one month.

One month has passed since I land in Australia. It's been an excellent month. Last week I had a couple of days back in Melbourne to recuperate from the conference (2 days was not enough...), then flew to the Gold Coast for a long weekend. This week I've had some lovely, slow days in Melbourne, preparing myself for the two week residency in Fremantle. I fly to Perth tomorrow morning!

[a lush Adriana Christianson cup]

[a gift from my college teacher, Michaela Kloeckner]

Part of the plan for my residency is to learn some screen printing techniques, so I've been playing with designs in Photoshop. I'm really excited by the prospect of combining painting, printing and digital decals.

I spent a quiet day with Adriana yesterday, and during one of many cups of tea she declared 'You should paint something!'. She promptly provided me with a bowl, showed me how to use pure cobalt (with some frit) to paint and left me to play! It was the first time I'd sued cobalt - it was strange to get used to, as it dries quickly on the palette, but I really enjoyed it.

The Australian Tapestry Workshop is right around the corner from my Aunt's house here in South Melbourne. I've walked past it countless times and wondered what the studios were like. This weekend I had the opportunity to peek inside, thanks to Open House Melbourne! It's a fascinating workshop and SO colourful!