Calligraphy with Sabine Pick

Pssst, Wanna see how I spent my morning?

The last few weeks have been some of the strangest in my adult life - transitioning out of homeschooling mama to full-time creative mama. In many ways it's been easier than I thought it would be [ helped greatly by the fact that both boys have been amazing and have settled in so well and so happily ] although I was lonesome at the beginning. But having time - having time to work on my own projects without interruption? Well, that's been almost 11 years in the waiting. 

So it's actually been pretty fun!

It's also been confronting in lots of ways - I'm trying to step out of my comfort zone. Try new things. Push myself creatively. Get out there and meet interesting people. Eeeek!

And that's the short long version of how I came to sign up for a workshop at Splash.

Splash | A weekend of workshops and creative conversations 

Splash promises to be a Splash of colour, a Splash of inspiration, a Splash of creativity and a weekend of fun.  Hosted by Paper Runway in The Lodge at Atlantic Byron Bay.  This will be the first of its kind to be held at Atlantic.

I've always dabbled in calligraphy - dabbled ;) - but not PROPERLY very often. Properly meaning: like, with ink. Lol. But I use my handwriting all the time. And I am ready to get inky. Join me!

Oh, I forgot to mention that Atlantic Byron Bay is a gorrrrgeous place for a workshop! 

Or to stay. 

Or to stay and do a workshop! I wasn't staying, obviously, but I absolutely should have / could have!! and I recommend you do ;)

A table set with girl-porn. Paper, letter guides, cute clipboards, ink, graphite pencils and mahogany Japanese-nibbed calligraphy pens. Drool.

Ingrid and Sabine.

Oh, and it was catered. Which is a word that every busy hungry woman loves to hear. 

Juniper from The Unexpected Guest [ hello Bangalow ] served us her super-yummy Freestyle Granüesli - loving that name. And your Pelican, Juniper! - with organic yoghurt and possibly the best stewed pears ever. 

Note to self: We have pears that need using up!!!! Stew pears for breakfast tomorrow morning.

We all got to know each other on the deck a little bit before the class started.
Unsuprisingly - this is Byron! - it was raining. As it does.

Admiring Sabine's beautiful work and inspiration. 

And then it got serious.

New nibs have a coating that needs to be burnt off before you can start. Here we go!

I couldn't help doing a little free-lensing ;)

When actually what I needed to do was learn to slow down. 

Press on the downstroke. 

Soften on the upstroke.

Find the right angle. 

Breathe. 

Let it be meditation. 

Show and tell. I wish these were my flourishes!

Fortune favours the brave.  

[ I do hope so! ]

I'm organising a Byron Bay Instagrammers #meetup and, in between trying to perfect our up/down strokes, we all swapped instagram names. 

The last half an hour was slightly torturous as Marvell Street Roasters set up a coffee tasting area on the deck behind us. 

Hello Rwanda! Delicious.

And then, far too quickly, [ yes it's true. Time does fly when you're having fun. Doesn't that suck? ] it was time to go home. To soften the blow, we were bundled up with a Splash gift bag full of fab treats and our special calligraphy booty. 

Okay, happy again :)

Details:

+ Congratulations to Nikki at Paper Runway for hosting such a cool event. 

+ Splash | A weekend of workshops and creative conversations

+ Sabine Pick | Hand Lettering and Letterpress

+ Atlantic Byron Bay Guesthouse

+ Breakfast by The Unexpected Guest

+ Coffee by Marvell Street Coffee Roasters

+ Flowers by Twig & Grace

If you live in Byron [ or surrounds ] and you would like an invitation to the Byron Bay Instagrammers meet-up just follow me on instagram and say hello!

Amber. XO

83/365 Flow

Sharpes Beach. This afternoon. These two had to stay together. x 

80/365 Cheeky Devils

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart.

In my rush to get the boys and myself packed, ready and out the door early on Friday morning I - gasp - forgot to grab my charging-overnight camera battery... Eeeek. So, a day with no camera means (seeing that I'm the only one setting the rules to this #photoaday2014 challenge :) that I get to post a cute photo from last week in Tasmania. Look at these two cheeky devils!! This hall of the museum will stay in my mind for a long time because it was while we were in there that Hug voiced his personal decision to return to being vegetarian. Unlike his friend here, the Tasmanian Devil. They actually have a sample of Tassie Devil poo on display - the thing that looks just like a stick to the left of this image - but close up? Close up it is full of bones and echidna spikes and... teeth! #ouch :)

77/365 Home

Even though I loved being away, there's nowhere quite like home is there?! x

69/365 The MONA Bar

We went to MONA. 

T had been before but I hadn't. This is my first trip to Tasmania and I'd been waiting to get to MONA for what felt like forever. Or at least since 2011 ;)

If you haven't heard of it yet, it's an über-cool privately-owned world-class art gallery here in Hobart. MONA stands for Museum of Old and New Art and the story goes that collector David Walsh (who describes MONA as a "subversive adult Disneyland") funded it all with his hard-earned gambling profits!

I have more to post, but here's a taste for my #photoaday2014 challenge. x

65/365 Sydney Street Style

My boy is becoming a young man before my eyes! Amazing. 

Sweet moments past

Hello :)

Well that was a much bigger break than I expected! It's taken me quite a while to get my head around backing up and sorting my photos on the road. Let alone actually blogging them. Lol.

But here I am.

And these 2 photos are actually from the bubble of days we spent with my mum after we moved out of our house but before we left on our travels.The memories feel precious... so many miles past since then.

More to come... x

 

Posted with Blogsy

Design | UNE Writers & Illustrators in Residence

My latest design baby! 

I'm thrilled to finally be able to show you what I have been working on recently >> a website for the Writers and Illustrators in Residence program coming out of the University of New England (UNE).

Funded by a grant from the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, in association with the School of Arts at the University of New England, Writers and Illustrators in Residence brings three creators of children’s literature or media to Armidale, each for a two-week residency. 

During their residencies, each Writer or Illustrator conducts his or her own work, as well as conducting a number of workshops for members of the Armidale and New England community. 

The goal of the program is to support new and established creators of children’s literature and media, and to bring their expertise to the region to inspire and encourage budding local talent, through a series of workshops, lectures, talks, and classes, open to a range of audiences. 

It's a very cool initiative that supports the Arts here in Australia and I am proud to be involved (plus I discovered that I like drawing pigeons - who knew? ;) 

Please take a look! XO

Urban Adventures In Pattern & Colour

 Even an urban landscape can be full of play & discovery.

Crushing on these painted walls.

Run free wild ones!

I'm still a little stunned at how gorgeous my big boy is. I love you Hug.

And then there's this cheeky-chop. Not much chance of missing him!

Climb...

Reach.

Wonder.
Question.
Discover.

This amazingly beautiful explosion of pattern and colour is just off the main strip in Southbank, Brisbane. It begs the question - why aren't there more public art projects like this?