Painting is the Secret Cure - 3

I forgot when was the last time I painted, it's been that long! I've been really busy and stressed but funny that whenever I was stressed in life I'd go back to painting. It helps me heal.

I wanted to paint for last few weekends but didn't manage to do so. This weekend the weather is nice after long time and it's bright and beautiful outside. I was thinking how to bring the light and shadow effect in water color, so even though I'm supposed to study all day today, I couldn't help playing with my colors and brushes for some time.

I wanted to paint something I had in my mind but I had to get the human figure right (which is not my best skill in drawing). Usually I don't draw with pencil but just use brushes, but as I was drawing my human figure I realized that I don't have eraser (-_-) (I forgot to get one after I lost my backpack but that's been months!!). Long story short, I changed my scenario to something else and it turned out like this -

A Sunny Sunday

I know it's not perfect but it kind of depicts how my balcony looks. I often like to sit there and work, but sometimes I just read books and watch the green trees happily soaked in sunlight. As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to see if I can use the light and shadow technique right. For now I'm happy with it but I need to learn it better and try other scenarios, of course some other day. Need to get back to studies, already late.

Oxford after two years

Can't believe it's been two months that I wrote my last post. A lot happened over past two months, mostly a lot of traveling, jet lag, recovering, catching up with normal life and traveling again. Finally I'm home almost after 3 weekends, so thought I should look back and write a post.

In 2015 summer I was in Oxford for 6 weeks for the Oxford-Illinois Digital Libraries Placement Program. That was my first time in U.K., a place I always wanted to be. It's especially endearing to me because my dad was at Cambridge for 6 months and we grew up hearing those stories. Being there was a unique experience for me, something that reshaped my professional and personal life, for better or worse. I loved the campus so much (who doesn't, right?) that I wanted to be back for grad school, which hasn't happened yet because of the U.K. educational funding system. That's a different story, but I went back this year again for the Digital Humanities Oxford Summer School (DHOxSS) to present my poster on special collections discovery methods and participate in the machine learning workshop. 

The famous Radcliffe Camera

Being back to Oxford was a bitter-sweet experience for me, it brought me back many good memories I hold really close to me. As I walked the streets, all the familiar places made me nostalgic and I wished I could go back to 2015. May be I would do few things differently if I could go back. Anyway, summer school was a mixed experience too. I learned some and it was great seeing my favorite faces from UIUC and OeRC but I was hoping to get more out of the workshop. The city was beautiful as ever and luckily we had a nice sunny week. Here are some photos -

Christ Church College

Loved the sculpture under window

Another favorite sculpture

Weston Library for Special Collections

Bridge where Harry Potter was shoot

Also, this year my workshop took place at St Anne's College, where I stayed last time. I could see the backyard garden full of lavenders, which I really adored. Another thing I should mention is food - one of the great things of summer school is the variety of food, they always provide awesome lunches and desserts (and I never say no to desserts, so tried most of them :p).

St Anne's backyard

Got to see a pretty sunset

One week went by pretty fast and I was beyond exhausted by Friday. Unlike last time, I didn't get to go to my room and rest the whole evening. I had to pack my luggage and get ready for a ridiculously long trip. Also, unlike last time the ending of summer school was less heartbreaking, I was ready to be back home. Oxford -> London -> New York -> Washington -> Raleigh, after three layovers and a night at the airport (did this second time in my life and never doing it ever again), I finally arrived home and bravely went back to work the next day. Not sure if this was my last trip to Oxford, time will say but this is a city I'd love to be back again, may be at some different time of the year.