Spring!

Already... it always seems that winter will go on forever then suddenly, without warning (or so it seems) the clocks change, the days are long, the daffodils and primroses are out and Spring has beautifully and undeniably arrived.

I'm working on a bit of a spring cleaning generally and specifically I'm doing some new cello arrangements with a view to recording an album later in the year, probably in the winter, and acting wise I'm brushing up on accents. Because I didn't have drama school training it wasn't something I'd ever tried but with my background in languages it's something I love and, fortunately, it comes quite easily. I'm not happy with ok though - I want to make the accents I tackle near native so there's always a lot to learn and practice to do.

I'm still having fun with my lovely camera (a Canon 70D) which I bought about a year ago, and which I've shot two short films and two showreel scenes on, plus my own headshots and lots of behind the scenes photos of film sets I've been on. I might even get round to uploading some one day! 

Cello teaching wise, I've just had a great Scottish Cello Workshops Weekend at Balnaboth House in Glenprosen, Angus. We had a full house and a fantastic group of cellists and partners and Trish Strain (cello) and Ruaridh Pringle (fretted things and singer/songwriter) assisted me with the teaching. The following weekend I taught at Mairi Voinot's inaugural String Schools weekend. We were a bit lacking in cellists because of the proximity to my own teaching weekend but there's already a plan in place to separate out the two events next year. My monthly workshops continue in Glasgow and, for the ninth time in ten years, I'll be teaching at Alasdair Fraser's Fiddle (and Cello) camp at Sabhal Mor Ostaig in Skye towards the end of July. I'm also still planning some cello teaching DVDs - they were delayed by the damage to my cello last year but I'll be on it again soon.

Have a lovely Spring and early Summer!