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.  

Printmaking and planning...

Another area of interest for me is printmaking. I went to the Quarry Arts Centre to purchase more clay and took the opportunity to talk with Jasmine at Te Kowhai Print Trust about attending workshops in Term 2. I'm hoping to get to the Wednesday weekly workshop which runs from 9.30 am-2 pm and plan on starting the second week of May. I am wanting to continue developing my printmaking skills and building up confidence. The Te Kowhai Print Studio is a good place to learn as it has all the equipment I'll need as well as the help and advice from more experienced printmakers.

The Whole Brain Workshop

It's taken me a while to work out what I'm doing and where-to-from here given there's so many amazing talented artist and creative persons already doing 'their thing'. As a direct result of winning a scholarship I've decided to just keep on keeping on, exploring my creativity and seeing where it leads instead of trying to make it go in a particular direction. What I do know is I enjoy ceramics, printmaking and weaving so will focus on those three areas in 2016/17. It's been fun brain-stormimg what I could do and make, but before sharing about that I'll just answer a few questions as per Arthur Aron, professor at Stony Brook University, New York.

ARON'S QUESTIONS

Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

My favourite people to have around me at mealtimes are my own young-adult children. They inspire me and make my life worthwhile. They have unlooked in me resources I didn't know existed and I feel very privileged to be their mama. I particularly love when they want to cook for me. There's nothing more rewarding than sitting down at the end of the day to a meal prepared for by your kids!

What would constitute the "perfect day" for you?

I have two ideals actually....depending on my energy-levels....

If I was feeling good it would be: Rising early and going for an early-morning walk ior bike-ride and watch the day break and sun rise as I eat breakfast.. Then I would meet a friend and after go explore a museum, art gallery or the zoo. We would have lunch out at a cafe then afterwards I would either spend time in the garden or make something, maybe pottery related. Then I would have a long soak in the bath, order take-aways and curl up and watch a movie or go out to a restaurant (Thai) and the movies. My day would be complete retiring to bed with a book and read until i fell asleep.

But, if I was was tired my perfect day would be: sleeping in and having breakfast in bed. Reading (and probably falling back to sleep!) until I felt like getting up. Then I might stay in bed some more or get up and do something creative. Paint or scrapbook or watch a movie. order takeaways or go out for dinner with a friend, watch the sun set, then retire to bed with my book (again)

What is the great accomplishment of your life?

It would have to be giving birth to my three children. What an awesome adventure parenting is and even with all it's ups and downs, highs and lows - it has taught me so much about myself.

The other great accomplishment for me has been learning to drive. I didn't get my Learner's until my late 20's and then was put off driving with an instructor wanting me to drive a manual. Fourteen years later (and by this time I had teenagers) I knew I needed to "face that giant and slay it" A friends husband took me for driving lessons, I bought my first (auto) car and got my Restricted driving test. The rest is history and so far I've taught 2 out of 3 kids to drive.

The Whole Brain Workshop - Action in Writing

There are a few areas of interest I'm looking at doing as the next part of my TLC Art and Creativity Programme (Honours). 

I would like to further explore ceramics, printmaking, textiles and tapesrty -  the latter being a community project at The BACH Art Gallery & Shop Co-Operative, where I work.

We are estimating another 2-3 months work.

 With our existing  community Tapestry Project nearing completion after three years of weaving  I am putting together a proposal for the next one, which I'm really excited about but don't want to let the "cat out of the bag" just yet. (I will email that page to you, Keith)

I wasn't surprised by these results!

~o0o~

I've starting working on ceramic numbers AND joined a pottery

 group called The Firebirds. They meet at the Reyburn Studio 

weekly on Thursday's. I'm wanting to incorporate natural textures

 (bark, leaves etc) with my numbers (naturally..pun intended!)

 I've booked and paid to go to the annual "Dunedin Scrap Camp"

(in April) for a weekends retreat. I can't wait and thought since its

been a while since I've done anything scrapbooking-related I'd

put this together for a small canvas. Ten minutes later, I changed

 my mind and it's evolving into a 12x12inch page!

 I'm excited to share my paper-pulping "system"

well, that was until I discovered it doesn't work 

and needs tweeking. Back to the drawing board...

And after months...years of slicing bits of my fingers cutting 

paper with a stanley knife/metal ruler I've finally come to

the conclusion I need a guillotine. I scored this baby for $30

off Trade Me....and it was a local seller so didn't have to 

pay for frieght. New these things cost waaay more than 

thirty dollars so I'm really happy with my find!

~o0o~