and deer park in Nottingham. Lots and lots of deer.

And Nottingham proper, with its Robin Hood-themed souvenir shops and the second oldest inn in England that I saw this month.

As fun as these little interview trips have been, job hunting itself has not been fun at all. Months and months of stress before I finally got an offer this week, and now there's apartment hunting to sort before life becomes slightly more stable...

Sending all the best wishes to everyone looking for jobs or places to live. There's nothing good about the process, and it will likely take a while, but you got it! * rays of moral support *

Please appreciate this chap I've seen in the St John's College in Cambridge (I was in the area for a job interview and was doing some touristy things; this is my best picture of the trip by far).

I hope he brightens your day. The bestest scholar.

Wow you guys really seem to like this chap! I'm glad but then you are NOT ready for Walter

This beautiful boy is the cat of Exeter College, Oxford. He was adopted in the beginning of the pandemic and has been a staple of local life ever since.

There is even a painting of him already in one of the common rooms. No I'm not joking.

Please enjoy the bestest scholar of Oxford.