A Look Back on 2014

After having a bit of a break through December I thought, as today is the 31st, I'd do a quick look back on this year and reflect on some of the things that have been really awesome in 2014. I've also included some of my aims for 2015 and things that I'm looking forward to. What have some of your highlights of the year been?

1. In June this year I started my blog. After reading blogs for years and talking about starting one for such a long time I thought I should just do it! Although I don't have the time to commit to a regular posting schedule I'm so glad I have managed to keep it up. At the start of December Charlie from Little Red nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award. At this time I was having a bit of a blogging break but I am so grateful to Charlie for the thought and mention! It really means a lot to me. Thank you also to all my new Bloglovin followers. It really means so much to me that people take some of their time to check out my blog. In the Autumn my boyfriend very generously got me a DSLR camera which has encouraged me to try and improve on the quality of the pictures here and learn a bit more about photography.
Aim for 2015- Experiment more with my camera and learn a bit more about what all the fancy buttons do!

2. This is the year that I really started to go regular, longer walks. I'm glad I have managed to record a lot of these on On a Wild Hunt so I can look back at all the day trips, forests and hills my mum and I have stumbled and climbed. Before I started my blog we climbed Ben A'an which is one of my highlights of the year. It was a beautiful sunny day and the climb was one of the hardest we have done, but I also felt such a sense of achievement. Maybe we'll try it again in 2015... I also loved our day trip to the Isle of May and I can't believe we saw a whale. For our long weekend in November we explored Perthshire, an area that I had never been before and would love to visit again. So many beautiful forest and hill walks in that area!
Aim for 2015- Continue to go regular walks and maybe try some more hills/ baby mountains?

3. In 2014 we went on two foreign holidays to European cities- Prague and Porto. Both were amazing trips and I have some really happy memories of both locations. We went to Prague in February and spent a lot of time exploring the city, dining in restaurants and keeping cosy in our spa hotel. For my birthday in Prague we watched the Superbowl in to the early hours of the morning and walked back to the hotel in the snow. It really is a beautiful city and I've been told the elaborate architecture of the castle inspired the Disney castle. In June we went to Porto where we wandered round the stunning sundrenched streets and relaxed at Porto Primavera music festival. I also discovered Port wine and had a great time dining in some really nice restaurants and cafes. (My first 2 blog posts were on Porto if you're interested in reading a bit more).
Aim for 2015- I can't wait to go to New York in February! It is somewhere I have wanted to go for years! If you have any recommendations please let me know.

4. Work wise 2014 has been a busy year for me. After 3 interviews I finally got a new job in October this year and am really glad to be on to a new challenge. I have also done 42 Saturday shifts at my volunteer placement and in September I started a new volunteer role on Monday evenings. After years of avoidance I have also started swimming lessons and have learned the basics so far!
Aims for 2015- I'm looking forward to continuing my volunteer roles and hopefully mastering breathing for my swim lessons!

Altogether, I have had a great 2014 and am really grateful for all I have been able to do. Let me know the things you've enjoyed this year and I hope 2015 brings with it even better stuff!

Alasdair Gray Exhibition

Living in Glasgow it is easy to find the work of Scottish artist and writer Alasdair Gray dotted around the city, but it is the current exhibition From the Personal to the Universal at Kelvingrove Museum & Art Gallery that really shows Gray's artistic range. As a fan of Gray's literature and artwork for a number of years I loved this exhibition and was very close to purchasing one of his limited edition prints (I may have to start a kickstarter for £600). Today I thought I'd share a couple of snaps from the exhibition, some of the postcards that I picked up and some images from Gray's autobiography A Life in Pictures to give you an idea of Gray's style and range if you are not familiar. The exhibition at Kelvingrove Art Gallery is running until 22nd February 2015 and I think I might take a second trip. If you're not from the city or nearby I highly suggest A Life in Pictures which is available here. I got this as a Christmas present and I love it; so much inspiration and a bit of a look at a very talented and interesting man's life. If you're interested in discovering more there is a leaflet handed out at the exhibition that pinpoints a number of Gray's murals around the city, some of my favourites being the ceiling in Oran Mor and the image of the West End at Hillhead subway station.

Have you been to the exhibition or read any of Gray's novels?

Five Films that made me a Film Student

Ok, the title may be a little deceiving; 5 films do not a film student make! However, I thought I would reflect on 5 movies that made me fall in love with cinema and set me on the path to studying the artform at university.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Peter Jackson, 2001, 2002, 2003)


For a long time I was ashamed to tell people The Lord of the Rings is my favourite film (picking just one is like choosing your favourite child) but as I have become more of an adult and less of a teenager I have been more confident in embracing the things that make me happy. And wow, does LOTR make me happy. My dad read the books to my sister and I when we were kids and just as we were finishing Fellowship of the Ring the film was anounced! We were so excited. It became a family event going to the cinema each December for the next installment. Consequently the films had a massive emotional impact on me and are so entangled with childhood and adolescent memories. Even now, I cry at each film and feel so physically moved by them. It was after seeing the Fellowship of the Ring and studying books and DVD extras on Weta Workshop and the immersive filming process that I set my mind on studying film.

Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987)

Wim Wenders melancholic masterpiece tells the story of an angel who falls in love with an acrobat, while hovering over Berlin. Shot predominately in monochrome the films lingering, considered and distanced feel reflects the lives of the angels who are eternally watching the city, but never engaging with it. It is a beautiful and thoughtful film and one that hasn't left me since I first watched it at 15. It tells of the individual pains every human feels while also exploring the shared pleasures of love, beauty and music. As a teenager I was entranced by this film and still today it has the power to make me think and step back from my current life to consider a bigger picture (in a non religious way). 

A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)

At 16 I studied Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange novel. It was the first time I got to choose my own book to study and I became engrossed in the world of Alex and his droogs. Despite this, my dad wouldn't allow me to watch the film, and I had to sneakily watch it at night. It was notoriously hard to find the film in the UK for 27 years and highlights the influence film can have on society. A Clockwork Orange is simultaneously delightful and disturbing, Kubrick's use of colour and style is hard to rival and the story is powerful while shocking. I think it is this blend of controversy and art that has had such an impact on me. At university I became increasingly interested in the relationship between film and controversy and its power to shape and reflect our society. A Clockwork Orange reflected our society and continues to do so.

Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)


Donnie Darko is a mix between an outsider teen drama and a science fiction film, yet it is more than that. As a teenager my friends and I would watch this film on repeat and bat about our theories on Frank (Donnie's imagined 6ft rabbit friend who can predict the future) and Grandma Death, while the soundtrack still reminds me of being 16. I don't want to give too much away because it is a joy to watch for the first time (and the tenth). The first film we actually watched at University was Donnie Darko and it instantly made me feel I had chosen the right course.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)

Eternal Sunshine tells of a woman and man who, after a break up, erase each other from their minds... but then they meet again and fragments of memories start to tell of the love they previously shared. Directed by Michel Gondry the film is beautifully unfolded through colour and hand made effects. When choosing what university to study at I was torn between academic film study and practical film at an art school. This film tugged at my desire to study the art of film and despite finally deciding upon academics, every time I watch this I wish I knew how to create images that could show internal emotions.

It was hard for me to narrow this list down and I'm sure that there were many films that subconsciously impacted me, not to mention the people who really influenced my decision. But its interesting to consider in reflection, the lasting impact a 2 hour film (or 9 hour for LOTR...) can make. Has a film ever changed your path in life? I'd love to hear about it if so!