looking and seeing

it's been a big week. 

I won't burden you with the details

suffice it to say I was pleased to make it through

and still be smiling at the other end

today I had work to do

though it was hot

the help (in several forms) was ready to lend a paw

in the early evening there were a few welcome drops of rain

which settled the dust and made the whirled look even more beautiful 

so we took our eyes for a wee walk

looking and seeing

lovely Lopez and the Pacific North West

as regular readers of this blog have probably discerned

my heart has many homes.

one of them is Lopez Island and i'm happy to say that 

after i present my workshop for Maiwa in Vancouver 

i will be boarding the train 

 hoping for a window seat on the starboard side 

and heading back there in the  northern Fall

more details here

i just wish i could bring my Kubbi-Kabuki-dog to play with Isla (a.k.a. Her Royal Fluffiness) whose image you will see if you click on the link above

same town, new eyes

yesterday i had to take the trusty Augustus

down to Murray Bridge for a grease and oil change

i love that i can take backroads there

through familiar bits of wide brown land

some visitors have described our roads as brutal

frankly most times i'd rather putter along on the dirt than hoon along the freeway

(unless i'm in a pony car. that's a different matter. entirely.)

after we dropped Augustus at his day spa

Kubbi and i faced a day on foot in the great outdoors

(they don't offer loan vehicles if you have a furry friend) 

also, we needed to carry supplies (drinks and snacks)

because unlike the customs prevailing in Europe 

where dogs are welcome even in restaurants

Australian canine companions are discouraged from darkening the doorways of local businesses

no matter how pretty they are

so it was a chance for me to discover that town through 

a different set of eyes

and accompanied by a different set of feet.

there's an evil local weed called caltrop

which has horrible and vicious spikes and is unavoidable in several places.

 i had to carry the Kubblet across several infested areas to avoid having her paws stabbed

we walked to the big river

met some other pups

and there was a splendid romp

(which was too much fun to be part of to waste time messing with a camera)

sat in the shade under one of the bridges for which the town is named

and watched corellas pretending to be pigeons

and also showing off by performing acrobatics and hanging upside down

and then went back for another swim

wandering about aimlessly

making the odd drawing

playing with feathers and bark

and an enthusiastic pup

was rather fun

(though i had a pile of work waiting at home)

and now i had better get on with it

out (t)here

for some years now i have been sharing a wonderful place in my country with just a handful of visitors, mostly those who have wandered in across the oceans and might otherwise only be exposed to urban life but also a couple of close friends

it's a place that infuses me with vigour, fills my head with dreams and magic (well, yes, ok, i can actually find those things most places, but) and puts good red dust on my boots (harder to find). it provided the foundation for my exhibition 'back country'

is a source of solace and a good place to rediscover who you really are (something that sometimes gets lost in the compost of the daily grind)

last October i was there with Dorothy Caldwell and Sandra Brownlee...a most happy confluence indeed. the place is Wirrealpa Station, owned by Warren and Barbara Fargher. they've done extraordinary ecological restoration work there and are splendid hosts.

i'd always considered it a kind of private and precious place to go but when Barbara asked me whether i would consider hosting a workshop there i thought about it a bit, pondered logistics and said, "why not"? sharing is a good thing.

so i've come up with

out (t)here 

a site-specific retreat centred on the deep experience of place through immersion in this very particular landscape

it's a big venture, we have to carry in all our food for the week and also reserve supplies in case of rain.* food will be completely wheat-free and vegetarian but with side-dishes to satisfy carnivores. (there are no stores so i'll be baking spelt bread daily)

i've also had to think about the best means of getting y'all there. the outback is not to be taken lightly if you're inexperienced so i figured the safest option was to have participants collected from Port Augusta by minibus (with a trailer for luggage)

there are only nine places available, two have already been taken

so

that

leaves

7

as a bonus, if skies are clear we should be able to see the Orionids meteor shower on October 21 + 22 while we're sitting outside by the evening dye cauldron

* rain is also the reason participants should take out travel insurance. while the weather is likely to be fine with mostly blue skies it is, as my atheist (and metereologist) father used to say

"God's way of keeping us on our toes"

and who knows what the Dogs Above will send.

still dancing

it's been nearly ten years since Leigh Warren kindly commissioned me to 

make costumes for the seminal work Petroglyphs 

but it feels like a lifetime ago

there's been so much water down the river since then
(including a journey to Japan for Wanderlust
and a Scottish adventure when we took breathe to the
Edinburgh Festival)

on Tuesday I pootled into Adelaide with a bagful of dresses
so Leigh could choose one for a fringe production he is involved in

Leigh playing with a frock and being gorgeous as ever

oh, and if you're looking for somewhere fabulous to stay in the inner burbs 

of the capital of South Australia (and only a brisk walk from the restaurants of North Adelaide) do investigate AirBnB...Leigh's house (draped here and there with bits of ecoprint cloth by yours truly) is listed there and it's just lovely. Leigh and his lovely burmese cats will make you most welcome!

running red lights on memory lane

so i was looking for something yesterday 

(which i didn't find yet)

and while i was rummaging 

i found some old photo albums

from a time when pictures were regularly printed

when i made collages by cutting and pasting

not Photoshop (which hadn't been invented yet)

i found pictures from nearly thirty years ago

when my friend Yasmin (with whom i also shared a house) and i

co-taught for the former Arts Council of South Australia 

(which has now been reincarnated as the Country Arts Trust)

and went out on the Tea and Sugar train

with an exhibition of T-shirts

hand-painted and screen printed by South Australian artists of the time

(don't ask me why there are Flake bars sticking out of my ears

i have no idea)

 we went to Cook, Barton and Tarcoola

Hawker and Maree

(all in the arid lands of South Australia)

 and taught workshops in lino-printing and hand-painting t-shirts

at Tarcoola, the teacher of the 15 student school

happily dumped them all on us

and went off to the public house

that was the day we realised we should have packed a first aid kit. 

all we had for cut fingers was masking tape and toilet paper

i fancied myself a new David Hockney

sticking pictures together

which is why Yasmin appears twice in this one

back then i also had a dog with a spirit eye

and a very silly haircut.

we were too young to know better

threw mad parties

drove too fast

danced too long

sang too loud

they were very fine times

and

we are still friends

i'm glad i was there

argentina

image borrowed from : http://www.gondwana.geologia.ufrj.br/

the idea of Argentina has been on my mind for a while

every now and then an email drifts in across the oceans

asking if i will come. 

yesterday i decided to put a ring around some weeks in the calendar

thinking maybe the last week in November, first week of December 2016 

i would need to teach four lots of three day classes to make the trip work financially

(the fee for one class wouldn't even cover the airfare across the big puddle)

but it will be exciting to meet the flora on the other side

and to expore the Gondwana connections between our countries

and though there is interest in the basics of ecoprinting

i'd love to offer a 'being (t)here' class too

so

if you are in Argentina

(or would like to come from elsewhere to meet me there)

and if you are interested in taking a class

please either let me know in the comments below

or better still (because then i will have an email address to write back)

please drop me a line via my

contact page

and perhaps tell me what you would most like to learn?