A fond farewell

The past couple of weeks since my last post has seen me continuing to research the Seaweed albums at the NMA, tracking down signatures and handwriting to establish a line of provenance for one of them. My interest in these albums was inspired by the contagious enthusiasm of Senior Curator and Head of PATE, Dr Kirsten Wehner. It was a chance meeting with Kirsten nearly two years ago that started the ball rolling for my residency with PATE at the NMA.

So it was with great sadness that this week the Museum said a teary farewell to Kirsten, who is off overseas to start a Masters in London. I was proud that the PATE staff chose one of my artworks as a farewell gift for Kirsten, and the following day the team and I went on a group outing over lunch to see my glass work in the Hindmarsh Prize at the Canberra Glassworks, then on to my studio so they could see what I get up to behind those huge closed doors at the bottom of the dusty shed on a secluded horse agistment!

Catriona, Jen, Kirsten and Martha viewing my work

Farewell Kirsten, thanks so much for the opportunity to work with you briefly on my project. I'll keep you updated with photos of the work as it unfolds. Safe journey and happy studying.

Winter in Canberra

Since my return from Indonesia last month I was caught up in moving house, unpacking boxes and trying to get my body and mind acclimatised to Winter in Canberra again.....

This morning it SNOWED! and here is a view from the comfort of our new kitchen. It is always so exciting to see visible evidence of how cold it is outside, so I just love the snow....for a while.

I will be blogging regularly for the next couple of months as I have started my new Artist in Residency at the National Museum of Australia (NMA), working with the People and the Environment team (PATE) and doing some research and development for a new body of work inspired by their botanical collection. I was fortunate to receive Australia Council funding to enable me to spend time here accessing their collection and delving into their database of objects for this period of research and development.  I am still in training mode - learning how to use the electronic museum (EMu), Piction, the computers, photocopiers and phone, remembering to swipe my ID pass (and to bring it with me everyday) fight for a carpark, and most importantly, remember what all the acronyms stand for! 

Anway, today was quite special because I met Lyndy, one of the women I met on the Indonesian textile tour, for lunch and showed her around the museum. It was fun reminiscing about our hot and humid holiday  as we sat eating steaming bowls of soup, rugged up with boots, coats and scarves. Lyndy at least was wearing a beautiful ikat scarf from Ende.

As mentioned I will be blogging at the end of each week, but I will just take this opportunity to thank the NMA and the Australia Council for such a fantastic opportunity that will enrich my arts practice no end.