Our Site

I arrived on site yesterday afternoon, just in time to share lunch with the nearly 50 artists who had already arrived. After almost 30 hours of traveling you'd think I'd be exhausted, but I found myself extremely energized. With a view like this, who wouldn't be?


The site is actually a Baptist camp site, with a few buildings and many tents set up for working and sleeping. The studio setup here - for jewelry as well as other media including steel, wood (turning & fabrication), glass (fusing, lampworking and neon!), printmaking, painting and ceramics - is very impressive. My bench is better equipped than most places I have taught! I feel very fortunate to have such gracious hosts to organize this whole event, and will have to introduce them to you here as the week progresses.

The schedule for the week actually includes only five days of making, followed by three more days of auction prep and cleanup. This doesn't leave much time to meet the other artists, plan something together and execute it, but that limitation is one of the best things about these events. You don't have time to think too much or take your successes or failures too seriously. It's a very fertile ground for learning, "happy accidents" and growth.

The people I have met so far are extraordinary. They are singularly warm, generous, talented and humble souls, all from various corners of the earth. I feel very blessed to be among them in this beautiful place.

Location:McDonald Rd,Whangarei Heads,New Zealand

Arrival

I'm writing this update from my cell phone, so it'll be short, but I wanted to let you all know I arrived in Auckland safely - one more flight and a bus ride left to go.

When I left PDX, this rainbow led the way to San Francisco.


Touching down in Auckland, I was greeted by smiling (?!) customs agents and this inspiring mural:


The sun is just starting to rise here, and on my walk between terminals, my lungs were hungrily filled with the briny smell of the sea (Auckland is flanked by water on it's East and West sides). Beautiful.

I love it here already! More soon.

Location:Andrew Mckee Ave,Auckland Airport,New Zealand

On My Way!

Well, I'm off! I wanted to send out one last post before I head to the airport this afternoon for the first of four legs in my journey to get to the site for CollaboratioNZ. If all goes smoothly, I will arrive at McGregor's Bay just in time for the fun to start - the collab begins the morning my flight lands in Whangarei. Better be sure to get some sleep on the plane so I can hit the ground running. I've always sort of enjoyed the quiet time afforded by plane travel...but 26 hours is a lot of quiet time! As my brother would say, please send good vibes.

As I mentioned, I'm not sure I'll have any way to send updates until after the first ten days of this trip (when the collab is over), since I'm not sure what my Internet access will be like on site, or how much time I will want to take away from making. Rest assured, though, that I will be soaking up lots of stories to share with you all as soon as I am able. Until then, great warm wishes to you, and thanks for joining me on this adventure!

Success!

The Kickstarter campaign was a rousing success, thanks to all of those who backed my project! We blew past my preliminary goal, leaving some extra to keep me very busy in the studio when I return. Since I wasn't sure if I was really going to be able to make this trip, I didn't make any reservations or set plans up until now. Time to get packing and planning!

I will depart Portland on a 26-hour journey (several flights to get from Portland to Whangarei) on March 17, 2011 (what an auspicious day!), and arrive at my destination on Saturday, March 19 - just in time for the collaboration! Hopefully someone from the site will be picking me up at the airport. I always wanted to be greeted by someone at ground transportation with my name written on a paper plate!

I've been trying to do my research about wifi hotspots and other techno details I will need to have in place to stay in touch with you all while I'm on this adventure. Hopefully things will go smoothly, but many unknowns are still to be discovered (e.g., is there any Internet access at the collaboration site?). If there are lapses in my communication along the way, please sit tight - I'll be back in touch as soon as I can, hopefully with many stories to share.

Thanks again for all your support. It's so great to be traveling with you all!