Hatmobile

I am out and about again with a brand new workshop. This time there are hats, looms, canvases and paints.

I, as a maker often get confused about making for fashion, making for art or making for makings sake.

Many thanks to the media interested in mental illness and are doing their bit to open conversation

Yesterday I arrived here and am taken by the calm and stillness of the place. Yes, there are dogs barking but that is part of country life.

We are leaving Tuesday 27th of June heading towards Engonia.

It was a lovely welcoming feeling driving into the town and finding the CWA hall.

I love waking up in the morning as some of you might know and spend some time with the birds. My life is lived through a bundle of metaphors. I see them in everything and it helps me in my practice for a meaningful life.

Mendooran is a very small community .about 4oo people live in town and several from the workshop came from out of down from Neighbouring properties.

I am often asked why I travel and what happens in the classes.

My answer usually is because I LOVE it. I like the open road, the birds and the landscape, the bright stars at night and the stars I see during the day in the people's eyes after a few hours into hatmaking. The noise of nature and stillness as I sleep and when I wake.

I left Melbourne this morning and am on the way to my first workshop and I just pulled in for the night. Did about 650 km and 400 km to go.

Australia is a big open place where some women have to drive 7-9 hours to the closest fabric store. Living can be very isolated and there are no milk bars nearby. The community hall and the pub become the entertainment and news centres where people connect.

I have a feeling we like to think the grass is always greener on the other side. It only looks like it and it depends what one sees as " greener".

Another busy day. A student told me to go to a fabric store hidden in a small lane and dutifully I obliged. Well, I left a lot of money there. Found a lot of interesting tools which will aid my spring collection. Also stuff I might not use but it's beautiful.

Everywhere I go I try to catch people wearing hats, buying hats, trying on hats.

The hat departments here are well looked after and no one manhandles hats as we seam to do in Australia. There are signs about how to pick hats up and people are very respectful.