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Finding Eutopia in kiwi paradise
On our drive north from Matakana towards Whangarei, Phil and I stopped in the small town of Kaiwaka for lunch at Eutopia Cafe on recommendation by Alysn. Wow, wow, wow, my mind was blown away by the creativity and artistry that went into this structure, and the food was excellent too, so it was kind…
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A day of art, hiking and a late night trek to see glow worms
While in Matakana, Alysn brought us for a studio visit with her friend Helen Carpenter who is a painter, printmaker and collage artist and runs the Takatu studio space where she hosts classes and rents workspace to other artists. I love seeing artists workspaces and learning about their process. Helen creates beautiful, etherial landscapes using…
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Remembering a day at the beach with friends before the world shut down.
I’m running a bit behind schedule, this week. I’m occasionally, surprised how busy I’ve been. I think somedays I’m not all that productive, spending too much time on social media, or zoom chats as a way to fill the social deficit while staying home. It still feels strange to go to the store and see…
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A 5 day break with friends in the Northland
After my workshop finished in Ngaruawahia, Phil and I packed up the car and drove a little over an hour north to Auckland where we met up with our friends Barney and Pat who just arrived from San Francisco that morning and were waiting for us at the BNB we rented in the Ponsonby neighborhood…
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Mask making tutorial and general well-being while at home
How many weeks are we now into staying home during this pandemic? have we just finished 5, and now starting week 6?… It’s getting harder to keep track, just like the days of the week. We started by counting in days, then weeks like you do after a baby is born, soon we’ll transition to…
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Ngaruawahia, say that three times fast
When you look at the word Ngaruawahia it looks very intimidating. The ‘Ng’ is pronounced like ‘ng’ in song, and the ‘r’ has a bit of a trill like the r’s are pronounced in Spanish, and each vowel is pronounced separately like you do when you say Hawaii [huh-WAH-ee]. So after you break the word…
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Teaching at the foot of Mount Taranaki
After our two restful days at Lake Rotoiti, we hit the road on a drizzling Wednesday morning to drive 5 hours to the Taranaki peninsula on the west coast of New Zealand. We drove on narrow twisty turning roads over steeply rolling hills and farmland, best suited for grazing animals that can climb steep hills.…
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Recharging my batteries at Lake Rotoiti
After my class finished in Whakatane we drove an hour west to Lake Rotoiti, where Caroline Stewart lent us her lakefront bach (cabin) that nestled up to steep hills shrouded in low clouds. Just down the road from the cabin was a fabulous hiking trail through the bush between Lake Rotoiti and neighboring Lake Rotoma.…
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Painting in Whakatane
On the evening of my last workshop in Tauranga, Phil and I drove an hour east to Whakatane, to the location of my next two day workshop. We arrived at the home of our wonderful hosts, Katrina and Bob, and got to unwind with a glass of wine, and this gorgeous view from high up…
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Beautiful Tauranga
On Tuesday, Phil and I drove three hours southeast from Auckland to the city of Tauranga. Because this was Phil’s first day driving on the other side of the road after a 2 year gap, we made sure to take plenty of breaks. We pulled over at the Karangahake gorge and thought it looked like…
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Meeting up with Phil in Auckland
At the crack of dawn on a Monday morning, I jumped on a plane in Palmerston North and flew an hour and a half north to Auckland where I met up with Phil, who had just arrived from the states an hour earlier. We took a city bus from the airport to my friend Kerry’s…
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Teaching while visiting my furry, and feathery friends in Palmerston North
To get to my next teaching location, I booked a ride on a bus from Napier to Palmerston North. The busses in New Zealand are reasonably priced, comfortable, convenient, and they give you lots of opportunities to appreciate the beautiful views. Also, at this point on the trip I was still traveling by myself and…
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Next stop Napier
On the 4th of February, I flew north from Christchurch to Napier, where I had a wonderful stay with a newer guild member named Maggie, who has an airbnb in the lovely town of Havelock North about a 20 minute drive south of Napier. It was much warmer there than it had been in Christchurch,…
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Come along on a virtual tour of New Zealand with me
Now that we’re all house bound, I can’t think of a better time to do some armchair traveling, so follow along with me over the next couple months while I share weekly posts on each location I visited on my trip to New Zealand. I left Sacramento on January 27th, after 2 years of planning…
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Time to engage in the slow life movement
So here we are, experiencing a pandemic. Life as we know it is going to be a bit different for a while, and we will all need to make adjustments and learn what sheltering in place means and how to do it well. I think we should look to those who have a lot of…
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New in the shop!
I had this great idea at the end of last year for a fun embroidery project to do with the kids in the makerspace in the fall. I had it all planned out, starting with a lesson on printing with thermofax screens, where I would teach them how to burn a screen and print a…
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This weeks agenda: winding down from Craft Napa and gearing up for New Zealand!
Wow, another great Craft Napa is over. I love having a place like Craft Napa where I can teach both textile and non-textile themed workshops, since I really enjoy both. I have been unpacking and repacking, tying up loose ends and finalizing trip details non-stop this week, but before I jump on a plane I…
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My wish for 2020
is a clearer vision for the survival of our planet, it’s the only one we’ve got. It’s heartbreaking to see the devastation that climate change is wreaking on Australia. If that’s not a wake up call, we have little hope for our future. We must do all we can to change our way of being.…