What will be your inspiration in 2018?

As my header today says - what will be your inspiration in 2018? Have you a yearning you want to follow? Well if you do, and I am sure you do, you should just follow it! You might be surprised where it might take you.

 

Have you ever attended summer school?

Summer School  at the Stirling Street Arts Centre in my town has just finished. They really have an amazing program of events over the two weeks - arts, writing, physically activities, music, drama, exploring culture, healthy living, workshops for kids, the list goes on. There is something for everyone. 

I've written about Summer School here before - Exploring your creative side - and every year I look forward to seeing the program. The hardest thing for me is narrowing down my list of "I want to do".

The Summer School workshops really are an excellent way to try out something without having to sign up and pay for an extended course, or lay out a lot of money on requirements or membership fees. 

Over the last couple of years I've tried acrylic painting, water colour painting, sketching, paper folding, eco-dyeing, book making, flower arranging, and hand embroidered a Boro bag and I took my grandson to Capoeira classes.

Exploring Eco-dyeing

Of these, the eco-dyeing on silk scarves has attracted me the most, and inspired by the work of India Flint and workshops with my friend Jane Flower from Folios and Fibre, over the last 12 months or so I've been delving into it more, and producing some good results (and some not so good), mainly printing with eucalyptus leaves. I've even sold a few!

And in the last couple of months I've delved into printing leaves onto paper guided by what I can find on the net. This is an exciting process and I am really loving the results. At times I think it is taking over my life! 

 I would never have considered this possibility in my life if it hadn't been for that first workshop. You just never know what might await you. You might even find a new passion in your life. 

When Summer School came up again I really tried to narrow down what workshops I was going to do. Unfortunately there were three all-day workshops I wanted to do all on one day, so I had to choose. 

Have you delved into your family history?

I really wanted my husband to do something with me, and he has been interested in the history of his paternal grandfather who came to Australia with his family after WW1. So we went along to a workshop on Researching Your Family History. The two hour workshop was an excellent introduction and we were giving a list of websites to help us delve further into our history. I only wished the workshop had been longer!

Imagine my surprise when no sooner had we returned home when I had a telephone call from a man in Perth who was doing some work tracing family trees for the historical society in the country town where my father was born. He was a wealth of information and sent me copies of family trees which he had already done for both branches of my family on both my paternal grandparent's side. I also made contact with one of my distant cousins who sent me some photos I hadn't seen before.  

Coincidence? or the world moving in mysterious ways? - a  'synchronicity' moment....
And I ended up spending most of the afternoon and more delving! Warning - it is addictive!

My father had already done quite a bit of research on our family tree, and had actually traced my grandmother's side back to 1390.  I wish I had been more interested and involved in what my father was doing while he was still alive. However, I still have his records. Why is it we realise too late that we want to know our family history? 

The first of my grandmother's family to come to Western Australia was actually a convict, who now rests in the Mourambine cemetery in our wheatbelt.  Many Aussies love finding a convict in their family tree!

  Hand lettering not computer fonts

This summer school I also did a follow up course with Andrew Fraser on hand lettering. Andrew is one of the masterminds behind our Street Art Project - Rediscover - through his company Six Two Three Zero. I had done a workshop with Andrew during 2017 at our local library, and had always been keen to do more, so when I saw he was running a workshop at Summer School I jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunately the one and a half hours of the workshop went way too quickly! but it did build on what I had learnt at the previous workshop. Now just to do it!

  Getting out with my camera

I also tried a Dru-Yoga workshop because I wanted to know what Dru-Yoga was (what a wonderful relaxing hour or so that was), and an all day photography workshop. Whilst I didn't think I had gained as much as I would have liked from the photography workshop, I did gain some inspiration, and it did get me out on the morning before the workshop looking for different subjects and angles to photograph in the street.

Photography group is starting again this week, so perhaps something from the workshop will influence my work this year.

 

Latest inspirational read

I have just been reading a book called "Women of Letters" curated by Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuir, compiled from literary afternoons with some of Australia's finest dames of stage, screen and page on various themes - for instance, To my first boss, To my twelve year old self, A love letter, To the moment it all fell apart, To my turning point. 


It was an interesting read. Among these letters was a letter written by Helen Garner, journalist and novelist, written to "Dear Madam". It goes on to relate how as a young struggling mother she had gone to the park. She was sitting on a bench when an elderly lady came and sat on the other end of the bench and after awhile asked her what was the time. They both sat there for a while, until eventually Helen Garner stood up and left. She says she has never forgiven herself for this. 

Perhaps this lady was reaching out for a friend? The next day I was at the supermarket and an elderly lady was looking at greeting cards, saw me passing, and stopped me to show me a lovely card she had just picked up. So remembering Helen's story, I stopped and talked to the lady. How often do we pass by people without a thought? Perhaps the world is moving to bring us together for a reason?

And finally this from Noni Hazlehurst, one of Australia's most distinguished and respected actors for her work in film, theatre and television, and also writing, comedy, radio, singing, education programs, presenting and recording. Australian children will remember her with delight from her "Play School" television days. 
"We can only ever do the best we can in the circumstances in which we find ourselves, and that has to be good enough. And if at times it isn't just apologise. My constant mantra is practice makes progress."
Practice makes progress - not perfect - but progress. Thank you Noni. I hope to take this forward with me.

So dear reader, this blog hasn't been to go on about what I have been doing. No indeed. I hope it has served to show you that there are possibilities out there that you might not even realise yet. You just need to take that first step. 

What will be your inspiration in 2018? Perhaps you would like to share with us in your comments. 
Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
Mosaic Monday 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

Through My Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at Deep Fried Fruit
Little Things Thursday 

Sky Watch Friday

Life in Reflection

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And you might like to join the linky party at Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global - Wednesday around the world