It's the vibe of the thing*

I am a slightly less driven unpacker. Probably because I am bit more unpacked! I still have a way to go but we are getting there and are both a bit amazed by how quickly we've felt at home here. I guess when you've lived in a place for 20 years there's a degree of familiarity that another 20 years doesn't erase. One of the women working at the post office was working there when I left town all those years ago. One of the librarians is the same too. But the Library has changed a lot!Anyway, I am finally unpacking my studio. Essentially it's a step up from a shed down the back. It's not ideal in that I am a nut about natural light and this doesn't have much natural light. But it is roomy and artificially well lit and insulated and I have had fun setting things up in a way that I hope reflects care and intention.  I knew it would never be perfect...never be the most efficient set up, the most inspiring set up. So I've gone with good enough and the knowledge that I can move stuff around! I am creating small altars to place or creativity or SOMETHING!!! Places to stand and stare and dream and wonder and remember.Here are some photos which perhaps don't look like the expected components of a studio but are the kind of things I love in my studio space! There's the sequinned Buddha...a gift from one of the Samunnat women many years ago. I mean...who doesn't need a sequinned Buddha? There's the dart board altar which celebrates my many local bus journeys across the east to Birtamod. There's the 9 huge and detailed maps which I stare at remembering a life that seems almost like a dream. Places we went, places we thought we'd go, places we knew we'd never get to...places with stories. There's my printer trays filled with many treasures. Then, of course, there's the girls. All those bizarre, damaged, imperfect, colourful celebratory little ladies who I used to make with such joy and delight. Every year i say I'll make more ladies. Different ladies. Maybe this year I will....*a line from that iconic Australian movie, The Castle