Day 41

CODEBREAKER

3) Over a period of up to three months, visit at least three different themed escape rooms.

Today at the library, the Norfolk and Suffolk Police ran a room escape type activity, so myself and my other half decided to give it a go. We were given a laptop, a locked briefcase, and some other bits and pieces, and we were tasked with finding evidence to prove that one of our police colleagues was framed for breaching cyber security and ultimately wrongly imprisoned. 

We had to watch videos, look at messages, solve crosswords, work out riddles, and generally use our smarts in order to find codes to unlock boxes and passwords to help us move through the game. We had 30 minutes to complete the challenge. Frustratingly, there were some parts where, if you clicked on the incorrect answer, you were time penalised. So, we would have finished within the 30 minutes, but we finished with a time of 30:01.

Ultimately, the purpose of this activity was to emphasise how easy it is for people to hack in to our online accounts if we don’t use secure passwords. It was fun and cleverly put together, and I really enjoyed it.

MY STYLE

CRITIC

Over a period of up to six months attend, read or watch at least five of the following and write a review of each one. 01 - an exhibition.

As part of Heritage Open Days I saw an exhibition in the literature which I thought looked quite interesting, called ‘Letting in the Light’.

The exhibition consisted of artworks produced by local Suffolk artists, who belong to the group Easterly Artists. There was a mixture of styles and media, which excited me. It was dynamic and vibrant, and there were only a few pieces which didn’t interest me.

I was unsure whether or not I could take photos, so I erred on the side of caution and just took photos of the artists’ names so that I could look up their work online when I got home.

Ni Gooding’s work stood out to me immediately. He makes screen prints, and I liked the simple shapes and colours forming unusual patterns. We bought a card of my favourite image.

I also liked the simplicity of Amy Stock’s prints, with bright colours and uncomplicated shapes.

I don’t normally like pottery or ceramics but I was intrigued by Fiona Shreeve’s pieces, which were painted to look like buildings. Again, very simple but impactful.

Two of the artists were at the exhibition - Ally Marriner and Paul Zawadzki. We talked to them both about their work and how they create it. Ally uses concrete to make her pieces, and encouraged me to touch what she’d made. So often I want touch paintings and statues, especially when you can see the texture in the paint. But art galleries frown upon that behaviour. However, when the artist tells you to touch, you just have to!

Paul’s work was mixed media using oil paint and rust, and possibly fabric. He told us he is inspired by the coastline, and how nature changes the shape of the landscape. 

In contrast to the free flowing pieces of these artists, Bill Haward presented clean lines and muted colours in his collages, which initially didn’t look like collages. I thought they were architectural prints, but on closer inspection you could see they were layers of paper. 

Simon Wilde’s paintings were quite haunting. Although seemingly abstract, like the paint has been applied with a fork, he’s managed to scrape layers away to give light and shadow, creating shapes of people. I very much enjoyed his work.

This was an enjoyable exhibition. Not too intense or overpowering. Varied enough with tactile pieces that you’re encouraged to touch. I also enjoyed the fact that it was local artists with a passion for the local area. I have signed up to the mailing list to be notified of future exhibitions. I’d like to see more work from the Easterly Artists.

FITNESS

Still not able to hoop, so when I have time I think I’m going to try and do some planking!

GOOD HABITS

Teeth.