back to school - and role reversals

customised QUT bag

This week has indeed been a bit surreal - and a bit of a culture shock as well. When I first went to uni, in 1977, we wrote our assignments by hand (being too poor to own a typewriter!), and there were subsidised cafes, union shops and communal spaces to hang out; now we have to go to Google Hangout, which isn't actually a real place, but an internet virtual space. And a cup of tea cost me $3.70 at the campus cafe...so the next day I took my thermos flask and tea bags with me...

I am supposed to be 'friends' with other students in my cohort of over 50, on Google plus, but I don't yet know the names of most of the other students, and the maximum in a group is 10 - so who do I choose? And is this really just another glorified version of Facebook?

To be fair, the content has been fine, the students I have spoken to have been friendly and interesting, I am learning my way around, and the number of assignments is daunting but probably do-able. The days have been long however, and I am keen for this first part to be over, so I can digest and reflect...I am only writing this today as the Saturday workshop was cancelled at the last minute, so I have some free time. 

A couple of 'my' graduates from UQ MMH art therapy program are doing the same course as me, this is really interesting and I am already noticing changes in my relationship with them, since I no longer have to be their teacher. There is a small group of creative therapists in the cohort, which is fantastic. I am starting teaching next week, so the weirdness will continue. I am sure I will have more empathy at least...

Meanwhile, in the real world (sorry QUT) it has been raining like crazy. More rain is likely in the next week. 

And its a year since the most damaging Christchurch earthquake.

And the Australian Labor party is having its most cataclysmic, ridiculous, damaging leadership battle, again, between Julia Gillard (Prime Minister) and Kevin Rudd (recently resigned Foreign Minister). Hopefully it will soon all be over. I can hardly bear to reward this bad behaviour by ever voting for them again...is it just me?

more later

Sewing and other attachments

bunting banner for 'in stitches' girls' group

We started a sewing group for teenage girls last week at work, called 'In Stitches'. This is the banner, made from an Ikea upholstery remnant and using iron-on vliesofix (?) for the applique of the letters. The individual flags are machine stitched onto wide blue bias binding, which is folded in half and pinned into place, enclosing the top of the flag. It almost forms a circle when the edges are drawn together, this was for the purpose of photographing the banner. I am very excited about this group!

felt collage: 'secure attachment'

felt collage: 'insecure ambivalent/resistant'

felt collage: 'insecure avoidant'

felt collage: 'disorganised/disorientated'

These four collages were created by me a few years ago, in response to reading 'Circles of attachment: Art therapy albums' by Joanna Clyde Findlay, Margarette Erasme Lathan and Noah Hass-Cohen, in Art therapy and clinical neuroscience edited by Noah Hass-Cohen and Richard Carr. Most of the book is heavy-going, but this chapter describes a delightful project in which art therapy students created fabric 'attachment journals' to illustrate the four main attachment styles, and to ultimately explore their understanding of their own attachment style.

Some of the trainee therapists found that their attachments became more secure, as a result of doing the project.

I had to make one as well, since it combined book-making, felting, fabric collage, machine embroidery and of course, Attachment Theory: Bowlby and Ainsworth's framework for understanding early infant-carer relationships. I can remember thinking at the time of making the collages, my attachment style was probably insecure, (either avoidant or ambivalent) although now I am not so sure.

And now I am reading about attachment again, in a prescribed reading for my Social Work Masters, starting next Monday. I found it interesting to learn that Bowlby, once a follower of Melanie Klein, was rejected by the Freudians for emphasising the real environment of the infant (i.e. the primary caregiver) rather than the 'psychic projections' or fantasies of the baby. This gave me some insight into why attachment theory was so unpopular when I was studying art therapy at Goldsmiths in the 1980's, as the theory was based on Klein and the 'object relations' school.

The reason this theory is in a book on neuroscience and art therapy, indicates (I think) that neuroscience is now proving that Bowlby and Ainsworth's attachment theory was right. Sorry Melanie!

I seem to be managing without my laptop, although am writing on a borrowed Mac, which is making this slightly harder than usual. And I know I am about to get much busier...

This is an interesting quiz from Tamsin's blog, which i mentioned recently: find your political compass. Relieved I was in the same quadrant to Gandhi, Dalai Lama and Mandela. Phew.

more later.

Then the wind changed

photo from the chook project

This is the title of a beautifully made documentary on ABC I-view - only available for another 13 days!

It is about the grief and recovery of the residents of Strathewen, Victoria, who survived the Black Saturday Bush fires in 2009 (exactly three years ago). It includes a fantastic community project to create knitted chooks for the primary school children, and (briefly) a cute baby wombat, which is cared for by one of the survivors. It speaks more generally about grief, the need for healing rituals, such as 'soup night', and how the community regrouped (literally). It also tells the stories of some of the individuals and families, including the documentary maker, Celeste Geer, and how they coped with losing their homes, loved ones and friends.

The link to the chook project reveals that the woman who initiated the chook project is an art therapist, Barbara Joyce. Very inspiring, as I know from experience how hard it is to knit a chook...

wombat feeding time at Australia Zoo, June 2011

I am back from Townsville, and counting down the days until my Masters in Social Work begins on 20th Feb. But today I am back at work...

More later.

going North - again

tropical flower, Cairns

I am off to Townsville in north Queensland today, for a couple of days. I am facilitating a training workshop for artists, who will be delivering art workshops for people living with a mental illness. 

This photo was taken in Cairns Botanic Gardens last year, when I had a similar gig. 

I enjoy working with remote teams, they are usually very grateful for any input! I found out today I hadn't booked my accommodation, despite having a distinct memory of doing so. I am staying at the Sugar Shaker (Holiday Inn), which has a roof top pool!

This time I am travelling without my laptop, as I have a 10kg baggage restriction, and its hard to have faith in a USB the size of a thumbnail (literally, this time) - but its all backed up onto another one as well. I will have to get used to living without the laptop; it needs to be sent away for repairs as its still under warranty - only works when plugged to power socket. This is not good timing, as I am about to start my Social Work Masters at QUT (uni) in 2 weeks, and most of the content is online...

Fixing things has been a theme this year so far (isn't it always?). First my camera, then my sewing machine. Our gate is also falling apart, and we need some major repair work done on our front stairs - the joys of living in a Queenslander! I used to put up with things only sort of working, but no more! 

Cairns Botanic Gardens

colour chart, porters paint

I have always loved colour charts! Full of possibilities...I guess its like opening a new box of paints. A woman who attended a workshop I ran called 'Giving yourself permission to paint' once said, her ambition was to get her paint box dirty!

Congratulations are due to two other bloggers this week. 

Firstly to my friend Amanda, who writes Sharing Studio Secrets, and has just posted her 300th post, after 6 years of blogging, mainly about her art practice. 

And secondly to climate scientist (and my sister) Tamsin, who has just launched her new blog very cleverly titled All Models are Wrong (but some are useful), on the completely different topic of climate change modelling. Tamsin has been inundated with responses, including some who objected to the title of her blog.

Putting yourself out there is brave, whatever your topic. I am proud of both of you, and of anyone else who aspires to more than liking something on Facebook!

I may be more erratic for a while, due to laptop issues and studying. But I'll be back.

more later.

The Routeburn Track and Rain

I have posted some more photos from NZ, this time (mostly) of the Routeburn Track, the 3-day 'epic' walk along two Alpine river valleys, the Hollyford and Routeburn river valleys, crossing from Fiordland into Mt Aspiring National Park, South Island. I first walked this track 35 years ago, and had always wanted to do it again, and last December, we did it! It was so amazing to do this with my two sons and partner. I had forgotten that S gets vertigo, so it was challenging for him. I had sore feet (and still do - need to see a podiatrist) whereas the two boys found it easy. more unwelcome confirmation of the ageing process, but it was worth it. The walk was exactly as I remembered it (as far as I could remember) - because it is in a World Heritage area, nothing has changed! Which is amazing when I think about everything that has happened to me in the past 35 years (and I have changed lots!)...

Tasman Glacier, near Mt Cook, South Island, NZ

The glacier is the disappointingly grey blob at the top of the lake. But the mountains are beautiful.

Lake McKenzie, Routeburn Track

The first night of the walk was spent at Lake McKenzie. The boys swam in this lake, which is full of snow melt...shiver. The lodge was warm, with hot showers.

Routeburn Track, Lake Mackenzie to Harris Saddle

Lots of the walk is through rainforest, and it rains a lot. The trees are dripping with moss and lichen. 

Routeburn Track

Then, after trudging uphill for some time, you come up above the tree line (where the snow starts in winter), and its a totally different walk, with broad views on a grand scale, where you understand the concept of the sublime in landscape painting...and you feel your own insignificance in the immensity of the landscape. Then, you are in the mountains!

Routeburn Track

At one point, called 'Ocean Corner', you can see the West coast and the ocean. Then at Harris Saddle, you track across a pass and into the Routeburn valley, which you can see down below.

waterfall

 Routeburn valley

the boys, just out of the water...

Back home, its raining heavily at the moment, and Brisbane is flooding again. More later.

NZ - the emerald isle?

I have finally added some watercolours from our trip late last year to South Island, New Zealand. I only did 4, because we were 'too busy'. In this post, they are interspersed with photos.

Akaroa (Aka Banks Penninsula) - view across the harbour from Onuku Bush Retreat

Akaroa is very picturesque, a large, sunken volcanic harbour, with panoramic views. I have already written about the mosaic garden, or Giant's House. Here are a few more photos:

this is the toilet floor!

Totally amazing stuff!! We also tried sea-kayaking in Akaroa Harbour, but had to stop due to bad weather.

Twizel - near Mt Cook

Twizel was our second stop after Akaroa, an area of stunning views of mountains and lakes including the strangely blue Lake Tekapo.

It was an action-packed two weeks, and after the wonderful Routeburn Track, and the adventure sports mecca Queenstown, we only stayed one night in each place, in our dash up the beautiful West Coast. This method of non-contemplative travel is not really recommended, and we were all feeling frazzled, and definitely over the car, by the last few days, but we did see lots, including (in order from South to North) Jackson's Bay; the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers; Lake Matheson; the beautifully rugged coast between Greymouth and Westport; the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki; and the Seal Colony at Westport, where my maternal great grandmother is buried, (not in the Seal Colony though); and we also took lots of photos.

We took the trans-alpine railway from Greymouth back to Christchurch, which was very obviously badly damaged, and looking like a war zone. I had different, happier memories of Christchurch from my first visit almost 35 years ago, seeing this city devastated was - devastating.

Fox Glacier

The West Coast is very lush, the weather was mainly wet and cold. It is all strikingly green.

Fox Glacier

This post seems quite disorganised and chaotic to me - perhaps I am trying to write about too much.
More later.

ethical consumption - of all kinds

'Passage' - coloured pencils

This drawing is a bit unusual for me - looks like some kind of sea creature with a feathery tail, at first it looked a lot like a sperm, but I have tried to change it into something more interesting! I can still see some reproductive themes though. It feels optimistic to me. One year on from the Brisbane floods - creative recovery...

Seems like I have been away for ages - I had no internet at the weekend - again - so although I have been thinking a lot about writing, I haven't done much recently.

One of the things I have been thinking about a lot is ethical (as opposed to reckless?) consumption. I noticed that I had somehow started more buying stuff - in the past two weeks - unlike most of last year. Perhaps the combination of no longer officially trying not to shop, and the January Sales? Anyway it wasn't that reckless, although I felt some guilty pleasure, and it also felt pretty slack.

I have bought books, (including the fabulous this book will save your life by A.M Holmes, which I am currently listening to as a talking book in the car), some clothes (mainly cheap and boring - singlets and socks), but also some other clothing items from Seasalt, in Cornwall. And then more books (Book Depository, Avid Reader)...but not art materials. So its not too out of control (I definitely don't need more art materials, unless its for a specific project).

Tempting my self control, I also went to Ikea, bought loads of play equipment for work (mainly soft toys including soft sculptured breakfast), but didn't buy much for the house, except a blind for the kitchen and some bowls. That is a first. 

Another guilty pleasure is magazines - usually don't buy them much, but I have a weakness for Frankie, and I still buy Good Taste from habit, although I hardly ever use the recipes anymore. I grudgingly buy the local rubbish newspaper (CM) once a week on Saturdays, so I can read Kathleen Noonan and William McInnes, and do the crossword. And the Australian (not much better) for the Review. Other magazines that come into the house are When Saturday comes - the half decent football magazine - and various bikes mags. And the Guardian Weekly, which we all read. I am fairly careful about what I read, I guess, that is one form of ethical consumption: avoiding rubbish as far as possible.

'Bird' by Pippa my lovely niece

I have just applied to have a $10 share in a dairy farm, so I can buy untreated milk. And I am appreciating getting veggies and fruit from Food Connect, which has a great organic box scheme, and who organise the herd share. And here are their tips for ethical consumption:

TRIED & TRUE TIPS TO GET INTO SOME GOOD HABITS FOR 2012

1. Strive to eat less processed foods that come in boxes or bags. Some say it like this, “eat foods without a barcode.”  In the meantime, become a label reader!  Find short labels with words you can pronounce.
2. Eat local, seasonal, sustainable and ethical foods whenever you can, since these have many more nutrients and are safer to eat than what you find at the supermarket. Grow your own food, or know the person who does.
3. Question everything you’ve always believed about health and nutrition.  Search out the truth and what makes sense, not just what “they” say is right. Then share what you’ve found with others.
4. Eat out rarely. Make time for preparing food at home, and remember you can always make meals ahead on the weekends or make quick meals that are still nutritious. Eat as a family around the table as often as possible and share the good and bad about your day with each other. Try new recipes and see how you can make them healthier by cutting the sugar a little, eliminating the vegetable oils, etc.  (Do you still have corn, canola or soybean oil in your cupboard? Please throw it out and melt some real butter instead!)
5. Learn about the teachings of Weston A. Price, read books by Wendell Berry, Michael Pollan, and our own Gay Bilson, watch Gardening Australia (with the wonderful Costa as the new host) and attend as many local, community food events so you can hang out with others who want to learn more about good health and Real Food.

The main thing for me is avoiding over-consumption of 'junk' - whether it is reading rubbish, eating rubbish or buying rubbish. Something I do want to keep on track with this year. I have also been trying to get ris of rubbish we already have - pest control visit tomorrow - external house cleaning on Friday!

Having said that reminds me that I really need to go through my goals again, reviewing the last year and refocusing. I am not anticipating major changes though, as I am going to be studying, and need some stability and good routines.

I also want to write about New Zealand, before it becomes a distant memory.

One more thing this week: bike riding around the city loop is becoming more regular. Its fun now the renovated bikeway below the riverside expressway has reopened, after the flood damaged it last year. Here is a photo from the weekend.

sky from the goodwill bridge - storms on their way...

 And murals in the Valley, from the week before (I don't know the artists' names, or the title of the second one):

painting is dead...long live painting (after Rembrandt?)

face

 more later.