We had an outing 
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For the first time since lockdown we went for a drive together 
Just the 2 of us  
Because we wanted to

We drove across the country, in the rain, to the other coast
On the way there we watched familiar scenery go by & enjoyed a Sunday drive

We spent time with people we love
We spent time in their space & in their conversations
We were well fed, wrapped in warmth & happiness

The next day
We drove back across the country, in the rain, to this coast 
On the way back we took a slightly different route & enjoyed different scenery

Winter has begun 
​June has ended well 

This 7 day project comes from prompts within wheesht which is a new book by Kate Davies that I’m thoroughly enjoying reading.

I took 7 b&w photos & wrote 7, 17 syllable poems based on the photo. 
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I found the combination of photos & poems came quickly & easily which meant the ‘assignment’ was a lot of fun and hilarious !
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Nothing quite like laughing at your own jokes hahahaha

mā te wā
​Sal x

*Kate Davies is a knit wear designer & can be found here on Ravelry

All heavy seriousness aside, this month's personal map making class on Creativebug is colourful, light, thought provoking & fun - OMG, so.much.fun. 

e bonds’ daily mixed media Creativebug class celebrates maps in all forms, most importantly, the abstract concepts of map making. 

e’s teaching style is amazing. She ever so gently guides you through a method or technique that is then yours to play with. The most wonderful thing for me is that each day presents a completely new aspect of ‘mapping’ about which I have never thought. It’s brilliant. 

Here in NZ we’re a day ahead & kind of a day behind at the same time.
​Every night, at about 9pm, Hugh & I sit on the couch together & watch the next day’s class which means I go to sleep thinking about it & usually by the morning I’m pretty excited to get my morning routine shizzle out of the way so I can scoot over to the studio & play. ​

I cleared my table deliberately the week before the class started & ironically the work I’ve put to the side is a map of sorts. It’s an extension of our ‘Listening to the Land’ series, it speaks of connection to place, also my leaf litter project & laments the loss of wetlands from the NZ landscape. 
There’s an aspect of this new work, well several aspects actually, which i believe are incredibly significant for us as kaitiaki of this whenua . . . & that’s a story for another day. 

A real positive of this class for me is that it's given me with an idea that is likely to be the basis of my next muka artwork and that for me is the most exciting thing of all !

I’ll keep you posted 
 
Sal xx