Thursday, October 29, 2009

Fat as Butter 2009

You know something blogger? I think it's time for a bit of time out, given recent dramas.... so here are a few photos from a massive concert I went to last week end called Fat As Butter. My awesome buddy Methody got me a ticket VIP BABY and we had the most amazing day......

Standing by the side of my favourite stage for the day. Excellent photo, thanks to Methody's knowledge of camera angles ;)




As you can see, the weather was rather damp. This bright spark decided before leaving (when it was muggy) that I probably wouldn't need a jacket... so I got completely soaked. As did everyone else though really :P






This is Methody. Witness the glee with which she greets the rain.





The Cassette Kids




Eventually, after I had apparently turned blue, a kind gentleman with very big muscly arms gave me his poncho. Saved my day.







Peace :)







Some guys from some very awesome acts.... I'll have to ask Methody their names though and then come back and name them for you. Pretty sure the guy on the right is called The Tongue though.... no, I don't know why









Sunday, October 18, 2009

The sun will come out... tomorrow....


Beautiful weather today. Technically it's my day orf, but in my usual fashion I'm doing paperwork and getting the washing done. I've been sick the last few days, took a couple of days off work towards the end of the week because I couldn't see straight enough to drive. Allergies turned to bronchitus and grossness. Vacuumed the hell out of the garageyroom and dusted down as many of the boxes as possible, going to ask the boys if I can move the dryer somewhere though, perhaps to the other end of the room. It's pretty dusty in there and the dryer just kind of stirs it around.

Spent Saturday and Sunday at Emerald Arts, hoping for lots of sales but both were very slow days. Had a lot of interesting chats with tourists (we had a giant cruise liner come into the harbour) though so that was pretty neat ;)

Enough of that though, lets talk Renew Newcastle. I said in my last post that I was at the end of my rope, and I was, but I've come to realise that I love Emerald Arts (and Newcastle) and I will cling to that baby like a limpet to a rock... if I can.
Lately, a few of the other Renewers have had their leases terminated due to commercial interest. Which means basically that they have a month to move out from their current space and Renew will try to replace them somewhere else... but we are out of spaces so I'm not sure how that is going to happen.

I'm hoping that the leaky windows, paint spattered carpet and murals on the walls will save Emerald Arts from extinction... but given that I am behind on my rent and that my studio is in an excellent spot... right across from David Jones... I am very very worried.

So what would losing Emerald Arts mean to me? Besides losing a space to teach my students in, somewhere to paint, somewhere to communicate? It would mean the loss of excellent storage (which is important since I am currently kind of homeless). It would mean that I would lose access to the general public, something I have come to value greatly for advice while creating artworks. It would mean that some goals had been achieved... the city centre has been revitalised to a point where shop holders are willing to come back, that the city is seen as a viable place for commerce... my little bit of it would be gone.

Is Renew Newcastle a sucess though... for me personally? I don't know. I'm having a whole lot of trouble making a living... but that could be because I am trying to go to Tafe as well as run a studio/shop. Factors such as lack of stock (choice for customers) and no advertising may also contribute. I was making serious inroads while living at Mum and Dad's... because i was saving money that could therefore be used on stock creation and advertising... but being kicked out has put me back on that front a very long way.

Sigh, I don't know. I'm going to try not to stress about it, que sera sera. Emerald Arts is my heart, there is so much of me in the place... but I guess it's only a shop and I knew full well when I entered into the contract that losing the place sooner rather than later was a distinct possibility.


Gah.

Sorry for being such a mopey moose blogger.

Think I'll go for a walk, that always cheers me up.

-Emmeline

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Minding Your Mouth in a Public Forum: or why Em is an idiot


The saga continues, I've moved again from living with my parents back in my old bedroom to staying on a futon in the garage of my best friend forever Nifty Nige. Things had been going ok there and I was hoping to stay and save some money until moving in with my friend Emma in November, but that was not to be.

Long story shorter, a cousin of Mum's who had friended me on facebook read a status update on there that I had made in jest and immediately called my parents to find out what was going on.

Mum had a bee in her bonnet about some pillowcases I had borrowed and not returned, I got sick of explaining that she would get them back when I managed to get all my stuff back and had time to go through the hundred or so boxes. Right here I'll admit that I am pretty terrible at looking after things and the move was messy, it's entirely possible that they are lost forever.

Mum and Dad were not particularly fond of Ten, my partner, and seemed to expect me to get over the breakup more or less straightaway. It's only been a couple of months and I am still pretty shattered. I find it extremely painful to talk about him, Mum kept talking about him and his faults. So I pretended that it was because she had been bitten by a spider and was feeling so awful that she didn't understand how painful a breakup can be and kept rubbing salt in the wound by constantly bringing him up.

It frustrated me and I vented on facebook, honestly thinking nothing of it. My comments were never meant to be hurtful, but they resulted in Mum and Dad kicking me out at a time in my life when I very greatly need their help. I got home late at night to a quite horrid confrontation and was told that I was no longer welcome to stay with them. Oh I know, I'm a grownup and I should be looking after myself, but sometimes in life (particularly when you have a chronic illness) you need looking after.

I guess it's a lesson in how carefully words need to be guarded in a public forum.
What was for me a vent, was for my Mum extremely hurtful. What was no doubt genuine concern on the part of a relative, lead to homelessness and separation from my family. Sure, my parents may have overreacted but I can definitely understand where they are coming from.

So for now, I'm living day to day. Most of my money is going on petrol because Nige's house is a fair way out from town, gawd knows what I will do if my car fails. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping like hell that my centrelink application for Austudy is succesful, otherwise I don't know what I'm going to do. Either Tafe or EA will have to go, given how much I have lost already it's a pretty horrifying prospect.

I'll keep updating this blog as I can, hopefully in a month I will have somewhere steady to live and a computer/scanner to use.



Is Emerald Arts worth it? Sure the place looks great, but it's a continuous uphill struggle and with no support and next to no customers (they've been digging up the street outside for the last three weeks, the construction noise and roping off cuts me off from them). How do I know if I am a good enough artist to justify all this other crap that my obsession with the place has caused.

I'm at the end of my rope.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

New video

The ABC show "Stateline" recently ran a feature on Renew Newcastle, serves as a bit of an update on what has been happening and the effect that the project has had on the city centre.

If you look carefully, you'll see a very brief flash of your's truly and Emerald arts ;) WOOHOO!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=172855673242&ref=mf

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Feedback is tops.


There is a new poll on Facebook from the Renew Newcastle founder Marcus Westbury:




Thought this might be an interesting discussion starter. Now that we have nearly 40 projects that Renew Newcastle has done so far, what do you think has worked best and why? I'd love to hear people's thoughts and feedback. We're curious about how what we've done is being perceived and what people have most enjoyed.If you want to look at a list of projects thus far, check out our project page: http://www.renewnewcastle.org/projectsDifferent opinions are good, but be nice to everyone!


So.... not to be a pest, but if you, Dear Reader, have had a fun/awesome/rockin good time at Emerald Arts and want the world to know about it, take a look and post a comment.


http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=50532040184&topic=12730

Eternally in your debt,


Emmeline.