Louise & Greg's converted shipping container and caravan, Mokau, North Island, New Zealand

View down river from Louise & Greg's, Mokau

On our way to Mokau from Hamilton it just so happened that it was the day before whitebait season started. These guys were setting up their stands and moth nets.

The hills opposite the whitebait stands and river

Nathan and the whitebait fisherman's dog

Mokau back beach, driftwood heaven

Driftwood shack, back beach, Mokau

I have met with two disappointments on my quest to blog.
Firstly, I got my roll of film back - the results are pretty underwhelming! I will (maybe) publish 2 images out of a roll of 36!! I am in the process of rescanning my slide film in the hopes of better results (wishful thinking)  - so this is to be continued. . .
In the meantime here is one image I am happy with. I took it on the black sand beach at Mokau, North Island, New Zealand.

The second impasse I have encountered is my mum, who claims to no longer be able to read Hebrew! So no luck with translating the stamp on her school book, if it was even hers? Potentially the book could have belonged to her stepfather - who I believe served in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 (known to Israeli's as the War of Liberation and in Arabic,  'The Catastrophe')

I have very nearly conquered my study! I can see the floor and the desk is very nearly clear, most things are bundled neatly with other things of their kind -  it is very nearly a functional environment for future projects AND my new sewing machine (thanks mum, thanks sister!).

Until then, here are a few more unearthed treasures. These were my mother's school books when they moved to Israel and I think are some of only a few surviving objects from that time in her life. . . when did I first discover these? I rediscovered them during my inventory/culling of possessions,  squirrelled away in a chest of books which was itself buried under a suitcase and more boxes brimming other with cached items. Unfortunately I don't speak or read Hebrew, so I will consult with mum and get back to you with captions . . . the first few are self explanatory anyways but I am really intrigued by the last scan and it's translation.

Compiled by W.J.Stokoe, Frederick Warne & Co., Great Britain, date unknown

I forgot to post this wonderful article that BJ Epstein wrote about my project for Bristol Biennial!

here are some more pages I scanned from various books... each image is credited with it's original caption and bibliography

The Ocean Yields It's Treasures, The Wonderland of Science, J.C Sanford, Australia, 1945

Heller Brothers Company Catalogue, circa 1910, Newark, N.J, U.S.A

Heller Brothers Company Catalogue, circa 1910, Newark, N.J, U.S.A

Heller Brothers Company Catalogue, circa 1910, Newark, N.J, U.S.A

Out of the Test Tube . . . Petroleum possibilities are even yet only suspected,
The Wonderland of Science, J.C Sanford, Australia, 1945

Deficiency symptoms in Sugar Beet , The Wonderland of Science, J.C Sanford,Australia, 1945

These are some treasures, unearthed from the archaeological dig that was my spare room - ironically referred to as my study.

Has it really been more than a year since my last post? I apologise for the lull!
By means of explanation: on returning home last year, after being abroad and working on the show for the Bristol Biennial, seeing so many exciting things I needed time to process and re-cooperate.

So once I had returned, apologised sufficiently to my cats and rested myself, I realised that I needed to completely readjust my living space! This took a lot of doing. A large part of this was classifying my 'hoard'. This meant going through absolutely every little treasure and object and piece of junk or paper and deciding whether to donate to an op shop, throw out or store it away. Most things, after long and painful consideration, got chucked/donated. Which was in itself a liberating moment! There remains only the task of finding suitable places for everything that remains.

Anyhow - my house is now very functional and I feel very much in the 'zone' once more. so you can expect some more posts very soon. . .