Friday, December 28, 2012

Monday, December 24, 2012

our little Xmas tree x

This is our first Christmas here in Wellington. Hurrah! I'm loving the bright red pohutakawa trees and the sneaky glimpses of sunshine. And also the hussle and bussle of it all: having everyone together, how talking to strangers in the street becomes perfectly acceptable, and the final christmas eve shopping panic.
I love our little tree with its odd collection of decorations - some found over the last few years and one or two homemade paper ones.
And the smell of pine is just so good. Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

night lights in the city



i love christmas. i love twinkling lights, tinsel, santa telephone boxes, warm night air, and slow walks through the city.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

change is good.

"It's impossible" said pride. "It's risky" said experience. "It's pointless" said reason. "Give it a try" whispered the heart.

found here

Thursday, November 29, 2012

twenty-seven

Photograph and amazing rose water and chocolate cake
by the very lovely Charlotte Howard


Thank you!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

on flying and the soul

Flight is the essence of the spirit.
It nurtures the soul.
It is awesome. Often ethereal. Glorious.
Emotionally wondrous and all-pervading. Intangible.

- Louise Thaden

Monday, November 19, 2012

the long straight road to geraldine

Last week we got out of town. We flew down to Christchurch to pick up our new old car from my brother. He feed us a home-cooked meal and gave us a warm bed to sleep in.  In the morning we drove on to Geraldine to visit James' brother. I loved the window views driving down, checking out the farm and hanging out with the massive cows, and a VERY yummy pizza. James loved the bunny hunt and driving the dirt bike. We did a lot of driving over the week so we are especially grateful that the car is ridiculously economical to run. I love the South Island. Everything about reminds me of camping trips. It's the sound of magpies, the way the light falls when the sun goes down, the smell of grass and saw dust and sheds. All that's missing is burnt toast and marmite.

yellow gorse flowers are beautiful in summer salads

Thursday, November 08, 2012

life right now

For the next two weeks, I am lucky and proud to be part of the Massey University Exposure Exhibition. It's been and amazing year. The bags under my stinging eyes are a good testament to just how hard we have all been working. And hopefully... how stunning the show will be! Wooohooo!




A two week public exhibition showcasing Massey's emerging artists and designers.

Exhibition open daily
10-24 November 2012
Mon/Fri 9.00am - 6.00pm
Sat/Sun 10.00am - 4.00pm

The courtyard. level C
Te Ara Hihiko
Massey University
College of Creative Arts
Entrance E, Tasman Street
Wellington



a sneaky sneak preview before the preview night



all photographs by Kate MacPherson Photographer

Saturday, October 27, 2012

the end and the beginning

"Falling into Place:
deciding everything is falling into place perfectly as long as you don't get too picky about what you mean by place. Or perfectly."

- Brian Andreas


found here and here

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Saturday, October 13, 2012

in the dead of night

You were only waiting for this moment to arise.


The Beatles

Saturday, October 06, 2012

indigo, i love you.

here's a visual update on just what I've been getting up to while living at Uni. and a few words i wrote very quickly late at night to be put in print somewhere on something but i can't remember what x




 Lillian Baker, Wind, arashi shibori and natural indigo dye on silk, 2012.

words words words

Using the resist dyeing technique of arashi shibori, creates a three-dimensional surface that opens out to act as a sail in the wind. I have dyed the cloth with natural indigo dye as indigo embodies many aspects of wind as a concept. It is mysterious, unpredictable, difficult to control and somewhat magical. This piece explores the idea that wind can reveal something in the cloth and plays with the idea of invisibility.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

patience is a virtue


"She knew that none if this would come true until the following summer, but it didn't matter."

from Moominpappa At Sea by Tove Jansson

i love wellington


Thursday, September 13, 2012

words for today

thanks spatial design kids for the wise words



Update: after this post, my friend Julie shared a wonderful link with me. i love when found objects have a home.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

as for you, you'd forget me

I have a strange feeling with regard to you, as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs tightly knotted to a similar string in you. And if you were to leave, I'm afraid that cord of communion would snap and I've a notion that I'd take to bleeding inwardly.

Mr. Edward Rochester

Friday, August 24, 2012

wind is air in motion.

This is the forth and final year of my textile design degree. Sometimes it's rather scary. Wednesday morning was one of those moments... I gave a presentation on my research to date.

my presentation boards

the first few sentences went like this...

The underlying concept of my research is investigating how wind as an invisible phenomenon can be made visible. I’m exploring the idea that we are able to 'see' the wind through movement and the multisensory experiences of touch and vision. I’m looking to create textile surfaces and structures to remind us that we can in fact 'see' and perceive wind in our experience of it.


I always find the process of putting a presentation together so valuable. So many of your ideas are organised and confirmed when you have to explain everything to someone else. The late hours of tuesday night were a bit worrying but as always, it's never as bad as you imagine. I'm happy it's over.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Monday, July 23, 2012

a sunday afternoon date date x

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon together on a slightly rambling drive out to Plimmerton. While we were there I discovered that I love Plimmerton and we both love pizza. I especially love pizza at The Big Salami corner pizzeria. It says it serves " the best pizza in the world!' and I have to agree. Even the garlic bread was a bit special, all cruchy on the outside and deliciously buttery on the inside.
It was amazing.

The Big Meat pizza and garlic bread.

Monday, July 09, 2012

i got a love that keeps me waiting


i've never really hoped for time to pass quickly, not like this anyway. i know i'm going to have a whole lot of nights when i cry myself to sleep and i'm not looking forward to it. i'm so proud of him and i know that even though this is hard, it will be good. so good, later. but right now i just want it to be november. and i want a hug. it's almost the end of day one and oh god how i can't wait for it to finish.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

strange exotic strangeness

earlier in the year a good friend of mine went on holiday to Bali and came back with two little parcels of coffee for me. one was organic coffee and the other had a few spices mixed in. after only a very little while i came to the conclusion that Balinese coffee is rather strange. it sort of doesn't quite mix together with water and the fine grounds form a thick mud in the bottom of your cup, if your not vigilant this can be accidentally consumed too. Even more strangely... I became very fond of it's unusual flavor. I was just brewing local Peoples coffee in the plunger (and i love Peoples coffee because it is super delicious) but i still felt a bit sad and missed my strange spicy coffee.


Sunday, June 03, 2012

a VERY wet winter in wellington

It has been a VERY wet winter in wellington. I live in a small cave in the hills of Mount Cook and have recently found out that the rain has been flooding my bedroom for quite sometime. I wish I felt the same way about having the rain in my bedroom as Mr. Jeremy feels about the pond in his larder, but unfortunately i do not and neither does my bronchitis. Still... there's nothing like a little inspiration.



"Once upon a time there was a frog called Mr. Jeremy Fisher; he lived in a little damp house amongst the buttercups at the edge of the pond. The water was all slippy-sloppy in the larder and in the back passage. But Mr. Jeremy liked getting his feet wet; nobody ever scolded him, and he never caught a cold!"

from The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher by Beatrix Potter

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Sunday, May 20, 2012

inspiration. there are no words to describe this.

i flew to auckland on thursday afternoon to go to this. there were many wonderful moments. at the end of the first day everyone in the audience made a paper plane and sent them flying all at once.



i found the rustling of two thousand pieces of colour paper being folded so beautiful.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

on getting an education

sometimes i learn the hard way. this can be VERY hard sometimes but at least i'm learning. tonight i'm taking advice from my father. advice that i've heard more than a few times now. to dust myself off (with or without your dignity intact, either will do just fine) and to get back on the bike (he's got a good story about his motorcycle that always accompanied this and today i do miss it).

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

patience is a virtue

"Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience."

Ralph Waldo Emerson



Her Secret is Patience, 2009 by Janet Echelman. found here.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

this is how i feel about the wind

Flight is the essence of the spirit.
It nurtures the soul.
It is awesome. Often ethereal. Glorious.
Emotionally wonderous and all-pervading. Intangible.


Louise Thaden


found in The Spectacle of Flight: Aviation and the Western Imagination, 1920-1950 by Robert Wohl

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

no greater thrill


ruff day?

“I actually attack the concept of happiness. I don’t mind people being happy - but the idea that everything we do is part of the pursuit of happiness seems to me a really dangerous idea and has led to a contemporary disease in Western society, which is fear of sadness. It’s a really odd thing that we’re now seeing people saying 'write down 3 things that made you happy today before you go to sleep', and 'cheer up' and 'happiness is our birthright' and so on. We’re kind of teaching our kids that happiness is the default position - it’s rubbish. Wholeness is what we ought to be striving for and part of that is sadness, disappointment, frustration, failure; all of those things which make us who we are. Happiness and victory and fulfillment are nice little things that also happen to us, but they don’t teach us much. Everyone says we grow through pain and then as soon as they experience pain they say 'Quick! Move on! Cheer up!' I’d like just for a year to have a moratorium on the word 'happiness' and to replace it with the word 'wholeness'. Ask yourself 'is this contributing to my wholeness?' and if you’re having a bad day, it is.” 

Hugh Mackay, psychologist and social researcher

text found here

Thursday, March 01, 2012

home is whenever i'm with you

there's a band practicing this upstairs in the tea gardens. i caught a few notes of it walking by and it makes me want to go run around in a field for the rest of the afternoon.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

home for the weekend

i didn't go home for almost a year after the earthquake.

i guess i didn't want to see my city until i felt there was more hope. i think it's a bit like seeing someone you love really unwell, somehow it destroys your memory of them.... i didn't want to see christchurch because i didn't want my memories to change. 

what i loved about my time back home was that all the things i love most about christchurch are still there. and yes these things are different from how i remember, but somehow it's all still the same.


 the shipping crate shops on cashel street



some streets in the central city are still blocked off


i caught the ferry across from diamond harbour to lyttelton 





 i love you lyttelton coffee co.


this is the site where the building i once worked in stood.
there's a lot of love and hope in lyttelton. there are also heaps of cool people with great ideas.
so i can't wait to see it in a year from now.

by train, again

on friday james and i caught the ferry to picton, expored the picton aquarium, and in the afternoon we took the train down to kaikora. we spent a few wonderful days with my good friend, Mariann, and her family. while we where away we went diving for crayfish and paua, collected cockles for dinner, ate iceceam, learnt some excellect new card games and a lot of chips, played on slides and swings, fed the chickens, and ran around being monsters.