A room to tell stories in.

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'Cheeky Postcards: Lessons learned from being a trainer on TEFL courses' by Daniel Baines

‘Cheeky Postcards: Lessons learned from being a trainer on TEFL courses’ by Daniel Baines

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Believing

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#aWaterStory: The Artist in Residence Project Begins

#aWaterStory: The Artist in Residence Project Begins

For the first time in a while, I didn’t feel like I was on my own striving to make something happen. I’d become pretty down – probably lacking energy and faith, which periodically happens.

A group of teachers had met with me to be informed about the Artist in Residence and multi media/lingual project I will be spearheading at the school next week. We ran the meeting in Spanish which was fun…

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Identity Series Part IV: I am a Disconnect

In reflection of David Cameron's stance on learning English and an immigrant woman's reaction.

A few days ago I watched a short video on a news feed of women in the UK reacting to David Cameron’s insistance that immigrants should “learn English or leave”.

I particularly liked one reaction of an immigrant, which was to state that the English had never made much effort to learn the languages of the countries they had colonised. It was my default reaction to “like” this, given my New Zealand…

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Clara and the homework: A conversation among friends.

Clara and the homework: A conversation among friends.

“E nga tangata huri noa ki Aotearoa me te ao, whakarongo mai. Por favor. I know many of you are getting your PJs on and heading for the bed, but I have a question for anyone with a 6 year old in your life. What homework are they expected to do? What concepts in mathematics are they expected to know at this age? Is it too easy? Too hard? Just right? (I know one size doesn’t fit all) I’m seeing my…

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Trust the Process

I saw this written today. Trying to make projects happen is hard. For every good thing or step forward, there seem to be 10 deadends or disappointments. You aren’t a good fit. You are told there is a “disconnect”. No one is interested. You constantly question why you bother to make art in a world full of noise.

As a friend said, it’s all about the kaupapa– the motivation behind what you do. I…

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Beginning a storytelling collaboration

Beginning a storytelling collaboration

As an artist I’ve always explored narrative via many media, including in the last few years Social platforms. This is called the OSMU model (One-Source-Multi-Use) of storytelling.

For the most part, the narrative started and stayed with me as the sole author. I worked first with paint. This in itself has manifold narratives:

the story of researching, the travel and photography, talking to people,…

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Identity Series number IV: I am a disconnect

Identity Series number IV: I am a disconnect

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Identity Series Part III: La Nuera

Identity Series Part III: La Nuera

I am a daughter-in-law (nuera). I popped in to my in-laws to pick up some medicine on my way home. They live across the road in another block of apartments.

Only a few years before my newly-wed parents went to enjoy the highlights of teh small farming town of Taihape, New Zealand, my newly-wed parents-in-law went to live in the village of Monesterio in the hill country of southern Extremadura.…

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Blanca, her giraffe mask and the red devil goat. #foundtoys #communitygarden

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Excited to be speaking at ‪#‎iELT2016‬ i

Excited to be speaking at ‪#‎iELT2016‬ i

Excited to be speaking at ‪#‎iELT2016‬ in Barcelona this year! Looking at community and social learning.

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Blanca suggested I draw her in a swimming pool while she draws grass for the animals to eat. Done. #landscape #portrait

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Weekend drawing. Clara Frida commisioned to draw a bird.

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Identity Series Part Two: The Parent

Identity Series Part Two: The Parent

Today I am a mother. Not that I’m not a mother every day, but today is one of those days where parenting is at the very forefront of my priorities. We’ve spent a night with a small child in between us fretting and tired. Today has been a day partly worked from home and partly worked at the office with a small child in tow. She’s loving it. A whole day with mummy all to herself. She is currently…

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Letting Go

  The Curator

Having a background in museums, I’m well familiar with the term “curate”. In a museum sense, the curator is the subject specialist and chief story-teller. By the end of the 1980s, the museum community was finally questioning its role as gatekeeper and chief filterer of information.  In countries such as mine, Aotearoa New Zealand, or in the United States or Canada for example, some…

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Identity Series Part One: The Artist.

Identity Series Part One: The Artist.

I received a book in the mail yesterday from SeaSalt Learning. I took it down to my local cafe to soak up with a good croissant and coffee. Everyone knows me in there and I have been known to offer to help out when it’s busy.

I live in a shifting landscape, multi-faceted and with multiple-localities. The book I received is part of on-going learning and research about myself, my work, my place in…

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Making Learning in a Binary Landscape

Making Learning in a Binary Landscape

“Arbor Day at Rata School 1st August 1894” Original image held in archives at teara.govt.nz

I rather like this photo, a small rural school community planting trees to commemorate Arbor Day in a vast deforested landscape. Today Rata is a busy New Zealand farming community. All the kids that attend that school will have access to tablets, the school will have WIFI, a great library, interactive…

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