Togather

<div class="lexxy-content lightbox-container"> <p>We're a pretty unlikely team. It's like that sweet ingredient in Pixar films. Nobody could've predicted this combination. It's worked out incredibly so far, each one of us adding a dimension, experience &amp; flavor to the project I never knew it needed. Here's part 2 of 2 posts around how we came togather as a team for the 10 weeks of the Sony Talent League. Here is a slice of history from Amsterdam to London and back, with Marie-Claire who I recruited as our UX star and researcher for the project.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/209/content_MC02.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/209/content_MC02.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/206/content_MC03.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/206/content_MC03.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>MC and I go back. We go way back to 2011 in fact, back to the International School of Amsterdam where we chose all the same classes for the International Baccalaureate. Our joint love of art and music bonded us over many all-nighters and after schools and here we are, still going at it. I mean, she was founder of <a href="https://www.mcspringham.com/project04">Scrapbags</a> at 16 or something, and busking at local food markets AND doing the IB diploma program. Really in awe of THIS level of multi-talent since day 1 of knowing her. Neither of us could've known we would graduate twice together once in high school in 2013, and another time in 2018 in London, from Central Saint Martins. Taking gap years at different times, we caught up to each other. Another thing we couldn't have predicted was her being interviewed in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRc_jqXlSOU&amp;t=1s">Good Morning Britain</a>, about her incredible final project for university  "Will &amp; Way" tackling an exciting (!) question: What if Dads could breastfeed?</p> <p> </p> <p>I don't want to write out our history TOO much because emotional pieces are not our cup of tea ;) One thing I will say is, and this is crucial in why I immediately thought to bring her into my project. Whenever I've had an idea I needed support to implement and I've vocalized it, she's always been there pushing it on and enriching its thought process, deepening the research and its reach/horizons. When we lost our sweet, loving friend Xorya back in 2012, she stepped in immediately and suggested we organize a fundraiser together. We made it and raised 6,000 euros for Save the Children selling around 100 works made by students! (see our glee below)</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"> <div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/205/content_MC04.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/205/content_MC04.jpg"></a></div></div> <br><p> Anyway, the story here is MC's my go to for human centered design. This is why she's part of Togather.</p> </div> <p> </p> <p>From May to December 2018, MC led art and design basics workshops every Thursday at the <a href="https://www.mcspringham.com/project06">Drover's Day Centre</a> for elderly people in London. This started as a research project when her then client was BUPA and the task was to redefine 'healthy aging'. Any chance she gets MC will insert herself right into an environment she has 0 experience in to do her research right, to understand our users. She did exactly that with Drover's day centre and carried on volunteering there because it was fun :') "Cheered me on through my post job applications." I was even invited as a guest artist once! Can you guess what I picked for our art workshop? Gathering twigs and making art with it.</p> <p> </p> <p>Below you'll find the wonderful results of the Drover's Day Centre's artists, togather-ing, from 2018.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/207/content_MC05.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/207/content_MC05.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/203/content_MC06.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/203/content_MC06.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/202/content_MC07.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/202/content_MC07.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/208/content_MC08.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/208/content_MC08.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/204/content_MC09.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/204/content_MC09.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>I take my hat off to MC for inspiring me to continue being myself, always being there and always having the toast, tea AND the tunes. Thank you for all your Wednesdays and more these past weeks, setting up Airtable and working away at making tweaks on the website, as well as boiling down our diverse group of future Togather users and how they can enjoy and contribute to this platform. Our creatives, nature experts and our browsers! We're not done yet! I'm thrilled that you're still around and that you continue to let me put out dilly's twig reports into the world even though we both know how you feel about spring simply doing its thing to branches.</p> <p> </p> <p>PS. this logbook post was powered by MC's playlist <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZhxQFnaK4IqZb8gzkscXP?si=5c09eed9793947ea">Curated Cave</a></p> <p> </p> </div>

<div class="lexxy-content lightbox-container"> <p><strong>Dilruba:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Enabling connections between people! I like to think that I've got mycelial superpowers ;) I get an absolute kick out of making 2 people who I know, meet and find out that they've been hanging out/staying in contact even without me.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Marie-Claire:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>My superpower is the ability to fall asleep anytime, anywhere. Although other answers might be more glamorous it has been a gift when travelling, couch surfing and working late at a computer.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/193/content_Togather_MC_Superpower.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/193/content_Togather_MC_Superpower.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p><strong>Ruben:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Creating stuff of out nothing. Or not nothing, but turning an idea into something tangible/visually very quickly.</p> <p> </p> <p>I was 10 years old when we got a computer in our house, I was getting to know it every free minute I had. Technology has since then become an extension of my body, allowing me to express my mind. Superfast!</p> <p> </p> <p>The speed in which I can work in Illustrator and Photoshop has been noticed over the years by the various people I’ve worked with. ‘Give Ruben ten minutes, and he’ll have learned a whole new program’ is what my previous employers used to say.</p> <p> </p> <p>Personally I never realised that I was very fast, I just get super excited about an idea and I NEED to give it shape a soon as quick as possible. In my experience it can never be fast enough, so I push myself to find new shortcuts and remember them for the next time.</p> <p> </p> <p>So a real superpower I don't know. As a kid I always dreamt of flying. Never picked that up in my waking life.. But I sure fly around my MacBook Pro.</p> <p> </p> </div>

<div class="lexxy-content lightbox-container"> <p>Ruben:</p> <p> </p> <p>my blender to make breakfast each morning</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/188/content_unnamed.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/188/content_unnamed.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>my waterbottle to stay hydrated during kickboxing and long zoomcalls</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/183/content_unnamed_%281%29.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/183/content_unnamed_%281%29.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>my keys to get in my house and my studio and on my bike</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/181/content_unnamed_%282%29.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/181/content_unnamed_%282%29.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>Marie-Claire:</p> <p> </p> <p>Vitamin D as despite all of the uncertainty in the Netherlands currently we can guarantee one thing, we’re not getting enough sunlight.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/182/content_unnamed_%283%29.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/182/content_unnamed_%283%29.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>Comfortable walking shoes because it’s the only means of transport that is immune to traffic or a flat tyre, and it improves your mental health to boot!</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/186/content_unnamed_%284%29.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/186/content_unnamed_%284%29.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>Dilruba:</p> <p> </p> <p>Olives. All shapes &amp; sizes. For breakfast, lunch &amp; dinner. &amp; Especially midnight snackage.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/184/content_unnamed_%285%29.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/184/content_unnamed_%285%29.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>My brazilian friend Vitoria Bastos gets me.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/185/content_unnamed_%286%29.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/185/content_unnamed_%286%29.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>Music in both my ears, like this.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/187/content_unnamed_%287%29.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/187/content_unnamed_%287%29.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> </div>

<div class="lexxy-content lightbox-container"> <p>We're a pretty unlikely team. It's like that sweet ingredient in Pixar films. Nobody could've predicted this combination. It's worked out incredibly so far, each one of us adding a dimension, experience &amp; flavor to the project I never knew it needed. Here's part one of 2 posts around how we came togather as a team for the 10 weeks of the Sony Talent League. Let's begin with Ruben, who I recruited as assistant creative director.</p> <p> </p> <p>Not long after I moved into my first apartment in Amsterdam, I saw a colorful mural proposal hung up on the noticeboard of my building.</p> <p> </p> <div class="aspect-ratio lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/169/content_STL_Togather_045.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/169/content_STL_Togather_045.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/172/content_STL_Togather_041.png"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/172/content_STL_Togather_041.png"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>Curious cat that I am, I immediately contacted the artist behind such a  joyous proposal for the neighborhood budgets. It was a playful welcome to this west Amsterdam neighborhood, and having seen a serious lack of color on the streets around here, it put a smile on my face.</p> <p> </p> <p>Ruben and I met not long after. We are on either side of the hunkerbunker (lil reference to <a href="https://www.trojan-unicorn.com/challenges/sony-talent-league/finalists/102-togather/articles/20-week-6-videolog">week 6's videolog</a>), Ruben being in the north and me in the south wing - 2 floors in between.</p> <p> </p> <p>Ruben is a conceptual &amp; visual artist, who had just wrapped up his solo exhibition "How Much Ink Does A Marker Contain?". He has since the summer of 2020 tested over 60 markers to this day and is everyday busy making marks. He has experience in all things design, making videos, websites and logos. A real sharp eye for visual communication.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://vimeo.com/462380725">https://vimeo.com/462380725</a></p> <p> </p> <p>A defining moment in our first meeting was when I set eyes on a white ceramic vase with a twig in it. Next to it lay another twig with a big spiky bulb, something I had seen growing around the station. Seeing my interest in this scene rather than the vase/object, Ruben picked up and turned the spiky bulb upside down to collect its seeds and handed them to me in a little sachet. I was just a few weeks away from submitting my pitch to the Sony Talent League, trying to script the whole thing before attempting to shoot it on video. Excited that I wasn't alone in seeing the beauty in our natural environments (local too!!) and presenting them like this in his living space, I was ecstatic to share my story thus far and how far along I was in making the pitch.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/171/content_STL_Togather_042.jpeg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/171/content_STL_Togather_042.jpeg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/170/content_STL_Togather_044.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/170/content_STL_Togather_044.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>Forming connections with people despite a pandemic holding everything at standby, is a real blessing. I'm grateful to know that there's someone I can ramble about twigs with on the other side of the building; make marks and be curious cats together. We have since spent many afternoons sharing our findings and testing out what marks they will create.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/168/content_STL_Togather_043.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/168/content_STL_Togather_043.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>Not knowing anything prior to this about me, seeing the project always from a fresh perspective, I shared the significant updates around the pitch with Ruben and received his energetic feedback. My friend Ari Snow (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/xstudiosnow/">@xstudiosnow</a>), now our collaborator for the logbook videologs, helped me to re-shoot and made the first edit for the video for the submission (I had made a pretty insane video prior to the initial pitch which I shared with Ruben, which has some funny outtakes that might actually be worth sharing with you all at another point :)). Ruben helped make the final edit, and was right there when I clicked submit.</p> <p> </p> <p>When I found out that Togather was a winning finalist, I wanted to recruit Ruben as assistant CD, always challenging me to keep pushing and making with his zesty energy, swiftness of action and playfulness. Ruben's daily practice of mark-making and love for the environment made him a pretty sweet partner in crime so far. He has developed much of our working site <a href="https://togather.fun/">togather.fun</a> on saturdays. I connect and bounce ideas with him almost on the daily with things on our Trello board, touching base with MC's UX research and handing notes to our collaborators together, deciding on the visual direction as well as helping me with the vision/mission for Togather - in the aftermath of the league.</p> <p> </p> <p>Below find Wibra Blue, now hanging up on my bedroom wall.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/166/content_STL_Togather_040.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/166/content_STL_Togather_040.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>Check out Ruben's work on instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/coloruben/?hl=en">@coloruben</a> and his portfolio <a href="http://rubendehaas.com/">http://rubendehaas.com/</a></p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/167/content_STL_Togather_039.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/167/content_STL_Togather_039.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>If i could say one more thing - stay open to collaborators coming from any direction, completely unplanned! Sometimes the conditions are absolutely on point and people you just met might jump in to help implement your dreams into action.</p> <p> </p> <p>Stay open and continue exploring, gathering talents from all directions and creative backgrounds to come together.</p> <p> </p> </div>

<div class="lexxy-content lightbox-container"> <p>Hey everybody,</p> <p> </p> <p>Here's a little scattered overview of our work space(s) as a team. My dining table, Ruben's desk/dining table and the desk space rented for Togather HQ!</p> <p> </p> <p>Ruben and I are neighbours on either side of the hunker bunker (for those who haven't seen week 6's recap, our building has a nickname) east and north wing. We are pretty versatile and fluid, crowding around these rectangles and reporting from the outdoors! Around week 2-3 of the TL I also rented out a deskspace for Togather HQ, but in reality we've been spending more time mindmapping and having the mentorships around our dining tables. Sometimes I work at the deskspace, surrounded by my collection of twigs :)</p> <p> </p> <p>PS: as the leader of the project, I keep my old sketchbooks very VERY close by, wherever I am. Been pulling them out and spreading them out on surfaces at various knot points in my thinking, or when I feel confused, to get back to where i started, how i felt in the last couple of years picking up new tools from different environments.</p> <p> </p> <p>Over and out!!</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/165/content_20210218_144044.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/165/content_20210218_144044.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/161/content_workin_2.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/161/content_workin_2.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/160/content_WhatsApp_Image_2020-12-05_at_10.29.01_AM.jpeg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/160/content_WhatsApp_Image_2020-12-05_at_10.29.01_AM.jpeg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/162/content_working_9.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/162/content_working_9.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/163/content_working_12.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/163/content_working_12.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/164/content_20210218_144135.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/164/content_20210218_144135.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> </div>

<div class="lexxy-content lightbox-container"> <h3><span style="color:#DAA520;"><strong>What are your hopes for your 70-year-old self?</strong></span></h3> <p> </p> <p><strong>Ruben:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>That I’ll feel young and playful still. That my curiosity and enjoyment of exploring survives. I want to still be kickboxing, doing yoga eating both tasty salads as well as deep fried food when I want to. That I’m flexible, agile and adaptive to life in the 2060’s. By then I also hope that Airpods are embedded in our ears so I won’t have to keep putting them in and out :) And that Spotify is finally able to accurately find my kinda jams to the tee so I won’t have to listen to each Radar Release trying to find that one golden track out of a thousand. Oh finally that Togather is still online ofcourse so people can be scanning twigs on Mars for us on Earth to use :)</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Marie-Claire:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>My first job after graduating from Central Saint Martins was to teach painting and drawing in a day centre for retirees. Richard was one of my students and left a lasting impression on me as an example of ageing well. At 72, wearing his trademark Spice Girls branded wristwatch he cycled from Moscow to St. Petersburg. </p> <p> </p> <p>I met him when he was 74 and set on learning to draw. Alongside being fine company and a thoroughly nice person, he was willing to be a beginner again and try every new technique and material I offered him. He gifted me my own Spice Girls watch when I left for a new job, thanked me and wished me luck. If I am anything like Richard in my seventies and beyond, then I’m doing it right!</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Dilruba:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Hoping that I can still bend down to look closely at the little things on the ground, while feeling light as a cloud. My maternal ancestry has a long history of living long (100-113 years old). I'd like 70 year old me to be a version of myself that still fills sketchbooks, can track a song she likes from a mile and is capable of making damn tasty food while enjoying the company of others. As I write this I'm wearing these socks that are grandma made (not mine, even though my great-grandmother made some excellent knitted socks too) and it gives me good vibes and warmth thinking about an aging Dilruba.</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/125/content_STL_Togather_029.jpg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/125/content_STL_Togather_029.jpg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> </div>

<div class="lexxy-content lightbox-container"> <p>Lots of fun discoveries and progress this week. And you'll want to check out Dilly's Twig Reports on our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG5IsHrhUQtOiNqu3Jq04yQ">Togather YouTube channel</a>!</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/123/content_STL_Togather_026.png"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/123/content_STL_Togather_026.png"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> </div>

<div class="lexxy-content lightbox-container"> <p>Hey everyone,</p> <p> </p> <p>So as this video so clearly states, it's been challenging so far. But management tools like Trello, our incredibly helpful and supportive THU project guide Ana and our amazing mentors are helping us push on! We achieved our week4 goal which was to kick-off Togather with the Tribe, and have our Pory site up and running so Tribe members can begin sharing their gathers for phase1 and later their marks and brushes.</p> <p> </p> <p>The meeting with Kris brought us WAY BACK &amp; FORWARDS to the instinct that brought us here in the first place. Bringing the outdoors, in. And having pulled out the old sketchbooks for the meeting which contains some of my first ramblings about collected twigs, I wanted to share this quote with you which I think hits the nail on its head with why adopting outdoor findings in our art-making is so wonderful:</p> <p> </p> <p>"It's like the tool is the storyteller and I'm just its instrument"</p> <p> </p> <div class="lightbox-container"><div class="pswp-gallery lightbox " data-controller="lightbox" data-lightbox-target="container"><div class="lightbox__item"><a target="_blank" data-lightbox-target="item" href="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/121/content_STL_Togather_021.jpeg"><img alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://trojan-unicorn.s3.amazonaws.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/121/content_STL_Togather_021.jpeg"></a></div></div></div> <p> </p> <p>(this drawing of me was made by my dear friend Michelle Ku, after a skype session we had where I told her about my most recent findings)</p> <p> </p> <p>More on the origins of Togather (from the archives), art made with digital brushes inspired by physical objects and our new learnings about brush-making with Kyle T. Webster to follow. Stay tuned because team Togather is finally logbooking for real ;)</p> <p> </p> <p>Stay warm,</p> <p> </p> <p>Dilruba</p> <p> </p> </div>