October 2016

Balancing Work and Creativity 

I thought I'd share a little bit about The Bach Gallery and Shop. THE BACH is Northland's (and very probably New Zealand's) largest Craft Cooperative, with approximately 100 members involved in the production and supply of a vast array of quality products. In 2003 THE BACH was opened in the thriving Town Basin of Whangarei and has been a huge success for both Whangarei and the members/artisans involved.Membership fees and commissions levied on sales provide the revenue to cover operating expenses, the commission rate varying depending on involvement within the enterprise. We pride ourselves on offering not only the best but totally 100% locally made products.

Over the years and up until the end of August 2016 The Bach has employed (and paid) a couple of people to handle the book work, accounts and administrations of the Coorperative - Briar, who I work along side of 2-3 days a week and me. I was employed in 2014 as a summer casual to fill in on the days no one else could and initially my contract was just for December through to February but I've been maintained as I showed "good business incentives" along with consistency, reliability, and dedication. (<<--Did I just write that??) Briar has been employed by The Bach for over 8 years (after completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts) as a part-time manager/administrator and over the past year has been showing me "the ropes" in readiness for starting a family. At the beginning of September 2016, Briar took 4 month Maternity Leave which a left me juggling the admin AND shop duties, to which I hope I'm doing a good enough job. 

Weekly Planner - getting better organised!

So with the extra responsibilities at work I'm needing to get better organised. And organised not just at work, but at home and with my TLC Diploma programme. Having cancer treatment last year  (on top of existing mental health issues) threw me off my rhythm, but over the months I've been slowly getting energy back and functioning more efficiently even if my brain is still doolahlee...

Initially when I heard from Dane from TLC I panicked and stressed, thinking I was "bad" (a bad student) but she reassured her job as student support was too help and encourage, not to criticize. She suggested a weekly planner for each week and colour-coding activities to help me visually process daily activities.

My daughter, Sarah said she had one bought on 

(an A4 pad) but not used it - so she gave it to me

...and here's my first week! 

The colours really helped to make it playful and reminds me I need to HAVE FUN in my life - if I haven't learned anything from last year I've learned life can change "in a moment" and we didn't ever really know what's around the corner. I wasn't able to fully follow the plan exactly but all of the things I'd written were done in one degree or another.  

Pottery Night: Thursday's 5 - 9 pm

Since October last year I've been attending a pottery group that meets weekly on a Thursday. I have access to resources, advice and a kiln plus it's been a good way to meet other people outside my home and working life. 

Over the Thursday's in October I've been work on a series of nature numbers using bark to texture the clay. I hope to trial them for selling at The Bach. I'm still working on experimenting with glazing techniques but very much enjoy working with this medium.

Ricky Time: Weekly for 2-3 hours

Ricky, a 15 year old home-schooler with Autism has been coming weekly to do creative things with me over the past 2-3 years.  We've made lots of things together including sewing, building, pottery, and paper/book-making and scrap-booking. When I first met Ricky he was very reclusive but over time and the therapeutic benefits of creativity he is very talkative (sometime TOO much so and gets distracted!) and has been attending a youth group since the beginning of the year!

I've been taking photos of all the things we've done and helping Ricky to make a memory album for him and his Mum.

Inspiration: Te Kakano "The Seed" Opening

The fund-raising for the Hundertwasser Art Gallery is getting closer to the amount needed to commence building. In the meantime, and according to Hundertwasser's pre-requisites, the Te Kakano has kept people interested in the project giving them and idea of what the HAC would bring to the Town Basin. 

The official opening of Te Kakano was Friday the 21st October and was supported by a big crowd, the TVNZ news and the Northern Advocate. You can read about it HERE

The crazy tile work has inspired me to explore mosaic work and I'm really excited about the HAC and all it will mean for Whangarei.

Problem-solving: new-to-me-car and other things that break

I had my car break down early October which meant not only was I carless, but keyless too as the car had to be towed to the nearest town which happened to be Dargaville! (Silly me left my whole bunch of keys with the garage that was storing my car/giving a repairs quote) My daughter is a nanny and the family she works for recently relocated there so she's been getting the bus over 3 days a week and I've been picking her up in the evening. Not a good time to have something go wrong with your vehicle and unfortunately it was the radiator. I was quoted $800 for a replacement and as the car was nearly 30 years old it didn't seem worth it. 

So this is my new-to-me car. I'm so happy to have wheels again!

 I've discovered I really need them for work and family. 

My paper-making bath" frame has fallen

 over so this is my next FIX-IT challenge!

And just to top it all off, my $10 Trade Me BBQ has bit the bullet..

Lucky for me I have a smaller one that my BIL brought up from Levin (with the bath) 

It doesn't comfortable hold both pots but I managed to squeeze them both on.

I continue to make paper for my soap labels and probably spend 5-6 hours a week preparing the fibres, cooking, rinsing, pulverising and couching paper.

Soap for sale: an order

As well as selling soap The Bach, I stock a local health shop. Every 6-8 weeks I take another boxful in to them

I've also been making and selling a range of natural balms though at this stage I'm only selling them at The Bach.