i spent
January wishing for February

i got a bee sting 
at the beach
it was unexpected

within days my toe was consumed by cellulitis 
which was also unexpected

i spent
February hopeful

obsessively checking the ocean temperature
to see if it might be warm enough to swim

we holidayed in a place where the ocean was warm enough to swim
it was definitely more fun after the cyclone
​
i spent
March relaxing in to Autumn
getting comfortable with the season
sadly
the weather changed 

i put my beach towel & bathers away 
& found myself planning my winter wardrobe

every day of these 3 months 
i have photographed the sky 
often more than once

at this time of the year our sky is changeable
stunningly beautiful 

it's April tomorrow 
a new moon
​we get to start again

I've received what i assume to be a spam/scam email insisting i follow a link to some place or other 
I'm writing this post today because it told me I would lose access to all my Weebly data if i didn't follow their link
​the email said 'you haven't used your Weebly account in 'quite a while'
hell i know I've been slack about writing but it hasn't been that long 

these things occurred to me

1. i have no data that i give a damn about losing 
2. this morning it's as cold as winter with squalls of evil, cold, needle sharp rain  
3. i have to leave home 
4. i am very grumpy 

so off you go ridiculous email 
​go live in the junk folder til i remember to clean you out
& if I'm wrong 
in 5 days this account will no longer exist
i'll have one less thing in my life that i attend to regularly
& i can start again if i wish . . . . or not

​maybe i'll see you again xx

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