One should always be appropriately dressed when teaching! It's New Years Eve, how did that happen?  It is a great time to look back over the past year and think of friends you have met, places you have been and the wonderful things you have seen. 2015 was a busy year with 2 trip to the Antipodes, 3 trips to Ireland - 2016 will be even more bonkers . . . A sign on the wall of the World of Wearable Art exhibition in Auckland. I have met a lot of you at the various shows that I do throughout the year, both for myself and for Vilene. We have wonderful chats and discussions about all manner of things as well as textiles, and of course, chocolate!  One of the main topics seems to be how lucky I am. Until the middle of this year, I had never really though about it - I always say Yes! I am. A good friend of mine who also works on the stand with me, pointed out with great emphasis, that I am not 'lucky'. I have made the decisions and choices that have brough

 Graffiti on Hosier Lane, Melbourne.   Glenys Mann None of us work and live in isolation. As we go through life we make friends and contacts, some come and go, and some stick!! It is because of Glenys Mann that I traveled to Australia in the first place several years ago - I think it is 5 or 6. Since then I have made more friends and contacts down here in the Anipodes and I am building up a healthy teaching practice here.  I have taught at 3 of Glenys's events. Fibrearts Australia is a very exciting and thriving company that holds the most amazing textile workshop events featuring tutors from all over the world and of course fabulous Australian tutors. I am in Australia to teach - but more of that in the next post. I would like to show you what I saw yesterday. Glenys and I had arranged to meet at 11.30 on the steps of Flinders Street Station. I left my hotel early so I had a chance for a mooch around a few of the colourful and exciting streets of Melbourne.

"Living Water , an exhibition showcasing 107 contemporary Indigenous paintings by 94 artists from the Felton Bequest Gift, displays works by male and female artists from the Far Western Desert, an area stretching across parts of Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.  Aboriginal people from across the Western Desert use the term ‘living water’ to describe water sources, including rock holes and soakage waters that are fed by underground springs. The path of these springs was created by the ancestral beings of the Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) as they themselves journeyed underground, their entry into the earth often marking the site of current day water sources. ‘Living water’ is revered also because it does not seem to be affected by the harsh conditions above the ground that the people themselves have to endure." from the NGV website - it is a fascinating read if you have time. NGV website   Wandering around this beautifully hun