CrumpArt

Guess what I got for my birthday?

Oh yes.

Mucho grumpy fun.

Also, watching the third episode (referenced in the title of this post) reminded me of something that happened at uni yesterday. Class was over and a bunch of us were still there, sitting and chatting when one of the newbie first years came rushing into our area, tears streaming down her face, arms aloft. She somehow managed to communicate that she needed us to open the first aid kit. My first thought was that she’d spilled acid on her hands — I went with her to the kit while someone else found the studio technician.

But no. Eventually, she calmed down enough that I could make out what she’d done — stuck her hands into a sink full of boiling water. Honestly, nobody in printmaking is particularly neat or clean — we’re anal about our prints and keeping the equipment and studio clean (well, most of us are), but that attention to detail doesn’t always extend to the kitchen. It’s also very humid in our studios, so things go mouldy quickly. And that’s what had happened to the tea leaves in the bottoms of some of the cups. Did I mention that we drink a lot of tea? Anyway, this girl couldn’t deal with the mould, and decided that all the cups needed to be sterilised in boiling water. Thinking back, she seemed more concerned about the mould not being hygienic than the burns on her hands. It could have been the hysteria talking, I guess.

Later on, I did a lap of the studio, as I tend to do every now and then. I walked through all the first year desks and looked at the little bits of work that were appearing on the walls. At one desk, there was a big note pinned up. It said, “Please don’t touch anything on my desk. I count everything. If I’m here, please ask and I’ll share with you.” I looked at the name tag and it was the same girl. I think someone’s been hit with the OCD stick.

I wasn’t going to write about this here. It seems a little too public or something, almost. But it struck a nerve, and I will make a bit more of an effort to contain my mess this year…