More Like a Spoon Than a Fork
Subscribe
RSS
Archives
Locking it in
February 5, 2025
Hello everyone, I wrote a few weeks ago that I felt both like the year had started but also things weren’t really kicking off. I was planning a lot but not...
6 months bought me 12
January 28, 2025
Hello everyone, I want to start this email with some clarity - my (mostly) successful 6 month experiment being a full time artists was successful enough to...
We are SO BACK
January 22, 2025
Hello everyone, First - so I can just get my plug out of the way, Tall Poppy’s first workshops of the year are live and you can book them here. With that out...
The experiment is over
December 18, 2024
Hello everyone, We’re one week from Christmas and my experimental six months off is officially over. For the few of you who started following this newsletter...
Dragging my feet
December 11, 2024
So I held off on writing this week’s newsletter as I was hoping to share two updates. One, how my first day as a substitute teacher went and two the awardees...
Home again, home again, jiggity jig
December 3, 2024
Hello everyone, I’m finally home - I’m lying down on my couch, a cool change is rolling through and gosh it’s so nice being back in my space - comfortable...
The Taipei Report
November 25, 2024
Hello everyone, Coming to you from a small bed in a hostel - which I accidentally booked instead of a hotel - in downtown Taipei. So, this week I have been...
The London Report (long one!)
November 19, 2024
Hello friends! I’m writing to you today from a friend’s dining room table. I’ve been staying at his place for about a week now, and I head off to Taipei...
The Paris Report
November 12, 2024
Hello everyone, I’m writing to you from London, where I’m sitting in a cafe on a surprisingly sunny day, eating some cake and getting some work done. My...
Europe
November 4, 2024
Hello everyone, I’m writing to you from Paris where it’s a blue sky sunny in autumn kind of day and it’s pretty spectacular! Since the last update I’ve had...
The Singapore Report
October 29, 2024
Hello everyone, I’m currently sitting in Changi airport drinking a Thai milk tea, waiting another hour-and-a-half before I can have a shower in the lounge...
The Melbourne Report
October 22, 2024
Hello everyone, As I shared, last weekend I was present at a book fair here in Melbourne - thanks to everyone that came. For some context, this is a good and...
The bush report
October 17, 2024
Hello! A quick one from me this week. I’ve just come back from 3 days/3 nights in the bush taking photos and unsuccessfully chasing dingoes. Regardless of...
Monk mode and ramping up
October 10, 2024
Sorry for missing last week - I thought about writing a newsletter but honestly didn’t have much to share. Last week was a quiet week - a nice rest. I’d set...
Sometimes I'm wrong, and that's ok
September 27, 2024
Something that is always true is that there is rarely one way to do anything and I’m of the opinion there is rarely a best way to get anything done. To give...
It's not all sunshine
September 20, 2024
One of the things that maybe has been misleading in this newsletter series is that there’s been a lot of good things going on, which means I celebrate those...
3 months in
September 13, 2024
Hello everyone, We’re now a bit past the 3 month mark of my 6 month experiment. It’s a good time to check in and see how I’m progressing. In July, I laid out...
The Perth Report
September 5, 2024
So this week I’ve been in Perth, well, since Monday at least. Ostensibly, I’m here to teach a workshop that’s running on Saturday and Sunday, but like any...
The Kalgoorlie report
August 30, 2024
This week I am in Kalgoorlie, in rural Western Australia. I am here because an arts organisation reached out and asked me if I’d be interested in teaching...
Making hay while the sun shines
August 21, 2024
This email is one that could come back to haunt me, because I think I’ve hit a new high for being an independent, self-employed person. This could be a...
The New Zealand report
August 14, 2024
Hello everyone! Last weekend I went to my first book fair since leaving full time work, Photobook New Zealand, and I have to say that overall it was a huge...
The break is over
July 28, 2024
It might seem a bit odd, but for most of July I’ve been on a break. As much as I’ve been writing about plans and how things are going there hasn’t been much...
Small wins and some news!
July 19, 2024
Hello everyone! Today I am feeling happy and excited. Over the last week I’ve had some meaningful small wins along my journey to working for myself full...
Road Report
July 10, 2024
Hello everyone, Last week I shared that I was writing my newsletter while on the road, and promised a quick update about what I was doing and how it was...
6 months: what's the plan?
July 1, 2024
Hello from the road - today I am writing this in Cooma regional library. I’ve driven up from Melbourne via Omeo, Corryong and Adaminby - today was one of the...
Career break (cya job)
June 26, 2024
Hello everyone, There are a bunch of new people who’ve subscribed recently, so there may be a few things I write today that you’ve read before, but it’s...
I don't understand more
June 17, 2024
For a long time I’ve been baffled by the need some people, or some parts of society, have for more. It’s not that I don’t understand if people want different...
Where to next?
June 7, 2024
Hello! So on Monday I lost my job, sort of. My contract at the University of Melbourne ends on June 28th, my boss and I were hoping that the University would...
Elastic memory
May 21, 2024
I was walking around my work the other day when I sort of had one of those moments where I realised ‘wow, it’s been over 15 years since I started uni’. For...
Bunk beds
April 24, 2024
Typically I don’t really respond to poetry - I find it a bit lacklustre and overwrought, often I just prefer something more plot, character or narrative...
Velcro imagination
April 9, 2024
In my last newsletter I shared a bit about my day job and the possibility that it winds up at the end of June. As that deadline draws closer I keep thinking...
Where does the time go
March 27, 2024
It's been hard to find the time to write these this year. Mainly, my day job has been super busy. I'm actively trying to retain my job - it's a bit complex...
The Soft Option
March 2, 2024
When I was in school, every week at assembly our headmaster and deputy headmaster would each give us a little speech. I found these universally boring and...
So what?
February 14, 2024
I can't remember if I shared this story before, but one of the most useful pieces of feedback I ever received came in first year uni where one of my tutors...
You are not a gadget
February 1, 2024
If you've never read Jaron Lanier's book You Are Not a Gadget you really, really should. It is, for me, an incredibly important read and helps separate some...
Getting a yes
January 18, 2024
A big part of the art work I make deals with the reality that nature in Australia is mistreated AND that work becomes harder because a lot of that...
Work the straw
January 3, 2024
The reality of living in Australia - and anywhere that this newsletter is read - is that to some extent challenge and difficulty are options in our lives. We...
Studio Update: December/January (lots lots lots)
December 30, 2023
Some people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder where the winter darkness means they feel a bit more depressed and lethargic. Well, it's summer in...
Robert Smith
December 5, 2023
For the past few weeks I've kept coming back to one of my favourite songs by The Cure, Homesick. Homesick is a sort of unusual song in a lot of ways - it's...
Aquarium
November 28, 2023
For a long time I wanted to be a marine biologist when I grew up. I can't remember the exact ages that this was something I wanted to do, but I feel it was...
Lacking Depth
November 21, 2023
I'm sorry it's been ages since I wrote one of these. A combination of travel and not having much to say sort of curtailed things a little. I will say that I...
Double is triple
October 19, 2023
My plan, this year, with Tall Poppy Press, was to publish four books spaced out over the year. One in February, one in June, one in September and the last in...
I'm ready
October 15, 2023
Over the last few months I've been feeling that I want to pursue some exhibitions again. For a few reasons, this year I was relatively quiet with exhibiting...
Studio update: September
September 30, 2023
I know I've been a little inconsistent here, I've been mega busy with my day job and am currently on a trip in Vietnam which meant I had to spend a bunch of...
You can't have it all
September 19, 2023
Recently, I've been day dreaming about buying a retail shop and having a bookstore for Tall Poppy Press, a little studio and then a space for food/drink....
Retail
September 5, 2023
When I work a book fair, I'm working retail. At a book fair, I have a table, I set up and display the books and posters, etc I have for sale and then as...
What is sustainable?
August 29, 2023
I don't mean what does the word mean, I mean what ACTIONS and LIVES are sustainable. In my day job, I run a program for University students about...
Overseas
August 23, 2023
While, in general, I roll my eyes when someone talks about the pandemic, I wanted to start this email with the qualifier that the change I'm writing about...
Studio Update: July/August
August 5, 2023
Hello everyone, It's going to be a hectic few months for me so I wanted to give a bit of a studio update a cheeky apology for likely being a bit absent over...
A haven or a prison?
July 25, 2023
Over the last five years I've spent a lot of time at wildlife sanctuaries of various descriptions, often visiting expressly to photograph an animal I don't...
Older archives