here and there

a couple of days ago my lovely Wild Rose kindly frocked up and let me take happy snaps of some recently finished pieces. i'm fortunate to have a family prepared to assist me by modeling!

a simple shift dress in SilkyMerino

sometime next week i shall be loading up the ute (that's a pick up, if you're American) and pootling off across the interior of Australia to deliver and install back country in the Tamworth Regional Gallery

the opening has been set for the evening of December 13th (which is also the feast day of Santa Lucia)

and there's a chance i could offer a one-day intensive workshop on Sunday December 14th if there is sufficient interest - please drop me a line in the comments below if you think you'd care to join us

earlier today i spent time in the Tardis at Australia's national broadcaster (Auntie ABC) pre-recording for the program Talking Plants with Tim Entwisle (Director of the Royal Melbourne Botanic Gardens) and fellow guests John Wolseley and Jim Fogarty, which turned out to be rather fun.

 

to fortify my courage i wore amazing socks knitted by my friend Sidnee Snell

who (as they used to say in the better fairytales) is as clever as she is beautiful

the series begins on December 21 but the program i took part in today will air at 9am on Sunday January 25...i will be in New Zealand so won't have to listen to myself murmuring away.

on the way home i dropped into the wonderful emporium in Hahndorf called Poet's Ode. the proprietor Alia and i talked about me maybe having some work on display there in the near future (which would be lovely as i don't currently have anything on show here in my home state)

it's a clean and beautiful space with the most glorious pressed tin walls.

and now i'm out to give the cowbabies their warm supper, before sitting down to a cuddle with Yoda-San

close to this lovely fragrant Hoya bella

back country

i returned from the sea refreshed in body and spirit
so today i tackled the task of processing the 'back country' story
via Blurb
and
though it crashed several times
have managed to get it all together and LIVE.

so
for those of you who expressed interest when i showed the Milk+Moleskine version
here's one at a much more affordable price
with the images and text condensed into 40 pages from the original 60

back country by India Flint | Make Your Own Book

AWOL

on Thursday last week i filled a cauldron with bundles

set a fire underneath

and promptly absconded. 

i was in need of friend, dog and ocean therapy. 

happily i was blessed with all of the above. 

(that dress has special pockets for my Sabahs) 

and now back at home i have a cauldron full of bundles to unroll...

but i think i might give them another night's sleep.

Crockett Cottage Studio, Mansfield

Philadelphus filling the air with fragrance

 

i loved my time at Crockett Cottage Studio this year

(students came from France and New Zealand; West + South Australia and Queensland as well as Victoria and, for the first time in my visits there...Mansfield itself)

so much so that i've booked it again for 2015

in November the local gardens are awash 

with roses, peonies, philadelphus and magnolias

- even a huge liriodendron in full bloom

and the diversity of eucalyptus species available in the region is quite remarkable

i will offer a couple of workshops

one of which, by popular demand, is going to be about bloomers

and scanties and soft things to wear to bed

and also a retreat to which you can bring your own work

(provided it doesn't require noisy machinery or potentially toxic materials)

and share it with like-minded souls in the joy of the sewing circle 

more details soon but essentially

we'll share stories, i will brew daily dyebaths for you to work with

and be available to offer guidance if you need

i shall also be preparing lunch, as the studio has a fine

centrally positioned kitchen area from which i can answer questions

while i happily chop, stir and season

thus combining two of my (several) passions

Julie Pearson looking fabulous in her gorgeous top

the tray of our ute came in handy

not just for opening bundles but also as a very fine cutting table

local colour

it is very important to be nourishing the inner bear.

in other news, applications to attend the Retreat to Tin Can Bay

in Queensland next year are being received until December 9

Roz Hawker and i will be taking turns at sailing the boat

there'll be dyepots (i nearly wrote dyepoets!)

the opportunity to make small things in metal

or make bigger things in situ from found objects 

some quiet wandering and gentle writing

(i'm thinking that a class book may ensue as a memento for participants)

 if you'd like me to send you the bits to fill in

please drop me a line via the contact page on my website

dates : April 19th - 24th, 2015 (arrive on Sunday evening, depart Friday afternoon)

cost: (including vegetarian gluten-free food, 

twin-share accommodation and some materials) $1300

and ONE place is available in the Bower Bird Blues retreat

in the lovely Lud Valley in New Zealand

fieldnotes, revisited

'fieldnotes' has opened at the Quarter Gallery in Minneapolis

sadly I couldn't be there (apologies to my friends in the region but this month I was geographically, temporally and somewhat financially challenged!)

but they've done a fine job of hanging it in my absence 

even included an extra dress (one that had stayed with them from the 'windfall maps' show of 2011)

Howard Oransky, Director, kindly sent me some images

and you can find the catalogue here

the week that was (and the year that will be)

I returned home yesterday feeling as though I had been away for a month

when really and truly

I had been just two hours or so down the road for six days

working with my friend Roz

to make food for a class led by my friend  Sandra

in conditions that may not have been ideal

but were the source of much hilarity though they sometimes needed a good deal of ingenuity

and thank goodness (and the Dogs Above) for my lovely friends Sam and Janet White who positively encouraged us to raid their beautiful garden for greens, beans, herbs and flowers (and who put up with us staying with them for the duration and singing loudly in the evenings)

we constructed a workstation from a wheelie bin and an old door

luckily Roz had insisted on buying a waxed table cloth which provided a cleanable prep surface (I fought the purchase at the time thinking "no! Not more Chinese rubbish!" but I was very grateful for it I can tell you.)

we drew pictures on the plates. Roz conjured wonderful table decorations. 

and nobody reported any tummy aches despite having dairy, nut and gluten intolerances among our punters. we cooked vegetarian food that met those conditions and had a splendid time doing it

on Wednesday I'm off to the east...to cook and teach for my classes at Mansfield. sadly Roz has retreated to her paradisical Queensland garden and won't be coming with me

fortunately the kitchen at Crockett Cottage studio is well equipped and because I'm staying there as well I'll be able to prep in the evenings (without having to fend off magpies and wattle birds!)

and now to 2015

it looks like it's going to be a pretty full year, which is a jolly fine thing. so just to fill in the dots between what's already been announced :

in March I'm exhibiting in Tasmania for what used to be called Ten Days on the Island but is now to be the Tasmanian International Arts Festival and

teaching an associated masterclass

in April (because we had so much fun together in our camp kitchen) Roz Hawker and I will be offering something we have been musing on for a while now...a retreat to a quiet and beautiful place somewhere in Australia. 

we may well make it an annual event (and we are contemplating one in South Australia) as well but the very first one will be the retreat at Tin Can Bay in Queensland.

(but this time we shall be leaving all the cooking and the table decorating to our hosts)

attendance will be by application only - this doesn't mean we'll be weeding out anyone who doesn't have a PhD, it simply means that we will be doing our level best to gather a peaceful and compatible group with the best chances of having a lovely time together, because it is helpful to have a bit of background on you so that we can fine-tune the program and because we want this event to be nourishing and enriching as well as playful and also FUN.

drop me a line through my contact page if you'd like me to send you the fine print.

in June I shall be at the Observatory in Andamooka, working on the Solace project

and July sees me traveling to lovely Newburgh again

and staying to participate in a class led by Larry Thomas 

after which I shall hop across to France to join Les Soeurs Anglaises for a week

before heading to my beloved New Orleans for a bit and thence to the beautiful Pacific North West

but more of that later.

if you've made it this far it's time for a cup of tea.

I'm getting one myself and reading this wonderful story again