Landlocked Mermaid

Back in the summer, we had a chat with a friend of mine, Niamh, about her EPQ . She planned to make a sculpture highlighting the plastic pollution issue . The exhibition for her artwork was at the beginning of last month, so I thought it was high time we caught up and had a chat about it. Last time, we met in the picturesque village of Norton-in-Hales and went for a stroll in the summer sunshine. It was a bit grey and drizzly this time, so we met in the local cafe, The Hideout , for coffee and a catch up. Her final sculpture was a shark; frame shaped by chicken wire and filled with plastic bottles collected from the college campus. I bet you can guess my immediate response was 😍. She chose this design because it was the most striking of the ideas she'd put to paper. The shark is an iconic image and familiar to the public and she, quite rightly, argued that "scary attracts more attention". She wanted something recognisable and, taking inspiration from the famous ...

So, in case you missed it, I am consciously trying to reduce my plastic consumption. The easiest way to do this, for me, has been switching to shampoo bars. So I thought I'd tell you a little about my journey to the shampoo bar which suits me best in the hopes that you might try some too. My hair is actually one of the few vanities I have in my life. I love to dress up for a night out or Hallowe'en, but most days I am make-up free and wearing whatever I find first in my draws. My straw realated Instagram from the other day is an indicator of how little I care about clashing patterns. But my hair? I love my hair. It is my glorious ginger waterfall. It's long. It's curly. It's (unnaturally) ginger. One of my few extravegances of the year is to get it dyed at the expensive salon in town. Although my roots are begging for me to go again. And the heat is making me want to chop half of it off, which I know is a mistake - it just goes boofy. But anyway, I digress...

Angler Fish Photo from Creatures of the World Wikia Kingdom: Animalia Class: Actinopterygii Conservation Status: Vulnerable (VU) Found: Worldwide Diet: Carnivorous Weight: Up to 45kg (100lbs) Size: 20cm (8") to 1m (3') Habitat: Some species are pelagic, some are benthic. Everyone knows of the iconic angler fish. Big, gaping mouth full of spiky teeth and a dangling blob of light hovering just in front of its face, illuminating all that terror. There is more to this fish, seemingly made of nightmares. Did you know that there are two types of angler fish species? The image which comes to mind is that of the ones which live deep under the sea, near the sea bed. These are the benthic species, which are compressed dorsoventrally (face to tail) making them short and squat with an upturned mouth. But there are also palegic species, which live much closer to the surface. These are compressed laterally (at the sides) making them long and thin. Both type...

Meet Niamh. She is a local A Level student about to go into her final year of college. I’ve known her for quite a while, I used to work in the village where she lives. So when I found out about her EPQ and its subject, I had to get in contact and ask her a few questions! Tell me, what is an EPQ? “It stands for Extended Project Qualification, you get an A Level out of being creative. You can get a grade from doing a brain fart of a question and researching that. You can do an essay, you can do an art project. The whole is point is to document your whole journey from beginning to end.” There is a smaller version available at GCSE called PQ, culminating in a 5,000 word essay. The EPQ essay is 7,000, unless you are submitting an art project, like Niamh. She will still be documenting the journey, which is where most of the grade comes from. So it’s almost like a dissertation: research and independent study culminating in either a physical project or an essay. So wh...