JULY 2017
“Rest is not idleness and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
Hope you're having a fantastic summer! This month I took a little break from acting and for the first time in 3 years I enjoyed 3 glorious weeks of no applications, no self-taped auditions and no line-learning!! This gave me the chance to fit in a bit of travel to some amazing destinations, including Salzburg, where they filmed The Sound of Music. What a treat to see the beautiful landmarks featured in one of my all-time favourite movies (and to be able to re-create some of Maria's special moments!)
Here I am scuba diving the shipwreck off Proti Island, Greece (Photo credit: Dimitris from Aqua Divers Club)
It also gave me the opportunity to add another skill to my resume...scuba diving! I passed my PADI Scuba Diver qualification in the beautiful (albeit chilly) waters off the West Coast of Scotland and went on to pass my PADI Open Water qualification in the crystal clear (and balmy) waters off the Peloponnese coast of Greece. Ironically, one of the acting roles that I have since applied for requires someone with the ability to scuba dive - no guarantees that I will be called for audition but it's fantastic that already there's a role out there that requires this skill!
Showreel Share Day...
One thing that I did do during my holiday was participate in Kate Davies-Speak's Showreel Share Day on 19 July 2017 on Twitter. And boy, am I glad I did. My showreel excerpt has made 6,593 impressions, been viewed 684 times and been retweeted 70 times (and still counting!). Not to mention the new followers and all the wonderful comments and DM's that it has generated. So, please, visit @KateDaviesSpeak and @ShowreelShare (both on Twitter) and give her a huge, big Like & Follow as it's people like this in the industry that give the rest of us the platform to showcase our work and collaborate with other like-minded souls. Kate, I take my hat off to you, thank you so much!
Now it's back to work and, with a couple of auditions in the bag already, I have some exciting news that I will be able to share with you in next month's update! So, it's full steam ahead for the next 3 months, starting from today. This week I am adding to my stage violence training by taking an intensive course in Rapier & Dagger run by the British Academy of Stage & Screen Combat (BASSC) Stage Fight Scotland. My head is in a spin with all the new terminology that this new skill requires, such as parry, pommel, supination, foible and bind. And I kid you not, after spending 8 hours with a dagger in my left hand and a rapier in my right hand going through my drills, I could barely lift the fork to my mouth at dinner tonight!! #sausted As a result, I have to leave this month's update here as I need to take my weary bod to bed. Goodnight and lots of love and luck to you all in August.
